No auto save/recover?

[SigsCreations]

I've been working all day on a project when I opened another eps file. I wanted to see if I could grab a part of that design to add to mine in progress.

Before I started to alter it, I hit save. For some reason,  it did not save but instead crashed and shut down the whole program. I figured I wouldn't lose much and it would recover when it reopened. That is the way almost all of my other graphics programs work.

But it didn't offer a recover option. In fact, after it didn't I looked around to see what the save interval was set to. It looks like there is a save set to 300 seconds. So if it is auto saving. Where is my file? Why didn't the program offer to recover it?

I got a white text box just before the program shut itself down that said it got an exception error and it would give me something - details? But it didn't do that either. So I don't know what made it crash or if I am going to have to give up on the project I was doing since it would take me too long to recreate it all. Yes, I did save a part way done version but the last bit I did was really fiddly and not sure it is worth my time to redo at this point.

[SigsCreations]

ok, guess I panicked too soon. I did get the program to recover but not the way I expected or think it should.

When I restarted the program, I got NO indication that it had saved a backup copy or how to get to it.

It wasn't until I double clicked on it in file explorer that the program popped up a message asking me if I would like to open the recovered version.

Seems to me the program should ask that on the next restart after a crash, not only when I try to reopen my original file. I almost didn't even try and was going to let someone else work on the project instead.

How long would the program have kept that backup copy? If I restarted the computer would it still have been accessible?

Also how come I am not given the ability to tell the program WHERE I would like my recovery files to be stored?

Sig

 

 

[v_kyr]

Most apps and programs use the common for programming under an operating system indicated way for storing their individual settings and temp data files etc. Which OS dependent do vary in location here. Usually the Affinity apps do tell the next time when started that there is a recovery file available and do ask the user if he might want to open that one. At least they do so under OSX.

[Callum]

10 hours ago, SigsCreations said:

ok, guess I panicked too soon. I did get the program to recover but not the way I expected or think it should.

When I restarted the program, I got NO indication that it had saved a backup copy or how to get to it.

It wasn't until I double clicked on it in file explorer that the program popped up a message asking me if I would like to open the recovered version.

Seems to me the program should ask that on the next restart after a crash, not only when I try to reopen my original file. I almost didn't even try and was going to let someone else work on the project instead.

How long would the program have kept that backup copy? If I restarted the computer would it still have been accessible?

Also how come I am not given the ability to tell the program WHERE I would like my recovery files to be stored?

Sig

 

 

Hi Sig,

Recovery files are stored in the Temp directory this means they will be deleted on restart. We choose to store them here as it prevents them from slowing down a computer over time.

Thanks

Callum

 

[SigsCreations]

I think the program could handle this better. And most of my programs with autosave let me tell it where to put the recovery files.

Thanks

Sig

[toltec]

7 hours ago, SigsCreations said:

I think the program could handle this better. And most of my programs with autosave let me tell it where to put the recovery files.

Thanks

Sig

Affinity programs do not have an Autosave feature. Which is probably why you have no choice?

Recovery is a very different thing. Recovery is there to recover files in case of a crash. Because of the very nature of why it is there i.e. CRASH it should definitely not be relied on. If the software crashes in the middle of a recovery ‘save’ files could become corrupted, depending on when and how the thing crashes.

Without an Autosave feature, you are strongly encouraged to adopt a sensible practice of saving your files manually and backing them up. Then you can put them, and their back ups, where you want. 

Bitter experience over thirty years has taught me that regularly saving and backing up is the only way to avoid disaster. What’s more, it only took me twenty five years or so to catch on 

I expect Affinity will probably add Autosave eventually, but for now learn the Ctrl + S shortcut and use it often!

[SigsCreations]

You're right. It doesn't use the word autosave but it says "file recovery interval" and then lets you pick an amount of time. No, it isn't saving my work for me by overwriting my file. But it is periodically saving my work.

Microsoft Word calls it autorecover and I guess that is what this is, which is fine. But in Word I tell it where to put those files on my computer and after a crash the very next time I open the program, it automatically asks me if I want to recover my file.

AD did not do that. It wasn't until I went to explorer and double clicked on the file name that Designer asked if I wanted to use the recovered version.

And yes, I have had work lost over the years when a program crashed, and I do usually save pretty often, but I guess as the programs have gotten more sophisticated and most now have an autosave, I've gotten a little bit lacks on how often I stop and save.

So hopefully they will make the program auto ask me when I restart it and not have to click on the file itself before it asks. And an autosave would be nice too.

[HVDB Photography]

In Affinity Photo there is a folder named "autosave".  
On my Windows 10 system, the total storage in this directory is approximately 850 MB.
The oldest file there dates from 02-04-2018 !
I assume that the storage will continue to rise. Has a limit been set, after which the oldest files are automatically deleted? Or do we have to check that ourselves regularly?

EDIT

Sorry,  has already been answered ..

[SigsCreations]

 

<p> HVDB Photography, Sorry I am using Designer not Photo. I can't seem to get the hang of photo. I can never do what I want so usually give up and use another program. I will ocassionally use the "edit in Photo" from Designer for a quick fix on something but usually the results are so awful I end up saving out parts of my design as PNG files and then edit in another program and bring it all back into Designer and reassemble.</P>

 

[John Rostron]

It would help us if you used the standard message interface (as you did in your earlier postings in this thread). In the one above, it is all on one line, forcing the reader to scroll sideways. I am reminded of the Limerick:

There was a young man from Japan,

Who wrote verses that no-one could scan.

When asked why t'was so

He replied "I don't know,

But I always try to get as many words in the last line as I possibly can".

John

[Kassia Amily]

If the document didn’t prompt the AutoSave Pane for you, you can still browse its default AutoSave folder by going to “File>Info>Manage Versions” and select “Recover unsaved documents” or you can search for the Word Backup Files. If you still cannot find your project, you may need to apply a third-party tool to have a try, I have used Recuva and Bitwar Data Recovery before, both of them are good, but the latter is free, you can choose the one you like.

[lookandlearn1976]

I have a similar quesiton to the one on this thread, except that mine didn't seem to auto-recover on my 2009 mac using EL Capitan(I know, it's barely alive now in 2020). I had 4 AD windows open on because I was working on multiple drawings (and if you use only artboards the layers panel gets too hectic). So, it was late at night and I was tired and when I'd named and closed the current drawing I was working on, I closed out the application. It then asked me if I wanted to save untitled - and because it was late, i'd thought I'd named and saved every drawings. But, nope I hadn't. 

So now I've tried time machine and it breaks because of some other file in my system that it doesn't like. But even using Time Machine....I would still have no idea of how to retrieve the file. Where would I find it exactly. I did a search for untitled and nothing came back. I found my secret hidden temp folder with the serif files in side - found a file called PersonalBackstore.dat but it's empty and won't open on any app I have. Is there anything else I can do?

Also on a side note....not sure if this is something that Serif can fix on future versions but there must be some way to set AD up so that when it asks you if you want to keep an untitled file - it actually shows you that file on screen first becasue you say no. At the moment, when you x out the application it only shows the last worked on file. Had I been presented with the actual untitled file, it might have jogged my memory as to what it was referring to. 

Also, on another side note. I love affinity designer, but I never make much use of the artboard and all that space because the layers panel gets clogged up. I do a lot of kids book illustrations and have to keep them in separate files - but the artboards look like they could potentially be a great place for me to work on one complete project (and avoid losing any of the work maybe). 

Sorry for my ramble, please help on the missing file!! (if you can :)),

[Little Trove]

Is it possible to find an auto save file on iPad after a file crashes and gets corrupted?

[thomaso]

8 minutes ago, Kaboom said:

on iPad

In case you don't find an answer here you might find it in the iPad area ...  https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/43-affinity-on-ipad-questions/

[Ambros]

On 11/25/2018 at 11:14 PM, SigsCreations said:

ok, guess I panicked too soon. I did get the program to recover but not the way I expected or think it should.

When I restarted the program, I got NO indication that it had saved a backup copy or how to get to it.

It wasn't until I double clicked on it in file explorer that the program popped up a message asking me if I would like to open the recovered version.

Seems to me the program should ask that on the next restart after a crash, not only when I try to reopen my original file. I almost didn't even try and was going to let someone else work on the project instead.

How long would the program have kept that backup copy? If I restarted the computer would it still have been accessible?

Also how come I am not given the ability to tell the program WHERE I would like my recovery files to be stored?

Sig

 

 

Yes !!!! Thank you. I had given up on recovering a file when Affinity crashed....

But read your post and tried double clicking on the source jpg and my work was (partially ) restored.

It should present itself when the programme restarts I agree