Designer 1.7.0 crashes when trying to open

[MSmith]

Designer just stopped working altogether with the 1.7 update. I use this program frequently and have a lot of artwork with it. How can I get it to open?

[MEB]

Hi MSmith,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Where did you bought Affinity Designer - in the Mac App Store or Affinity Store? and how did you update it? Do you still have the Affinity Designer.app file in the Applications folder? What happens when you double-click it?

[MSmith]

I purchased Affinity Designer v1.1.2 from the Itunes store on 3/10/2015, Order ID: MGSTT7BMWJ.  It auto updates, and has been successfully doing so since I installed it. The app is still  in the applications folder. When I double click it I get the "Unexpectedly Quit" window the the standard Ignore, Report... buttons.

I read the other post about 1.7 crashing. I did what was suggested there, renaming the folder 'com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner' to 'com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner.old'. I double clicked the app and it opened, but all of my settings etc. are gone.

[fde101]

3 minutes ago, MSmith said:

all of my settings etc.

This is because the settings are stored in the folder that you renamed, so Designer no longer sees them and had to create new ones from scratch.

[MEB]

Hi MSmith,
Do the following: delete the newly created com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner folder. Duplicate the old one (the one you added .old to the end) and remove the .old part of the duplicated folder. Now press and hold ctrl while launching Affinity Designer until a Clear User Data dialog appears. Keep the first three check boxes ticked (only) and press Clear. The Preferences settings will still be lost but whatever you have added to the program (assets, brushes etc) should be available again. Let us know how it goes.

[MSmith]

I did as you said. The Clear User Data window came up, the first three boxes checked, and I pressed Clear. Unfortunately it still does not work.

[Sean P]

Hi MSmith,

Could you zip up and attach a copy of the com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner folder please? (or the .old one if you still have it). I have a feeling it is down to an issue where Designer will crash if it tries to load some Texture Vector Brushes with no textures. I've provided you a dropbox link below that will upload it to our internal Dropbox account:

https://www.dropbox.com/request/kgK0Zo7doEqLOcdaQOw2

[MSmith]

zip file sent

[Sean P]

Thanks for the files MSmith,

I can confirm this is indeed the same crash as I mentioned. There are several vector brushes without any images. If you delete the current 'com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner'  and rename the com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner.old' to 'com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner'. Once done, go into that folder and then into \Data\Library\Application Support\user\ and replace the vector_brushes.propcol file with the one attached. You should then be able to run 1.7 up.

vector_brushes.propcol

[MSmith]

That worked. Thank you very much. I love this product. I have used Designer for several years over several projects and it is still an integral part of my work flow. I appreciate your efforts.

[Sean P]

Not a problem! Glad you're back up and running.