vonBusing

For anyone who may be interested, in addition to the options provided with the initial post for the new QR Code creation tool here are a few additions that work with iOS...
Syntax Provided in the Initial Post for QR Code Creation in Affinity 2.5 Beta Apps
SMS
Payload structure: SMSTO:number:text message
Eg. SMSTO:07513123456:Hello mate!
GEO location
Payload structure: GEO:lat:lon:height
Eg. GEO:40.71872,-73.98905,100
WIFI credentials
Payload structure: WIFI:S:ssid;T:type;P:password;;
Eg. WIFI:S:MyWiFiSSID;T:WPA;P:MyPassW0rd;;
 
Note: I've not tested these on Android but I'd be keen to know which work (with the applicable options) and which don't if anyone is happy to test...
Additional Syntax Options for QR Code Creation in the Affinity 2.5 Beta Apps
Phone
Payload structure: TEL:number
e.g., TEL:07772123456

Email
Payload structure: MAILTO:email address
e.g., MAILTO:jon.doe@example.com

Email Additions (Cc, Bcc, Subject, Message)
Payload structure: MAILTO:email address?CC=email address&BCC=email address&SUBJECT=subject&BODY=message
e.g., MAILTO:john.smith@example.com?
CC=john.doe@example.com&BCC=jane.doe@example.com&SUBJECT=Friday Drinks&BODY=We are all meeting at the Dog & Duck on Friday after work, hope you can make it.
FaceTime
Payload structure: FACETIME:mobile number
e.g., FACETIME:07772123456
YouTube
Payload structure: URL:https://youtubeurl
e.g., https://www.youtube.com/AffinitySuite
WhatsApp
Payload structure: URL:https://wa.me/internationalnumber?text=message
e.g., https://wa.me/447772123456?text=We are all meeting at the Dog & Duck on Friday after work, hope you can make it.
Note 1: The mobile number needs to include the international dialling code without any prefixed zeros, e.g., UK 44 and US 1 as opposed to 0044 or 01.
Note 2: Reserved characters need to use URL encoding when included as part of the message, i.e., ‘Dog & Duck’ should be typed as ‘Dog %26 Duck’ otherwise the message element is truncated at ‘Dog’.
Examples of Reserved Characters

Spotify Track
Payload structure: https://open.spotify.com/track/songlink
e.g., https://open.spotify.com/track/3Z5VaAEN7NWkgBXbCXNilW?si=91dfd85f75df4009
Spotify Playlist
Payload structure: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/playlistlink
e.g., https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7y40TSg305MTZ3n3Q2LqSF?si=dc0c24f1a6a34cdd
Address Book Contact (vCard)
Payload structure:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//macOS 12.7.4//EN
N:LasteName;FirstName;;;
FN:FirstName LasteName
ORG:Company;
EMAIL;type=INTERNET;type=WORK;type=pref:name@company.com
TEL;type=WORK;type=VOICE;type=pref:Work Number
TEL;type=CELL;type=VOICE:Mobile Number
ADR;type=HOME;type=pref:;;Address
NOTE:Notes
item1.URL;type=pref:Web Address
item1.X-ABLabel:_$!<HomePage>!$_
BDAY:2000-02-28
END:VCARD
While the QR Code generator library (used in the v2.5 Beta for QR Code creation) supports the vCard (.vcf) format, currently Affinity apps don’t because of the requirement to use a CRLF (Carriage Return/Linefeed) after each line entry which the single-line Payload format used for QR Code creation in the Affinity apps don't accept and means the vCard formats fails with a No Usable Data Found error message.
The alternative for Contact QR Codes is to use the more limited MECARD format which is accepted by the Affinity apps when creating a new Contact QR Code…
Address Book Contact (MECARD)
Payload structure: MECARD:N:Last Name,First Name;ADR:Address;TEL:number;TEL:number;EMAIL:emailaddress;NOTE:note
e.g., MECARD:N:Cook,Tim;ADR:One Apple Park Way, Cupertino, CA 95014, United States;TEL:+14089961010;TEL:+17513123456;EMAIL:tim.cook@apple.com;URL:https://apple.com;BDAY:19600111;NOTE:”Apple Vision Pro, You navigate simply by using your eyes, hands, and voice.”;;

PDF File
Payload structure: https://hostlurl/file/pdflink
e.g., https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WZD6wOgG1bkPQfcNA_MMCIuPhKVhWWQf/view?usp=sharing

Add to Calendar Event for Apple and Google Calendar (.ics)
Payload structure:
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:Spatie calendar-links
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:90bbafd033c512f7590d844a0d65b449
SUMMARY:Run the London Marathon
DTSTAMP:20240421T080000Z
DTSTART:20240421T080000Z
DTEND:20240421T130000Z
DESCRIPTION:I'm running the London Marathon
LOCATION:London
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR
While the QR Code generator library (used in the v2.5 Beta for QR Code creation) supports both the VCALENDAR AND VEVENT formats, currently Affinity apps don’t because of the requirement to use a CRLF (Carriage Return/Linefeed) after each line entry which the single-line Payload format used for QR Code creation in the Affinity apps don't accept and means the VCALENDAR AND VEVENT formats fail with a No Usable Data Found error message.

There are a few other minor improvements to mention in 2.5:
1. Some new cameras have been added to LibRAW:
FujiFilm X100VI Leica SL3 Pentax KF (Rioch) Samsung Galaxy S23+ Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Sony ILCE-9M3 (A9 III) [improved] 2. As was requested in a few places before and on the last beta, when you have "Transform objects separately" checked and have a multi-selection, if you type a value in either the width or height field and precede it with an equals sign (e.g. H: '=100px') then it will set all objects in that selection to have that specific width or height value entered. This is opposed to scaling the other objects in your selection proportionally based on the key object which is he result you get without the equals sign.
3. DWG polylines import improvements
We have made some substantial improvements when importing polylines, which now ignores the cached points which AutoCAD creates. This simplifies the resulting curves substantially.

Apps: All
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad
A new QR Code tool is now available from the shapes flyout in the toolbar, making it easy to add a QR code to your documents. 
After creating or selecting a QR Code object you will find a 'Payload' option in the context toolbar. Here you can type whatever URL you want the QR code to link to when it is scanned.


In addition to URLs you can use other syntax as detailed below to have the QR code trigger other functions when scanned by a device:
SMS
Payload structure: SMSTO:number:text message
Eg. SMSTO:07513123456:Hello mate!
GEO location
Payload structure: GEO:lat:lon:height
Eg. GEO:40.71872,-73.98905,100
WIFI credentials
Payload structure: WIFI:S:ssid;T:type;P:password;;
Eg. WIFI:S:MyWiFiSSID;T:WPA;P:MyPassW0rd;;

Is there a complete list of all the Payload structure options available for QR Codes, e.g., email, MMS, vCard etc., or is it restricted to URL, SMS, GEO Location and WIFI?

Apps: All
Platforms: Windows, macOS and iPad
Within alignment options you will see three new options to make all items in your current selection adopt the same width, height or rotation. By default this will transform all objects to match the first item selected, or alternatively if a key object has been nominated (alt-click) it will use that as the source.
Additionally you can choose to maintain the aspect ratio of the objects being resized.
On desktop this is available via the alignment dropdown:

And on iPad via the alignment options panel which you can get to via the transform panel:

 

Apps: All
Platforms: Windows, macOS and iPad
All Affinity apps now support import and export of 32bit HDR PNG files, as described in the PNG specification (3rd edition). Both PQ and HLG are supported alongside full / narrow range and a full set of primaries. Files exported can be used directly in video editing applications or shared on the web (Chrome now supports HDR PNG files). In addition, legacy PNG and TIFF files exported from Photoshop with CICP data embedded in an ICC profile are also able to be imported.
 

Apps: Photo and Designer
Platforms: All
In Export Persona Filename is now available as a token variable for building either folder paths or exported filenames of your slices. This is available with two options:
Document Name = the name of the document without the file extension
Document Filename = the name of the document including the file extension
For example if you had a document called "Social Ads.afdesign" which contained artboards named "Version 1", "Version 2", etc.  you could now specify your path to be Document name like below:

And this will automatically create a folder called "Social Ads" with your slices being exported within it:
Social Ads/Version 1.png
Social Ads/Version 2.png
etc.
You can also use these tokens as part of your exported file names, e.g. if you set up as below...

 
That would result in your exported files being named:
Social Ads (Version 1).png
Social Ads (Version 2).png
etc.

Additional note

Worth a reminder when testing these feature you can copy and paste export set ups from one slice to another slice using the copy / paste buttons towards the top of the panel. You can also create your own export set up presets from the burger menu in the slices panel.

Jeez give us time to roll the site out, try now (press CTRL+Shift+R or CMD+R)

I know a couple of these have been reported before but this thread in the feedback forum got me looking for places where controls are invisible in light mode: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/183915-my-greatest-annoyance-using-affinity-designer-2-the-aspect-ratio-lock-icon/
All of these screenshots are with the default contrast settings but the high contrast setting makes no difference.
The new linked fields icon in 2.1 has good contrast everywhere except in Designer's Document Setup, Publisher's Text Wrap Settings, and Publisher's Guides. The icon is in a lot of places and all the rest that I found looked good.
Left: Designer vs. Right: Photo
  
  

Publisher's Text Wrap Settings
      

Publisher's Guides (for both Margins, shown, and Spread Origin)
      
  This has been previously reported but the two Save Preset icons have no contrast in light mode so they're invisible. Same in all 3 apps.
  
  The Move Up/Down icons in Layer Effects have no contrast in light mode so they're invisible.
  
  The Pinning panel has a completely white background so the controls are washed out.

  Likewise the Styles panel has a completely white background so some styles are impossible to see. Same in all 3 apps.
  
  In light mode there is no background icon well for disabled controls in the Context Bar like there is in dark mode - the icons are floating. Same in all 3 apps.
  
  Similarly, disabled buttons have no visible contrast with the background like there is in dark mode - the button labels are floating.
  
  Similarly, disabled pulldown buttons have no visible contrast with the background like there is in dark mode - the selected value and the spinner controls on the right are floating.
  
  The blue focus rectangle gets in the way of the text in a field in light mode - there's a thick grey border inset in the field in light mode that seems to shrink the available space.
 
  The Move to Parent icon in the Insert Topic Reference dialog (shown above) has no contrast in light mode making it impossible to see.
  The Add Section icon in Section Manager looks very disabled in light mode when it's actually enabled. This one is odd because the same icon in Data Resource Manager (shown right) has good contrast.
  
And here's a dark mode issue - a disabled radio button (Continue page numbering) has no contrast and is invisible in dark mode but it's good in light mode.
 

Ah, I think that was an oversight at least in the macOS version.
The icon contrast is correct in the 2.1 Document Setup dialog in Publisher and in the similar Resize Document and Resize Canvas dialogs in Photo but not in the Document Setup dialog in Designer. Nobody reported that issue during the beta.
I'll create a bug post in the bug forum for this because while hunting for more instances of the icon being messed up I found another light mode problem - the Pinning panel has a white background in light mode so it's all washed out. I'll add a link to the bug post here when I've created the topic but I'm going to do a big more poking around in light mode to see if there are any other similar issues that were missed. I'll also include Old Bruce's report of the invisible Save Preset icons.

Here's a bug report with a lot of light mode issues and one dark mode issue.

This problem is one of many similar problems with the Default settings for the Light User Interface. This lack of contrast is in my opinion a major failure. 
Affinity definitely needs to fix the contrast for the User Interface.

We are pleased to announce Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2 and Affinity Publisher 2 are now all updated to version 2.1.0 (for all existing customers on all platforms).
Here are links to the release notes
Affinity Designer 2.1.0 for Windows               ( Microsoft Store and Affinity Store [as sandboxed MSIX and unsandboxed MSI/EXE] ) Affinity Designer 2.1.0 for macOS                  ( Mac App Store and Affinity Store ) Affinity Designer 2.1.0 for iOS                        ( Apple iPad Store )
  Affinity Photo 2.1.0 for Windows                    ( Microsoft Store and Affinity Store [as sandboxed MSIX and unsandboxed MSI/EXE] ) Affinity Photo 2.1.0 for macOS                       ( Mac App Store and Affinity Store )  Affinity Photo 2.1.0 for iOS                             ( Apple iPad Store ) 
  Affinity Publisher 2.1.0 for Windows              ( Microsoft Store and Affinity Store [as sandboxed MSIX and unsandboxed MSI/EXE] ) Affinity Publisher 2.1.0 for macOS                 ( Mac App Store and Affinity Store ) Affinity Publisher 2.1.0 for iOS                       ( Apple iPad Store )  Please follow this thread here to get notified when any new releases are made.

Hi All,
Thanks again for all your continued help with this release. We are getting very close to launch. This will be the final beta build before what will hopefully be our first release candidate next week. For that reason we are not really making any further significant changes (or anything which could be considered risky). 
The main thing I want to make you all aware of is that we have decided to not release the cross-references feature with 2.1. For that reason this feature has been removed from this week's build.
Any documents you may have created which include cross references will still open (and they will even still update), but you will not be able to edit or create new cross-references in 2.1. We understand this might be disappointing for some of you, however we will be moving into 2.2 beta very shortly after 2.1 release, and as soon as a 2.2 beta is available that will include cross-references again (and will definitely make it to 2.2 release!)
We have made this decision primarily as we have been working on adding better formatting options (as have been requested on these forums) into the feature, but we have not quite managed to get it to a point where we feel it will be releasable in time - and considering all the other great stuff / fixes we have put into 2.1 we don't want to delay the whole of 2.1 because of it.

Other than that in this build it's mostly just fixes which you can see in this thread.
Thanks,
Ash

If you are suffering from this issue I think a work around is to simply click inside any cell of a table in your document and then the problem has been avoided when you next click back into a text frame. This work-around avoids the need to restart the application. 

Hi All,
Another update to the beta will be shortly available to you on auto update (this is version 2.1.0.1742 for all apps other than Designer and Publisher on iPad which is 2.1.0.1743). Here's some of the main changes to look out for:
Further iPad layers panel changes
The main change we have wanted to get in for a while and has been discussed in these forums again is promoting opacity and blend mode to the top of the main layer panel, rather than only being available via the ... or left swipe menu.
An additional touch is double tapping on opacity value to reset to 100%, and double tap on blend mode to reset to "Normal"

 
Tweak to default tools in Designer iPad
Again we know the right answer for a future update is to allow user customisation for tools, but in the meantime based on various feedback we have:
Split Pencil and Brush so they are no longer nested. Nested Fill and transparency Included the new Vector Flood Fill tool as it's own tool This new default layout can be seen the above screenshot too.
Vector Flood tool fill changes
1. The fill mode options should now be working correctly. The idea behind these are that if your bucket is currently filled with a partially transparent swatch (e.g. might just be Red with 50% opacity, or could be a bitmap fill which has alpha for example), then when you add that fill to an existing shape / area these options gives you control over what you want to happen.
Add - the fill will be added / layered on top. This means for example if you had a bitmap halftone texture this would then add on top of your base colour fill. If you apply again it will keep laying additional fills on top. Smart - the same as Add other than it only allows the same fill to be applied once to any area. Knockout - this will always just replace the current fill(s) with your current swatch. 2. Tap to convert asset or stock item to bitmap fill now works on iPad. On iPad, when you have Vector Flood Tool selected when you tap on any asset you will get an additional option of "Set as Fill" to load your bucket with that. Same applies with a single tap on any stock image. 
Crop tool auto crop to opaque on rotate / straighten
As was requested on this thread we have now made it when you rotate / straighten an image while in crop tool the bounds of the crop will automatically resize to crop out the transparent areas created.
Stroke panel tweaks
Dragging on the Dash or gap indicators on stroke panel now increments values by 0.1 rather than 1.0 You can click-drag on the phase label now too to adjust value (obviously phase only active when balanced is false) The buttons at the bottom of the panel on iPad (remove arrow heads, reverse heads, etc.) should now work! Pantone library update - this build includes updating the PANTONE Solid, Process Coated and uncoated tables to version 5
Cross References
I want to give you a heads up that while cross references will remain in the beta, we have decided that this feature will not be included in the final release of 2.1 - we are going to push it back to release with 2.2. If you have created documents which use cross references they will still load in the release version of 2.1, but you will be unable to edit the references. However, you will be able to continue to use the beta version of 2.1 (and not long after 2.1 release, the beta of 2.2) if you wish to use this feature.
 
You can find the list of bug fixes in this build in the fix list thread.
Thanks,
Ash

Looks like we've been able to reproduce this here now so hopefully a fix will be incoming

Unless I've missed something V2 still does not remember (or allow you to set a preset) the File settings Area
Disappointingly, you still have to remember to change to change it from "All Spreads" to "All Pages" which is what commercial printers require.
Grrr. 

This post is also available as a press release in: English Français Deutsch Italiano Español 中文 Português 日本語 Brand new products launched today, Affinity V2 Universal Licence ownership tier announced, and Affinity Publisher comes to iPad
 

Serif has today unveiled the long-awaited Version 2 of its award-winning Affinity creative suite. Available to buy now with generous launch discounts, Affinity V2 comprises reimagined versions of the three products which have taken the creative software world by storm, loaded with spectacular new features and a stunning new look.
               Affinity Photo 2 – ultra-powerful photo editing and raster painting Affinity Designer 2 – intuitive, imaginative vector graphic design and illustration Affinity Publisher 2 – nimble, no-nonsense page layout software boasting StudioLink, a unique way of using the editing tools from the two other Affinity products Designed and built to empower creatives and bring out the very best in their work, Affinity V2 integrates photo editing, graphic design, illustration and layout into a super-sleek workflow – delivering a holistic experience unlike that of any other creative suite.

Version 2 of all Affinity apps launches today
Ashley Hewson, Managing Director of Serif, says: 
“Setting new standards for creative software, Affinity V2 is by far the biggest, most exciting launch in the history of Serif. For the very first time we’re bringing the very latest, highest performing versions of all our products to the market at the same time, with some simply stunning features.
“At Serif, we know that we don’t work for ourselves – we work for the photo editors, the artists, the illustrators, the designers, all those people who rely on Affinity software as the engine to power their day.
“We have worked tirelessly to not only include many of the new features our customers have been asking for, but a whole host of usability and workflow improvements to make the apps more productive than ever. We think Affinity users both old and new are going to love it.”
Alongside the launch of Affinity V2 comes the eagerly awaited release of Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad, completing the core suite of apps available on macOS, Windows and iPadOS. Feature packed, intuitive and touch-friendly, it is the first time a truly professional, desktop-grade layout and page design app has made its way to the platform.

Affinity Publisher comes to iPad for the first time
“Our work to put full desktop-quality creative software onto iPad has led the world and set new industry standards for what users should expect from iPad apps. And now we’re the first to bring all the features you’d associate with desktop publishing to the iPad as well.
“There’s genuinely never been anything like this before. The power and portability of Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad allows you to take page design and layout out of the confines of the office and into whatever space brings you most inspiration.”
Affinity V2 Universal Licence has also been announced today giving customers an option to buy a package containing Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Designer 2 and Affinity Publisher 2 for use on Mac, PC and iPad – all for a single all-inclusive amount.

The Universal Licence will normally be available for £144.99 – a £155.92 saving on buying all the apps on all operating systems individually. However, Serif is currently offering a huge 40% launch discount making the whole V2 suite available for a remarkable £89.99 one-off cost with no subscription.
Ashley Hewson concludes: 
“The ability to buy for a one-off payment is something that makes Affinity the only viable option for many of the brilliant and inspiring creative people around the world, who would otherwise not have access to the highest-quality tools. There has been a lot of speculation about us moving to subscription recently, so I’m pleased to confirm that isn’t the case!
“For our existing customers we have also been very conscious that, considering many of our sales are generated via app stores, it’s not possible to provide upgrade pricing. That’s the main reason we have decided to offer such a large launch discount – to give users a chance to upgrade at an incredible price.”
Users who don’t require the full package will still be able to buy Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Designer 2 or Affinity Publisher 2 individually for Mac, PC or iPad with the same 40% launch discount. All apps, including the V2 Universal Licence, are also available as a 30-day free trial.

Please, please, please: let Publisher remember the last used Area setting in the export dialogue. The default is set to "All spreads", but I _never_ use that. I want "All pages". I do not know how many times I have to re-export my file because that setting is stuck on spreads by default, independently of all other export settings that are remembered very nicely. This is _so_ annoying...

Bump: Publisher 1.8.1 is still working the same way. If this is the intended behavior (not a bug but a feature), I would love to hear an explanation of this choice that I do not understand. If not, are there any plans to fix it?

For me, the biggest omission from Publisher at present is support for Linking and Embedding of semantic markup text files. This would allow authored text resources to be handled in the same excellent and flexible way image resources are at present. Authors would be able to round-trip text content between Designer and their preferred text editor software in the same way as artists can round-trip image files at present. Crucially, the files can be either linked or embedded according to workflow requirements.
Doing this well requires the following enhancements:
Support for semantic markup text files formats such as Markdown and SGML. In these files the author marks up passages according to what they mean not how they look (for example 'Heading 1', 'Bullet List', 'Emphasis'). Designer is responsible for converting this to a particular typography to implement the style of the document. Support for Style Sheets. These are collections of text and paragraph styles which get mapped onto the semantic markup to determine the look of the document. You apply a style sheet to a Text Frame in the same way as you might a filter onto an Picture Frame. Handle text files as resources using the feature set already implemented for image files. They should be updatable, replaceable, linkable, embeddable, collectable etc. For 'extra credit' handle visual markup formats (DOCX, PDF, RTF, ODF, XML etc.) in the same way using AI to strip away the visual markup and reinterpret it semantically. Fairly straightforward if styles are used with discipline in that you just overwrite the definition of the styles. Harder if the markup is applied in an ad-hoc manner in that you have to infer semantics. If Publisher was able to implement something like this it would, in my view, go from good to great and support more professional workflows such as production of serial publications with multiple authors and editors.

It's not like this feature was never asked for or the default option is causing problems, but it seems Affinity won't modify this setting, when stats show that we export to all pages 99% of the time (spread is only for specific small pages, when needing easy to read copy-editing/checking, and to avoid using a lot of paper when printing, since most PDF readers are able to display facing pages, or print different pages on a page: this setting is less and less usefull with time, and shoudln't be the default one):
 
 
...

A tiny UI detail, but am I the only one always disturbed by the "Add new vertical/horizontal guide" icons on the Guide Manager panel being a page symbol rather than a more intuitive plus symbol?

A tiny UI detail, but am I the only one always disturbed by the "Add new vertical/horizontal guide" icons on the Guide Manager panel being a page symbol rather than a more intuitive plus symbol?