Ben Wiens

Introduction I started another similar post titled "Using Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo V2.40 as a Swiss Army knife program", but in this post I ask the question differently, could other programs use this same file format? And would Canva ever allow that? Canva could develop these other programs also. The afpub file can handle text, vector, and raster and so could be used in all kinds of programs There would be a big advantage in the world if the afpub file format would become the document standard in the world. It is proprietary but other proprietary file formats have become very standard like .doc, cdr, and indd. Imagine if the afpub format replaced both the docx and pdf format. The afpub file is no bigger than the pdf but the file is completely editable. This means that the same file can be used for editing and viewing just like the docx format. But the afpub file handles text, vector, and raster formats much better than docx. Also the frame based desktop publishing format results in much easier complex formatting than the word processing format. If an IFilter was created so that on the fly thumbnails and previews were created in Windows Explorer or The Finder for Apple computers, this would allow fast viewing of multiple files and multiple file text searching would be possible. Why should afpub become the document standard in the world? The best file format is the one that could become the most popular. The afpub files are small in size. They handle text, vector, and raster formats very well. The files are very fast to load. The programs needed to open them are reasonably lightweight. Some people think that only open source and free to use file formats should become standards but it takes teams of many people to do this job properly and create a reliable relatively bug free program or file format. All kinds of programs would be possible with afpub file format Some people think that Affinity Publisher is too complicated for average office workers to master. Canva or other software companies could develop simpler "light" programs for text, vector, and raster creation that had the same file format but were less complicated. All kinds of plugins could also be created also. Note taking programs similar to Obsidian could be created using the afpub format that would handle text, vector, and raster formats in one file, so no links or attachments would be needed, every note would be a single file. Everything done in a normal office would use afpub, notes, letters, reports, user manuals, papers, and books could be done in the format. Why do I care? I'm a futurist partly and like to both predict and promote things that makes sense for people to do in the world. Plus many other people are asking the same question, because they don't want to learn a program or create files if clients aren't going to want that. Popularity breeds more popularity. Presently we have Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, and Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop that are standards in the world. Microsoft Word handles anything more complicated that plain text paragraphs poorly. Adobe Acrobat has line returns in text and so can't be used as the editing file format. Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, Photo files are far bigger in size than is necessary. The world would be a more efficient and productive place if the afpub file format replaced all these. The more people that use the afpub file format, the more likely that extras would be created and the more likely that this file format would become more popular and the more likely this file format would be around for many years to come. P.S. I did buy the Affinity Suite about 3 weeks ago and already recommended it to my brother who is working on another book, and to two people at a funeral I was at yesterday, one who is also writing a book, and another who has just started a graphic design business.

Sure I would love to buy or get a DAM for Affinity Suite but understood that one is not available presently. But it depends on how you define a DAM. A proper DAM for Affinity would be able to (1) search for keywords in multiple files and (2) index multiple afpub, afdesign, and afphoto files (actually they should be the same file format), (3) show a preview, (4) list metadata, (5) list filename, (6) list size of file, (7) show extension, (8) list date saved, (9) sort data of fields. Which is these things can your DAM do and who makes it?

10. Windows Explorer indexing I found a new possible method of finding text in multiple afpub files on the hard drive using Windows Explorer indexing. Has anyone tried this? I tried indexing several afpub files but nothing came out of the search after I ran the indexing and did a search. the afpub file is compressed so how would Windows index it, yet it is on the list. 11. Adobe Acrobat indexing and search Another and perhaps better method of finding text in multiple afpub files is using Adobe Acrobat indexing. Would need to export Affinity Publisher files to Acrobat pdf on all the files for this to work. Has anyone tried this? Must have a paid version of Adobe Reader to index. I indexed several large pdf files in a directory using my 20 year old Adobe Acrobat 7.0 paid version from Creative Suite 2 and the index was 14% of the size of the pdf documents in total and the pdfs on average were about 33% as large as Indesign documents of almost entirely text. I think that is acceptable for index size. I was able to do a search of multiple documents in the Adobe Reader 2024 version in Windows 7 based on the index I had done with Adobe Acrobat 7 and found that searching was 126 times faster than without the index at 0.027 seconds per search word instance. The search produces a long expandable list of documents the text is found in and after expanding a single document reference there is a long list of sentences where the text appears with the text highlighted both in the search window and in the document. Clicking on an instance opens the document but the list remains This might be the next best thing to a proper Affinity Document Asset Management module that the Affinity team have been talking about for 7 years already.

The model they tested had the low quality 1,920 x 1,200 pixel display. The 2560 x 1600 display 400 nit display option is much brighter and higher quality according to reviews. This computer is best bought with all highest end options for best results and to get these buy from Lenovo directly with the build your own option. Also I just found out that recent Intel CPUs UHT integrated graphics also support DirectX 12 but according to some reports the level of DirectX 12 support varies with the model of the CPU and so some might not have full DirectX 12 support. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 inch 2 in 1 convertibles I think always come with Intel Iris Xe graphics and the AMD versions also have something similar. I have always bought computers since my first in 1990 with dedicated graphics processors and the Intel Iris Xe graphics also fits into this category as it's a type of integrated low power GPU but the Intel Meteor Lake CPU is a type of integrated high power GPU.

Portuguese. Você pode executar o Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo em um tablet, um 2 em 1 removível e conversível, um laptop ou um computador desktop, à sua escolha, desde que atenda aos requisitos de sistema localizados aqui https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/publisher/full-feature-list/ e para tornar isso mais simples, este dispositivo exigirá, no mínimo, a execução do Windows 10 regular atualizado de 64 bits com gráficos Intel Iris Xe ou placa gráfica dedicada que pode executar o DirectX 12 que está disponível na maioria dos Microsoft Surface Tablets com teclados removíveis. Mas parece que você gostaria de comprar um notebook, mas talvez não tenha dinheiro? Na verdade, estou executando o Affinity Publisher com Windows 10 em um notebook Lenovo T400 de 15 anos, até conseguir um computador mais novo, que na verdade tem uma GPU dedicada que suporta DrectX 12 e o coloquei com um SSD de 1 Tb e 8 Gb ou RAM. Acho que os laptops 2 em 1 conversíveis são o melhor negócio para quem poderia usar notebook e tablet em momentos diferentes e o preço costuma ser mais barato que o tablet ou removível. Estou de olho em um Lenovo Yoga 7i de 16 polegadas 2 em 1 conversível e com as opções mais altas, incluindo tela 2560x1600 400 nit, o preço com a opção de construir sua própria é geralmente CA $ 1.400, Euro950, US $ 1.030, que é menos do que tablets com esses opções e será mais rápido devido a um sistema de ventilador melhor e tem muito mais portas e vem com uma tela sensível ao toque com tecnologia AES 2.0 WACOM que é provavelmente uma das melhores do mercado e deve ser usada com a caneta Lenovo Precision Pen 2 (2023) para melhor resultados. Mas recentemente vi uma caixa aberta com especificações de ponta por CA$ 750 no Walmart, que é metade desse preço. O Lenovo Yogo 7i de 16 polegadas é um 2 em 1 de última geração com caixa de alumínio sólido e bordas arredondadas e confortáveis que resistem muito melhor do que os modelos de plástico um pouco mais baratos e de qualidade muito inferior. Estou esperando pelos modelos 2024 mais recentes, que esperamos vir com CPUs Intel Meteor Lake com GPU integrada duas vezes mais rápida e provavelmente não mais dinheiro do que os modelos 2023. English. You can run Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo on a tablet, detachable, convertible 2 in 1, laptop, or desktop computer, take your pick, as long as it meets the system requirements located here https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/publisher/full-feature-list/ and to make this simpler this device will require at the minimum running upgraded regular Windows 10 64 bit with Intel Iris Xe graphics or dedicated graphics card which can run the DirectX 12 which is available on most Microsoft Surface Tablets with detachable keyboards. But it sounds like you would like to rather buy a notebook PC but maybe don't have the money? I'm actually running Affinity Publisher with Windows 10 on a 15 year old Lenovo T400 notebook, till I get a newer computer, which actually has a dedicated GPU which supports DrectX 12 and I've stuffed it with a 1 Tb SSD and 8 Gb or RAM. I think the convertible 2 in 1 laptops are the best deal for those that could use a notebook and tablet at different times and the price is often cheaper than the tablet or detachable. I have my eye on a Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 inch 2 in 1 convertible and with the highest options, including 2560x1600 400 nit display, the price with build your own option is generally CA$1400, Euro950, US$1030 which is less than tablets with those options and will be faster due to a better fan system and has way more ports and comes with AES 2.0 WACOM technology touch screen which is likely one of the best around and should be used with the Lenovo Precision Pen 2 (2023) stylus for best results. But I did recently see an open box with high end specifications for CA$750 at Walmart which is half that price. The Lenovo Yogo 7i 16 inch is a higher end 2 in 1 with solid aluminum case and nice rounded comfort edges which will stand up much better than the just slightly cheaper and much poorer quality plastic models. I'm waiting for the newer 2024 models which hopefully will come with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs with twice as fast built in GPU for likely no more money than 2023 models.

iPad Pro=Surface Pro Sure I would like the Affinity Suite on my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G because it would be great to sync and work on files on both devices and this phone is pretty big and powerful, and there are tablets that are even more capable. But Affinity Publisher isn't available on the iPhone either. Think about it, Apple has created a bigger device with a 12.9 inch screen called the iPad running a more advanced operating system than the phone. But in the Android world the tablets pretty much use phone software even though they are often phablets or tablets. But Microsoft Surface tablets are available in the 13 inch form factor running full Windows which will run the regular Windows Affinity Suite while the Apple iPads are actually running a lesser Affinity Suite. Both the iPad Pro and the Surface Pro with similar specs are roughly the same price at C$1,500. So why are people complaining then, there is another solution in the Windows world that is even better than in the Apple world? It's all Microsoft's fault Oh, the problem is Android is used on most phones that aren't Apple and this simple operating system has just got popular and it's use has extended beyond what is practical, so really Android is resulting in a big headache for society and Samsung is part of the problem as they used to sell Windows tablets but no more. But this is Microsoft's fault really. Apple phones don't run on Android, they run on an Apple iOS. Had Microsoft done it's job properly, all the other phones would be running on the Windows Phone operating system. I had one of these phones and they were great and this would have killed Android. Had Windows phones been popular, all the small inexpensive tablets would be running full Windows and running Affinity Suite would be no problem. The ideal device mix I've thought about work flow on different devices for several years now and here are my ideas. The ideal is that people have three compatible devices. (1) A 100 mm (4 inch) screen wrist phone running advanced Windows watch or Apple watch software. (2) A 200 mm (8 inch) screen device running full Windows or Mac tablet software optimized for small devices which would include phone software. (3) A 400 mm (16 inch) screen 2 in 1 convertible laptop running full Windows or Mac software, plugged in to a 27 inch monitor at home or office. 200 mm screen device is now big enough to run Affinity Publisher The key idea is that the smartphone size is increased to a 200 mm (8 inches 16:9 format) screen size and this allows the device to run full Windows or Mac software. I've held 8 inch 16:9 form factor tablets in my hand and you hold them differently to a small smartphone but I think this size is completely practical if you use the speakerphone, earbuds, or headsets when talking on the phone. This is about the biggest size that is practical for the phone and smallest size that could run full Windows and saves people money by not having to buy 2 devices. This also saves time for the program developers because they don't have to develop variations for small and larger devices. The 100 mm screen wrist phones wouldn't be used for anything that serious and would run the usual smartphone programs. The most serious work is done on the 400 mm devices but being able to do some of the work flow while being out for the day or traveling minimally on the 200 mm devices would be great.

Serif didn't provide me with the MSI/EXE installers, I just got the MSIX ones for the trial. With an actual purchase are both types available? Your explanation still leaves me puzzled. You make it sound like all files listed in Windows Explorer have file Preview Handlers and that if I don't see a Preview for Affinity programs there is something wrong. Actually Windows Explorer has very few Preview Handlers for text oriented documents, I only see Previews for Word, Wordpad, Notepad, and Acrobat files which are the main document formats that Microsoft supports. So the question is, what are you seeing? The Preview you mentioned, can you read every word of the document and see every page just like in the regular program? If so then Serif must have written a Preview Handler for their programs which would be installed in Windows Explorer as an add on. Can this Preview Handler read files for all three of the Affinity programs? I guess they are the same type of file? If Serif wrote a Preview Handler for Affinity programs that would indeed be a miracle because as of 2016 Adobe had still not written one for Indesign. Or is the Preview you are seeing the thumbnail bitmap created by Affinity and now shown bigger in size but still where you can barely make out 10 pt text and only see the first page of the document? It's a lot of work to create a Preview Handler and if Serif did create one, why would they not make it available with the MSIX installer and why is there so little information on this?

Introduction There is no point in creating files unless you can find them later! I'd like input please in all the different methods of finding desired Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo files. I am considering using Affinity Publisher for most of my documents but also for a type of Zettelkasten note taking system because it combines text, vector, and raster images so well but this could generate 1000s of files, but finding Affinity Designer files is also important for artists who produce 1000s of illustrations, and finding Affinity Photo files is also important for photographers who create 1000s of altered images. Similar questions have been posed in previous messages: No file preview in Windows File Explorer preview pane or Thumbnails not appearing in Windows Explorer, only icons but the details of what people are talking about are missing. I was running Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo V2.40 Windows for the 7 day trial with Windows 10 Professional 64 bit for my own research into these methods but macOS might be similar. 1. Windows Explorer Icons or file Extensions If a computer file directory has a mixture of different file extensions, it doesn't make that much sense to find for example Affinity Publisher files by looking at the icons or logos of the program. This is because it is better to display the Type in the Windows Explorer Details view and then sort by Type. But when looking at individual files seeing the icons might be some help. Method 1 then is to sort by file Type. 2. File date The computer will generate the Date modified and Date created but these dates keep changing so many professional photographers will start the file name with the date in Year/Month/Day format at the start of the filename. For photographs this is generally the date the picture was shot but in documents this could be the date when it was first written or in the case of revisions a particular version. Method 2 then is to sort by file name Date. 3. File name Windows allows for long total file names. In the ideal computer filing system for user files created, each file on the computer would be unique and so files could be moved between temporary project folders and then put back in the collection. Even in the paper file card based Zettelkasten system each card had a unique code and so if it was taken out of the file box for writing a paper it could be put back in a certain spot in the box later. Really long file names are difficult to work with however but short files names are less descriptive. Camel mode is considered the best type of file name format as there are no spaces and makes searching filenames easier. An example is 2024Mar18BenWiensFindingFilesAffinity.pdf. Method 3 then is to find or search by File Name. 4. File Index A database could be used to index all the user files on the computer. There are some 3rd party programs that do this but it's a lot of work to create a unique file name and then enter it in the database along with other metadata. Changing the file name requires changing it in the database. Method 4 then is to create a file Index with metadata. 5. Windows Explorer Icons or thumbnails When I ticked the box in Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo to save a thumbnail then I see that thumbnail in Windows Explorer when I select to display Icons. If a thumbnail was saved then I find this is displayed vs an icon for the program type. Even displaying the Extra Large Icons doesn't result in that big an image. And the image file size is quite small. For certain vector and raster images there is likely enough detail to identify the right file but for documents done in 10 pt text the thumbnail is not that valuable. Method 5 then it to visually search by thumbnails. 6. Windows Explorer Preview window In File Manager a Preview can be chosen to be shown. If Windows Explorer has a Preview Handler for the file type then the document, illustration, or image will appear with the same resolution as if it was opened in the actual program. There is for example a Preview Handler for Microsoft Word, NotePad in Windows Explorer and this means that the entire document can be read and text copied from it in the Preview. In the Xara desktop publishing program the thumbnail for the first page is displayed in the Preview but the thumbnail in Affinity programs doesn't display in the Preview in my experiments. My conclusion is that there is no Preview Handler available for Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo files in Windows Explorer or any other 3rd party or from Sarif. That puts Affinity Publisher at a disadvantage compared to Microsoft Word. Method 6 would be to select files using Windows Explorer Preview but my conclusion is that there is no Preview Handler available for Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo files. 7. Search by Affinity Publisher/Designer/Photo Metadata Affinity programs allow for the addition of metadata and tags but this doesn't display in Windows Explorer in my experiments. Method 7 would be to search by Affinity Publisher/Designer/Photo metadata but this doesn't display in Windows Explorer. 8. Search by Windows Explorer metadata When I selected Details in Windows Explorer I could see column listings of tags, title etc. For a Microsoft Word 2016 docx file I could enter tags, titles, and other metadata right in Windows Explorer. This might be the same metadata that is entered in Affinity programs but not sure as it is not displaying in Windows Explorer. Method 8 would be to enter metadata right in Windows Explorer and search for keywords there without having to use a separate database, but I could not do this for Affinity Publisher/Designer/Photo files. 9. Search using Windows "findstr" command I used the program Winbrowse to see the contents of computer code in the files and whether there was any user searchable text in the file. Also Using the command "findstr" at the command line in Windows I was able to search for keywords. No text was searchable in Microsoft Word docx, Xara Designer Pro+, Sarif Affinity Publisher/Designer/Photo, CorelDRAW, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Access. Text however was searchable in Adobe Indesign uncompressed, Word doc, OneNote, WordPad, Adobe Illustrator uncompressed, svg, and NotePad and makes finding files a lot easier, and the reason so many note taking and organizing programs use uncompressed text in their files. Method 9 would be to use the "findstr" command but Affinity Publisher/Designer/Photo files are entirely compressed and so it is not possible to find the text in the file without opening it. Conclusions It is only possible to use 5 of the 9 methods for finding files with the Affinity Publisher/Designer/Photo programs. Am I right? Affinity Publisher/Designer/Photo files are entirely compressed and most new file formats are and so are not searchable. But being able to add metadata to the files and search these in Windows Explorer and also having a Previewer would be a big help in finding files but I can't see that this is available presently.

Introduction I'm "kicking the tires" of the Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo V2.40 suite this week and wondered if anyone else has also been thinking of or are using it as a Swiss Army Knife program suite for all document related work like notes, letters, reports, papers, books, websites rather than just traditional "desktop publishing", to replace Microsoft OneNote, Word, Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop totally. I've been wanting such a suite for 34 years and after just 4 days of experimenting, I'm already dreaming of a world where the Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo suite is dominant in all these areas. We are only allowed one main question, so what additions to the Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo suite would be required for my vision of the future? Version 2.40 now has almost all the things that critics claimed were missing in version 1.0 as a desktop publishing program. The present plague I got my first "real"computer 34 years ago in 1990 and within 1 year I was already trying to import AutoCAD drawings into Microsoft Word for a steel pole manufacturing company user manual. Most of you know that Microsoft Word has never displayed vector illustrations properly and likely never will. I asked the secretary of the company to print out a few pages I had made with filler text and the drawings I had imported, to check the quality of the lines which looked horrible on the monitor. The secretary was horrified at the filler text thinking this was the final draft and notified all the head people in the company and soon I was confronted by an angry mob in the lobby where the head accountant put me in a choke hold and tried to strangle me to death. After this I experimented with Ventura Publisher which only displayed thumbnails in the image boxes, then Page Maker, Frame Maker, and finally Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop where I discovered how huge those Adobe files are and so would only be suitable for the largest of projects. The file size problem Smallest Microsoft Word version 2016 docx files are 12 K, Adobe Indesign version 2.0 indd files are 144 K, but Affinity Publisher V2.40 files are only 10 K. So Adobe Indesign documents are not typically going to be used in any corporate or home office for small items. Below are minimum file sizes for different documents. Affinity Publisher 10 K, no thumbnail on save Affinity Designer 9 K, no thumbnail on save Affinity Photo 8 K, no thumbnail on save, 22x20 mm stamp size image Adobe Indesign 144 K, compression, no ICC, no pdf editing Adobe Illustrator 273 K, compression, no ICC, no pdf editing Adobe Photoshop 685 K, 22x20 mm image, CMYK, 8 bit Writing everything directly in the desktop publishing program Most people think that writing should be done in a word processor and later inserted by a professional into a desktop publishing program if required. We all know how many times documents are edited, so in the end the "finished" document spends more time being edited than the original write, and it only makes sense for the author to do the editing in the desktop publishing program. So everyone in a company should be using the Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo suite. The desktop publishing experts would be used to set up the documents and help people with the editing, illustrations, and photos? Program suites Visual documents filled with illustrations and photos are much more compelling but also are often required. A long document text, vector, raster suite of programs developed by the same company is required for this to work seamlessly. There are only 2 companies now in the world selling reasonably popular, reliable, and easy to use suites that do this, Adobe with Creative Suite and Serif with Affinity Suite. Alludo (Corel) decided to drop Ventura Publisher, and Microsoft decided to focus on text and ignore complex graphics. File sizes of Adobe documents are too big and the subscription fees too high for wide use. This leaves only Serif to fill that void for the mass markets. And just like QuarkXPress lost their domination, Adobe Creative Suite could lose it's title of being most popular by missing on the mass market end if my vision of the future becomes reality. Even note taking could be done by Affinity Publisher There are likely over 100 different note taking programs available. Everyone of them has the same problem, not being able to draw or edit quality (Bezier) vector illustrations or add vector text to raster images. The original Zettelkasten note system was using 3x5 inch stiff paper cards, were widely used by academics for text, charts, diagrams, but present computer note programs focus on text only. But what is also required is a proper note making program. I work in the field of science and engineering and we make a lot of research and design notes. So instead of copying something from the Internet, we have to make our own drawings, tables, and formulas. And these are often quite formal with quality drawings and illustrations, as orderliness, precision, and attention to detail results in better conclusions. None of the present note taking programs will do this, they are more for fleeting notes. So am considering using Affinity Publisher to generate these permanent note and invention files. The actress Joan Rivers was reported to have one million cards in her Zettelkasten system. This is why small file size is so important. Because digital documents can be text searched, I am proposing to use longer notes than what was used in the original Zettelkasten system, might be up to 20 pages if there is one main idea, with individual digital files for notes instead of a single huge file like in present programs. This allows addition of different file types like document, database, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and image. A descriptive file name is typically used in computer filing systems and complex coding could be used, but also tags would be required for searching. Presently l can't find any tags that can be added in Affinity Publisher that can be found with the advanced search in Windows Explorer?