AffinityAppMan

Thanks for the reply!

That’s what I was afraid of.
So most vector brushes are for lower end work that don’t require printing at large sizes?
Why even bother with them, unless you are printing small or the web?
I was under the impression that vector work was supposed to be math based and look good at any size.
Is this not true?
 
 

I agree,  it is very misleading to call these vector brushes.  Vectors are resolution free that can be used at any size without lost of quality.
This makes vector brushes in AD obsolete in most cases.  Not good if you are running an illustration or graphics company that requires real vector brushes to achieve many looks.
 I don't think AD vector brushes should be called "VECTOR BRUSHES" if the vector capabilities are not there when it comes to independent resolution at any size.  That's what VECTOR is.
This is very disappointing  

That is correct, but these "Vector" brushes are a PNG image (raster) along a curve. I think it is misleading to call brushes used in draw persona vector brushes when they most certainly are NOT it is a raster brush you can bend.
A vector brush utilises a vector file, so to mirror Adobe Illustrators method, it would require an afdesign file with vector objects as the texture, then it could be called a vector brush. I'm not sure why this hasn't been implemented. Making brushes from a selection of vector objects so everything is in-house so to speak would certainly make brush creation much easier.
It needs work, sooner than later.

Thanks. I'll keep an eye for the updates.

Greetings,
I wonder if you can help me with an Affinity Photo or Designer issue with the PSD file format.
 
I have the need to have other apps to open PSD files when called for an external editor to make changes and save.
I tested the settings by making Affinity Photo and then Affinity Designer as my external editor of choice, but the PSD “layers content” keeps getting deleted when I save the file from within Affinity Photo or Designer.
 
Take this one example with an animation app that I use to create characters with PSD file layers. I have to use the PSD format so that the app updates my characters properly.
The app is called “Cartoon Animator 4”.
 
WITH PHOTOSHOP CS6
When the animation app opens the PSD file in Photoshop CS6, all layers remain intact after my updates to the file and I hit save. When the PSD file gets updated in my animation app, all layers are there including my changes. Everything looks very good as it’s supposed to, since all I am doing is working with the PSD file and saving it.  Nothing difficult.
 
 
WITH AFFINITY APPS
However, when the animation app opens the PSD file in Affinity Photo or Designer ( when I use any of these as my preferred PSD file editor ), all layers look fine when it’s opened in Photo or Designer, until I save it.  When the PSD file gets updated in my animation app, all layers contents are NOT there, except for the one on top of the group. The layers content that were there got DELETED by AP or AD.
 
Can this be a big bug in Affinity Photo and Designer with the way it handles PSD files?  I am hoping it is a fixable bug. I really don’t want to go back to Adobe products. I haven’t used or opened Photoshop CS6 in two years and I thought I already made the full move to affinity products, but now, I don’t know what to think.
 
Please see attached screenshots demonstrating what is happening.
 
Thank you in advance for your help!
 
Best regards,
Bill
 
 
 
 

We really need an Image Trace feature in Affinity Designer.  This will bring a lot more people from Adobe Illustrator to Affinity Designer.

Hi Jan Gaare,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
We do have plans to add a tracing tool assuming we are able to get the output quality we are aiming for. Meanwhile there's quite a few utilities you can use (some of them quite good) to trace images. You can then open the result file in Affinity and work from there.

I too would like to see a link to any info related to this "heavily in the works" native Mac version. I have heard that there have been a few people working on that for many years, but to date it remains vaporware.

As a user who experimented a lot with vector graphics over the years, I find it might be helpful for others for me to share the differences between Illustrator, DrawPlus, Designer, and CorelDraw. A lot of you might be unfamiliar with one or more of the programs. There are things I like about each and things I do not like. Onur has decided to help out in giving me background to CorelDraw since that is one I am unfamiliar with.
 
I will explain why I prefer certain programs and why I don't prefer them with the features that I find most or partially helpful. Here are 26 I came up with.
 
Last Updated (1/27/2017)
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 
Flood Fills
Being able to add fills to unclosed shapes (overlapping regions)
Illustrator: Yes, but fills cannot be added to weight variations, brush strokes, or effects DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No CorelDRAW: Yes Artboard Tool
The overall canvas which can be resized manually or multiplied
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus: No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Nested Layers
Layers that can be expanded to reveal the paths within
Illustrator: Yes, but sublayers will cause each layer to be expanded when the file is open (CC1 & below) DrawPlus: Yes, but sublayers cannot be added, and paths and groups cannot be hidden or locked Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Pencil Path Continuation
Being able to continue a path from its end point with the pencil tool
Illustrator: Yes, but sharp corners or sensitive handling will cause the shape to delete or change form DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No, but it will be added in 1.6 CorelDRAW: Yes Fast Loading Effects
Effects such as inner and outer glows, shadows, feathers, and blurs
Illustrator: No, They take far too long to load depending on the amount (sometimes 5 minutes) DrawPlus: Yes Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Image Tracer
Converting a picture into vector artwork
Illustrator: Yes, but it takes far too long to load depending on the size (sometimes 5 minutes) DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No CorelDRAW: Yes Rounding Single Corners
Creating round corners to a single corner as oppose to all corners of a shape
Illustrator: Yes, (Updated) DrawPlus: No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes, but not as simple as Designer Transparency Tool
Adding a fade effect to objects
Illustrator: No, but there is one for InDesign? DrawPlus: Yes, but it only works on single objects or groups Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Fill/Stroke Switcher
Switching the color of your stroke to your fill or fill to your stroke
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus: No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: No Pixel Tools and Layers
Having pixel tools and layers available
Illustrator: No DrawPlus: No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: No Pasting Inside
Being able to paste clipboard selections into objects
Illustrator: Yes (Updated) DrawPlus: Yes (Updated) Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Replicate Tool
Being able to make duplicates of an object by resizing its bounding box
Illustrator: No DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No, but a replicate feature will be added to 1.6 CorelDRAW: No Customizable Vector Patterns
Ability to change the size, rotation, and skew form of a pattern fill while its selected
Illustrator: No DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No CorelDRAW: No B-Splines
Creating B-spline curves enabling the nodes to be in an outer fenced area
Illustrator: No, not in CS6 and below at least DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No, but it has the Smart Curve Pen Tool CorelDRAW: Yes (Updated) Smooth Gradients
Having to easily create gradients, then rotate and resize them easily
Illustrator: No, You must use the Gradient panel resulting B/W first, then adjusting it is not user friendly DrawPlus: Yes Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Smooth Type on Path
Having to easily create type on a path, and then being change the path's size or shape
Illustrator: No, Changing the size and shape was made a lot more difficult than they needed to be DrawPlus: Yes Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Over 1,000,000% Zoom
Able to zoom into your drawing over 1,000,000% zoom size
Illustrator: No DrawPlus:  No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: No Pixel Preview
See what your vector drawing would like like in pixels
Illustrator: Yes (Updated) DrawPlus:  No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Realistic Brush Presets
Brush presets that that look natural
Illustrator: No, there are several brush presets, but they are all flat DrawPlus:  Yes Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: No Lots of Shape Tools
Having a variety of shape presets to choose from
Illustrator: No, a total of 6 in the latest version, and live shapes weren't introduced until CC DrawPlus:  Yes Designer: Yes, and excellent manipulation for the cog tool CorelDRAW: Yes Redraw Paths
Able to redraw a selected stroke
Illustrator: Yes, but it can change the form that was not altered DrawPlus:  Yes, but it can be tricky to figure out Designer: No CorelDRAW: No Indicators
Indications of which tool, swatch, path, or other options are selected
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus:  Yes/No, no indication on swatches, paths, or effects Designer: Yes/No, dark indications on tools are hard to see with the dark background CorelDRAW: Yes Eyedropper on Select
Copying a color while an object is selected to change the selected object to that color
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus:  No Designer: Yes, but it cannot copy the other properties CorelDRAW: Yes Vector Eraser Tools
A tool that erases vector objects and maintains its quality
Illustrator: Yes, but it changes the shape's proportion DrawPlus:  Yes Designer: No, but there is a pixel eraser tool CorelDRAW: Yes 3D Extrusion
Turning flat objects into 3D objects, and then rotating them in a 3D perspective
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus:  Yes Designer: No CorelDRAW: Yes Full Boundary Selections
When objects are selected with a complete close from its selection box and not partially selected
Illustrator: No DrawPlus: Yes Designer: Yes, and partial selections can be used as well if adjusted in the preferences CorelDRAW: Yes   
If this is very helpful to people, then I will update this list as progress moves forward. I hope this helps.

There is no automatic tracing in Affinity Designer I'm afraid. This is something that may be added in a future version
 
C

In fact, I may be very dumb but I wonder if this would be something that Serif would be interested in incorporating (if that's even what an API is!) https://www.vectorizer.io/api/

LOL, I actually forgot about Adobe until I had a need for a Distortion, Warp, or Perspective distort for a vector project I am working on.  I never realized I would miss them that much. I am very surprised that Serif has not incorporated these features by now. 

I also have a Photo, but the layers get rasterized. I need to keep them vector.
thanks for the suggestion.

Any Distortion, Warp, or Perspective distort features soon?  This year?  Any date release?  I need to know if I need to change apps.
What is everyone else doing to get around not having Distortion or Perspective distorts in Affinity Designer?
Any tips?
 
 
 

No need to do anything more! I've passed your concerns onto development and mentioned that is has broken your workflow with Cartoon Animator 4!

Thanks for the reply Sean.  This is very disappointing. I was really hoping to brake away from Adobe products.
i hope this gets resolved soon. Do I need. To summit or post this somewhere else to expedite the fixing?
 

LOL, I actually forgot about Adobe until I had a need for a Distortion, Warp, or Perspective distort for a vector project I am working on.  I never realized I would miss them that much. I am very surprised that Serif has not incorporated these features by now. 

Sorry but we have no plans to offer SWF export. Flash is in terminal decline due to it's horrific security story.  I would ask the developers of CrazyTalk to implement a more modern file format.

Finally, we will be getting an auto trace vector app on the iPad. 
vectornator x auto trace Feature in August 2019
i hope it works well
https://webgram.life/p/Bz0qaapCw17
 
Keep an eye on this page
https://vectornator.io/
 

Finally, we will be getting an auto trace vector app on the iPad. 
vectornator x auto trace Feature in August 2019
i hope it works well
https://webgram.life/p/Bz0qaapCw17
 
Keep an eye on this page
https://vectornator.io/
 

1+ for publisher on iPad.
 
Will start studying design in about 3 months and it would be great to have an iPad as a secondary device that I can work on otg, instead of having a laptop since I would primarily use a mobile device for sketching and presentations.

+1 for Affinity Pulisher on iPad Pro
Pleeezee

+1 for Affinity Publisher on iPad as well. Already got the Mac version (pre-ordered), but will migrate to iOS (iPadOS) during 2019. 

+1 for Affinity Publisher on iPad. That would be outstanding. So ready to cut the cord with Adobe...

Publisher on the iPad would be an instant purchase here as well. The iPad Pro is my platform for Graphic Design.