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JDW

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Everything posted by JDW

  1. JDW
    Matt, as you can see, I posted that question back in July 2015 and no one gave me the courtesy of a reply. I am enthusiastic about the Affinity apps, which is why I bought both of them. But I must say I don't use them very much because of unanswered questions and unimplemented features that I deem important. I even bought both of their books! I would be overjoyed if things could change though, not only for my own personal benefit, but for the benefit of every Affinity app user worldwide. Don't let this hold you back from asking questions in this forum though. Serif needs a pounding (a cordial and intelligent pounding, of course) to get the ball rolling in the right direction. If they want to capture more customers from Adobe the solution really is simple. All they have to do is start answering questions from Adobe users and implementing their feature requests. And I'm of the strong opinion that it shouldn't take 3 or more years to do that. Best wishes!
  2. JDW
    Serif, are you listening? Should it take 3 years? (Answer: of course not.) So please take 3 hours to code it in for us. Surely that is all it would take an experienced programmer.
  3. JDW
    Mike, as per your own catch phrase, I shall "train" you... When someone speaks positively about a feature like I did, the probability they actually use that feature is quite high! :-) It doesn't matter if Illustrator's PDF format is "not the best." When you've used that feature for years without a single hiccup why do something else that unnecessarily complicates the workflow? As stated in my previous post, saving to an Illustrator file, then generating a PDF, then when changes are needed... edit the Illustrator file, save it, generate the PDF again -- it's all rather tedious and ridiculous, especially when you have hundreds of PDFs on a local server merely being used by people in an office to print. That's why I think Affinity Designer would benefit by adding that feature, UNLESS AD's Export Preset "PDF (for export)" is provided for that purpose (about which you did not comment). And that is precisely why I have not yet submitted a Feature Request because I am awaiting a reply from someone knowledgeable at Serif who knows the answer to that exact question. Thanks.
  4. JDW
    It should be obvious by reading my query that I do use that feature, and I will continue use it regardless of whether other people use it or not. How do I use it? I create a large number of PDF files and place them on a local server for employees to merely double-click and print (people who have no design ability at all). I then can edit them as the need arises. No need to keep the original Illustrator file in that case. Keeping the original Illustrator file, editing it, saving it, and then creating another PDF is a ridiculous amount of extra work that is totally unnecessary and completely eliminated by that excellent feature. That's why it exists and that is why I use it. No doubt I am not alone. And in this usage case, it does not matter at all if the resulting PDF file size becomes a bit bigger as a result.
  5. JDW
    Why is it that Affinity Designer does not have the same setting as Illustrator when exporting a PDF? Or is that what AD's Export Preset "PDF (for export)" accomplishes?
  6. JDW
    For now it's easier to use Illustrator because Serif still doesn't give us that most basic of all functionality. In illustrator it's a laughably easy two-step process: 1. Select the box tool and then click once on the page so a dialog box appears that allows you to set the exact width and height you want. 2. Go to the appropriate menu and simply place your crop marks. There's a preference setting that lets you choose if you want Japanese crop marks or not. It's that easy. It should be that easy in Affinity Designer. Here's yet another way to do it in Illustrator: https://youtu.be/9-R8NT5nNtM
  7. JDW
    The only reason I can see that Serif is NOT yet catering to users of Adobe apps as much as they should be (in terms of filling much needed feature requests that would enable the bulk of Adobe users to finally make the switch) is that Serif is juggling too many balls at once. They apparently are trying to kick out the equivalent of InDesign (a publishing app), and as we saw at WWDC, they've clearly spent a lot of time on iOS apps too. I think it's great they are trying to be a complete replacement for Adobe, and even exceeded Adobe in terms of being the first company to come out with a really decent iOS app -- seriously, Affinity Photo on iPad is shockingly good and doesn't foolishly dummy down the feature set like just about every other iOS app out there does. But at the same time, there are still many Adobe users on the fence waiting. Once Serif has committed itself to kicking out the feature requests of Adobe users in this forum, they will surely see a tsunami wave of switchers, happy to rid themselves of that hated Adobe subscription model once and for all. With that said, today's news said this... "Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O) reported a profit that topped market expectations for the ninth straight quarter on strong subscriber growth..." I simply cannot believe that growth includes "happy customers." I think it includes people who feel "there's no better option right now." Serif needs to continue to work hard on making its software "the better option." And for some people, it is right now.
  8. JDW
    Thanks, MEB. You answered my question perfectly!
  9. JDW
    I watched the Apple WWDC keynote and found AP for iPad amazing. Nothing else on iOS compares! While watching your video tutorials today, I paid close attention to object removal. Please jump to 1:57 in the following tutorial video: Notice how the woman is nicely removed but the left-corner edge of that L-shaped gutter has vanished and looks very wrong. In Photoshop there is a Clone Stamp Tool that helps one to manually fix things like that (restoring content beneath a removed object). Is there an equivalent Clone Stamp Tool in Affinity Photo for iPad? INPAINTING is very easy to use and is a good tool in many situations but not all. In the specific case of removing that woman, a clone stamp tool used by hand would make the removal nearly undetectable and allow you to retain the content shown between her arms. Thank you.
  10. JDW
    Thank you. I'm happy to oblige.
  11. JDW
    SrPx, The stabilizer feature you wrote about already exists, so there's no reason to defend it. Furthermore, I was not saying that feature needs to be removed. Obviously, there are some that you simply don't understand what this discussion is about. Thankfully MEB does understand, as per his previous post. This discussion is about how to add a feature that is missing in Affinity Designer but which does exist in Adobe Illustrator for good reason. It's absolutely silly to say we only need certain tools when designing while implying we don't need comparable tools at all when repurposing art.
  12. JDW
    I just tried it. I must say, that "pull-string" approach to drawing is rather intriguing. However, it is no substitute for a tool or menu command that smooths/simplifies paths as can easily be done in Illustrator. Why? For reasons I've already stated. Sometimes you want to REPURPOSE EXISTING ART. Your new tool only helps when CREATING NEW ART. I want the means to open an old file I created or a file somebody sent me or a file I downloaded from the net and then simply the paths, akin to what Illustrator can do. I hope that's clear!
  13. JDW
    I actually want to join you reveling in all that fun, but I must first wait for the "easy to delete a node" feature. The lack of important features in Affinity Designer strongly attenuates my otherwise fun-filled personality! :(
  14. JDW
    That takes just as much effort as pressing the delete key on the keyboard (which happens to correspond to that menubar command). It should be even easier than that because Illustrator makes it easier than that. That's my point.
  15. JDW
    Mike, I reside in Japan and we print CYMK flyers in A3 and A4 format, we design packaging, we design stickers, we design... Well, we design a lot of different things. And we always use Japanese crop marks because if we don't the people we send the data to will complain. And I also get requests for Illustrator file data, with Crop Marks, from dealers who want to mod our existing designs and then professionally print the designs themselves. The only time I do not use crop marks is when a shop wants an RGB PDF to print themselves on their inkjet printer. So while things may be different OUTSIDE Japan, things that are required here are what matter when doing such work here. And since the Japanese economy is nothing to treat flippantly, companies like Adobe build Japanese crop marks into their app. It's only logical Affinity Designer should do the same, even if it could be argued that "the rest of the planet isn't like that." And there you have it.
  16. JDW
    I would be pleased with that too, although it would not be a complete feature unless it also after smoothing for existing art. Why? Because sometimes you want to repurpose art. Some vector art may be very jagged and you want to smooth it. In Illustrator doing that is easy. Not equally as easy in Affinity Designer, hence my previous posts on the subject.
  17. JDW
    Thanks for the hack... ahem... "workaround," Mike! :-) Honestly, anyone who sends CYMK designs off to a professional printer uses crop marks. In Illustrator, you simply sketch a rectangle and click Effect > Crop Marks. (Whether or not to use Japanese crop marks is a Preference setting.) And boom! You're done. Want to resize your rectangle in Illustrator? No problem. Crops are repositioned automatically! Japanese Crop Marks are better than normal crop marks because they are very precise and offer a lot design guidance, as shown here: https://www.antennahouse.com/xslfo/img/PrinterMarks.png I don't want to build those by hand for every size rectangle imaginable; hence, it is only logical that a TRUE Crop Mark feature be built into Affinity Designer. It makes little sense to offer CMYK features without also offering Crop Marks. They really do go hand-in-hand.
  18. JDW
    Affinity Designer (AD) is not the same as Illustrator insofar as AD offers a Pixel Persona. Reminds me in some way of Deneba Canvas 3.5.x which I absolutely loved back in the day. Illustrator is very much a vector only app even though it allows some rasterization. As such, due to the presence of the Pixel Persona, a Magic Wand Tool is only logical.
  19. JDW
    Yes, I know. But that extra work doesn't make me all fuzzy inside. It's faster in Illustrator when you have dozens of objects to modify because there is no "reset to square corners" step. Anyway, thank you!
  20. JDW
    Aha! Now that is elusive! Note to self... Click the "transparent node" ... the "transparent" node... "transparent"... I repeated it 3 times so hopefully I can remember that! :-) Thank you!
  21. JDW
    Thank you for the tip. There is one caveat, however. Your tip does not work on objects which already have rounded corners (and I don't mean "baked" corners either). Try it. Sketch a rectangle. Choose the "Corner" popup in the info bar atop your window and choose Rounded. Then choose the Corner tool and try your tip -- you can't. This caveat matters little when you are designing your own rects. But if you receive an AD document from someone else with objects that already have rounded corners, you cannot round multiple corners via your tip. In Illustrator though, this is no problem at all (unless corners are baked).
  22. JDW
    To round individual corners one need only untick "Single radius" in the info bar at the top of the window. But how do we select 2 or 3 corners and round them at the same time (to be the same radius)? This can be easily done in Illustrator. Thank you.
  23. JDW
    In Photoshop it's easy to copy or move fx from one layer to another. I can't figure out how to accomplish that in Affinity Designer though. Try this: 1. New document in Affinity Designer. 2. Sketch 2 rectangles on the page. 3. Give 1 of them a drop shadow. You should then see the white "fx" mark at right on that layer. 4. Try moving that "fx" to your other rectangle layer. You can't. 5. Hold down the Option key and try copy the "fx" to your other layer. You can't. 6. Right-click on "fx" and see there is nothing directly applicable to "fx" If there is no feature to accomplish this important task, please consider this a feature request. Thanks.
  24. JDW
    Thank you, Mike! For those of you who find this thread seeking specifics... Affinity Designer > Preferences > Tools > ENABLE "Select object when intersects with selection marquee"
  25. JDW
    Let's say I do this: 1. Place an EPS graphics in Affinity Designer. 2. Use Transparency Tool on the graphic to make part of it transparent (a gradient). How do I UNDO that action later on? Sure, I can eliminate it by pressing CMD-Z numerous times (loosing all my other work in the process). But I don't see how to eliminate that added transparency when I look at the Layers palette. I see the transparency on my layer, but I don't see how to zap that transparency into oblivion. If it was added as a separate layer, it would be easy to delete the transparency, but it isn't. It merely displays in the layers palette. How do I delete a transparency I added to an object via the Transparency Tool? Thank you.
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