CPC

Mandu, Is this what you are seeing? It was saved first as a 4bit BMP with no dithering (in paint.net) and then re-loaded and saved as a jpeg to attach here. Perhaps your monitor is the problem as you suggest. Regards, Carl

I've been following this thread and have an additional question... How are you going to print? The concern for accurate measurements suggests printing to paper labels. I have been printing my CD/DVD labels using a Canon PIXMA iP4850 which came with its own simple design and print program. As Affiniity doesn't seem to offer any option for printing direct to disc I'm experimenting with the following workflow -- [1] prepare my design in Publisher, [2] export as a jpg image, and [3] print this to disc with the Canon program. Using the image as a 'background' simplifies the final step as a background image is by default imported at full height. I chose a 300mm square page but could have done it 1000mm equally well as the actual dimensions don't really matter however many the decimal places! :-) The trial design is a number thin outline transparent circles, identified by text on path dimensions, aligned horizontally and vertically on the square page. The exported jpg image was loaded into the Canon printing program as the background image for the CD. The scan of the disc shows the full page width 300mm circle just fits the disc though close examination indicates that I'll need to make a small print offset correction in the Canon program. My next task will be to remove many of the circles and change the text to be more useful reminders eg 'outer limit' and 'inner limit' and perhaps add a few layout lines. This project will be a template for all my CD/DVD discs. The circles etc can be deleted before export or simply hidden in the layers studio. I find a print to an A4 sheet is useful as I often sketch out my initial design ideas with pencil on paper.

Sharp corners are available from the rectangle's stroke menu.

I've had similar problems but found there are quite a few sites that can analyse bitmap images you supply and return a list of 'matching' fonts. For example https://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ or https://www.fontsquirrel.com/matcherator .

MJCphoto, I assume you are using Affinity Photo, thought the same for the others... I'd suggest checking that the layers studio is activated in the 'View' drop down menu as shown attached. Alternately, if there are too many studios active the one you want may be hidden in the clutter.

I used a similar approach to closely match a company letterhead. In this case I stacked artistic text layers with varying drop shadows rather than strokes.

I've had a quick look and think your problem is that your curves aren't joined. EDIT: Quick, but not quick enough! Others have answered as well but I'll continue as I prepared a screen shot which shows the problem.

Thanks for that tip! It's solved one of those 'I'm sure it worked before but why doesn't' it this time?' mysteries.

AndyQ, You need to select the 'Add...' option as shown in the attachment. NOTE: This choice, as are some others, is persistent -- it stays selected even if you use other tools in between.

TdB, I suspect that you need to activate the text frame menu which may be off by default -- otherwise the stroke and color options reference the text not the curve. Go to the top menu [View] >> [Studio] >> [Text Frame]. In the example attached I've made the curve dashed yellow but it can now be made invisible by either zero width or color black to match the background as you have tried. Regards, CPC

WJC, Drop Shadows are just a click away, IF the relevant menu has been added -- go to [View] >> [Studio] >> [Effects] to activate it. For each effect you choose a sub-menu appears with options for fine tuning. Sorry I can't help with your other questions. Regards, CPC

JENERATIONZ, Here's some ideas to get you started: Start by using the Artistic Text tool to create that you want to say in your choice of font and size. In Designer you have a 'Styles' menu entry for a variety of effects that can be applied to artistic text or other shapes. The 'Effects' menu can do the same but you have to select several individual effects (bevel , 3D, bevel etc). A single click on the 'Frost' choice gave the result shown in the top example. The lower example is an identical (copy and paste) with the addition of a bitmap using the 'Fill' tool from the left side. Fill can be applied so a single image covers the text or, by adjusting the handles that will appear, you can tile you text with multiple smaller versions. Check out for more! Regards, CPC

Another basic way to get something like what's wanted? An advantage is that the path shape is converted to curves, not the text which remains editable. (Arial Black in this example)

Callum, Thanks for the welcome! Just starting out and freely admit I've not watched all the fine tutorial videos. Curious, is this image clipping to text effect documented anywhere? All I've found in the Publisher help file for colored text is reference to the swatches. jmwellborn, Glad you like it. Playing further I find that artistic text stroke can add a border. Try different joins and aligns.

Karenq, A small suggestion: Use the 'Layers' tab from the right side and you can make specific selections including single members of a group.

When you use the Artistic Text tool to add text to your path the stroke and color settings relate to the text -- as you have observed. Go to [View] > [Studio] > [Text Frame] to add this function to the menu and now you can make the path disappear -- stroke =0 and no fill. Perhaps the update changed the text frame default option to 'off' ?

Have I discovered a new feature in Affinity Publisher? Help on 'text on a path' indicates that the path can be drawn using any of the line or shape tools. I find that a picture frame works as well but in an unexpected way. If the picture is placed in the frame first then adding artistic text produces not black text above the picture shape but rather the text become colored by the picture and the picture shape disappears from the page.