Boldlinedesign

If not Affinity (Serif Labs) is supporting DXF, use something else…
Affinity Designer lacks a few things, but, it is good at many other parts of design area…
So, perhaps you go for Vectorstyler instead…

Saw this earlier and thought I'd have a go at making a vector brush, which as turned out pretty well, although the two brushes (attached) are comped together from an handful of images from free image sites, and not great quality - I think, as the brushes may come in useful, I'll take some photos and do it properly at some point.   
Screen Grab.mov Water Brushes.afbrushes

Indeed, this is the case.
My main vector graphics application was CorelDraw. I still have a
copy of CorelDraw 2021, I like the symmetry feature and of course
I have a copy of Affinity Designer on PC and Ipad.
More than a year ago I discovered VectorStyler and it is now
my main vector graphics program. Because of its features
and i am still impressed.
But more important the developer is very open for new ideas
and how to make the Software better. Its sometimes already
in the next build.
 

Not really because if you're working on an iPad, you're still very much limited by what Affinity Designer offers in terms of features and tools - you're only gaining mobility of use.
While Vectorstyler does not yet offer an iPad version, I'd much prefer a stable and feature rich desktop-only program like VS than one that has multiple platforms and a limited feature set

Hi All,
We are pleased to make available the next update to the 2.1 beta (2.1.0.1732). This should now be available for you shortly on auto-update.
To set expectations we are now at the point where no additional features will be added to 2.1 before release as we focus on final bug fixing and smaller tweaks to the features already added - the list of those included in this build are below (and also included in the main bug fix list )
Bugs affecting all platforms
Auto-Select Groups Failing to Cycle Through the Complete Layer Stack Drawing a new table does not take selected font into account Line width, column guides and distance from text do not scale when rescaling document Renaming global colour adds a history step of "Set global colour" Resampling/resizing text decorations on a master page increases the width of the decoration, relative to the number of pages Strip Camera Raw crs metadata on export to raster formats Brush accumulation fixes Bugs affecting Desktop (Windows and macOS)
2 page facing document starting on the left cannot export page 2 individually to PDF Attached documents cause app to crash when added as a Book Chapter Edit Embedded PDF > Layer selection through the layers panel does not select the objects and ignores any edits made to it Hang printing a book Preflight Maximum ink setting can wrongly report an error Publisher hangs adding an Index on a book Running headers - add to main menu fields Snapping indicator is offset when drawing objects User File - importing IDML document with embedded EPS files opens with placed resource size of 0x0, EPS files are not displayed When cross-references are updated during export of a book, their values disappear from publication pages Bugs affecting Windows
Expanding multiple entry in resource manager 'jumps' to last manually selected resource First Dash Pattern Gap no longer has a minimum value of 0.05 on Windows Font Manager - Fonts disappear after selecting substitute Running headers end on dropdown has no entries in it Text Contrast doesn't affect Adjustments or renamed layers on Windows Bugs affecting macOS
Adjusting spinners in Character Panel can cause all spinners to stop working Blend Mode Shortcuts: Add is missing a shortcut on macOS Brush panel - brush selection lost when category changed Brush panel - name labels don't scale with font size preference Brush selection highlight is lost when switching categories  Edit Field... Right click option incorrectly available on some fields On the Books panel's Preferences menu, Update Cross-References seems permanently unavailable Bugs affecting iPad
Allow multi-select place in Designer and Photo Add Status indicator to Style Picker Tool Context Bar Brush panel - reverts to Basic category on persona change Don't dismiss Style Picker menu when All / None selected Long pressing a Section Name field in document text displays unnecessary Edit option Menu can go offscreen PDF export issue / lock up on iPad Running headers - add as field on keyboard? Stock Panel - Pixabay has lost the vector option on first run Text Vertical alignment setting is not reflected in the UI

@Bobby Henderson

could recommend to download and try the demo of Vectorstyler

Not really because if you're working on an iPad, you're still very much limited by what Affinity Designer offers in terms of features and tools - you're only gaining mobility of use.
While Vectorstyler does not yet offer an iPad version, I'd much prefer a stable and feature rich desktop-only program like VS than one that has multiple platforms and a limited feature set

You could add "VectorStyler" (Mac/Windows) to your list
it has this tool and many more that you might
also miss in AD.
(no Subscription too)
AD and VS work very well together
via the clipboard

Hi, I'm actually the developer of Vectoraster that you mentioned, and it sure does generate vector halftones and you can copy the results into designer (or illustrator or whatever) to continue working with them. It's macOS only though, but free to try out. You can check out a little bit of how it works here:
 

I use an app on the mac called "vectoraster" to create custom halftones that are vector and can be copied and pasted back into Illustrator or Affinity, etc. 
https://www.lostminds.com/vectoraster7/

great points. There's no reason to think there should be undying single devotion to any one application. It's ok to use and appreciate a more advanced vector program like vectorstyler and still love the simplicity and interconnection between designer, photo and publisher. 
It's concerning that text warp is among the standard tools still missing from designer after eight years. Utilizing multiple applications like vectorstyler alongside affinity gives the user the best of both worlds and reduces the impatience waiting and hoping affinity will be adding certain features
I'm a fan of supporting any and all of the vector applications that increase subscription free options for users

There's a link on the main website for vectorstyler called "documentation" that takes you to the manual. Here is the direct link
You can download the latest version of the VectorStyler PDF manual here
Here is the direct link to the manual section on using gradient mesh in Vectorstyler
I pulled up the instructions from the manual and played around with the gradient mesh some and was able to figure out how to add colors, etc. I also agree that the gradient mesh in Vectorstyler could continue to be improved. Your suggestions and ideas could prove very useful to getting the gradient mesh to where it needs to be.
The developer of Vectorstyler is very responsive and open to hearing critiques, ideas for improvement and general feedback on anything in the program. He's in the middle of a large update yet still releases consistent bug fixes and improvements along the way. I encourage you to share your questions and ideas on the forum so they could be considered and implemented asap. Here is the link to the forum

For sure is that VectorStyler can already do it. So the math can't be that complex.

Or alternatively, get VectorStyler:

That would be exactly one of those cases what I have bought VS for (while it was on sale last month).
Then just copy the shapes back to Affinity. Works fine.

recreate your curve, the best i can
(traced your Image)
just as Boldline wrote, no Problem
(btw is latest Version VS 1.1.072)

 
another one

Not sure what that means. Works great here

Vectorstyler has offered all of this for over a year. Using both designer and Vectorstyler gives you a whole lot more options 

seems curios to me why this works only
with closed stroke in Affinity Designer

is no Problem in VectorStyler with a open one

 

@friedgoldmole has a good point here. You should be able to select all objects in this case and click on boolean merge and have the black numbers become one with the black outline shape without it filling in the many white negative spaces. This is what happens in both Illustrator and in Vectorstyler. 
This is the result when I use boolean merge:

Why are there so many filled in portions?
 
 
This is the result I get when I do the boolean subtract:

Again, it makes no sense to me. 
 

Unfortunately, this deal is over. I bought mine at 8 of December with 50% discount.
It's a really good software. You can make stuff, you are not able to do in Affinity Designer.
Just make some designs in Vectorstyler and paste to Designer. I haven't noticed any file corruption whatsoewer.  
I use both apps and It's a perfect match.  I am no longer frustrated.
 I like in Vectorstyler, the developers quickly reply to your problem, they are listen to your ideas and apply them. 
I also like they are frequently publish software updates, and have a public roadmap, so we can see what direction the software is heading to.  
On other hand Affinity Suite is more stable, established  and there is a Ipad vers.
 
 

It is not expensive - it sports an almost complete vector featureset. It is very reasonably priced. People here invested twice in Designer 1 and 2 and got 10% of the features. Paid the same price or more.
Anyway:

I don't see the same artifacts, but e-mailed the developer about similar issues a year ago and the issues were resolved within weeks. Not years or never. The AI format is reverse engineered - share the files with the developer and the issues you encounter are resolved pretty quickly. Bugs are prioritized over new features - so reported bugs are resolved quickly. I have never struggled with bugs more than a month. Sometimes they were fixed within a week and I could WORK! This is the what I hear from the developer all the time - short but sweet: "Replicated! Will be fixed ASAP!" The Windows port is a bit slower than on macOS. I scrapped Windows for business work (graphics) years ago though and feel wonderful: I run all my software on M1 or M2 equipped Macs and performance is excellent. VS really shines on M1 as almost every program I own.
What is worth mentioning is the customer focus - issues are resolved when reported and the issues I e-mailed the developer were resolved/improved dramatically over the years. None left to complain about in a forum like we see here. So I simply get work done.
The issue I see here is customers reporting bugs and asking for features for 8 years not getting much of it. Imagine the number of hours wasted for all customers. Years without crucial features. I don't sit and WAIT! That is not what life and work is about at all. I get work DONE in of course Adobe but also Vectorstyler, and with Vectorstyler issues encountered are fixed when I as a customer contact the company and they fix it as soon as they can. It is very efficient and mature.
So, in short. Give VS a test drive, see if price and features and workflows is for you, if you encounter issues contact the company with documentation (a file for example) and you will get it fixed. Running around in circles and practically living 24/7 in this forum is not what characterizes a professional/constructive/creative workflow or life.
By the way, is the "orchestrated attack" on Affinity over? 🤣

Thanks, that looks much better than the one I was taken to from the Help menu – which is obviously just the "introduction".  
I know. They've already got back to me after I've submitted a crash report recently. 
Primarily it's really just this Featuritis™ that gets massively in my way. I'll need to figure out a way to remove everything out of sight that I don't need, i.e. keeping only those features visible that I can't have in Affinity and which I may need every now and then.
Speaking of which, I haven't found a way to get gradient mesh out of VS into Affinity. Not even export via PDF works.
It's a matter of priorities. Contributing to VS is not among them. Given the scope of my work, VS won't be my primary tool, unlike the Affinity suite as a whole.
Heck, I couldn't even figure out yet how to export a PDF/X-4 from VS, or if it's even possible. (Yeah, off to RTFM… )

Used a few references and filled spaces in. Could have done more but didn't want to spend any more time on it so it will do.
 
 

New addition to the list:
VectorStyler I bought it last week while it's currently on sale, and it's got a Trace panel. (Is it new? I don't remember if it already was in the public beta.)
My favorite feature about VS is: it's still El Capitan compatible!
Experimenting with it as I type this:
Many options, a bunch of presets.  Hm. Got stuck while attempting to trace the PNG version of my logo (as in my avatar here).
Had to quit the app and start over, also adjusted some Performace preferences that may conflict with El Capitan ("Metal", obviously). 
No idea how to actually expand the traced vector shapes, the Expand button is grayed out. Or how to see the actual nodes. (RTFM I guess? Nah… )  So I just copied the monolithic traced object over to Designer… and voilà, here are my shapes and nodes. Depending on the trace settings, it may need some minor cleaning but the result is not all that shabby. Test passed. (As every so often with those Featuritis™ laden apps: I get tired of it quickly because I don't know where to start when there's an option for literally every aspect of the app, down to some obscure binary data compression formats in the document preferences. Here I praise Serif's courage not to implement everything they could be implementing. Focus is a Good Thing™.)
Above test result in VS:

And copied to ADe:

There are benefits and there are drawbacks.
Since the Designer competitor VectorStyler is currently on sale, and my public beta of it has long expired, I actually bought it this week to have its tools handy for fancy & crazy vector manupulation when needed. (Rarely, but sometimes, and it gives me less reasons to ever look at Ill-Frustrator again.)
Literally everything is customizable in VectorStyler.
Boy, I don't even know where to begin with customizing! 
I'm totally stuck because I don't like its default interface, but there are so many options to customize that I don't even understand what they do! So after about two hours of "customizing" I got tired of VectorStyler and went back to do some actual design work in admittedly suboptimal but still workable Affinity…
But yes, I'd also like some options to be more customizable in Affinity. Probably not the same options as you, or you, or as the other guy lurking in this thread right now.
And that's the dilemma every developer and UI designer must cope with.