designerUK

Hello all
Good to see mods and developers introducing themselves in this thread.
 
Like rui_mac above, I'm a graphic designer, but in the UK and started out a long time ago too, with a Mac IIfx (I've always been Mac), though with Illustrator 2. Within a month of learning it I had to switch to FreeHand because of RIP issues and discovered quickly that not all software is made equal as FreeHand was so much better. I too was unhappy when I learned Adobe had acquired Macromedia.
 
I have learned to love Illustrator though there are some aspects of it Adobe have never addressed which wind me up badly. I do not love Adobe and never have. This post https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/356-the-strategic-questions/ tells you a little more about why I've popped up here.
 
Edit: [identifiable - searchable - information removed]
 
Best

What's at the heart of this debate is Serif's definition of who the customer is for this Affinity project. I've re-read (er, read properly rather than skimmed, apologies) the article out there, from Serifs MD I understand: http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/photo-editing/1400759/serif-explains-how-its-taking-on-adobe-creative-cloud and it clears up some things for me.

I'm assuming Serif have a really clear definition internally of who their target for this stuff is, otherwise their product development will suffer. Doubt it uses the word 'Pro'. 'Pro' is ok for marketing communications that want to include rather than exclude like the above. You see a 'Pro' = Everyone who thinks they are. I think I'm a pro, I may not be ( Will face up to that on my own time ;-), or I may not be the kind of pro Serif are after.

To me 'current usage' is a more precise approach. As in, for example (not saying this is correct or appropriate): "All print designers who currently use Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign on a daily basis as their only paid activity". This is still likely to lead to software bloat as I'll explain. So it also needs a quantity element: 'more or less equally (…on a daily basis)' to me in order to be specific and clear. Perhaps MEB, you'd suggest there should also be an 'attitudinal' element in the definition because it currently includes me and you don't think Serif do. This definition would describe a big, largely, homogenous segment of the design industry.

The reason it needs a quantity element in there is becuase it includes all specialists otherwise. Now having read the article I'm confused - Serifs target may well be the specialist Illustrator. Illustration specialists for example, probably use InDesign and Photoshop very regularly, even daily, but Illustrator is the app they spend the bulk of their time in each day (that's how come they're Illustrators) and it's where their focus mentally lies. Now if Serif are after specialists, then why dilute effort developing a whole suite of apps in such quick succession? Illustration specialists will probably put up with an Illustration programme that doesn't quite mesh so seamlessly with photo and layout software if the app is awesome enough.
 
Attempting to cater for a market that includes the (Vector) Illustrators, and the Photographers, and the Painters and the print people is where the bloat has come from - not from Adobe having a 'thang' for bloat.

(FYI MEB - the number of keyboard shortcuts I know is minimal… only recall and use two Illustrator tool shortcuts for example, I'm not particularly wedded to Adobe's workflow which I thought was clear in my post immediately preceeding yours. You've perhaps missed that post between arriving, posting and page update as this thread's been a bit busy. No offence taken)

Affinity team, I could do with some clarity on this, if I'm to spend any time testing and providing feedback on your beta.
 
Finally - I'm not here after a personal app designed just for me ;-)

Regards all & goodnight.

Oh well if you're right about the target market TonyO, I need to stop wasting my time in here as it's not for me and I've misunderstood.
 
"If a mac user likes the way adobe illustrator works, then they will likely just use illustrator.".. I like (even love, now) how Illustrator works (mostly), but I don't like Adobe. (I'm ex FreeHand which was the better software by far). What I don't like is the monopoly Adobe have (it's bad on all levels) and is having a real effect on how I organise my business that it shouldn't be having. It's business, pure and simple. It's not about 'liking' or 'loathing' a bit of software over another. It's about whether it will do the job I need it to (no software is perfect) and support my business. If this means I'm not the target market, then that's fine, I'll go look for a real alternative to Adobe elsewhere.
 
Best

Hi
 
Just downloaded the beta. Don't know if these comments have already been made.
 
I've only played with the tool that I find a bane in Illustrator - the pen tool and it looks to be an improvement on Illustrators! Well done. Nice big anchors and direction handles to pick up easily - hurrah!!!
 
Some initial feedback:
Keyboard shortcuts 1 Being able to customise the app with my own is a real boon - I don't do it a lot, but have a few which are a so useful. Keyboard shortcuts 2 I use the tool shortcuts all the time to change from general pointer to node selector and back again in Illustrator; or to the general pointer from any other tool. Dark mode I can't see which tool is selected. The dark block behind on a dark screen is too subtle. Admittedly this might be because I'm on a laptop and the tilt of the screen may be a reason. I don't work with my apps in 'dark mode' for this reason. Graphs Illustrator has a crude (I'm being unkind), but sufficient graphing tool. Much of my use of illustrator is to produce information visuals so it is a feature I could not be without. Great for translating numbers into something visual quickly - I bang in a graph, place a copy on the paste board, 'expand/ungroup' the orignal and go from there. I've only given it a few minutes, looks interesting, I'll have a play with it again.
 
Hope this is helpful.
 
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Edit: I know I always get, to me, a strange reaction when I try to explain how important keyboard shortcuts are. The mac keyboard is designed differently to the PC. I have worked briefly for a newspaper which switched to PC's while I was there. I found myself getting into contortions when trying to use shortcuts on the PC keyboard and wondered what was the matter with me. If you study the two keyboards, lay your thumb on the cmd key (mac) and then let your hand rest on the keyboard, you'll find your fingers naturally fall on the most used shortcuts. Try this on the PC keyboard, put your thumb on the Ctrl key and your hands end up off the keyboard entirely. This is why experienced mac users have keyboard shortcuts built into and essential to their workflow. I was always stumped why PC users seemed so mouse bound until this experience. If you're used to designing software for PC's it might be a real culture change for you. Here endeth my thesis :-)

Hi
 
I'm a professional freelance designer of 15+ years and have some questions.
 
What will the purchase options be on this software when released? Subscription only or single purchase option with upgrade purchase as traditionally? What will the update regime be - will it be in my control when I update rather than pipelined regardless from the cloud? Will it open Adobe files as though native? (Forgive me, it's not jumped out at me on your site and I've not downloaded the beta).  
As a freelancer a monthly subscription just does not work given the financial variance of being freelance, nor having a constant traffic over networks to cloud storage/base when working as an itinerant designer using my own kit - mobile network reception and bandwidth are not always up to it and have you tried getting a password from distant IT departments in big companies as a freelance temporary worker...?
 
I'm really hoping you really are going to take Adobe on as they need a good kicking - my personal opinion. Does anyone remember QuarkXpress... no, I get blank looks from most designers now. There was a time when every designer looked at me like I was odd for not using Quark for everything. What was Quarks mistake? Pissing off their customers by not allowing their customers control over software purchased (and therefore owned) so when an alternative came along - bye-bye Quark. It's still around but do any professionals still use it (yes, a tiny minority). The graphic design industry is characterised by small design agencies and individual contract designers - these types of business need absolute control over expenditure and interruption to work (ie: an upgrade that backfires at the worst time). Approaching the profession as though it's made up of big 20+ employee businesses is to not understand your customer. I know several agencies (all small <10 employees) who have not upgraded and are still using CS6 - there was a time when I had a problem keeping up with the agencies versions of software, not since CC. However... I need to upgrade my Mac at some point (as will they) and Mavericks is not looking good when you run CS6 - it's CS6 that's the issue so an alternative is what I'm holding out for (and I'm not alone).
 
Hope this helps, hoping for answers that'll be giant killing.

As it is now, the Duplicate command creates a copy of the selected object at the exact same location of the original object.
If we duplicate again, even after modifying the copied object, another copy will be created at the same location of the newly duplicated object.
Well, it would be much more powerful if it worked like the Power Duplicate feature of FreeHand.
It works like this:
 
Select an object. Duplicate it with the Duplicate command.
A new copy is created on top of the original object (like it is now).
WITHOUT deselecting the newly created object, we can move it, rotate it and/or resize it (or a combination of these).
Hitting Duplicate again, a new copy would be created with all the modifications executed to the object in-between the two duplication commands, added to the previous copy. Any additional Duplicate commands would continue to add those transformations, as longs as the object doesn't get deselected in-between duplications.