[Solved] Extra-small change -> Extra-large problem

[Aleksandar Kovač]

(Dear moderator, please move this to Publisher bugs forum... and sorry for posting here by mistake)

There is, I believe, an issue regarding linked multi-artboard Designer documents in Publisher. Imagine this situation:

Our designer is using Affinity Designer to create graphics for our printed presentation. In one Designer file she creates one artboard per each graphic and saves that file to a shared folder. 30 neatly named artboards in one file. I am laying out the printed presentation in Publisher. Frames are laid out on spreads and Designer file above is linked. I am using her artboard names to chose which artboard goes in which frame in my Publisher document. Everything is nice and clear. Hoity-toity.

Now, I did not know that just now our designer moved one little tiny artboard in Affinity Designer's layers palette. By mistake or on purpose, the artboard is not on the top of the palette anymore. It is now at the bottom. No artboard names were touched, no content changed. She saved the file. Went out. On my side, Publisher's assistant warns me politely that linked resource changed... oh and how!... none of the frames laid out so far are right anymore! I can see that each frame in Publisher now contains some other artboard from the linked file and not the artboard I wanted... Uncomfortable. 30 frames to edit?...I realized that layer order, rather than artboard name or some universal identifier is what determines what will be displayed when Designer file is linked.

...

My gut feeling is telling me that linking artboards using some UID would be a more rational approach here. That way, artboard's position in layers palette would not matter and even artboard name could change and not totally mess up Publisher document. Or not?

I understand that artboard is a container. With that in mind, a user probably wants a certain container in a certain spot in her/his Publisher document and not e.g. 'container 3rd from the top in Layers palette'... or maybe my approach to this is wrong? Would not be the first time...

[walt.farrell]

Just a comment: this seems like a Publisher issue, involving Designer files. But you've posted in the Photo Bugs forum.

Perhaps a moderator will move it

[Aleksandar Kovač]

Oh, you are absolutely right and I feel so silly for not paying attention and posting in wrong browser tab.

[Pauls]

I've logged that as a bug

[Patrick Connor]

We have made fixes/improvements to this area (Placed designer doc with artboards uses layer order rather than artboard name) of the program in the latest customer beta. If you would like to try these changes the beta software is available in the forum posts listed below.

The latest beta builds are downloadable from links at the top of each of these beta forum posts.

• Affinity Publisher 1.8.0.556 for Windows
• Affinity Publisher 1.8.0.556 for Mac

These betas install parallel, next to the release version (they do not overwrite your release) and so the fixes can be tried in the beta without affecting your normal workflow in the release version.

Once these programs have been through a full beta process the change will be released in a future free 1.8.0 update/patch to all customers. 

[Aleksandar Kovač]

@Patrick Connor, Thank you!

Yes, testing in betas AFP 1.8.0.556 and AFD 1.8.0.2 works beautifully. Renaming artboards is no problem either. Thank you! Shall we rename this thread [SOLVED], then?