Cailean

I have a couple of weird issues with Publisher. First one I can live with, is that after closing a file I've been working on and opening a new blank page, the closed file very briefly appears for a minute second and disappears. It's like a ghost image appearing for a brief nano second. It's not really a problem, it's just weird. The second issue, I'm finding annoying and frustrating and only recently happened. I may have pressed something, I don't know but it happens all the same. I'll try to explain this best as I can. Let's say I select say for example text and alter the leading and the colour and the font and size of the font and type everything on the page. Once finished with that selection, the leading, colour and everything else I've selected remains in place for the next selection and doesn't return to it's default settings, meaning that I have to spend time altering all these settings for every new text frame that I put on the page. The same happens with shapes, lines and everything else. How do I get Publisher to return to its defaults with everything new that I select?

Thank you too and I agree that this has been a very interesting discussion. I also came from a PagePlus background, having used and loved the software from its original "Tiger" logo version, right up to X9. I also came from an Aldus Pagemaker background, which became Adobe Pagemaker and then Adobe made Indesign. Because of these programs I got used to having quickly applied presets which I could use as a start point and tweak if required. It's interesting for end users and informative for the software developers to have discussions like this, even the opinionated ones. It's how we learn and develop, and it's how the software developers learn and develop for future upgrades. Thank you to everyone for their contributions.

From my initial question asking for the location of the drop shadow effect in Publisher, this has turned into a very interesting discussion with lots of different views. Debate is healthy and informative and the reason why many forums exist. Also if we have concerns over a product, whether good or bad, the developers will be able to take these on board for future uodates, which again is a good reason for debate. Thank you everyone for your input. I've picked up a few useful tips.

Very good, but the one I did quickly was poor compared to the others and this is why I didn't include it here. This is no reflection on CorelDraw, which is kit that I've used for years and rate highly. I just didn't have enough time to include a sample that would do it justice.

Your comments are aggressive and quite honestly uncalled for. I asked where to find the drop shadow tool in Publisher, a very valid question. This thread has become a discussion too and it's welcome to get everyone's comments and feedback. This is what forums are for. As to the software I have, that is my business. I also have a very large kit of tools as I couldn't do a job using only a hammer. I suggest you go and take 5 minutes out and retrieve the toys you've thrown out of your pram.

Here are 3 examples of a drop shadow effect, two are presets in Adobe Indesign cc 2019 and Serif PagePlus X9, and the third example is the outer shadow effect after I manipulated the settings. Both the Indesign and PagePlus presets are excellent and all I had to do was select the preset and it was applied to the text instantly. The same preset could be used in any future document without having to save it. With the Affinity Publisher outer shadow effect, I had to play around with the settings, and these settings could not be saved as a preset for future use. I also had to zoom in and enlarge the text to complete the task. The only example I didn't include was the one from CorelDRAW, which was very poor compared to the others. At a push, I'd say that Pageplus X9 gave the most pleasing effect and there were lots of additional options available if I wanted to tweak the settings further. In any case the presets were far quicker and easier to use. Be aware that these examples are screenshots and are not of the same quality that they would appear in the software that created them.

There is nothing wrong with the presets for the effects in Pageplus and in indesign. Click on the effect and you immediately see how it looks. Quick and simple, and the presets are there for use in any document. There will be a great many Pageplus users, myself included who have bought Affinity and miss the pre set templates and ease of use. Too much fluffing about now in effects and the end result is not as good either. How do I change the measurements from pixels to millimetres in effects?

I managed perfectly fine in Pageplus and again in Indesign with drop shadow. Occasionally all I have to alter is the opacity settings. The effects in Publisher are pants and there's no live preview until you move a slider.

As well as the effects in Publisher being a pile of tat, shapes in Pageplus were far better with the multi sliding handles they had that allowed the user to quickly and very easily alter a shape. Publisher is trying to be indesign and with its advertising, indesign users are its prime target. No subscription only £49.99 being the marketing blurb against the Adobe monthly subscription plan. In doing so they have forgot their primary users, who used Pageplus for years, users that wanted powerful software that was above all else very easy to use. Unfortunately I don't see myself dumping my Adobe Indesign subscription anytime soon and I have to use both programs. The other annoying omission is the lack of being able to import Pageplus files into Publisher. I have thousands of files that I either continue to use in Pageplus or import as PDFs into Publisher. Not ideal considering all the listed file formats that Serif are advertising that Publisher can support, even including their competitors Adobe. They should have concentrated on an import filter for their own products first.

It would help if Serif just restored the Drop Shadow effect to its original, instead of all the fluffing around we now have to achieve it. Pageplus effects were much better and much faster.

"but outer shadow gives a offset effect". Which is not comparable to a drop shadow effect in indesign, Pageplus or any other software. If it was, it would be called Drop Shadow and not Outer Shadow. It only gives fairly comparable results if you manipulate the settings. A true Drop Shadow effect doesn't require any manipulation of the settings, so it's not the same in any way.

I am aware of that, but I was giving my reply to the answers given here to my initial query.

Using the settings in Outer Shadow, I've settled on the ones in the attachment below that I can live with. It's a lot of fluffing about for what is a basic effect and standard in every other software that I use, which are Pageplus X9, Indesign and Illustrator CC 2019, and CorelDraw 2019. They are NOT the same. Outer Shadow applies a shadow effect to the EDGES of the graphic. Drop Shadow applies a shadow effect that is OFFSET to the graphic. I suggest that you refer to the Affinity Publisher Help for an example and verification of this. To achieve a Drop Shadow using Outer Shadow requires manipulation of the settings, while applying a dedicated Drop Shadow effect directly to the graphic does not. The end results are not visually as good either. The effects in Publisher need work for a future update. This is constructive criticism and you must be prepared to listen, and not just toe the company line or improvements wanted by end users will not be made. I also miss gridify from Indesign and several other basic features. Publisher is good, but in my opinion still has a little way to go yet until it becomes a viable replacement for Indesign. Thank you to everyone for your help with my query, which is very much appreciated. I hope that my settings below for a Drop Shadow effect may help someone out. These settings can of course be tweaked further if required.

In Pageplus and in every other graphics application including indesign, drop shadow is a separate effect from outer shadow. It appears that the Publisher developers have ommited it and it would be interesting to hear why. There once were issues rendering drop shadow in Pageplus up to version 9 and would only allow RGB and output was poor. The effect was rewritten to allow spot colours I believe. I wonder if it's not been included in Publisher due to Publisher being completely rewritten and the drop shadow code has not.

Thanks, but it would be far simpler to have a drop shadow effect rather than using Outer Shadow and having to adjust the settings. Moreso if these settings have to be reapplied on every document.

Thanks Dan. It's unbelievable that such a fantastic piece of graphics kit doesn't have a drop shadow effect! Ok, I know that I can use the outer shadow effect and mess around with the settings, but messing around with the settings to achieve a basic effect like a drop shadow is inefficient in otherwise fast software. I'm sure I'm not alone in looking for a basic effect like drop shadow in Publisher and it must be included in a future update. I also think the other effects worked better in Page Plus than in Publisher.

Hi, thanks for your help, the pasteboard is a great idea. However I still can't find a drop shadow effect. It was listed in Pageplus X9 in the FX panel, but it's not listed in Affinity Publisher. Outer shadow is not the effect that I'm looking for. Please see the screenshot from X9. Drop shadow is highlighted in blue in the X9 screenshot.

I'm an Indesign convert to Affinity Publisher and I'm still finding my way around. I've also been a user of Pageplus from the first "Tiger logo" version and up to version X9. I really like the new affinity suite and it's much more professional in every way. However, I can't find that old bastion of graphics software, the drop Shadow either as an effect or as a tool in Publisher. I'm probably staring at it, but I can't see it, please help. Also is there some way to add a small non printing notepad page on the canvas outside my design, so that I can type notes about the effects, fonts and info that I've used for future reference?