Boldlinedesign

Sure - I would just implore you to share what you would like to see improved specifically about the VS UI/UX on the VS forum with examples. Too many people, especially on this forum like to put down VS for reasons they will not explain. They refuse to share their issues with VS on that forum for some strange reason even though it would be immediately considered and potentially implemented quickly. We can all be excited that there are multiple vector editing options out there and in my opinion, we should be encouraging growth and development in all of them we use in any capacity.

Since you refuse to give any specific examples I won't contend with your perspective. Sounds like you have not used VS in recent weeks as it looks much improved. You could post ideas for improving the UI/UX on the VS forum if you feel its really that bad. One of the great things about VS is that is rapidly improving. People make suggestions all the time and provide improved icons and the like and they are often implemented quickly. I took another look at Designer and its does not seem to be any different aside from having colored icons and fewer features. On a sidenote, I also use cleanshot but have never heard of Shttr.

I already switched from Affinity to VS as my main vector program. The UI/UX doesn't seem much different to me than Designer to be honest, especially after all the improvements in the new 1.2 beta. It looks better than Illustrator for sure. There are always things that can be improved. What about the VS UI/UX makes it "horrendous" in comparison to Designer?

Or, given that it can do so much more than Designer, it could be the primary and Designer could be the plugin

I'm not sure I understand your comment. Most of the time, we are calmly comparing and contrasting features and methods. A few people ccasionally bash Affinity on the VS forum, but usually there's no reaction at all when it's mentioned. People are not threatened by it and do not feel the need to knock it. No one asked for references to Affinity on the VS forum to be deleted. If someone points out a cool feature or idea found in Affinity, they are not usually harassed.

Folks, please: this Vectorstyler debate has now no connection to @rfj10101's "Exif Date/Time" question whatsoever. Please take it elsewhere. Ahhh selective whitewashing. Vectorstyler Derangement Syndrome. Any mention of the name causes some to freak out for no reason. It amazes me that people take such offense to other applications being discussed, especially when there's no real competition between them and they can be used together to solve most every gap missing in the vector designer's tool belt. For some reason, many Affinity users like to bash Vectorstyler as if it were the anti-christ. If VS is too complex for you, use it for the select tool and features you can't find in Designer - simple as that. If you run into an issue where VS crashes, be a good person and report the crash to the VS forum and developer. Respect both programs. Why take offense when people mention good things about other programs besides Affinity?

@loukash I do defend Vectorstyler fervently on the forum. I do this because for some reason, there's seems to be a lot of undeserved negativity expressed toward vectorstyler on the affinity forum. The success of Vectorstyler does not negate any success affinity designer has. Both serve different purposes in the vector design field. Affinity takes a more simplistic approach and vectorstyler is more complex and offers more advanced features. I would have never heard of vectorstyler had it not been discussed on this forum as an alternative to affinity. At the time, affinity was in the midst of that years long slow update process and most functionality I needed for my work was not available. Vectorstyler bridged that gap and allowed me to avoid subscribing to the adobe creative cloud. Others deserve the opportunity to know Vectorstyler exists and can continue to bridge the gap between what affinity offers and what's still lacking. Vectorstyler has only improved by leaps and bounds since that time. Thankfully, affinity has been improving as well. I'm not afraid to root for the success of both programs.

@loukash encouraging you to send the problem file in to the developer to see that the issue gets fixed instead of laughing at it (even as affinity also crashes with the same problem) is "off-topic"? I'm not sure I follow your your thinking. Reporting the issues sounds more like the mature way to handle it. Why are you gleeful when something fails in Vectorstyler? You paid for the program didn't you? Even if you use it sparingly, it's allowed you to do work you'd otherwise be unable to do in affinity alone. Why not support the development as well? I do defend Vectorstyler because for some reason, some affinity users view it as a threat instead of another helpful tool in their design process. I also cheer every affinity improvement update and want it to succeed because I appreciate there being multiple solid options to replace illustrator. If affinity had all the features I needed for my daily work, it would have had a better chance of being my primary vector design program.

Did you send in the troublesome file to the vectorstyler developer and explain the issue? Chances are, he will have a fix for it by the time the next build is released in a week or two. Are you using the new beta recently released? There have been a ton of fixes in that update. No one ever claimed Vectorstyler is perfect. Instead of laughing because it failed in this instance, why not help it improve? In a world where Adobe unfortunately pervasivly dominates the market, the more we can do to encourage alternative options should always be encouraged. It's ok to use and appreciate both programs.

@loukash your passive aggressive jealousy of Vectorstyler is amusing

@R C-R @loukash have either of you checked out the new 1.2 beta update of Vectorstyler? It's got massive updates including collapsing panels to icons. You both mention its somehow clunky and has too many features but it's no more complex than illustrator. Granted, designer is a lot more simplistic but also lacks a ton of features still. I use Vectorstyler daily and never felt it was clunky. I just doing understand the negativity toward vectorstyler. You admit you use it for the features affinity is missing but then you feel the need to be negative about it overall. I don't get it. Why not complain that affinity is lacking tools?

I noticed today while playing around with the shape builder, that the command-minus and command-plus keyboard shortcuts for zooming in and out of the document fail to work while shape builder tool is active. If I switch away to another tool, they return to normal function. I'm guessing this is not how it's supposed to behave?

It's true that Corel can offer all the missing tools and features of Affinity Designer - but it's also very expensive to purchase outright and does not play nice with other vector editing programs. I considered picking up Corel but ended up with Vectorstyler because it was more user friendly and is not subscription based and the cost is just a little more than buying Affinity Designer.

I tried to use affinity as a replacement for illustrator when they went to SaaS and really wanted it to be the answer. Tools I've come to rely on and find standard were not and some are still not available. For the type of work I do designing t-shirts, features like text warp, flood fill, Boolean operations that can destructively merge down a final design for export, etc are what I'm used to having for my work to flow smoothly in illustrator. Yes I could warp text in photo by hand and trace back into designer, but why? There are other programs that can handle that. it's true that super old versions of the adobe apps and others lacked many functions, they were also not known or available in other programs at that time. Affinity today had the advantage to see all the great innovative progress made over the treats past and create their own version of said tools quickly. It was good to see the 2.0 get released and the 2.1 updates are solid. Those who only need the smaller number of tools affinity designer offers are lucky in that they want for nothing. Those who rely on vector brushes, better Boolean operations, etc, advices like Vectorstyler fill the gap and man I'm not held hostage to adobe while waiting on affinity

I can't seem to find the parallel between inkscape as Vectorstyler that @albertkinng inferred. I do see vectorstyler resembling illustrator in terms of layout and complexity though illustrator seems more meandering in purpose. I used illustrator for 20 years and that experience made switching to vectorstyler fairly smooth. There's a ton of overlap in all vector editing programs and staying with those and building on from there, it didn't take too long to feel comfortable using vectorstyler full time. Affinity is more simplistic to be sure, but it's for a different purpose in the design world. For those needing illustrator level vector tools, but do not want to pay the adobe tax, vectorstyler is the answer. If you don't need all that, use affinity. The affinity suite for me is something I use for fun or when I want to create raster missed with vector designs utilising the three programs with their ability to link. Honestly, if Vectorstyler had more tutorials and videos explaining each tool, I believe the ongoing process would be much faster and easier for new users. It will get there