Winsome
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Posts posted by Winsome
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On 8/14/2022 at 4:05 PM, Michael S Harvey said:
The shadow tool for easy addition and placement of a drop shadow on the page.
I'm a little annoyed that there's an offset tool in the effects studio, but not when editing effects directly from the layers studio. I always, always, always, always activate and edit effects from the layers panel, and only recently discovered that the offset tool exists in the effects studio. But I don't want to the effects studio visible at all, I never use it.
But you'll find some of what you're looking for here:
But not here:
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Serif is making more money than ever before, and achieving higher profits than ever before. It's not about money. As in not at all. Serif is doing very well.
Serif has probably found a sweet spot in the market that Adobe and co. are not interested in (the little fish), that the other competitors have not been able to attract like Serif. Serif has done this by creating a strong brand, a myth around the products that customers have partly invented themselves, and by using marketing very actively. To their fortune, Apple has used Affinity to advertise their smaller products for more private, creative use. Both companies have probably gained from this, probably mostly Serif. I know supermarkets with a strong brand that also sell small organic brands, not to make money on these products, but as a small part of the whole of their marketing in particular: their OWN brand. The same strategy is used by Apple. Apple works for Apple.
So my guess is that Serif makes a really good living selling a lot of new licenses without even targeting distant markets like Asia, and that their profits are so high in part because the number of developers is so incredibly small. Furthermore, Serif is not a technology company as such, they use the resources of computers and operating systems to the limit, and they have not developed algorithms or technologies like Adobe. Even StudioLink isn't anything special, it's just the right way to code programs, and Serif did throw a lot of legacy overboard when they started all over with Affinity.
The bad news for you is that with few programmers and money in their pockets AND obviously no competitors threatening them here and now, Serif has no incentive to update the programs at any impressive pace. Serif has the time on its side, and as a form of compensation you get small free updates every year or so within a product cycle (1.x). This is of course a good deal for the many customers who are on a tight budget and at the same time don't need very many features, but it is killing for those who need more and who actually prefer the programs' user interface. I'm thinking in particular of Designer.
So the only real way to motivate Serif to speed up is probably not to buy their programs AND to buy the competitors', and of course that is not an attractive or possible solution either.
So you are customers on Serif's terms as long as the market is not saturated and the competitors do not crowd in. In other words: You must wait or vote with your feet.
Serif works for Serif.
Oh yes. Back to my studio, right.
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Arh man. OK, here are two pretty safe statements.
- Version 2 is coming, and there will probably be a (public) beta before that. I can wait. I need version 2, not version "2".
- Absolutely nothing will come of this thread and the like. It's a big messy spaghetti that somehow runs in endless circles. It's worse than Italian politics and governments.
I'm not wasting my time waiting for Affinity v2, I'm a creative, but damn I'm wasting my time reading these posts. And even more on posting in here.
I'm going back to the studio, my time there can at least be billed, to the delight of my family and of course the software vendors I purchase or rent my software from.
Maybe we'll meet in threads about solving problems or about inspiration.
Meanwhile, create, create, create.
🖼️🖌️
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I still can't reproduce it, though, with a very simple scenario identical to yours. I see no remnants of the uninstalled font in style studio.
Windows 11 Professional, by the way. -
Ah, in my test document I mistakenly used character styles instead of paragraph styles. D'oh.
I see what you mean. Nothing happens when I update the style (font-familiy).
If you select a style 2 formatted paragraph and then select Apply style 2 and clear paragraph styles, then that paragraph formats correctly. I can't find anywhere in the style in question (style 2) where I can remove this character formatting, so it must indeed be an erroneous local formatting. So maybe the font substitution messes with the character information:
In that case I would think it is a bug in Publisher.
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In any scenario, you should be able to delete a font without the program making permanent changes where styles with that font are applied!
This is equivalent to opening the document on a machine without that font, and a DTP program or word processor must be able to open and save a document in that scenario without making permanent changes. If automatic substitution occurs, it must be temporary only, and permanent changes must be made only after user interaction and user acceptance.
If Publisher can't handle a font being missing, then it's back to the drawing board before version 2.
But I think we need an example document. I certainly can't recreate what you experience with more simple test documents.
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23 hours ago, LeeThorpe said:
Hi GeirSol
This is normal, you've essentially destroyed the style by removing one of it's key components.
Lee
"Essentially destroyed" - what nonsense is that?
You can see that the font is missing by the question mark before the font name and by the + after the style name, since Publisher has substituted the font temporarily (and thus the text style is actually changed from the original, but only temporarily).
You can get an overview in the font manager:
By selection locate you can find an affected paragraph and identify an affected text style.
The good news is that Publisher has NOT left the affected sections where this text style is used as local formatting.
You need to find the studio panel called text styles and scroll down to the affected text style. You may have been confused by the fact that Publisher has also marked no style at the top of that panel:
Select a font that is installed and all is well.
Have I understood everything correctly about your situation? Did what I wrote make sense? Apologies if I misread anything.
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15 hours ago, debraspicher said:
The issue for Affinity is not who they market to, it's that the main products that brought their current audience have failed in terms of polish and too many bugs are left in for an unacceptable length of time. I'm not under any illusion that I would be clairvoyant what their intents are. I would only mention they often cite they are working on bugs that go years untouched. It's become a pattern. It doesn't matter who they market to as any number of these users will run into those issues.
It is not a exclusive or scenario. Both are major issues.
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On 7/23/2022 at 9:25 PM, Bryan Rieger said:
Unfortunately Serif also fuels these expectations by marketing their apps with copy such as "…Designer* is setting the new industry standard in the world of design…" and "…Publisher* is the next generation of professional publishing software…". Phrases such as 'new industry standard' and 'next generation…professional' will always serve to create comparisons in folks minds between the current industry standard, and the current generation professional product(s) with your product(s).
If you don't want to be compared to Adobe, stop marketing yourself in relation to Adobe.
*These phrases taken directly from both the Designer and Publisher product pages.
Serif throws around fancy marketing terms to make money and capture customers because it works. Simply put. It has nothing to do with the programs themselves. I myself - like several in here - think their marketing shoots way over the mark, but I'm used to so much bullshit and so many exaggerations from many players in the market, so I'm immune. I detect it lightning fast by practical use of trials, and so the contrast between word and reality is definitely not in the software manufacturer's favor. There I must admit that my impression of Serif is not good after visiting the website. It is too much.
There's just one thing I think is silly I see a lot of in here, it's the total illusion many have about the programs ability and Serifs possibilities with them on the market. And all the original talk about "Adobe killers" is pure nonsense. Click bait and fantasies.
Serif themselves know full well they don't make programs for companies of any significant size, nor do they target their marketing at such. I've never seen them direct significant or medium marketing at companies, I've never ever seen their programs among professionals, and their books and other materials are clearly aimed at pure beginners and creative individuals and partly at small businesses where money is scarce and needs small.
That's obvious, and it's perfectly fine. The Serif company has always aimed at the market they are aiming at now, but now a bit more ambitious and shiny. Unfortunately, progress is very, very slow. But it's a lucrative market, I have no doubt. And it's beyond doubt that Adobe and Corel can't or won't live off small customers. If anything, their programs are aimed at heavy, commercial use. That's why they cost what they cost. Serif, Xara and others are fighting for the small customers. There is not much overlap.
So it's interesting what Serif can and will do at all in the customer segment they live off. It is possible that some requested advanced features will only be used by a negligible part of Serif's customers, who write a lot in here, but make up a small part of the customers. And that Serif gets more out of developing features for the vast majority of their customers who are happy with the simpler and cheaper stuff. And who can easily be hit with marketing.
We'll find out. I certainly enjoy Designer as a niche program for limited use, but I long ago took the above as my starting point and bought and paid for the software that can deliver what I need. Today. Therefore, I don't have to wait with a mixture of blind hope and hard manual work. I have rewarded the competition because they have long since delivered the features you miss, and I am using them today.
Until then, be happy that there is silence from Serif for a little longer than you are used to, because they may be building on something bigger than they usually are. Just get used to the fact that everything costs time, money and people. And it hasn't been that long since the last version, anyway.
- LassiP and Boldlinedesign
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On 2/21/2022 at 6:56 PM, rmazzi said:
I hope i am posting this in the right forum: Will there need to be an update to Affinity Photo for editing raw files from the newly announce OM System OM 1 camera? Will the current raw editor work? If yes, will it need to optimized at all for the new sensor?
You should seriously consider using OM Workspace to develop images from that fine camera:
Software Download | OM Workspace | OM Digital Solutions (olympus-imaging.com)
Otherwise you'll completely miss out on all the magic Olympus has created in their JPG images in terms of both appearance and color. If you want to get anywhere near that, you'll have to buy Capture One Pro, which is expensive.
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18 minutes ago, jAffinitySerif said:
Yes, it is simply that.
And yes, it is much easier to discern how to do this in other vector-art programs.
Yes, very much so. I think it's pointless to struggle with the 100% manual methods in Affinity, unless you need to achieve something very simple. It can be done, but you can also cook with a jigsaw should other kitchen tools be unavailable.
So we look forward to seeing if there are such tools in future versions of Affinity. Until then, I can only recommend that you don't torture yourself with manual work in Affinity, but use what else the market offers in terms of software. If money is an issue, I remember once having to make do with freeware, drawing shapes and adding perspective to them in Inkscape. It wasn't as easy as in Vectorstyler, but it was fast and it looked natural.
By the way, the latest update of Inkscape is quite excellent. I just don't need it.
Good luck
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21 hours ago, awakenedbyowls said:
Think I asked this before but can't find the thread.
I have a design I want to enlarge to get printed out - previous run of prints came out well but the enlarged one didn't seem as sharp and well defined.
I understand there are different ways to achieve this but what I wanted to ask initially was: Is it better to enlarge different elements separately or just the whole image in one go?
There are many roads to Rome, and you should probably google 'output sharpening' and 'enlarge for print' - especially output sharpening.
But I must mention Topaz Gigapixel, which is not the solution to everything that needs enlarging, but which has changed my relationship to size altogether in many contexts.
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22 hours ago, CDRowell said:
Hello,
i designed on Illustrator and CorelDraw years before... Now with Affinity Designer a tool is lost... Transform vectorized Objects to deform, twist, forgiven points and lines. Is there a plan to integrate this? It´s a pitty to get this good app and a base tool is obsolete now...
I would say: WAT THE F***K are Affinity is working on a ultimative transforming tool for vectorgraphics?
Please tell me...
Hello
It's true that Affinity Designer doesn't have much to offer in terms of vector tools. There have been really many requests, complaints and frustrations about the lack and waiting time in here. It is also hard to know if we can expect anything at all. And what.
If you have an M1 mac, then I think you should take a look at Vectorstyler, which really offers many vector tools. Vectorstyler is the logical alternative to Illustrator and Coreldraw when you look at features.
Affinity Designer is probably better compared to Krita. I really get a lot out of Designer for pixel based work, but it's never going to replace or directly compete with Illustrator and Coreldraw.
Workflows with multiple programs, file exchanges, clipboard and such complex documents are a nightmare - a slow nightmare, so I pay the price for the right tools, so the tool often chooses itself.
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28 minutes ago, Boldlinedesign said:
@Winsome - In Designer and also in Vectorstyler, you can import a raster image and lock it and lower the opacity and then draw on a new layer above
Yes, I know, but what you mention is the most elementary use case for trivial tracing that all design applications with layers support.
If, like me, you work with really complex designs with lots of layers and objects covering the whole page, and use several bitmaps as a starting point for what to draw, throughout the entire design process, then it is exactly this functionality I mentioned from e.g. Vectorstyler, where in outline view you see outlines and bitmaps in shades of grey, that I need.
In Vectorstyler, in outline view you see these bitmaps in grayscale regardless of how many vector objects are placed on top of them, covering them completely, and then I can trace or align with all objects visible. That's how it should work. Simple, easy and tailored for tracing.
But now I use Affinity Designer mostly, and I think this functionality is severely lacking in Affinity Designer. I spend too much time on the alternative workflows Affinity unfortunately makes necessary.
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Quote To disable synchronization:
- On the Symbols panel, click Sync to disable so any object can be independently edited. When enabled again, editing is synchronized across all symbol instances.
To detach objects from symbols:
- Select a symbol on the page or via the Layers panel.
- On the Symbols panel, click Detach.
Detaching reverts a symbol back to a standard object while keeping synchronization enabled.
Hm, this made much more sense to me (macOS tooltip):
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Hi @GarryP
Thanks for the detailed feedback. I have updated the list so that it is more precisely worded. Serif's staff will understand now, I'm sure.
Otherwise:
6. You don't turn off the sync with that button. You just pause it. See tooltip. If, with the pause function enabled (intentionally or accidentally), you change a symbol in the document, the symbol is detached without notification. That's bad usability.
I see now there is no real tooltip in the Windows version of Designer. There is in the macOS version.
7. Panel menu example:
No menu in Symbols panel:
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On 3/31/2019 at 1:42 AM, Sweatman said:
is there a way to preview art in outline mode (Draw Persona) while keeping the imported "template" image visible?
This is something I really miss in Affinity Designer. And it should already be implemented, now that most people seem to do such graphics in Affinity Designer.
Vectorstyler (and apparently also Coreldraw) displays a faded grayscale version of the bitmap original in outline view (inactive and as background, so you can just draw on top), which is fabulous for tracing, and it should be easy to implement in Affinity.
Vectorstyler
Normal mode
Outline mode
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To Serif 🙂
I hope you are already working on improving the symbol functionality. Some of the below is already requested by your customers fragmented around in posts in this forum, but you get here my more coherent wish list. Let's turn symbols and styles into power tools! 🙂
- I would strongly recommend that symbols can also be edited isolated by e.g. right-clicking (+ edit symbol) or double-clicking them from the symbol panel, where they open up in their own new window - just like when editing embedded document.
- The functionality where updates of symbols locally in the document update the symbol and thus all instances is not something I like as default functionality. It should be a setting from the symbol panel. You can end up doing it locally without remembering it's a symbol, and then all symbols change accidentally.
- 1 and 2 must be implemented so that they work together according to a coherent logic.
- I would strongly recommend that symbols can be replaced e.g. by dragging a symbol on top of it and asking "This will update the symbol. Update all instances of the symbol in the document with the selected one?" The inability to replace symbols in such a simple and effective way (or another one) is a major shortcoming.
- The orange icons in the symbol panel are unique to the entire Affinity Designer - and thus the entire panel - it's as if that panel is from a completely different application. You should unify icon styles across Designer - i.e. not use orange icons. It's confusing and makes no sense. The icons are also a bit big in the buttons. I'll never get used to that panel. The icons make me think of radioactive waste, which I don't think is the point.
- When you pause off sync and edit an icon, the icon detaches without you necessarily knowing it. You should add a setting so that as a designer you get notified (a notification) when this happens.
- The settings I mention should be available from the symbol panels panel menu, which currently does not exist in this panel, but in several other panels.
Just to make you really aware of the full context: I use symbols quite a lot and quite creatively, and not just in the mundane and obvious scenarios most people would immediately think of, but also for graphics, using many similar elements that I have in sync via symbols, very often in order to edit them to perfection later in the design process.
Finally, a note: there is something strangely inconsistent about you having dynamic symbols, and graphic styles that don't update, but are just templates of sorts. I would also strongly encourage that you update symbols as outlined above, and then afterwards have graphical styles replaced with true dynamic styles.
Together, updated in this way will make Designer really strong in styles and symbols. It isn't now.
Thanks 🙂
Winsome
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Reinstalling doesn't always wipe user settings - but reinstalls and reconfigures program settings. It probably should also should offer to reset user settings - reinstalling is after all usually performed to solve issues that can be caused by program setting issues or user setting errors. Who knows what the root cause is, after all.
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On 5/4/2022 at 2:23 PM, VectorWhiz said:
Yesterday I saw two crows chasing a falcon. The latter did not flee, but was just trying to out manoeuvre the crows in a restricted area in which the aerial pursuit took place. It was fascinating to watch. I guess such events take place anywhere in the skies above this planet.
Yes, that's right, because I've seen it all over the world. Over rainforests, over desert plains or over cities. You name it.
These are crows asking a bird of prey to leave the area, and they often do so by harassing them, breaking their concentration and interfering with their hunt. It rarely gets dramatic, but the bird of prey simply can't really hunt in peace. It's very simple.
I've seen birds of all shapes and sizes work together to be wary of the large birds of prey, and warn each other well in advance. But it's the big crows that have to fly up and and disturb the intruding bird.
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Really nice visually balanced design; the mix of modern maps and treasure maps works really well.
Miłego weekendu!
Affinity Future
in Feedback for Affinity Designer V1 on Desktop
Posted
You speak of a distant past. Vectorstyler left the beta phase a very, very long time ago, and has been updated and improved incredibly and significantly over many updates since. And it continues like that. The improvements have mostly been based on customer feedback, and I've seen customers get their suggestions approved and implemented in days or weeks. So instead of walking away, I recommend joining that forum. There is listening, responding, reacting and implementing. The program has been significantly improved in 2022 alone. And since the program is developed so heavily on customer feedback, no strange or sadly simple tools have been implemented like in Affinity Designer - e.g. the contour tool. You really don't know what vector design CAN do until you've tried Vectortyler, Adobe Illustrator or Coreldraw and their many awesome features.
And then we just have the fact that Vectorstyler has almost every feature imaginable (And the rest on the roadmap), at least all the ones Affinity is missing and maybe 100 more (no kidding), and that the missing features on a roadmap that is public. I would guess that there are a lot of Affinity customers who can't afford not to try Vectorstyler, unless they want to pay for Adobe, Coreldrawor spend the rest of their lives on workarounds to do simple things. I don't get the impression from the typical Affinity customer that they have a big budget for software.
It's hilarious that people in here request features for years and hardly see a single one of these requests implemented by Serif (in recent years), while the same features exist in abundance in Vectorstyler or if features are requested, they end up visibly on a public roadmap. If not, the developer tells you directly; there is no uncertainty.
So, instead of the many blathering on in here over thousands of posts that don't make a single difference, I can recommend creatives to give Vectorstyler a try, there is a long trial, and even more recommend that you make your opinion known on Vectorstyler's forum, you can have an influence, e.g. you can get bugs fixed in a week. It's impossible to explain how liberating it is to get rid of software problems so incredibly fast. The license runs for a long time, so you're spoiled with Vectorstyler too.
Vectorstyler and Designer are a great pair, suddenly you have two excellent programs that together form a gigantic and versatile toolbox. That's how I as a creative, results-oriented person look at it.
While Affinity Designer has only the simplest and very few tools for vector drawing, and we have no idea what might come, and when, there are a lot of designers like me who NEED to supplement Affinity with a competent vector program. And that's where Vectorstyler comes into its own. Affinity Designer will never catch up to Vector Styler feature-wise. Keep that in mind too.
So no fanboy here; I use both programs separately or together and I like both programs. I could not here and now do without either of them on my macOS machine.
Still, whether one likes or needs a program like Vectorstyler is one's own business, but one should try the alternatives out there, and the Vectorstyler development is worth participating in as well as monitoring:
VectorStyler Roadmap
www.vectorstyler.com