History & Versions

Opening History

History docks as a panel, right after Layers in the tab order. Open it with —, from Edit > History, or from the command palette. The clock icon in the status bar also opens it, and badges the number of other branches on the file.

Terms

• Version - one saved state of your file: the picture, the layers, the frames, everything.
• Branch - a line of versions. Your file starts with one branch and gains a new one whenever you draw after going back to an older version.
• Latest - the newest version on the branch you're currently on.

The Thread

Versions run newest first down one continuous rail, each with a thumbnail of the art at that moment and the tool that made the edit, shown as a small icon on its node. The same icon appears on the status bar's version strip and in the branch graph, so a stroke reads the same way everywhere.

Versions are grouped under headers: Today, Yesterday, and a fresh header whenever there's a gap between sessions. The rail runs dashed wherever versions are hidden, either because they're ahead of where you are now, or because the Named only filter is cutting the list down.

Going Back to a Version

Click a version and the whole board goes there at full size: the picture, the layers, the frames, the canvas size, even an indexed file's palette and colour mode. It isn't a preview of that version, it's the file standing on it.

• Arrow keys step one version at a time, with the canvas following each step.
• A strip appears over the canvas naming the version you're on. Its Back to latest button returns you to the newest version on your branch.
• Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Zor Ctrl+Y move you the same way, one version at a time.

Branches

Drawing after you've gone back to an older version doesn't overwrite what came after it. It starts a new branch from that point, and the line you left behind becomes a branch card in the gutter to the left of the rail.

A branch card shows the newest art on that line, so you can tell one attempt from another by looking at it. Click a card to reroute the thread through that branch. More than three branches leave one row and the gutter can't show them all as pictures, so they collapse into a single card with a count; click it to open a list sorted by how recently you worked on each one.

Right-click a branch card to delete that whole line of versions. It's the one destructive action in History, and the toast that follows offers to undo it.

Naming Versions

Give a version a name and it sticks: through a save, through closing and reopening the file. Press — to open History, then click the row you're standing on and name it, or use Name this version… from a row's right-click menu.

• A named version is kept even when older, unnamed versions get cleared away.
• The Named only filter in the panel header cuts the whole list down to just your named versions.
• The command palette can jump straight to a named version by typing its name.

Comparing Versions

A right-click on any version offers ways to see it next to your current work, always read-only:

• Compare with current - opens the version in a pane beside your file.
• Compare with previous version - opens the version right before it, so you can see what one step changed.
• Open in new tab - opens the version as another tab in the same group, for switching back and forth instead of viewing side by side.

You can also Ctrl/Cmd+click two rows in the panel to pick them by hand, then use Compare selected to open the older one beside the newer.

Status Bar Version Strip

Between the undo and redo buttons in the status bar sits a strip of five slots, each showing the tool icon for a nearby version. It slides to keep the version you're standing on centered. Clicking a slot takes you straight to that version, the same as clicking its row in the panel.

On Phone

History opens as a sheet with the same version list, thumbnails and names included. Since there's no right-click, long-press a row to reach its options.