Defaults – How to Synchronize or Save?

[thomaso]

Reverting to defaults works fine to get rid of unexpected/ unwanted text formatting. But I experience difficulties to alter the Default text style.

How do the two UIs (button/menu) work to redefine this defaults setting?

It appears to me that

– the button "Synchronize ..." has no function.
– the menu "Edit" > "Synchronize..." has no function
– the menu "Edit" > "Save" has no function

––>  only a combination of choosing both menu Edit > "Synchronize" + "Save" in two steps appears to work and redefines a Default text style.

Also, I'd like to understand in what situations the button "Synchronize..." is grayed-out – and when it's clickable. Sometimes it appears to grayed-out even with an object selected – whereas the button "Revert" never appears as grayed-out, even with nothing selected.

>

 

[thomaso]

4 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

Edit > Defaults > Synchronize from Selection then immediately going to Edit > Defaults > Save.

@Old Bruce, sorry for my copying your post from another topic but you seem to understand how it works.

Okay, if to customize the "Defaults" needs both actions "synchronize" + "save" – then, is there no separated use in "synchronize" / or / "save"?

[walt.farrell]

"Synchronize from Selection" saves the new defaults for use in your current document. Any subsequent object of the same type that you create in that documentshould get those defaults. But only in that current document.

"Save" saves them as defaults  for other documents, too, but only for documents you create after you did the Save.

[thomaso]

37 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

"Synchronize from Selection" saves the new defaults for use in your current document. Any subsequent object of the same type that you create in that documentshould get those defaults. But only in that current document.

Ah!, nice. – I was confused by the same button status for both: one single action (revert) opposite the durable activating action (synchronize).

37 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

"Save" saves them as defaults  for other documents, too, but only for documents you create after you did the Save. 

To me it appears like "for all as application preset" – instead "for other documents, too, but only for...".

[thomaso]

Was the functionality of "Synchronize" changed with v337 ?

I experienced it used to become activated automatically with any new text frame formatting within 1 document. (not for new documents).

[walt.farrell]

10 hours ago, thomaso said:

Was the functionality of "Synchronize" changed with v337 ?

I experienced it used to become activated automatically with any new text frame formatting within 1 document. (not for new documents).

Something may have changed, but I don't think it's related to Synchronize.

In .337 you need to draw the text frame before you can set its characteristics, but that's consistent with other kinds of objects, I think.

[thomaso]

16 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

In .337 you need to draw the text frame before you can set its characteristics, but that's consistent with other kinds of objects, I think.

Not really. Without any object selected you may define for instance:

– fill color
– stroke color
– stroke width ... other properties

for text frames, too.
And, furthermore, those settings remain even without activating "Synchronize defaults from selection".

[sbe]

Hello!

(coming from this thread):

 

This way of behaving is driving me crazy too… constantly struggling with different settings when drawing a new object or dragging a textbox → it's so tiring and distracts me from my creative work.

 

This behaviour is also dangerous, because sometimes after a few hours I suddenly find out that a slight letterspacing or horizontal font scaling is inside all my new created textboxes. Because this default setting wasn’t visible at first sight. And just because I set it up one day before on a completely different project, doesn't mean that it should be by default on another project.

Preferably, I would like that when creating a new document, the Affinity Factory default settings are always loaded, no matter what was done in another document. OR settings previously intentionally set as user defaults be used.

I am aware, surely there will be some correct procedure to avoid this behavior. However, in the heat of the moment, it will happen again and again because this behavior is not intuitive.

The two buttons with "synchronise default" and "revert default" are not transparent to me in their behavior. Also the possibility about "Edit → Copy" / "Edit → Paste Style" is a good approach, but not yet fully thought out.

Therefore my suggestion:
👉 Pleeeease Serif, release for us soon an all-new "Style Eyedropper" tool! 😌

An all-new "style eydropper" with built-in copy-paste style function would be better and more familiar for the most us users coming from Indesign, Powerpoint, Keynote, CorelDraw… This new eyedropper should not always pick up all object styles at once, but also much more selectively also single text formatting etc.

Best of all the user should be able to decide what attributes are taken over with the eyedropper:

🤩

 

Thank yooouuu Serif, for your great effort, but it's so often the little things…

 

Here is another thread on that subject:

 

[garrettm30]

19 hours ago, sbe said:

And just because I set it up one day before on a completely different project, doesn't mean that it should be by default on another project.

Preferably, I would like that when creating a new document, the Affinity Factory default settings are always loaded, no matter what was done in another document.

I agree that that this "rolling default" can be confusing and even frustrating at times when it seems to take you by surprise.

Not to take away from your general comments, but it may help to clarify this one point: this automatic change in default does not carry from one document to another. You can have two documents open at the same time, make some change in one that alters the rolling default, and that change will not affect the default in the other document or a new document. Each document does indeed start fresh from what the saved default was, whether the factory default (which can be reset using Edit→Defaults→Factory Reset command) or your own default where you have explicitly set Edit→Defaults→Save.

[thomaso]

2 hours ago, garrettm30 said:

Each document does indeed start fresh from what the saved default was, whether the factory default (which can be reset using Edit→Defaults→Factory Reset command) or your own default where you have explicitly set Edit→Defaults→Save.

Do you mean that Edit→Defaults→Save gets saved with a document, – not with the app ?
Or do I misunderstand "start" as "start when re-opened any later time"  and "was" in "from what the saved default was" ?

[garrettm30]

5 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Do you mean that Edit→Defaults→Save gets saved with a document, – not with the app ?

No, that is not my understanding of how it works. Thank you for clarifying. I was answering in regard to this:

 

21 hours ago, sbe said:

Preferably, I would like that when creating a new document, the Affinity Factory default settings are always loaded, no matter what was done in another document.

 

[thomaso]

@garret, sorry I am still unsure what you indeed wanted to say.
So, do I understand right that

"Each document does indeed start fresh from what the saved default was, …"

actually is meant to express

"Each document does indeed start fresh from what the saved default currently is in the moment when the document gets opened, …"  – ?

[garrettm30]

2 hours ago, thomaso said:

So, do I understand right that

"Each document does indeed start fresh from what the saved default was, …"

actually is meant to express

"Each document does indeed start fresh from what the saved default currently is in the moment when the document gets opened, …"  – ?

Yes, I think that is the idea. "… from what the saved default was" = "the current default based on the last time it was saved."

Honestly, I don't think I am saying anything new to you; I am sure you understand defaults at least as well as I do, probably more.

[thomaso]

36 minutes ago, garrettm30 said:

Honestly, I don't think I am saying anything new to you; I am sure you understand defaults at least as well as I do, probably more.

Thanks for clarifying and confirming! – (it helps, even if I sound just finicky)

I will doubt to understand the Defaults feature until I would be able to tell + predict what it does in fact and what it does not in particular.
Since, according to existing discussions, different users seem to make differing experiences, makes it more difficult not to doubt about what I see.
Finally I never can exclude that any new app version would/should have it improved, not all improvements get mentioned in the update lists.
What also confused me was Walt's "like" for this your post, it made me consider that Defaults might work more reliably for him than for others. To me he is often hard to judge because of his exclusively positive mindset concerning the app's quality.

[David Rhoden]

The OP had a good question, and I have it too: why is "Synchronize from Selection" grayed out, and how do make it so that it's not grayed out?

[walt.farrell]

53 minutes ago, David Rhoden said:

The OP had a good question, and I have it too: why is "Synchronize from Selection" grayed out, and how do make it so that it's not grayed out?

If you're experiencing that situation, more details about what you've done, and what you have currently selected, would probably help.