Oly85

Great. Many thanks indeed. I'll get the Wacom!

Thanks. I presume that the position of the pen appears on screen, before you start an action. Thus the luxury of a screen to move the pen over is a luxury.

Yes, Affinity Photo. (I was trying to be cool by referring to it as AP) Thanks for the above - and the warning about training (muscles) - that's much as I had thought. I was looking at Wacom Intuos Pro Medium for use with MacBook Pro (MBP) but then drifted towards iPad Pro where I could see exactly where to put the pen...

Apologies if this has been covered. I've searched but not found it. What are the benefits of using a tablet in conjunction with AP (so should I be thinking of getting one)? If I decide to get a tablet, what type should I get? I think there are three options (before we get into size and manufacture): A 'simple' sensor and pen, a touch-sensitive display, or a more intelligent tablet (iPad) which can run native software. It all seems rather confusing but I'm hoping that someone will have direct experience to share.

Are there things that the Skylum products can do that Serif cannot? I'm not sure why one should keep them at all.

I'm a new user and struggling to remember where things are and what they do. The tiny icons do not convey much to me, although I'm beginning to remember some of them. I use the tool-tips (hope that's the right term) a lot but they appear to the bottom right of the icon, just where the mouse pointer is. That means you must move the pointer to the side to see what's written underneath and sometimes the text disappears because the pointer has moved off the sensing area. My request would be to put the tool-tip explanations above the icons, so that they are not obscured by the pointer. Even nicer: reveal all such information with the press of a key so that a feature can be found more quickly, without having to hunt and reveal each one individually. (Hope that makes sense.)

I now have the book and should have read the title first. I see it is a 'workbook' (with exercises). Nice, but not what I'd like to have. I'm more interested in principles - what can be done and how, rather than be lead through a limited number of examples. Digital forms do permit hyperlinks to related subjects and that can work well, so long as you don't get lost or distracted. Better, perhaps for reference after having read through everything. A hard-back of the user manual would be good...

I started with Serif Page Plus (in the 1980's). Seems strange that its presence has not continued (if that's the case). I was obliged to swap to Adobe because my printer stopped accepting the Serif format. Now no longer producing news sheets but may add Publisher to my applications for the occasional photoboos with a commentary. Is there a feature set comparison with InDesign/PageMaker?

My point was that, once obtained, you could make copies to share with others and Serif would gain no benefit. My own preference is to use conventional printed material. I can mark pages and make annotations easily in that format. It also has a beginning and end, so I know where I am and when I've read it all. What Serif might consider is publishing amendments to keep the book in line with the product. There must've been some significant changes to the product since the book was first produced, reducing the value of the book without such information.

Hello I've just purchased Affinity after a long break (20yrs) from Serif. I left Serif because I moved to Apple and Mac was not supported sat that time. I invented in Creative Suite but the 64bit OS does not support it and the regular subscription for casual use of Adobe products is unreasonable. Let's hope I find the transition easy!. I'm an Olympus user and format all shots to 8x5 landscape (hence Oly85). I'm a "happy snapper" and do it it for fun.

Why should Serif want to issue the workbooks in electronic form? They would lose a good revenue stream if they did. I do not think there is a format that cannot be copied and distributed freely.