Novelist
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I'm using a Windows 10 system on an HP 17.3 laptop with a terrabyte of room, and I have an extensive library of TrueType and PostScript fonts, which I began collecting circa 1990. I used both types in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Despite the then-popularity of the Swiss type faces (Helvetica, Futura, Universe, etc), I settled on the Dutch 801 face because of its broad variety of fonts, from narrow italic to ultra bold and black. Dutch 801 is actually a vamp on Times Roman, but Times is really limited in its variations. Dutch 801 is like Times Roman on steroids. I was able to literally typeset and prepress a 500-page novel in InDesign using Dutch and just two other faces for leaders and headers. I'm a novelist and previously an ad agency guy — both writer and designer and eventually owner and creative director — at my own boutique ad shop in L.A. So I can hit with either hand, and kick as well: Writer, Page Designer, Cover Designer, and PrePress guy. But I chose not to update from Adobe's CS-2 to the current rental model, and am thus without the chops that Adobe provided. My plan is to use Affinity Publisher to compose and prepess my current novel, PDF the puppy, and fire that off to my printer/bindery guys. Does this sound overly ambitious? Do you think I might have to bite the bullet and buy the outrageously-priced Adobe programs? To get a view of my chops, check out thelastdaysoflasvegas.com. I put that together single handed—including the animation on the facepage—back in the paleolithic era. Or you can get a battered copy of one of my books (The Hungarian Game or The Last Days of Las Vegas … to be renamed A Requiem for Las Vegas in the revised edition) via abebooks.com / eBay / or Amazon. Thanks to Lacerto, Iconoclast (any kin to H. L. Mencken?) and of course the ever-thoughtful and good-hearted Walt, with whom I spoke previously about importing my coded InDesign files to Affinity (it didn't work!). I'll copy and digest all the advice. I'm guessing that the purchase of the Serrif trio is nominal ($150 total, I think) compared to the Adobe set, and I'll just buy Publisher, Designer, and Photo … and see if I can do any hacks to get things rolling. I've been diddling around with computers since the old CP/M—S-100 Buss days, when I joined the Valley Computer Club of Burbank CA in 1978. I even recall when a certain William Gates stated that no-one needed more than 64K in a computer. Also, a running joke at the club was that there were exactly 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understood binary, and those who didn't. And, errrmmmm, Walt? I looked into importing my own faces and fonts, but was informed that the only way to add fonts to the Windows library was via purchase from Microsoft. Is it possible that Affinity has a separate, proprietary type library, distinct from that of Microsoft? rh
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I want to purchase the latest trio of Serif's desktop software: Affinity Publisher, Photo, and Designer. However, I've a question about type faces and fonts that needs sorting out before I buy: I had previously been relying on a library of TTF and Postscript fonts and faces. But now, with my Windows 10 computer, I've found that Microsoft won't allow me to use my own fonts; the only way to add new type to Win 10 is to purchase 'em from Microsoft. So, the question: Is it possible to import or somehow add my TTF and PSD type to the Infinity programs, or will I again be limited to Microsoft's extremely limited library of faces and fonts? Thanks, rh
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All else failing, I'm writing a letter to Serif in Nottingham to see if one of their techies can help solve my problem. Before that, however, it might help clarify the situation if I relate how Affinity loaded. Previously, in loading programs into Windows, I would click on either the "Setup" or "Auto Run" icon, and a Windows "Wizard" would appear, which guided me through the software loading process. With Affinity, however, there are no such Setup or Auto Run options. I simply added the Affinity download to my system and tried to start it. And, of course, got the warning about "Aeros." Is my attempt to start Affinity consistent with the experiences of the other chaps at this users' forum? That is, no "Wizard," but simply a straight opening? If my experience (except the problem) is consistent with that of everyone else, I'll send off that letter. If you guys have mounted the program via a "Wizard," I'll first try to hack a solution to the headache before contacting Serif in England. Thanks for the help so far. I'm truly grateful for your input. Roy
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"Things have been interesting," per Walt. "May you live in interesting times," ancient Chinese curse. I'm going to give this just one more chop, by writing a letter to Serif in Drighlington, near Leeds. Maybe someone there can help. Again, though, if there's no recourse I'll just write it off against my continuing education, all 84 years of it (per this month). Roy
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This brings up yet another nightmare. My email system is scuppered. I can read messages, but can't send. My email is via my proprietary website, thelastdaysoflasvegas.com, and I can FTP up to it in order to read the incoming notes. Maybe I'll try to re-mount Thunderbird. It went south a couple of months back, but the good news was that I reverted to writing and posting real letters. I'm a writer, and I hew to a quote by Ernest Hemingway (which might not pass this message-board's nanny): "First drafts are shit." I'm going to just write this whole experience off to education, and resolve never to purchase anything via the 'net unless the transaction is via PayPal or directly to Amazon or abeBooks.com. Thanks for your help, Walt. And ... Michigan? You must be having a high old time reading the local political news. Hope your guv holds up okay. She's a peach! Roy
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Ah, well, Walter ... I'm guessing that you're a Brit and, though I'm a Yank, I'm also familiar with "Hobson's Choice." If I wait to see if the Serif chaps respond, I'll have gone beyond the refund deadline; if I ask for a refund, I won't get any help from the wonks at Serif. I suspect that "Cognitive Dissonance" applies here as well. You? rh
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Yes, I looked for it, but there is no "Aero" option on my HP laptop that has an HP-proprietary version of Windows 7 Pro. And though I enabled Aero on my newly-configured HP laptop that has a generic (and fully legal) version of Windows 7 Ultimate), Affinity will not under any circumstances load. Even tried disabling Aero, with no better luck. I'm guessing that my only option is to request a refund and forget the entire mess. Actually, given that - when I was previously in business - my clients were happy pay $85 an hour for my service, I'm guessing that the value of the time I've invested in this Affinity headache is worth about five times the cost of the actual program. I'll just write it all off to education.
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Insofar as my monitor screen shows an unremovable proprietary HP design of /\/\/\/\/\/ crosshatches, and no solid color background, enabling or disabling Aero isn't an option. Also, not sure if such an action would even create a landscape in which Affinity could run. I'm next going to try reconfiguring another HP G72, one that didn't come with an HP/Pentium OS, to run Windows 7 in 64-bit, and thus has a plain screen. Will get back to the Forum on my progress with that sometime tomorrow (I'm in Las Vegas, NV, not the U.K.) or perhaps Friday. In the meantime, thanks to the chaps at the Forum who've pitched in on this noddle-ache. rh
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I'm not a total pillock, by the way. I've been banging away at computers for about 40 years! In 1971 I purchased an Itel 1041 automated typing system. This was a re-purposed IBM Selectric that was controlled by dual paper-tape readers and a paper-tape cutter. I wrote my first novel, The Hungarian Game, with that. Later, in '78, I joined the Valley Computer Club in Burbank, California, to learn how to build and program an S-100 Buss system. (The club got together on the first Thursday of the month in the second-storey meeting room of a church. First time I arrived, I noticed that the parking lot was filled with cars that had long Ham radio antennas. Turned out that most of the guys ... and they were guys, not a female in the room ... were shortwave-radio licence chaps, and had purchased computer kits which they'd seen advertised in HAM Radio magazines.) The first thing the guys told me when I joined up was, "If it works, it's obsolete!" (Sound familiar?!) I also learned that there are just 10 kinds of people in the world: "Those who know binary, and those who don't." In order to get my first computer running, I actually had to write my own BIOS and BDOS. I didn't know assembly language, so I ended up composing the BIOS and BDOS in raw hexadecimal. And so ... Bob's your uncle! Later, about '83 or so, I put together and partially programmed an Intel P-II computer (the one with MS-DOS and Electric Pencil). Twelve years later I assembled a P-III and mounted Windows 95 in it. I finally put together a P-4 system as a lunchbox computer running Windows XP. So, the HP laptop running Windows 7 is the first and only computer I've actually purchased - the others I assembled from scratch. In other words, my struggles with Affinity in Windows 7 ain't 'cause I'm gormless. I'm just getting hammered by the system. rh
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Windows 7 Professional. I purchased Affinity because my Adobe CS2 products had crashed and were unrecoverable; thus I needed a program that would format and print galley proofs of my current novel-in-progress. I write with Electric Pencil (look it up, along with Michael Shrayer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Pencil) on an MS/DOS computer, and have re-programmed certain keys to format InDesign code as I type. I previously was able to transfer the coded text to InDesign on my HP G72, in order to print the galleys on a laser printer. Now it seems that both InDesign and Affinity are scuppered. This validates the classic Zen koan, "Life sucks, then you die." And, hey, thanks for responding, First Defence (defence? or defense? "We are two nations divided by a common language." W. Churchill ... also do you follow the Storrer parkour team over there? rh
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I just purchased and installed Affinity Publisher. When I click on the Affinity shortcut link, I get the following message: "Windows Aero is not enabled. This will cause rendering problems and slow performance. Please select an Aero desktop theme for best results." Then I click on the Affinity direct link on the desktop, and get a choice of either "Repair" or "Uninstall." My laptop is an HP G72 with a distinctive repetitive-triangles/inverted triangles pattern on the lid, and on the monitor's active desktop screen. I gather that "Windows Aero" is a Windows proprietary background theme for the desktop. I've found no way of creating a Windows Aero desktop theme ... so ... what now??!! Thanks, R H
