Affinity Designer 1.9 New Features

| 30-04-2021
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Selecting objects in a design can be tricky with complex documents, so Affinity 1.9 provides some powerful new selection methods that enhance your ability to experiment and work faster.
Designer

Identifying layers

Layer names and colour tags help you to pinpoint items in the Layers Panel. Previously, selecting layers of the same name or colour has been a manual and potentially long process, but with Affinity 1.9 for desktop it takes just a couple of clicks, enabling you to make changes to many objects in seconds.

  • Affinity Designer's core functions include vector pen and shape-drawing tools, support for custom vector and raster brushes (including the ability to import Adobe Photoshop (ABR) brushes), dynamic symbols, stroke stabilization, text style management, and vector/pixel export options.
  • Eight More New Features in Affinity Photo 1.9. Posted on October 15, 2020 by admin. Here’s eight more new features currently in the beta version of Affinity Photo 1.9. Version 1.9 at the time of recording this was in Beta, which you can get to via the forum (Help/Support) or here. Getting Started with Ad Designer.
  • Affinity developer Serif released version 1.9 of its apps, a major free update that offers a series of features, including a new persona for astrophotography that will appeal to night sky photographers.

ctrl-click (Mac) or right-click (Win) on a layer and choose Select Same Tag Colour or Select Same Name. The layer on which you do this must not be part of a multiple selection.

Download Affinity Designer for Windows PC from FileHorse. 100% Safe and Secure ✔ Free Download (32-bit/64-bit) Latest Version 2021.

Layer names are also important for another of Affinity 1.9’s new selection methods, which is covered a little later in this article, where we’ll explain how to strike a balance between the required effort and resulting reward.

Selecting by attribute or object type

Affinity Designer 1.9 takes the concept of selecting objects with a shared attribute even further. Its Select menu contains two major new features: Select Same and Select Object.

To use the former feature, start by selecting a single object that has a specific quality you want to change, for example, its fill colour, stroke weight, or blend mode. Next, choose that attribute from the Select > Select Same menu to select all objects that match the object’s setting.

To use the latter feature, choose an object type or description from Select > Select Object. For example, you might want to select objects that are open curves, are artboards, or have constraints applied. Whatever might be selected beforehand has no impact; it’s overridden by the resulting selection anyway.

You can watch video demonstrations of these and other new Affinity Designer 1.9 features in an earlier article.

Selecting objects nested in groups

Prior to Affinity 1.9, selecting nested objects in the Document View involved double-clicking a group to select from within it—and even more double-clicking to reach items nested several levels deep.

This is still possible in Affinity 1.9, but there’s an alternative method that might help you to more rapidly select a nested item.

In the Document View, select the group that’s your starting point, and then hold ctrl+cmd and click (Mac)/ctrl and right-click (Win) on the group. A shortcut menu will appear, listing everything that’s inside the group.

Nested groups are represented as submenus, enabling you to dig deep into a complex design without having to repeatedly double-click. It takes just one more click to select an item, no matter how deep it is.

Upon selecting an object from this menu, its layer is revealed in the Layers Panel, so you can add other nearby objects to the selection if needed.

Naming layers—and keeping it manageable!

The shortcut menu for selecting nested items might seem awkward when many layers have the same name—but don’t give up on it just yet. If you don’t have time or inclination to name a lot of layers, name your groups instead.

By doing this, you need only select a group from the menu. As with an individual object, the group is revealed in the Layers Panel, where you can refine your selection with the assistance of layer thumbnails.

Selecting hard-to-reach objects

Affinity Designer 1.9 New Features

In a complex document, selecting a group in the Document View might seem impossible if other layers are in front of it—for example, one that is semi-transparent, enabling you to see the object you want but not directly select it. A couple of solutions to this were available even before Affinity 1.9.

In any Affinity desktop app, hold opt (Mac)/alt (Win) and click within the required object’s area. The foremost object is selected, but repeating the action will instead select the next object back in the layer stack. If what you’ve selected is unclear from the Document View then, once again, glance at the Layers Panel to confirm.

As an alternative in Affinity Designer, select View > View Mode > Outline to see a wireframe view of your document. Using the Move Tool, select an object by clicking its outline, or hold shift while clicking to select multiple objects.

Affinity Designer
Developer(s)Serif Europe
Initial release1 October 2014; 6 years ago
Stable release
1.9.3 / 13 April 2021; 8 days ago[1]
Operating systemmacOS, Microsoft Windows, iPadOS
Available in9 languages
English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Russian
TypeVector graphics editor
LicenseProprietary
Websiteaffinity.serif.com/designer/

Affinity Designer 1.9.2

Affinity Designer is a vector graphics editor developed by Serif for macOS, iPadOS, and Microsoft Windows. It is part of the 'Affinity trinity' alongside Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher. Affinity Designer is available for purchase directly from the company website and in the Mac App Store, iOS App Store, and the Microsoft Store.

Functionality[edit]

Affinity Designer serves as a successor to Serif's own DrawPlus software, which the company discontinued in August 2017 in order to focus on the Affinity product range.[2] It has been described as an Adobe Illustrator alternative,[3][4][5] and is compatible with common graphics file formats, including Adobe Illustrator (AI), Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Adobe Photoshop (PSD), Portable Document Format (PDF), and Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) formats.[6] The application can also import data from some Adobe FreeHand files (specifically versions 10 & MX).[7]

Affinity Designer's core functions include vector pen and shape-drawing tools, support for custom vector and raster brushes (including the ability to import Adobe Photoshop (ABR) brushes), dynamic symbols, stroke stabilization, text style management, and vector/pixel export options.[5][8][9]

Affinity Designer provides non-destructive editing features across unlimited layers, with pan and zoom at 60fps, and real-time views for effects and transformations.[10] It supports the RGB, RGB Hex, LAB, CMYK and Grayscale color models, along with PANTONE color swatches and an end-to-end CMYK workflow with ICC color management, and 16-bit per channel editing.[11][9]

Development[edit]

Affinity Designer began as a vector graphics editor solely for macOS. It was developed entirely from scratch for this operating system, allowing it to leverage core native technologies such as OpenGL, Grand Central Dispatch, and Core Graphics.[12]

The first version was released in October 2014, making it the first of the Affinity apps to be released by Serif (and their first macOS release).[13] At that time, Serif's vector graphics application for Windows was DrawPlus; however, following the release of Affinity Designer for Windows, this product has now been discontinued.[14]

Affinity designer update

Version 1.2, released in April 2015, introduced new tools and features, such as a corner tool and a pixel-alignment mode for GUI design tasks.[15] In December 2015, version 1.4 then introduced new features for managing artboards and printing.[16] With version 1.5 in October 2016, the application received multiple new features, including symbols, constraints, asset management and text styles.[17]

The application began branching out to other platforms in November 2016, when it first launched for Microsoft Windows.[18]

Version 1.6 was released in November 2017, introducing performance improvements and alternative GUI display mode.[19]

The first release of a separate iPad version of Affinity Designer took place in July 2018.[20]

Version 1.7 was released in June 2019 adding some key features such as HDR support, unlimited strokes and fills to a single shape, new point transform tool, new transform mode in Node tool, Lasso selection of nodes, new sculpt mode added to pencil, and also some big performance improvements.[21] Version 1.8, released in February 2020, added the ability for users to define their own document templates and keyboard shortcuts, and a built-in panel for adding stock images.[22]

Reception[edit]

Affinity Designer was selected as a runner-up in Apple's 'Best of 2014' list of Mac App Store and iTunes Store content in the macOS app category.[23][24][25] It also was one of the winners of the 2015 Apple Design Award.[26]

In 2018, the Windows version of Affinity Designer won 'Application Creator of the Year' at the Windows Developer Awards (part of Microsoft Build 2018).[27]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^'Affinity Designer for Windows - 1.9.0'. Affinity Forum. Retrieved 2021-02-04.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. ^Ogunjobi, Anino (2017-08-10). 'Digital Craft: Serif discontinues its Pageplus, Drawplus and Photoplus designing software to focus on its(Serif) new Affinity range of Professional graphic design software'. ANINO. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  3. ^'Why I Use Affinity Designer Instead of Illustrator for Motion Design'. School of Motion. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  4. ^'Affinity Designer vs Adobe Illustrator CC 2018 Comparison | FinancesOnline'. Financesonline.com. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  5. ^ ab'Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: can Designer replace Illustrator? - 99designs'. 99designs. 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  6. ^Martin, Keith (November 27, 2014). 'Serif Affinity Designer'. Expert Reviews. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  7. ^'Import and export file formats - Affinity Designer Help'. affinity.help. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  8. ^'Affinity - One Year Review'. Cargo Creative. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  9. ^ ab'Affinity Designer - Complete Feature List'. affinity.serif.com. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  10. ^'Illustrator rival launches on Windows'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  11. ^'Graphic Design App 'Affinity Designer' Launches for iPad With Apple Pencil Support'. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  12. ^'Serif releases free alternative to Adobe Illustrator'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  13. ^'Affinity Designer is a new graphics design suite available for Mac'. iMore. 2014-10-02. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  14. ^'Digital Craft: Serif discontinues its Pageplus, Drawplus and Photoplus designing software to focus on its(Serif) new Affinity range of Professional graphic design software - ANINO'. ANINO. 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  15. ^'Affinity Designer gets first big update'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  16. ^'Top new features in Affinity Designer 1.4'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  17. ^'Affinity Designer 1.5 released | Webdesigner Depot'. Webdesigner Depot. 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  18. ^'Affinity Spotlight - Photography, Design & Illustration'. Affinity Spotlight.
  19. ^'Affinity Photo 1.6 released: faster processing, new features, and free stuff'. DPReview. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  20. ^'9to5'. Twitter. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  21. ^'Affinity Designer and Photo for Mac updated to version 1.7 with multi-GPU and HDR display support'. 9 to 5 Mac.
  22. ^Benjamin, Jeff (2020-02-26). 'Affinity Photo, Publisher, and Designer updated to version 1.8'. 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  23. ^Spencer, Graham (December 8, 2014). 'Apple Posts 'Best of 2014' App Store and iTunes Store Lists'. MacStories. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  24. ^May, Tom (December 10, 2014). 'Affinity Designer is number 2 Mac app of 2014'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  25. ^Calimlim, Aldrin (December 8, 2014). 'Apple announces the App Store's Best of 2014 for iPhone, iPad and Mac'. AppAdvice. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  26. ^Panzarino, Matthew (June 8, 2015). 'Fantastical 2, Workflow, Robinhood Among Winners At Apple Design Awards'. TechCrunch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  27. ^'Windows Developer Awards - Build 2018 - Windows app development'. developer.microsoft.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-08-14.

Further reading[edit]

Affinity Designer Workbook. Nottingham: Serif Europe Ltd. 2016. ISBN9781909581036.

External links[edit]

Affinity Designer Current Version

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