Multiple Layer and Undo/Redo-related Issues.

[SplatSys]

Other users have reported some of the issues I'll be mentioning here, but I decided to make a bigger multi-issue post here, as most of these issues look to be related to layers and the undo/redo functions. I'll list one issue per reply, just to keep things a bit more organized.

Edit: All of these are happening on both my personal HP Chromebook x360 and my school-owned Lenovo 300e Chromebook (2nd Gen). This has been occurring post-October 31st Kleki update but started before December and the most recent (December 9th) Kleki update.

Issue One: Layers randomly disappear when merged together.

This is much easier to see after using an edit tool such as triangle blur, but it happens regardless. It doesn't always happen and can be worked around by duplicating the layer and moving the duplicated layer beneath the original one, before merging. This happens regardless of the merge mode used. When merging layers, one or both layers that were merged are effectively cleared. This causes the resulting merged layer to either have nothing on it or not have features of the upper merged layer. I have seen the layer become empty quite often when using the "Source Atop" merge mode, but it has happened with other merge modes as well.

[SplatSys]

Issue Two: Layers randomly become empty after "Undo" is used.

This one seems quite sporadic and does not always occur. Sometimes using Undo causes entire layers to become empty. Using Redo does not return these layers to their original state, which can cause massive amounts of progress on artworks to be lost. It looks as though using Undo a few extra times before hitting redo can occasionally get the layers back, but I wouldn't say this is a good workaround. I'd recommend doing saves into browser storage quite often and reloading the page if a layer vanishes.

[SplatSys]

Issue Three: Layer suddenly becomes empty after using any other drawing-based tool after the Fill Tool.

Could be related to Issue Two in a way, but I'm not too sure. On occasion, I use the fill tool and switch back to the regular brush tool. The filled area seems fine at first, but once I use the brush tool, it disappears. Pressing Undo seems to get the filled area back and using the brush tool again no longer erases the filled area, however, due to Issue Two, this can be risky.

[SplatSys]

Issue Four: Layers randomly have square chunks erased after using the Undo/Redo tool or merging layers.

Could be related to both Issues One and Two, but I'm unsure. This has happened to me multiple times, and there doesn't seem to be a way to recover the erased chunks aside from reloading and using a previously stored version of the drawing. These chunks always have very sharp lines, as if created using the square or line tool with snapping enabled. The square and/or line tools were typically not in the eraser mode when this occurred.

[SplatSys]

Along with these issues, I have a few more that I've noticed that aren't as severe, but are still quite annoying to deal with.

Issue Five: Drawing tools stop working after the Chromebook's Magnifying Glass key is used.

This is unrelated to the layer issues, but I wanted to bring it up, as it's been happening for a while. On some Chromebooks, there is a magnifying glass key. When pressing that key + V, it brings up your last five copied images or pieces of text. I tend to use this a lot so that I don't have to switch between tabs as often. However, I've noticed that whenever I do this, after adding the images, the main drawing tools no longer function. In order to get them to work again, I have to use ctrl+T to open a new tab, and then go back to the Kleki tab. It's easy to work around, but it's still a bit frustrating.

Issue Six: Triangle Blur tool randomly gaining black, white, or neon blue lines, OR darkening around the edges.

This is VERY easy to fix when it happens, simply by using alpha lock and going over the affected area, but it's quite obnoxious. I've noticed that this seems to happen regardless of the radius used on the tool. Lines that are black, white, or even neon blue will appear on the blurred area. They don't mess up the blur itself, but they're an eyesore and a pain, especially when trying to blend multiple colors. When using lower radius settings, typically below 10, the edges of the blurred area become darker. This is easiest to see by using either yellow or white. It's also easy to fix by using alpha lock over the affected area, but it's still annoying.

Issue Seven: All regular brush tools, excluding the Chemy brush, gain random discolorations, especially when using darker colors.

This is extremely easy to see when using dark, desaturated reds, blues, or purples. I've attached an example below using a purple color. It sometimes fixes itself after pressing Undo, but sometimes requires me to use the Chemy brush on alpha lock to remove the discolored areas.

[bitbof]

Thanks for collecting bugs in one place. 👍 I ordered a Chromebook today. I hope I can reproduce these!

The triangle blur glitch might be unrelated. I've observed glitching before as well. Don't remember in which browser though.

Issue seven (discoloration) is unrelated, and can be observed anywhere, although it's less pronounced in firefox. It's a side effect of only having 8 bit per channel. Just checked in another web drawing tool. There it's not the case, so there seems to be a workaround.

[bitbof]

If you mean this by edges getting darker

This is a side effect of blending colors in the RGB color space. I made the above screenshot in Photoshop.

A workaround would be to offer blending in different color spaces. Which can be a matter of taste. Here two colors are blended in different spaces. SRGB is perceptually noticeably darker in the middle.

[SplatSys]

This is what I mean by the edges getting darker when triangle blur is used. I used white for the sake of visibility, but this looks to happen regardless of the color used. The white in the background and the white used for the blurred area are the exact same white, but a darker edge has appeared around the drawn white. I used a radius of 4 for the triangle blur tool to cause this result.

[SplatSys]

I'd like to mention that it's VERY difficult to see there, so I merged the two layers and adjusted the brightness and contrast. This is the same drawing.

[bitbof]

Oh I see what you mean! Also happens for me in Firefox.

[SnailPerson]

can double confirm, i remember triangle blur darkening edges happening for me also

[bitbof]

Fixed dark edges

[SplatSys]

They're still showing up for me after reloading to update.
First image is before merging and adjusting brightness/contrast (for visibility), second is after.

[SplatSys]

Also just wanted to mention that the little "updated" section at the bottom corner isn't showing the correct date; it's been showing October 31st since that update.

[bitbof]

Try to do a hard reload / clear the cache. You're probably still on the old version.

[SplatSys]

Understood! Let me go save my current drawings and I'll come back.

[SplatSys]

It worked! The darkening edges are also fixed.