Settings

Settings comprise a series of miscellaneous options that are applied across your app. They can be used to set up your own way of working.

Show settings for:

General options
Name Description
Undo Limit Set the number of steps to save as part of the document's undo history. Larger values may affect document file sizes and current memory use.
Autosave Interval In seconds, determines how often to save a backup version of the current document. An autosaved version may be restored in the event of a crash or sudden loss of power (depleted battery).
Language Sets the UI language independently of the operating system. Select from the pop-up menu.
Local network file sharing Enable or disable file sharing on your LAN.
Assistant Options Configure the feedback provided by the Assistant. See Assistant for more information.
Notification Options Configure the feedback provided when interacting with the app, e.g. when changing tool, selecting context toolbar items, and hovering with Apple Pencil (on iPads that support Pencil Hover).
Automatically Update Help When enabled, automatically looks for an updated version of the help online and downloads it.
Automatically Lock Background Layer on Import When importing an image and creating a new document, locks the initial Background (Pixel) layer to prevent it from being accidentally transformed.
Link New Content Categories Choose whether newly created or imported content categories are automatically linked to all Affinity 2 apps on your device.
Import PSD Text as Text (not Pixel Layers) Attempts to import editable text from PSD documents instead of rasterising it.
Prefer to Keep Selection after Delete Choose whether to keep selection after deleting an object. The object below the deleted object will be selected.
Refine HEIC Depth Maps Configures whether depth maps from HEIC iPhone Portrait images have additional resampling applied upon import.
Dither Gradients Adds dithering to gradients to reduce banding. Only applies to the canvas view and not the exported file.
Show Touches Displays a semi-transparent blue 'fingerprint' under your finger tips when touching the iPad screen. Useful for screencasting and screen recording (e.g. for video tutorials).
Cache Screen Updates (Uses More Memory) Enabled by default. Reduces transient screen pixellation issues when zooming or panning around the canvas.
Present on External Displays Determines whether Affinity displays a second, independently controllable document view on an external screen.
Apple Typing Aids Determines whether iPadOS features such as autocorrect and predictive text suggestions are enabled.
Only return safe results for stock image searches Choose whether to apply a safe-search filter while searching for stock images.
Send anonymous usage information When enabled, Serif collects Analytics data related to your device OS, hardware and app usage for continual product improvement. This data is used for statistical analysis. Absolutely no personal information, as covered by data protection rules, is contained in the data collected.
User interface
Name Description
Background Grey Level Controls the greyscale level of the document view's background (behind your document).
Artboard Background Grey Level Controls the greyscale level of the pasteboard surrounding artboard(s).
Left-Handed Mode Reverses the layout so the Studio panels are on the left and the tools are on the right.
Automatically Hide UI When enabled, automatically hides the interface when brushing on the canvas near the sides for a clearer view.
Panning Inertia When enabled, the document view will gradually come to a halt after it is scrolled. When disabled, scrolling stops abruptly.
Monochromatic Iconography Makes icons display in greyscale.
Show Status Bar When enabled, the status bar is shown at the bottom of the workspace and describes the current tool and Command Controller modifiers that can be used with it.
Show Undo and Redo Buttons Displays redo icons in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
Text in Points Display text size in points by default.
Lines in Points Display line width in points by default.
Ask for name when Creating Layers and Groups Choose whether you would like to be prompted to name a new layer or group upon creation.
Show Brush Previews With a mouse or trackpad connected, the option (when enabled) displays a circular preview of the current brush's nozzle; disable the option to hide the nozzle preview if the preview obscures existing page content. When Force pressure on the brush tool's context toolbar is enabled, previews are automatically disabled.
Decimal Places for Unit Types Controls the number of decimal places allowable for each document measurement unit and degree readouts.
Reset to Unit Type Defaults Reverts user changes to app defaults.
Colour
Name Description
Import ICC Profile Import your own ICC profiles from cloud storage to use in Affinity.
Default RGB Profile You can set up your default RGB, RGB32 (HDR), Greyscale, CMYK and LAB colour profiles for use in future documents. Select from the pop-up menus.
Rendering Intent Choose the rendering intent for your images. Select from the pop-up menu.
Choose OCIO Package Tap to pick an OpenColorIO configuration file. See Using OpenColorIO for more information.
Perform OCIO Conversions on Filename Affinity converts EXR documents from source colour space to scene_linear. The source colour space can be inferred by the exr filename's suffix when this option is enabled, e.g. "render_acescg.exr".
Associate EXR Alpha Channels Choose whether to merge EXR alpha channel information to its associated RGB pixel layer's alpha channel.
Postdivide EXR Colours by Alpha Choose whether to divide EXR colour channels by the alpha channel.
Perturb Zero EXR Alpha Choose whether to leave zero alpha information untouched, or, with Post divide EXR colours by alpha enabled as well, for zero alpha information to be altered so post-division with colour channel information can be achieved.
Black Point Compensation Choose whether to apply black point compensation when opening an image.
Convert Opened Files to Working Space Choose whether to convert an opened file's colour space to the working space and also choose whether to warn that this has occurred.
Warn When Assigning Profile to Unprofiled Files Choose whether to receive a warning when a working profile is assigned to an unprofiled image.
Tools
Name Description
Create Text with Blend Gamma Determines the blend gamma value for text objects.
Nudge Distance Spacing in pixels when nudging layers.
Modifier Nudge Distance Spacing in pixels when nudging layers with an active modifier.
Select Object when Intersects Selection Marquee Adds an object to the current selection if the selection marquee partially covers it.
Synchronise Tools Between Documents Makes tool settings persistent between different documents.
Allow Canvas Rotation in All Tools When enabled, a two-finger-rotate gesture will rotate the canvas. This is equivalent to the Rotation option on the Navigator panel.
Touch for Gestures Only When enabled, only your connected Apple Pencil can use tools on the canvas but you can still use gestures. Useful for preventing accidental tool use when dragging your finger on the canvas. When disabled, you have full touch control plus gestures, with or without your Apple Pencil.
Enable View Tool for Accessibility When enabled, allows the user to turn on a View Tool as an alternative to using two fingers to navigate the canvas.
Move Tool Aspect Constrain Toggle constraining behaviour when using the Move Tool to transform and scale layers:
  • Automatic (based on selection)
  • Always constrain
  • Never constrain
Pencil
Name Description
Allow Scribble with Text Tools Allows you to write text using your Pencil into objects created using the Artistic Text Tool, Frame Text Tool and Table Tool. (Scribble must be turned on in iPadOS's Apple Pencil settings.)
Enable Double Tap Allows for the configuration of a double-tap gesture when using an Apple Pencil (2nd-generation). When enabled, double tapping can result in a variety of actions depending on the way the Double tap action setting is configured for each tool.
Show Brush Previews With the Apple Pencil Hover feature, the option (when enabled) displays a circular preview of the current brush's nozzle; disable the option to hide the nozzle preview if the preview obscures existing page content. When Force pressure on the brush tool's context toolbar is enabled, previews are automatically disabled.
Tool Select the tool whose double-tap action you wish to configure.
Double Tap Action Determines what action is taken in response to a double-tap when the tool selected in the Tool setting is active. Choose from the pop-up menu. All tools offer Undo, Zoom to fit, Previous tool and Quick Menu actions. Some tools offer additional actions and tools that you are likely to need in conjunction with the selected tool.
Pressure Use the spline graph to control Pencil input pressure sensitivity.
Fonts
Name Description
Installed Fonts A list of all imported fonts.
Remove Font Select a custom font from the Installed Fonts list, then tap this to remove it.
Import Font Opens a file browser window allowing you to import custom fonts from storage. You can also drag and drop fonts into the Installed Fonts list from the Files app.
Shortcuts
Name Description
Persona Select the Persona whose keyboard shortcuts you want to customise.
Apply to All Personas if Available When enabled, customising a keyboard shortcut for a tool/feature that is available in multiple Personas sets it to be the same in all of them. When disabled, customising a shortcut affects only the Persona selected from the pop-up menu above.
Shortcuts List A list of keyboard shortcuts for many Affinity tools and features. Tap an entry to select and customise it.
Reset Immediately resets the selected tool/feature's keyboard shortcut back to its factory setting.
Clear Removes the selected tool/feature's keyboard shortcut.
Reset All After confirmation, resets all of the selected Persona's keyboard shortcuts to their factory settings.
Linked Services
Name Description
Linked Services Use these options if you use multiple personal devices to edit documents that contain linked resources from cloud storage. See the Linked Services topic.
Content Sync
Name Description
Content Sync Use these options if you work on multiple devices and require your content to be synchronised across. This includes your purchases and created content.
Reset
Name Description
Reset Your Assets, Brushes, Object Styles, Fills and many more features can be reset to factory defaults. Set the switches as required, then select Reset.
To configure settings:

SEE ALSO: