Peter Falkenberg Brown

Hi All, I've been experimenting with exporting to PDFs with pure black text (cmyk: 0,0,0,100) versus rich black text (cmyk: 60,40,40,100). I set a couple of lines of text in each of the values, for comparison. When I print to a Brother laser printer from within AP, the rich black is vivid and sharp and the pure black is grayish with visible dots (like newsprint) under a 5x magnifying glass. => However, when I export that page to a PDF (PDF/X-1a:2001 or PDF/X-1a:2003), it looks like the rich black is downgraded to pure black and when I print from the PDF, there's virtually no difference. This is perhaps not important or relevant for inside black text pages, but for black on covers, I would think it would be important. Checking the box for Overprint Black made no difference with the PDF's black quality. I've tried it with the color space set to Gray/8 as well as CMYK. No difference. Am I missing something? Thanks, Peter Brown

Dear Callum, Walt, and Thomaso, Callum, my second point wasn't really a question---thanks! Walt and Thomaso, your answers are SO helpful!!! Thank you! They're exactly what I needed! Peter

Hi Folks... I couldn't find a way to do these things, but I'm hoping there is one. I deleted all the unused fonts in a document in Affinity Publisher, but some styles are left that I don't remember using. So, I'd like to be able to click on a stye or search for a style and find out which paragraphs in the document use that particular style so I can apply a different style to that paragraph and eventually delete the unwanted style. I also think part of the problem might be that over time, as I copied one book document to the next (to save time), my styles may have inherited their attributes from parents styles that I no longer use. - If I edit a style and select "Based on No Style" I'm under the impression that the style will lose whatever was in the parent style. Is there a way to detach a style from the parent and keep all of the definitions? Thanks! Peter Brown

Dear NaulisJakke, I understand your position too. 🙂 I don't have a problem with users reminding Serif about their great need for footnotes. I need them, too, a LOT. I'm just hoping that the users of this fine forum who feel that frustration can remember that Serif is on their side. Thanks for your understanding! Peter

@NaulisJakke, I did NOT post my remarks to stop people from speaking. I simply tried to point out that for one thing, as you may note, this thread is 25 pages long and a LOT of the posts are from people who don't seem to have even skimmed the previous pages. That issue alone gives rise to seemingly endless repetition. But the main issue for me was exactly as I wrote: the level of hostility and blame toward Serif was over the top in my opinion. So, as I said above, I felt like I had to offer a different opinion: one that was supportive of Serif's hard working crew. In the process, I used words like "get over it," because, well, aren't we all adults? (Who knows, maybe there are people on the forum who are under 18.) But at least we should try to behave like civilized adults, with courtesy and *balance*. And if we really don't like the product, we can walk away. Or, just have PATIENCE. 🙂 Patience is a good thing. Just think how the Serif programmers feel when they read SO many posts that are confrontational, hostile, and sometimes nasty about their work AND their motivation, as if they were "evil people who didn't care about the customers." It would make me quite depressed to read that, over and over, after trying to do my best. I'm a customer, so I offered a different view. You can still have your view. I just hope that we can take a breath and understand that Serif is not trying to abuse or misuse us. I'm going to assume that they're genuinely trying to do their best. Why would I assume otherwise? It's also good to remember: I only paid $49 for AFPub. Forty-Nine Dollars! 🙂 That's Really Inexpensive! So, I'm grateful to Serif. I hope you understand my position. Thanks, Peter

Sure, Garrett. Not a problem. Part of my motivation was to let the folks at Serif know that they are truly appreciated for their work, their products, and yes, their price point! It's a bit depressing, I think, to have people banging on and on and on and on about the same topic, especially if one has already responded with a "Yep, we're working on it," and *most* especially if the comments are rude and hostile and filled with blame. Since I'm a programmer, I can empathize with Serif's crew. I also have NO desire to multiple nastiness in any shape or form, so I'll not be "going back and forth" on this topic. I just wanted to stick up for people who are giving us a great---and soon to be even greater---product. Peter

@NaulisJakke, I'm utterly flabbergasted that you brought the concept of hate speech into a technical discussion forum. First: I'm a strong proponent of courtesy, kindness, love, and politeness. Second, I'm a strong proponent of Free Speech, and believe that way too many people are caving in and running away from anyone who accuses them of hate speech. Too many people abjectly apologize, out of fear, when they usually have said nothing wrong. That way lies totalitarianism. For the record, my comments were appropriate and I have nothing to apologize for, in regards to those comments. Thus, I do not apologize. My post started with this line: "I'm astonished at the level of aggressiveness, hostility, and complaint toward Serif because Affinity Publisher doesn't have footnotes." Note that I pointed out the unpleasant behavior of "aggressiveness, hostility, and complaint," and by extension, suggested that our dialogue here should be on a higher level. I've noticed that a great many people who yell about "hate speech" spend a great amount of time being very aggressive and even hateful toward others, usually with the goal of *shutting them down*. Which is the feeling I'm getting from you. You're unhappy that I defended Serif. At least you seem to be. Let's be clear: * Disagreement is not hate speech. * Suggesting that others are out of line because THEY are aggressive and hostile is not hate speech. I'm going to say it like this, Naulis Jakke: your suggestion that my comments were hate speech is unjustified and frankly, to be blunt: ridiculous. Peter Brown

@Radek K, funding is indeed an issue. I'm a programmer, and if you want a product you have to pay programmers, so adding features means more hours and more money. AFPub is a complete rewrite of PagePlus, and AFPub is quite new. Plenty of time to add the feature? Well, you'd have to do an analysis of Serif's budget, staff allocation, and entire work flow, which includes writing Affinity Designer and Photo. You're focused on blaming Serif, as if they've done something wrong. They have not done anything wrong at all by releasing AFPub without footnotes. See my post above. It's THEIR choice, their software, their company. They can do whatever they want. As customers, we have the freedom to buy the program or walk away. I'm grateful for their programs --- a LOT, and recommend them actively to my designer friends. You're obviously peeved. I'd recommend walking away. You'll be happier, I suppose. There's simply no justification for "blaming Serif." It's misplaced, a total waste of time, and creates a toxic environment. Peter

Hi @BofG, Thanks for your response! I've ordered a proof from Amazon, so we'll see what happens. I think my Brother laser printer is way off, in any case. Thanks again, Peter

Hi @BofG, Thank you for your response! I believe that the printers (Amazon and Ingram) recommend PDFs in the PDF/X-1a:2003 format, which I believe converts everything to CMYK. Also, I just noted that when I printed the file from within AFPub, to a Brother color laser printer, the output was way too green. I saw the same thing when I converted the file from RGB to CMYK via a website that converts files. The CMYK output was too green. But, when I view the final PDF generated by AFPub, on my screen, the file isn't too green. The only noticeable difference is the more vivid pink in her cheek. Aarrgghh. Color management is not yet my forte. Peter

Hi All, I'm using the latest AFPub on Win10. I have a high res photo (jpg) of a painting that I'm using for a book cover. ("The Soul of a Rose," by Waterhouse.) Since I'm creating a book cover (for Amazon KDP and Ingram Spark), I'm using the CMYK color space in AFPub. The original JPG file is using the sRGB color space. * In XNView, in the original file, the pink color in the woman's cheek is delicate; not harsh. * When I link to the file in AFPub, and view it in AFPub, the pink is stronger; not as delicate. * When I export the cover to a PDF, the color is still harsh. I export the PDF with PDF/X-1a:2003, which is recommended for book covers. Somehow, it's not translating properly when I link to it and bring it into AFPub. Any thoughts? The difference is subtle, but it's still important. Here are 3 screenshots: - the original jpg - the image in AFPub - the exported PDF Thanks! Peter Brown

Hi @wezlo... you're welcome! Peter

I'm astonished at the level of aggressiveness, hostility, and complaint toward Serif because Affinity Publisher doesn't have footnotes. It all seems quite misplaced to me. Here are possible alternative scenarios: * Serif withdraws Publisher from the market until footnotes/endnotes are ready. * Serif raises the price of Publisher to match Adobe's products, and with that extra revenue (assuming anyone paid the fees) hired more programmers to get footnotes done more quickly. * Serif puts a huge, red-letter note on AF's web page that says: "AF Doesn't Have Footnotes! Be Warned!" I don't like any of those scenarios. I'm very grateful that Serif has: * Produced a relatively fine and useful product for only $49. Wow. I'm a programmer, and I'm used to complexity, and I find AF refreshingly easy to use. I just published one book with it, and I'll be publishing my second one in a week or two. One very large improvement from PagePlus (with which I published a book as well) is automatic section heads. With PagePlus I had to create separate master pages for section heads and it was an annoyance. And yes, I want footnotes (and especially endnotes) too. But there are some workarounds. I posted one in this forum, to wit: produce your endnotes in a word processor, and paste the text into AF. Yes, it would require hand editing of any additional endnote changes, but at least endnotes can be done this way. I'm planning on that, if AF doesn't have them by the time I need them. => So, here we are, with Affinity Publisher quite useful to many, at a Very Good Price Point. Yay! Go Serif! I'm GRATEFUL. And then we have what seems like an endless stream of people who: a) don't read the forum posts that demonstrate that the footnote issue has been reported ad nauseum and thus, Serif is *working on the issue*, and b) attack Serif for daring to publish a product without a feature they want, without making some type of huge headline on their web page that screams "Don't buy this if you need footnotes! Our product isn't professional!" Frankly, it's ridiculous. Get over it. Don't buy the product if you don't like it. Don't use it if you don't like it. Read up about the product before you invest $49 and any time in it. It's a no-brainer. Some products don't fit our needs. C'est la vie. We all have the freedom to enjoy AF or not. What's the point in endlessly complaining and attacking Serif for an issue that's already noted and is being worked on? Does it make a complainer feel better? For the rest of us, it's boring and irritating. So, thank you Serif for what you've done and are doing! Ignore the noise and know that a lot of us are grateful for your work. Peter Falkenberg Brown

Dear Walt, Yes, interesting. Doncha just hate bugs that are intermittent? I copied a book document that I had previously created, and then deleted most of the content, edited some other pages, and then pasted in about 100 pages of text from a Word doc. I then formatted those pages, which then became 250+ pages. Then, having saved that afpub doc, I got to the point where I deleted all of the pages except page one, and then hit shift click, which brought in the content that had previously been saved. So, I don't know if there's something in that hidden content that identifies it as master page right. I don't know how Publisher is storing its data when you delete the pages. It obviously keeps the *content* of those pages in its file, and restores it into "pages" when you shift-click. As a programmer, but not knowing how Affinity stores data, it would be my presumption that the data I stored isn't "clean," but has some type of left-over marker that confuses the master page process. Just speculating... Peter

Dear Walt, In fact, I *did* do as you described, more than once, with linked text frames on the master pages. Same result. I linked them by: - clicking on the left master page text frame's arrow on the bottom right - double clicking on the right-hand master page to bring it into the editing window - clicking on the center of the text frame in that right-hand master page. Note that I only started with document page one, which has a right-hand master. Would it have worked differently, if I had started with page one and two? Thanks, Peter

Dear Walt and Bruce, Thank you very much for your responses! I went through a number of iterations of tests, and this is what I ultimately landed on: * The linked text frames on the master pages are not necessary. The lack of them made no difference with the steps below. * The Facing Page spread makes all the difference, and with that selected, the shift-select on page one imports all of the pages into the correct *text frames* -- i.e. with the left page and right page text frames positioned correctly. After testing with master page text frames (linked correctly) and without, there was one behavior that consistently happened, to wit: *** All of the imported pages still received the right hand "B" master page. * However, I then was able to right click on the left-hand "A" master page and select "apply to all even-numbered pages," and then everything was correct, i.e. the left pages had a correctly margined left-hand master page that matched the correct position of the text frame. So: I think this qualifies as a bug, i.e. the text is imported into the correct *frame position* but all the pages have the right hand "B" master page applied, which is incorrect. Fortunately, that last step of applying master page A was a quick fix. And now it all works, except for that one bug. I think this deserves a) a bug fix, and b) a write-up somewhere explaining the steps. It might exist, but I couldn't find it, and spent over 2 hours on this last night. Does the write-up exist anywhere? Thanks again!!! Peter

I tried to link them by shift clicking on the left and right master text frames, but I don't think I did it correctly. Is there a specific operation that will link a frame on the left master page to the text frame on the right one? Thanks, Peter

Hi Folks.... I am royally stuck. I'm working on a book, using Publisher 1.8.5.703/Windows. I created two master pages: a right-hand page (B) and a left-hand page (A), with inner margins wider than the outer margins. I created a doc with text frames in the doc (not on the master pages). I'm NOT using facing pages spread. (I tested this problem with facing pages, but it made no difference.) I pasted a long Word doc into a spot in between some pages, and after a while discovered that some of my pages were all using the *right-hand* master page. So, I've repeatedly deleted all the pages except page one, and then set page one to use Master Page "Right", and then shift-clicked on the red arrow to flow in my document (that is already saved internally in the publisher file). It consistently uses the right-hand Master Page for all 300 pages. I tried applying Master Page Left to the even number pages, and it did that correctly, but then the imported text frames were not positioned correctly (they were too far to the right). * I was hoping that the shift-click import would automatically use the right hand master for the odd-numbered pages and the left-hand master for the even-numbered pages, but it didn't. I tried creating text frames on the masters, but the shift-click on document page one ignored them. I thought I had this figured out a while ago, but I couldn't find any notes (I ran into it before), and I've searched the forums for over an hour, with no luck. * I don't want to have to move each left-page text frame by hand, and it seems like this should be an operation that automatically works, on a shift-click import. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 🙂 Peter Brown

I'm not suggesting that people shouldn't talk about footnotes and endnotes. I'm just suggesting that at the very least we can be respectful and polite toward the Affinity company staff. No one is forcing anyone to buy the product, and the product has many good points, in spite of the lack of footnotes. Also, new forum users should at least skim the thread of now 22 pages so that they can see what's been discussed already. Peter

Dear Affinity Staff and Programmers and Users Too, I have a few thoughts about the "Footnotes" thread. * To the Affinity Staff and Programmers: THANK YOU for making your programs available at a price point that is ridiculously low, but with features that have still enabled me to publish books and other things too. I am grateful for your products and thus, for your work. 🙂 * Of course we need footnotes and endnotes, and I'm very sure that the Affinity staff have gotten the message loud and clear (REPEATEDLY) and are working on it as fast as they can. * Some of the comments I've read here are quite unnecessarily rude and even hostile or demeaning to Affinity. But those writers, and others, think about this: Affinity is providing a program (in Publisher) that is quite excellent, in spite of some missing elements, for a Very Low Price. If you're impatient, go back to Adobe and spend more. But there's really no call to be nasty or rude. In other words: "It is what it is." If you're so deeply unhappy with Affinity Publisher, move on. Otherwise, stay with Affinity Publisher and at least give the company and their crew moral support and send them good thoughts. That will help them *program faster.* 🙂 Just my two bits. Peter Falkenberg Brown

I just emailed Affinity directly, asking them about this issue, and they responded with this: So, it seems that they are indeed aware of the need. I suggested that they should post a note about this in the forum: not sure if Patrick's note was initiated by them. Thanks, @Pyanepsion! I also wish that Publisher had footnotes, but in my opinion, it's still the best game in town, compared to all the other alternatives, assuming that one doesn't want to spend the monthly fees on InDesign (I don't). Peter

Dear Garrett, I love it when other people create regular expressions, because, even though I'm a Perl and PHP programmer focusing on web database applications (https://datavarius.com), my brain freezes into a block of ice when I look at RegEx code. To me, it's kind of like looking at raw Postscript code. It takes a special kind of person to love it. 🙂 So... thank you! It worked for me! For the sake of documenting the process, for anyone interested, these are the steps I followed: * I positioned the cursor where I wanted to start the search * I hit the Text/Find menu * In the Find data field, I pasted your code: (?<=[[:alpha:][:punct:]])[0-9]+\b * I clicked on the gear icon next to Find and selected Regular Expression * I clicked on the gear icon next to Replace with and selected the Format option * In the Format dialogue box, I selected "Position and Transform" * In the box on the right I selected Superscript and clicked Okay * The word "Superscript" then appeared under the Replace field ? I wonder if there's a code we could type into the replace field to denote superscript rather than go through those hoops? * I then hit find and it accurately prompted me, and replaced the two samples I had, with superscript formatting. => It would be great if we could save this as a macro, but I don't see anywhere that Publisher has macros. Thanks again, very much, for putting that regex together! I think that combined with my earlier posted method of pasting in HTML with the endnote numbers, this might be a relatively painless way to insert endnotes and change the formatting to superscript. Footnotes on individual pages are more complex for pasting the actual footnotes, but your regex would change the numbers inside the text in both cases. Peter

You're welcome, Pat! Peter

Hi Garrett, That would be a great thing to do. But it might be a wee bit dicey because the variables involved do not have clear limits, e.g. word2\s word3\r\n word4— word"5 and probably many other combinations besides. And, I'm sure there are cases where you'd have a number next to text that is NOT a superscript, e.g. scientific_text75 Of course, if the search and replace was prompted, where you could hit next, that would help a lot. If someone figures that out, do make it available! 🙂 Peter

Hi Pat, and all, I posted this back in January. It's not perfect, but it *is* a way to paste text *with* footnote/endnote numbers, and then past the footnotes or endnotes as a block. Note: Publisher has a key combo for changing a selected number to a superscript: ctrl+shift+=. === Hi All, I've just moved from PagePlus to Affinity, for a new book I'm working on. I'm VERY grateful that Affinity Publisher is finally out, and has a future. I've read many of the comments about footnotes, and of course I agree. I'm actually using endnotes, created in a word processor. Copying essays from a word processor has been a pain, because things like italics are lost (using "paste as plain text"), unless you want to hassle with having to change all of the styles after pasting the content. But also of course, the footnote / endnote numbers are lost completely. However, I've found a decent workaround to preserve the endnote / footnote numbers: In my word processor (I use Libre Office Writer and also TextMaker (part of SoftMaker Office) I save the essay as an html file. Then, I pull the html file up in my browser and simply copy and paste the text. All of the numbers in the text are preserved and copied. Using html, the endnotes at the bottom of the essay can also be copied, with numbers intact. (I haven't tried footnotes, but I imagine they'll work as well.) Unfortunately, the in-text numbers lose their superscript style, so that has to be added, but at least the numbers don't have to be inserted. Of course, I realize that these numbers in the text are not dynamic, but I think it's better than having to insert them all. Anyway, it's a bit of a workaround. Peter Brown