@vectorstyler FWIW, this plugin is open source so would be easy enough to check out what exactly it looks for: https://github.com/yanone/speedpunk/

@shomnipotence said in What framework does Visual Studio's UI use? Does it include default maximize, minimize, and close buttons?: Is it possible to embed the native three main items into the top right corner? Or use a Win32 title bar (which would mean a separate menu bar). Is is possible to use the Windows title bar, but it looks awful for this UI. There are a number of other apps that added custom icons for this (Affinity, Spotify, etc).

got a copy of Rebelle made a video here how panel hiding in Rebelle is working

@VectorStyler yes, I agree the snap option for art board works just fine for VS. I love the snap option in VS for moving a line to be similar to another close by! I don't think I realized it could do such magic! That said, I still think the line angle lock is a cool feature I'd love to see in VS at some point when possible - just my vote and opinion

@VectorStyler thank you - yes, if I turn on snapping, it will close the path as expected. I did notice however, it does not work as well on non-circle results like I was demonstrating. If the shape is not a circle, even with the snapping on, it will not join together properly. here is a video showing this In the video, I also show how it would be helpful if the snapping would show the midpoint of the path nearby in this case right below it so I could make my node centered if I wanted to. Does this go against the principle of the tool? Because I understand it's meant to be an on the fly adjustment as you work not necessarily technical. Even as a general option for all plotting tools - it would be handy to have snapping indicate when you are at the center point of a nearby path. it works in VS when there is already a node there to represent that spot like in this video The end of the video cuts to the open source "Graphite" where it allows for that kind of thing

@VectorStyler Thanks, appreciate it.

It’s actually a great idea; I didn’t realise it was implemented in any apps yet. It moves past that old-school "pulling levers on a factory machine" style of usability as the only way of doing things. I’ve looked into it briefly; it’s not (yet) a macOS system default as such, but it’s definitely become the gold standard for Mac apps recently. Apple’s been pushing this "empty state" logic in their latest frameworks, so while you have to code the double-click interaction yourself, it’s what users may expect from a modern macOS app soon. For instance, it’s already implemented in Apple’s new Pages, Numbers, and so on. I assume it makes sense given all the touch devices currently out there and those yet to come. I do wonder, though, how on earth anyone is supposed to discover it exists. But then again, I know I grew up with that old-timer menu loyalty, whereas the coming generations will be interacting with their software physically and verbally. Note: Canva is currently rolling out AI integration in Affinity and Canva, so you can, for example, tell it to "rename all layers" and the day is fast approaching where AI can rename every layer based on a qualified guess of the content (and I'll use THAT feature instantly). Classic clicking and menus might soon be rebranded as "Classic Architecture Mode."

@William-Kansepa The current version bugs are posted in the Bugs section. The 1.2 beta bugs had a separate section because there was a 1.2 beta while 1.1 was still the current version. There was no 1.3 beta, but I should have cleared the Bugs section from older bugs (will take some time).

@Boldline said in Arrange order icons - more intuitive and clean option?: the "arrange order" icons in Affinity seem more intutive to me than what we have in VS and it looks cleaner: I like the VS solution better and faster to use. In my opinion, even icons are clearer in VS.

@vectorstyler, thank you so much!

@JET_VS Not really. Are there some examples for this?

Not only is it useful, I use it all the time because it is so easy to use, easy to remember is there and often I have the pointer next to it anyway thinking I have blank pages available and want to jump to them, but no, this is the last page - and then it is a no brainer to press the same next button to add the page or pages. It is a workflow smoother.

@ZATOPEK a couple things to consider when comparing noise effects : Affinity adds a white noise on a pixel basis (each pixel value seem independent of its neighbours), it is not a grain effect or 2D noise where neighboring pixels would have correlated values. document size in pixel will influence greatly the size of the noise "particles". A smaller document will have bigger noise particle size in relation to vector shape, than the same noise applied to the same shape on a higher resolution document Affinity rendering engine is very well optimized for fast rendering of multiple layers and uses dynamic image resampling based on display zoom. So, relative noise size will change as you zoom in and out. This can confuse you in thinking you have large noise grains at low zoom settings. But when you zoom in, you see the noise gets smaller and smaller same goes for exporting. If you export at low resolution, you will get large noise grains. If you export at higher resolution, you will get smaller noise grains. Noise grains are one pixel always a way to get a more accurate view in both AD and VS is to switch from vector to pixel view mode. You will avoid the display oversampling at high zoom settings. AD's noise in color chooser is smart and very easy to use, but it lacks configurability. On the other hand VS White Noise image effect is less immediate, but offers much more configurability (experiment with different noise types - random parameter, limit, amount, blend type ...) and you can get all sorts of variations. On SVG export, both AD and VS need to rasterize the noise into a clipping mask as noise is not a standard SVG attribute. [image: 1774688327207-scr-20260328-iyhh-resized.png]

To make the idea clearer, I’ve put together a visual overview that highlights the key behaviors and interactions of the tool. This idea comes from observation rather than direct experience, so there might be some flaws in the logic, but I believe a similar behavior could still be worth considering. The idea was also influenced by VectorStyler’s strong snapping system it made me wonder whether a form of tangent locking could exist within a similar logic. [image: 1774530197045-vectorstyler-feature-idea....png]

@VectorStyler Intelligent Line to Curve Conversion I will add this to the backlog. Can you send me a few before / after examples for this? Here is a short GIF showing the behavior. It allows moving straight segments without creating curves, preventing accidental distortion. Curves are only introduced intentionally using Alt. This behavior is currently possible by selecting multiple nodes, but the goal here is to allow direct segment selection and manipulation with a single click. Especially when shapes overlap, selecting the correct nodes can be difficult. With this behavior, you can directly select the segment and make adjustments more easily. https://imgur.com/a/hfikSNx

Over the past few days, I combined the features I suggested in separate posts into a short GIF. https://imgur.com/a/YKifKbA

@VectorStyler Well... VS is already a DTP, not much difference between it and DTPs out there. The only issue is that people is not using it as DTP so it need some polish on it. But it looks with powerfull possibilities.

@Boldline In the Colors tab there are the Dimming Color and Opacity options

@Boldline said in Could locking a layer free up VS to only render and focus on active layers?: it will essentially tell VS to see that selection as an image and not try to render and re-render the nodes each time I work on other parts of the file? Yes. Is there a time I should leave it off or turn it off at a given point? It can be too slow if there are only a few vectors in the layer. It works better for large number of (unchanged) vectors, gradients or image effects Should I be adjusting anything with the "rendering thread"? Let that unchecked, so it will use the current number of CPU cores on the system