wonderings
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Posts posted by wonderings
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2 hours ago, srg said:
Obviously V3 will be different...I will definitely stay in V2 till I can then I'll switch to Photoshop.
You are already set on staying with V2 without knowing what will be in V3? What if there are huge improvements in V3, you are stubborn enough that you are not happy with a deal to keep yourself from buying software that could potentially be a big improvement for what you need?
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The stroke you add you can adjust the stroke size, so make it a very small stroke, or very thin. Test below. Top is the font as is, below is the font with a .2pt stroke around
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55 minutes ago, William Overington said:
As I understand the situation, due to lots of funding becoming available, Affinity can now become developed further and more rapidly than before.
Are there roles where people currently do not use Affinity products because Affinity products do not do what those people need and who might start to use Affinity products if Affinity products were to add some particular facility to what they do?
For example, unless things have changed recently, Affinity products do not have built-in colour font capability. What employment roles need colour font capability? Would adding colour font capability to Affinity products increase sales to an extent to make the cost of adding colour font capability worth spending?
Or is adding colour font capability something that will be added anyway because not having it looks unfortunate?
That is just one example.
No. I am retired, I am not connected to Canva, my only connection to Serif and Affinity is as a customer.
William
Sounds like you are trying to do Canva's work for them. Again this is a deep dive into something that would basically gather up a huge portion of the forum and put it in once place, ie what features are missing or desired in Affinity. You are trying to add specifics as in what industries use these. Not sure why you as an individual need to know this. If it is a feature you would like I would think the best thing for you to do is request it in the proper forum. I am sure a company with a $40 billion evaluation can handle these questions internally and have creative professionals on staff who know all about the features they have and don't have. There is also no indication on what sort of cash flow will be funnelled into Affinity development.
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19 hours ago, William Overington said:
Thank you. However, we are looking in this thread at the potential market for Affinity products, what roles people who may or may not consider Affinity perform, as Affinity products are now or how Affinity products could become as a result of the acquisition of Affinity by Canva.
William
And again, what does this have to do with the acquisition of Affinity by Canva? You are delving deeper into something that would warrant its own thread. The market is pretty clear, if you need to work with vector files then Designer is for you, if you are needing page layout then Publisher is for you, if you are editing photos, then Photos is for you. The question seems so convoluted. Are you working in the marketing department for Canva?
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2 hours ago, William Overington said:
Thank you, but I was not meaning in that sense, I was meaning in that are they working on illustrations for magazines like Elle and the like, or newspapers, or what? I am retired and just using Affinity products at home, I am wondering what sort of numbers of people are using Affinity products "at work" and is that work always as an independent designer, or as an independent artist producing original art, or are they salaried staff in large companies, and if so, for what are they using Affinity products, perhaps never posting their type of work in the Share your work forum. Is some of it everyday stuff such as catalogues of spare parts for cars and so on?
William
This is a thread about the acquisition of Seriff by Canva, you should probably start another thread seeking out info like that in another section of the forum.
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16 hours ago, SirPL said:
I'm not saying you're wrong, simply that I still don't see a direct benefit for Canva, unless Serif is not fully transparent when stating that "nothing will change for current users".
The benefit to Canva is increased revenue. They have a business plan for Affinity in which to increase their brand recognition and marketshare. Canva, like every other company out there is in it to make money, so they obviously have some ideas on how they are going to do it. I think the easy thing is continued version updates with new features that improve life for users as well as attract new users.
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6 hours ago, William Overington said:
Well, large amounts of money have been paid for Affinity.
If Affinity makes money from implementing ideas from its customers, then it seems reasonable that those who suggested the ideas are given some of that money.
What other companies have done before is one thing, this question is about Affinity and the future.
I should have included @Ash in the post when I asked the questions. The questions as follows.
So @Ash what are the official Affinity and Canva answers to these questions please?
William
Does any company operate this way? The mess it would create if they did this would be astronomical. First, what if you were not actually the first person to post the idea, but were the first post noticed. Royalties, are you getting paid one time or forever with each sale, because they are making money with each sale and if your idea is implemented it is constantly earning money. How do you prove the idea was originally yours and not internal or you saw it in another app and requested it for this app. So Photoshop has a feature you like that is not in Affinity, you recommend this feature and it gets implemented. Do you get paid or does Adobe get paid because they are using what they have?
I am guessing for my first question, that no companies operate this way from external sources.
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2 hours ago, albertkinng said:
This is precisely what I mean. In my experience, buyers often believe that the original product is superior and will attempt to "fix" the one they purchased. Canva is well-known for its simplicity, so I anticipate that this will be their initial approach. Nevertheless, all of this remains speculative.
I can't see Canva offering a dumbed down offline program, the whole point of Canva is its simplicity. No installs needed, all browser based, it does not get simpler then that. Affinity will be the "pro" version and I think they will continue pressing on as normal, just maybe at a different pace. Buying the company to dumb down their software or to split them up just makes things more complicated. Imagine Canva as is, selling what they do online and now offering something for the more advanced users with offline software.
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On 4/5/2024 at 7:47 PM, Rodi said:
upgrade to Affinity v2 totally worth it, I have found it more stable and usable on every front and the little updates aren't as quircky as some 1.x versions were.
What do you do about new spot colors or changes to files with Postcript type 1 fonts?
As far as the past, graphic designers were not content but frightened that if they didn't use particular software that was top dog at the time they would not be respected... I used Illustrator and Freehand, Quark (later InDesign, but that was 2005) Photoshop, Live Picture. I also used cool little programs for vectors LetraStudio. I hated Corel, but I was able to make color bars with slurs for a place I worked at. I try to find what works. The only adobe product I can say I need professionally is Acrobat, but that's because Pitstop don't stand alone like Callas PDFToolbox that I use. I still have Freehand 10 (the best version) on Windows 10 machine.
Canva has been a thorn in my professional bottom, I told my bosses these customers are so cheap they should buy Affinity! IT's so much better! LOL...At the moment no plans to upgrade to V2, I just don't use V1 and have no plans of moving from Adobe at the moment.
What I do with new spot colours? I use them. With unsupported fonts, which I have yet to come up one that I could not simply replace with a newer font. Also pretty rare for a file that old to come up of a reprint.
I would not say people were not using software because they were afraid they would not be respected, at least not the good and profitable shops. Why does it matter what you use as long as the job gets done efficiently without breaking the bank. I found plenty of cheap work arounds to do what the big shops with expensive top of the line RIPS and other software would do. Pride comes before the fall, and if you are letting your image in the community come before what the quality of your work is telling people, then you will not last long.
- SallijaneG and Rodi
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4 hours ago, Rodi said:
This is partly true and partly an issue within the graphic arts community, which is very conservative (much like the guitar community) in their choices. No one wants to make a mistake.
Aldus/Macromedia Freehand was a great program that did three things very well, .ps fidelity, vector art and page layout. It had a way to make word spaces tighter than the letter spaces, which we used in old typesetting systems. Very nice. It's nowhere in Illustrator but made its way into InDesign.
I am a pro and I use Affinity Publisher a lot, but not exclusively because it has a few nagging issues, one of which is importing spot color pdfs from other programs, most of the time (especially having more than one of the same page to adjust for panels) it processes out. If I worked in an all digital shop, I would def swap out some adobe licenses for Affinity.
I know hi end boutique guys state the type engine will never work with new font technology, but they are crowing in rare air, I have only seen a few files that have those multiple weight fonts. I do a lot of varied work, including with one of the larges printers in the world.
Affinity was never going to smash Adobe because the scale in comparison is crazy! Adobe is huge. Affinity is like Robin Hood and his merry men!! I found my use for the Affinity suite in professional arena. It's a super capable PDF editor and opens IDML files from InDesign pretty darn well. I live with the shortfalls because I have no choice and there is no other viable alternative.I would not say the community is conservative, rather they are happy and content. I came up when everyone had different versions of Adobe and other software, it was a constant thing, someone would send an Indesign or Illustrator made in a newer version then what we had. And vice versa, would send out working files that were needed. There was a lot of fragmentation with Adobe, as well as the others that were much larger in those times like Quark and Corel. Now, I never even think about those things, everyone is using the same software (for the most part). life is so much easier because of this. As Affinity grows into new versions they will come across this as well. I have no upgraded to V2 of the Affinity suite, but have the full package with V1. Initially I bought them because they were cheap and I wanted to see what the competition was offering over Adobe. Now if I look at files someone uploaded on the forum when asking for help, I can't open many of them as they are in V2 and I am V1. This will grow larger as some people will be fine with what they have now so there is no real incentive to pay for an upgrade. This is not an issue with Adobe, we are all using the same software.
I am not a huge fan of Canva, it is created more headaches for me with clients who think they can prepare print files properly in Canvas. Yes they could if they knew what they were doing, but that is the point, few actually know what they are doing in order to give proper files ready to go. Editing Canvas files was a real pain. Not sure if they have gotten better as it has been a number of years since I have received a file made in Canva. When clients have an inexperienced graphics person I always recommend Affinity simply for the feature set for the price point. People and companies not making their living with graphics are not going to pay a subscription fee for Adobe, but are more willing to pay a low cost once for apps like the Affinity suite. I hope and assume Canva sees value in what was created here, and with their resources will be able to take it to another level. I am not expecting they would simply turn the Affinity apps into offline Canvas apps, there would be much cheaper ways to do that.
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On 3/30/2024 at 1:27 PM, Chris_81 said:
For the barcode, if you only need code 39 or 128 you can use the font open barcode.
Most people don't realize how simple is. As long as your data is correct making barcodes is a simple variable data merge. So as of right now you should be able to do barcodes in Publisher as it has variable data capabilities. I always have clients check with their scanning equipment to try out a proof though before hand to make sure it is all scanning as it shoulder.
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1 hour ago, Hofnaar said:
Please Affinity guys, I am very frustrated... V1 worked like a charme, but V2 always lagging by using fonts, layers, objects or tools.... it F**king terrible to work with! When will you finally fix this issue or give us any workaround in the meantime??? 😑
I like Affinity so much, but instead of bringing new things in any new little version, you better have work on the performance, lagging and stability. 🙏
There is a big assumption that everyone is having this same issue. As Walt asked, specs are always helpful. You never know, someone may be able to find a solution for your issue. A simple thing to try first is do a complete uninstall, and then install from scratch again.
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22 hours ago, edee said:
Yes, I'm using Adobe Acrobat to view the pdf - that's the default.
Does Affinity expect us to inconvenience clients by telling them to use something else to view pdf's - clients will just buy elsewhere.
Anyone know when this bug will be fixed?
I was not suggesting using different software. From my experience files that have been setup properly and sent to clients as proofs always seem to have display issues when using something other then Acrobat. So if you had said you were using something else I would have recommended trying in Acrobat to see how it previews there.
Is this repeatable if you were to do the same thing to a different image in a different file?
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are you using Adobe Acrobat for viewing your PDF? Anytime I have a client not seeing things correctly that I see natively in my software it is always them using something other then Acrobat to view the PDF.
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If you are needing to impose books regularly I recommend Imposition Studio. Not associated with the company, only a user of their software for a number of years in the commercial print shop world.
It is a stand alone PDF imposer. So you make your PDF and then use Imposition Studio for imposing exactly how you need it. Reasonably priced for pretty powerful imposition software. It has been my go to for many years. Booklets like this are a snap to setup from scratch, or to save templates and just drop in a PDF.
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Like others, it is not something I would even look for, with Adobe or Affinity. I could be wrong, but templates are usually geared toward the simpler programs made for simpler applications. Affinity is a powerful suite of apps on level with the standard pro apps like Adobe. When I think of templates I think of sites like Canva. Easy to select a template and alter with little to no design experience.
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19 hours ago, Sam S - TO said:
Affinity Designer 2 should start supporting color fonts.
I just bought Affinity Designer, assuming that color fonts will be supported.
What are color fonts?
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23 minutes ago, thomaso said:
How about this "old threads" ? Were/are they missing a comment by a Serif moderator? Why did you response to stokerg without a link to an according thread if you want old threads / an unsolved issue to be nudged or noticed?
Do you get such a scan result with each of your macs / macOS versions?
(oddly, APh for iPad doesn't offer the option, while it could be useful there in particular)But the "old threads" ? In case you were the only one reporting this issue, could it be that other users don't get it, or rather seldom? – I just tried this "Acquire" feature the first time and it appears to work:
I wonder if there is something with the age of the scanners and driver support. What make and model is your scanner that works?
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41 minutes ago, loukash said:
Nicely, of course. That's what I've been doing since many, many years, having scanned literally thousands of images. (Definitely since Epson killed its PPC-only scan app compatible with my scanners.)
Other than that, there are quite a few easy workarounds via ImageCapture "Scan To", Automator services, Folder Scripts etc.
My point is that even though the Acquire Image mode in Affinity isn't crucial for my workflow, there's definitely something broken with it, and no one has been able to put their finger on it so far.
I will have to pull out my old scanner and give it a shot. When the Epson scanning software was no longer supported they gave people a free registration code for Silver Fast 8, which is what I use on the rare occasions I do need to scan, has more features and options in it.
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21 minutes ago, loukash said:
Except that these exact symptoms are an issue that has been reported since years and which apparently affects only Affinity apps.
All my Affinity instances – and only those – spanning three Macs running from El Capitan up to Ventura, with all compatible scanners I have:- Epson Perfection 1240 via USB
- Epson Perfection 3170 via USB
- HP LaserJet MFP M28 via AirPrint
Here a few screenshots from one of the old threads on the same topic, here using the HP LaserJet:
It looks like it is just the Image Capture app in MacOS that is doing the scanning. If you open Image Capture independently of Affinity and scan, how do your images come out?
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font just needs to be installed/activated on your computer. Other option is replacing it with a different font.
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5 minutes ago, benged123 said:
Yes, Friesen Press! That's the place. A California friend used them years ago ... but he had a warehouse of books printed. I can call him though, and ask what he thought of the books.
Now. Back to trying to learn competency with AP.
They are high end, and a really cool business. They are basically the whole town, can't remember what the numbers were but it was something like 1 in 3 people work at Friesens in this small town in Manitoba. They actually have suites to stay in if you go there for proofs or things to do with an order.
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7 minutes ago, benged123 said:
Hey Wonderings,
Good advice. Will take it. Thank you. I notice you are mentioning a plant in Windsor. I'm in Montreal at the moment. And would love to do this job in Canada if possible. Might you be able to recommend some outfit in Canada? Even a POD, but that's based in Canada. I seem to vaguely remember there being a big place out in Winnipeg.
You are probably thinking of Friesen Press, they are in a small town south of Winnipeg. They are massive and would be the place to go with very large volumes. I sent you a private message regarding printing.
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1 hour ago, Twolane said:
You can deal with independent printers if you want, but I don't think you will get much better than what Amazon and Ingram produce. That, of course, means that your final output to those places is as perfect as you can get it
In print everyone is basically using the same printers. I bet money that whoever Amazon or Ingram are using for their printers are using HP Indigo's. Vista Print uses them, think they have like 60 of them in one plant in Windsor Ontario. The image quality of pretty much all the digital presses these days is really impressive. A local shop can have a midrange digital press and you are going to get nice prints out of it. I always vote for local if it makes sense. Again you are supporting your local economy, you also have people you can talk to, visit, see their facility and work with. The big guys are faceless and in my opinion, coming from print, offer less for less. I don't know how many times I have had people come to me to fix what they had done with the online places.
You can do it that way as Twolane does, and I know I could with my experience in print, but the majority do not have that experience so they don't even know what to ask about or for when looking at self publishing, or simply printing anything in general. Use the experience of your local pros and support your local businesses while you still have them.
uninstall apps (macOS)
in Feedback for the Affinity V2 Suite of Products
Posted
There is a great free app called "AppCleaner". You open it, drop the app into it and it finds all the back end supporting files and drops them in the trash for you. One of my must have Mac apps. Lightweight, no adds, and free!
https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/#google_vignette
I don't work for the company or get anything from them, just one of the many happy users of it.