Twolane

Always nice to hear people vent their opinions while they deem the products and its future to be nonexistent and that they are so professional and have moved on.
Maybe put your comments into actions and simply move on.
 

I don't know and I don't understand from what you conclude that my answer was "properly angry" and "that it is an attack". Maybe it's because my English is not perfect.
It was just a general statement and caveat based on the fact that you find Affinity illogical (different) than other products, because that's just what it is - it's a different product.

I think it's important to realize that Affinity is not a "clone" of any competing product. Anyone who assumes this, and isn't willing to adapt to a completely new/different product, will be needlessly disappointed - they should continue to subsidize Adobeland, where they will definitely be happier.
Serif is a company that has been developing DTP products for over 35 years. If the Affinity applications draw from something and follow some philosophy (non-destructive workflow), then from the original/own Plus products.

It is my policy to not waste my time engaging with bullies, however, for the record, I will state that you are not entitled to judge my abilities, knowledge or degree of experience.
Some people create and produce, others complain and criticize.
 
 

I use Photo for my covers, but I have all three programs. I think Designer would be a better choice if you only have Publisher and Designer. (I would add that I have never published a book with photos. I prepare POD books with text-only interiors, and the occasional B&W image prior to the main body of text.)
1) Page-turn direction should be set to Left to Right, as evidenced by the positioning of the barcode on your reference image. The barcode should show on the back page of the cover. Change that setting and you will get a correct reference image. As it stands now, you will end up with a barcode on the front cover, and all the work you do on the image and title will appear on the back.
2) Color format for a cover should be set to CMYK. This setting is for both Amazon and Ingram Spark.
3) Your Interior trim size of 8.5x11 for the Amazon cover guide is correct.
The remainder of your settings for Amazon cover output are correct.
As to your Publisher setting for Margin/Inner, you might think about a slightly larger inner margin setting. 0.5 is rather small, considering that is where the page binding occurs. Try 0.75. I will add, as mentioned earlier, I have never done a photo book. I publish text-only POD books, which is another way of saying that 0.5 might work perfectly for your product.
Once you have uploaded your cover and book interior, you get a chance to review your efforts before hitting the publish button on Amazon. Since this is your first, I suggest you review your 160-page prepub document on the Amazon site carefully before hitting publish. If there are errors, Amazon will notify you.
You will get an opportunity to order author copies. I suggest picking up at least one to review your final published product. If you are satisfied, order more for family and friends, or make changes and re-upload.
 

She's over-analyzing. Place or open your Amazon template in Publisher, if that is what you are going to use to lay out your cover. There is no need to futz with or make any manual measurements as to what your document will size out to. The cover template you loaded is all you need. It is the correct document size already.
"I am importing the KDP download into my Publisher project as a layer" - Yes. You place your photos, text, &c. overtop as additional layers.
Rather than turning your template on and off, you can change the opacity of your Amazon cover template to better view what you are working on and how your final product will align with the template. That will work if your Amazon template is at the very top of your layer stack. Don't forget to Toggle Visibility before flattening the .jpg output.
I don't work with bleed. I leave those settings as is. However, if you want your images outside of your page margins, it may be a concern.
With an inner margin setting of 0.75, the other three stay at 0.5. It sounds as though you have set up/imported your document in Publisher for .5/.5/.5/.5 already. If that is the case, it is a major hassle to change to a 0.75 inner margin given how that will affect your document display. Leave it at 0.5 and see how that works.

I just have to butt in here, because I can't resist.
I have used Publisher to prepare in the neighborhood of 15 POD books (At least. There could be more. I stopped counting because it is so easy to use my templates). I will admit right off that they are novels, not photo books or manuals or anything else. The interiors match what the Big 5 produce. How do I know that? Because I copied their formatting, and my books match, exactly. I defy anyone to tell me they don't look "professional". (As to content, I leave that to my tens of thousands of readers to decide.)
I will admit that Publisher was a bit of a bear to use right out of the box. However, despite my hateful attitude towards video learning, I sat down, bit bullets, dodged others, and watched until my eyes bled out. After using the eraser end of a pencil to poke them, I had a usable print book template that I now have tweaked to my satisfaction.
Was it easy? No. Did it pay off? Yes. I might suggest that if you're in a hurry, use another solution. If you feel the need to "get something up there quick", use another product. Publisher isn't "easy" to learn. Once you have it down, there will be no stopping you. On the other hand, if you're looking for an overnight solution, you might use something "easier" that you're more familiar with.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=affinity+publisher+photobook+template
Not to change the subject, but that is exactly how I am teaching myself to use Designer. The technique works wonderfully. Imagine that.

I just have to butt in here, because I can't resist.
I have used Publisher to prepare in the neighborhood of 15 POD books (At least. There could be more. I stopped counting because it is so easy to use my templates). I will admit right off that they are novels, not photo books or manuals or anything else. The interiors match what the Big 5 produce. How do I know that? Because I copied their formatting, and my books match, exactly. I defy anyone to tell me they don't look "professional". (As to content, I leave that to my tens of thousands of readers to decide.)
I will admit that Publisher was a bit of a bear to use right out of the box. However, despite my hateful attitude towards video learning, I sat down, bit bullets, dodged others, and watched until my eyes bled out. After using the eraser end of a pencil to poke them, I had a usable print book template that I now have tweaked to my satisfaction.
Was it easy? No. Did it pay off? Yes. I might suggest that if you're in a hurry, use another solution. If you feel the need to "get something up there quick", use another product. Publisher isn't "easy" to learn. Once you have it down, there will be no stopping you. On the other hand, if you're looking for an overnight solution, you might use something "easier" that you're more familiar with.

@loukash as I was reading your comment, I thought “MikeTO’s manual!” and then reached your well-meant advice to @cirkē.  Good for you!!  Hopefully this person will take advantage of Mike’s superb gift to us all, rather than posting any more all-encompassing criticisms of Affinity’s sophisticated software before learning to use it.

I just have to butt in here, because I can't resist.
I have used Publisher to prepare in the neighborhood of 15 POD books (At least. There could be more. I stopped counting because it is so easy to use my templates). I will admit right off that they are novels, not photo books or manuals or anything else. The interiors match what the Big 5 produce. How do I know that? Because I copied their formatting, and my books match, exactly. I defy anyone to tell me they don't look "professional". (As to content, I leave that to my tens of thousands of readers to decide.)
I will admit that Publisher was a bit of a bear to use right out of the box. However, despite my hateful attitude towards video learning, I sat down, bit bullets, dodged others, and watched until my eyes bled out. After using the eraser end of a pencil to poke them, I had a usable print book template that I now have tweaked to my satisfaction.
Was it easy? No. Did it pay off? Yes. I might suggest that if you're in a hurry, use another solution. If you feel the need to "get something up there quick", use another product. Publisher isn't "easy" to learn. Once you have it down, there will be no stopping you. On the other hand, if you're looking for an overnight solution, you might use something "easier" that you're more familiar with.

Hehe, back in the late 1980s, I had to figure out how to use Aldus PageMaker 3 without being provided any user manual. That was right after I finished the art school where we didn't work with DTP at all yet. Eventually I figured it all out, but it may have taken a few years, as I didn't have a chance to use a Mac very often, and I didn't own a Mac myself until 1999.
Yeah, to fully understand QXP3 – a buddy had a license and I was allowed to work on his Mac – I then bought Samuel Hügli's "Insiderbuch QuarkXPress". Well written and truly mind opening. I read it through within a few days, made some notes and the next time I had a chance to work on the buddy's Mac, it "just worked". 
Then I bought InDesign 2 with the rest of the "Adobe Design Collection", and while I didn't have to start all over again, I bought the "InDesign 2 Smartbook" nonetheless to get a grip on the essentials as well as on many details. Actually, same for Freehand 9, Flash 4, Logic 4 and some more. Heck, I even have a ResEdit Smartbook…  and of course, I read it.
Well written manuals are a great thing for those willing to learn.
~~~
@cirkē, a well meant advice:
Navigate over to https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/191879-unofficial-pdf-manual-expert-guide-to-affinity-publisher and download @MikeTO's absolutely brilliant and absolutely free "Unofficial PDF Manual - Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher".
Please don't forget to say "thanks" to Mike.
Happy publishing.
 

I just have to butt in here, because I can't resist.
I have used Publisher to prepare in the neighborhood of 15 POD books (At least. There could be more. I stopped counting because it is so easy to use my templates). I will admit right off that they are novels, not photo books or manuals or anything else. The interiors match what the Big 5 produce. How do I know that? Because I copied their formatting, and my books match, exactly. I defy anyone to tell me they don't look "professional". (As to content, I leave that to my tens of thousands of readers to decide.)
I will admit that Publisher was a bit of a bear to use right out of the box. However, despite my hateful attitude towards video learning, I sat down, bit bullets, dodged others, and watched until my eyes bled out. After using the eraser end of a pencil to poke them, I had a usable print book template that I now have tweaked to my satisfaction.
Was it easy? No. Did it pay off? Yes. I might suggest that if you're in a hurry, use another solution. If you feel the need to "get something up there quick", use another product. Publisher isn't "easy" to learn. Once you have it down, there will be no stopping you. On the other hand, if you're looking for an overnight solution, you might use something "easier" that you're more familiar with.

I just have to butt in here, because I can't resist.
I have used Publisher to prepare in the neighborhood of 15 POD books (At least. There could be more. I stopped counting because it is so easy to use my templates). I will admit right off that they are novels, not photo books or manuals or anything else. The interiors match what the Big 5 produce. How do I know that? Because I copied their formatting, and my books match, exactly. I defy anyone to tell me they don't look "professional". (As to content, I leave that to my tens of thousands of readers to decide.)
I will admit that Publisher was a bit of a bear to use right out of the box. However, despite my hateful attitude towards video learning, I sat down, bit bullets, dodged others, and watched until my eyes bled out. After using the eraser end of a pencil to poke them, I had a usable print book template that I now have tweaked to my satisfaction.
Was it easy? No. Did it pay off? Yes. I might suggest that if you're in a hurry, use another solution. If you feel the need to "get something up there quick", use another product. Publisher isn't "easy" to learn. Once you have it down, there will be no stopping you. On the other hand, if you're looking for an overnight solution, you might use something "easier" that you're more familiar with.

I bought Publisher in June (or early July) after the 30 day trial. I published my first book less than 3 months later - a highly illustrated manual, btw.
Outside of asking a few questions here, with excellent help, and watching a few videos I didn't read a manual. I felt it was highly intuitive.
 
 

New version! I have uploaded a new version of this unofficial Publisher manual to the first post of this thread. In addition to being updated for the changes in Publisher 2.3, this version covers character and paragraph formatting, text styles, and all the other text-related features. It is 120 pages longer than the original version.
Although it's written for Publisher, most of the text features are the same for Designer or Photo so you may find it useful for the other Affinity applications, too.
Cheers
 

Can't be. I just used it an hour ago.

Here's a link to a tube vid where the guy uses Photo to do what you want. I have his site bookmarked. He has a lot of useful info for a guy like me who knows nothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VaF5rU0aXg

This is what I enjoy so much about these forums: Useful information brought to us all by forum members who know what they are talking about. Thank you, all.

All you ever wanted to know about LibreOffice (or not): https://itsfoss.com/libreoffice-vs-openoffice/
OpenOffice has been pretty much forked/replaced by LibreOffice many years ago. I used LibreOffice for years to convert my Scrivener text to .docx files until I decided to spring the 35 bucks each for two copies of Word/Excel and whatever else comes with the official lifetime packages for my two laptops.

This is what I enjoy so much about these forums: Useful information brought to us all by forum members who know what they are talking about. Thank you, all.

This is easily done using the on-board tools of the Affinity programs.
With the Studio tab Color Swatches open, click on the hamburger menu and choose Create Palette from Document.

For those of you pouring through PublisherV2 searching for "Fields", it's under Window / References / Fields.  Thank you. Thank you very much.

I've already got blender working in my beta version of... Oh, wait, it was my Vitamix. Sorry about that, folks.
For those who are wondering - A Vitamix blender: https://www.vitamix.com/

I have been playing around with styles lately making a bunch for different email marketing campaigns I have been working on. I started off here on the forums to see what others have done and what is possible. I came across this post and I think I have come close to this one (See attached v2 AD Style). When I make styles I like to design it with text, then apply to a shape then save style from the shape so the font is not saved with it unless I typically use that font with the style. I didn't do that here but unless you have the same font, I don't think it matters.
Below is a single v2 style applied to a font I have called "yellowtail" (Not sure where I got it, probably w/CorelDRAW). I added the border around the text and the tail. I will show both:
Just with Style applied

With added tail, just drawn with the pen tool with same style applied) and a border around text.

Vintage_ADv2Only.afstyles