Paul Martin
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Posts posted by Paul Martin
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On 11/30/2020 at 8:39 PM, Bryan Rieger said:
@prophet with Typeface's preference be sure to check 'Collection Priority Mode' otherwise the default action is to preview the font glyphs—which gets REALLY annoying fast. The way it's organized is similar to FontExplorer Pro if you've chosen to retain the location of your imported fonts/folders instead of letting FontExplorer Pro X manage their location for you. One nice thing is when you add a new imported font folder location Typeface will automatically update any changes (additions or removals) within that folder when next launched, and you can also force refresh by right-clicking on the location in the sidebar.
I've greatly pruned my font collection from 10K+ fonts to roughly 3K now. Typeface doesn't miss a beat, and I find the performance much, much better than FontExplorer Pro X. That said, if you use the font discovery options, pairing options, smart sets, font cache management (you can also do it via the command line), font repair, etc features you're best sticking with FontExplorer Pro X. Apparently there is a major Typeface update in the works, but there's currently no ETA. For my needs (basic font management, import, activation, preview, etc) Typeface works brilliantly.
No hope for Windows users, I suppose?
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I've got a fair collection of assets that I have created, usually in Photo or Designer, but which I often use in Publisher. I'd like to view these files, do a bit of rationalising and develop some consistency in my ways of working.
First hurdle, where the hell do Affinity programmes store those assets?
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Thank you everybody. I think I got the main message, that Affinity Photo can't import from a flatbed scanner, at least on a Windows system.
Fortunately, my scanner has a (fairly recent) version of PaperPort, which helps. I continue to be amused at what I guess is a huge generational divide where, on one side everything started digital and on the other we still have lots of printed materials which we occasionally need to digitise. A bit like those who never use cash and those who still use it.
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I still get visuals that arrive on bits of paper and I have a flat-bed scanner.
What programme offers the simplest use/best quality?
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I'll try that, thanks.
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Thanks Walt. That sounds pretty sensible to me. One thing I have found about switching between the programmes frequently is that I often forget where I originated a project.
Also, I originate quite a lot of Assets in one programme and then want to use them in another, so I would like to be able to see them as a library which I could use in any of the programmes.
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In the past few months, I would say that I have finally begun to get real satisfaction out of Publisher, Designer and Photo. I now rarely use the Serif "Plus" programmes to achieve an output.
PhotoPlus still comes in handy for scanning directly and the "painting" filters (mostly just for fun).
I only use DrawPlus for scale drawings which remains my choice for a "technical drawing" e.g. floor plans.
What I'm wondring is whether I am using the Affinity suite together in the most effective way. I struggle to understand, what the difference is between using the personas, say, pixel in Designer, and the full programme, Photo and when I should switch.
Obviously, time and practice will help, but I wonder if anyone has specififc tips on using the suite as a whole.
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Thank you all for gfiving this so much attention! Some of the suggestions are probably beyond me to execute, but they have - as I hoped - all added to the interest of the project and, perhaps, the gaiety of nations.
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My thinking hadn't got that far, but the answer must be Yes! So far, I have only used Publisher to produce "magazine format" newsletter in PDF format, but I'd like the on-screen version to be easily navigable.
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I would like to recreate the contents of a traditional folder to house a manual. (In fact, a "house manual" that might accompany a letting.)
I'm attracted to the idea of "dividers" with a vertical tab arrangment which would make it easy to access the relevant section. Each "tab" would have space for references such as months of the year, letter of the alphabet or any other useful subdivisions. Pretty much as you can still buy in a stationers.
At this stage, I am imagining it as being printable as that might best suit recipients, but I'd like it to look appealing in electronic format, too. (Older readers may remember filofax and its software form.)
I'm not expecting this to be particularly complex, but if you have any ideas for making it easy-to-use or just fun, I would be grateful.
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Well, that rather explains it!
Paul
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Just as an afterthought, this issue of maintaining paths/links is peculiarly relevant with a Publisher-type programme which is generally an "assembly line" sort of product with multiple sources.
After much moaning, I decided a few months ago to more or less completely move over to the Affinity programmes for creating publications and I am generally seeing a lot of benefits, though I'm still learning/deciding on practical details.
For instance, I've always tended to use PNG files for pictures, largely because of their transparency characteristics, and I'm still unsure whether to just insert Affinity Photo files instead. I'm completely baffled as to why my Designer files are often shown as having a Publisher icon - are affdesign and affpub actually the same file format?
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Thank you, Will et al. Looks like I will need to make proactive use of the Document/Resource Manager feature when this becomes necessary. Just out of curiosity, can anyone say whether the renaming changed paths features mentioned are a property of Windows or of Affinity? I sort of assumed it had to be the former.
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I publish a members' magazine every few weeks with the issue reference being a number plus month/year. Beforehand, I create a folder structure for each issue entitled, say, Issue 12, October 2021. Sometimes I have to let the publication slip a couple of weeks and rename to, for instance, Issue 12, November 2021.
By this time I have about a dozen text and a similar number of graphics files, plus dummy layouts per issue.
Is there a preferred way to rename folders/move files to avoid damaging the internal links?
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4 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:
Or for those, click More... in the Export dialog and enable Hyperlinks in the expanded set of options.
That's very helpful, Walt. Sometimes I am dazzled by the range of options.
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I'm trying to insert into my newsletter a hyperlink to a PDF suppled by a contributor. It has been supplied to me in an odd format apparently used in Wordpress.com which is "filename.pdf (wordpress.com)".
My Publisher document exports to a PDF but the hyperlink is inactive. I have tried creating a bit.ly link and inserting that but no dice.
The link I have been given works when pasted directly into FIrefox, so I am baffled as to why it doesn't on this occasion. I've had no problem with exporting to PDF from Publisher before.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
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I was initially baffled that the icons displayed in Windows Explorer for *.afdesign and *.afpub seem to be interchangeable. Eventually, it dawned on me that, despite the different file extensions, the file format(s) for Designer, Photo and Publisher might in fact be identical!
I think I have come across other instances of "one format, multiple names (extensions)", I don't think I have previoudly encountered this from a single manufacturer.
Have I got this right?
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Thank you all for that generous example of help and support.
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19 hours ago, h_d said:
Taking it step by step:
1) Create a single-page document.
2) Select the Data Merge Layout tool and drag a rectangle over the printable area of the page. In the Context Toolbar, set the desired number of rows and columns (and gutters as in your .afpub file).
3) Make sure the Data Merge Layout layer is selected in the Layers panel, as above. Switch to the Frame Text tool and draw a frame in the top left-hand area of the Data Merge area. In the Layers panel, the Frame Text will be 'nested' inside the Data Merge Layout. Double-click in the text frame and type "Your ticket number is..." The text will appear in all eight areas of the Data Merge Layout:
4) From the Document menu, choose Data Merge Manager. Click the minuscule, near-invisible Add Data Merge Source button and select your .csv.
5) Make sure that your text-editing cursor is in the top-left frame (ie in editing mode), and then double-click the TicketNumber field in the Fields panel:
Again, the <TicketNumber> field name will appear in all eight sections of the layout.
6) In the Data Merge Manager, click the Generate button. This will create a new untitled document with all your numbered tickets, and as many pages as necessary to accommodate all the data:
.............>
7) If you want to add additional text, graphics etc then do it in the Data Merge Layout document, with the layout selected in the layers panel and the content in the top left corner. Then generate a new merged document.
Hope this helps.
19 hours ago, h_d said:Taking it step by step:
1) Create a single-page document.
2) Select the Data Merge Layout tool and drag a rectangle over the printable area of the page. In the Context Toolbar, set the desired number of rows and columns (and gutters as in your .afpub file).
3) Make sure the Data Merge Layout layer is selected in the Layers panel, as above. Switch to the Frame Text tool and draw a frame in the top left-hand area of the Data Merge area. In the Layers panel, the Frame Text will be 'nested' inside the Data Merge Layout. Double-click in the text frame and type "Your ticket number is..." The text will appear in all eight areas of the Data Merge Layout:
4) From the Document menu, choose Data Merge Manager. Click the minuscule, near-invisible Add Data Merge Source button and select your .csv.
5) Make sure that your text-editing cursor is in the top-left frame (ie in editing mode), and then double-click the TicketNumber field in the Fields panel:
Again, the <TicketNumber> field name will appear in all eight sections of the layout.
6) In the Data Merge Manager, click the Generate button. This will create a new untitled document with all your numbered tickets, and as many pages as necessary to accommodate all the data:
.............>
7) If you want to add additional text, graphics etc then do it in the Data Merge Layout document, with the layout selected in the layers panel and the content in the top left corner. Then generate a new merged document.
Hope this helps.
That is absolutely first class, thank you h_d. About twenty times more helpful than what is availble via Help or the tutorial.
If there is a way of preserving this anwer for posteriority, I would support that.
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21 hours ago, Old Bruce said:
Your text frame is not in the Data merge layer make it like my screenshot. Also you should only have One page for the document. More (if needed) will be generated.
Sir, you are a scholar and a fine chap! Such a small but significant detail. I am now able to go to the dance.
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I have promised to produce for a friend about 50 uniquely numbered tickets with a little text and a simple graphic. You'd think this would be dead easy, but after watching the Data merge tutorial and reading the Helpfile, I am stuck.
I have created a CSV data-file with a dozen records and a basic A4 document Publisher file but linking them doesn't result in what I hoped for, 7 pages of labels, 8 to a page.
I use Data Merge Manager to create the tickets on the page and identify the CSV source file. Then I open the Fields panel. In the Data merge section, my source file TicketNumbers.CSV appears but I cant see how to insert it into the page. I try using the Frame Text Tool but no amount of double-clicking on its name in the Fields panel does anything.
I've clearly not understood the task, but how complex can it be?
Suggestions very welcome.
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19 hours ago, Old Bruce said:
My knee-jerk reaction is "if it isn't broken, don't fix it". But...
We would really need to see a mostly blank document with some filler text showing the sort of "... change the page-order as articles are received ..." changes that occur. Include the Paragraph Styles and Character Styles that you use.
Thanks, Old Bruce. What caused me to worry about how pages might be unhelpfully affected by moving them around was two observations. First, the colour/positioning of guides seemed inconsistent. Second, when I output to PDF (using PDF Architect) pages changed orientation/scale! Clearly, operator error was responsible, but it left me wondering how to avoid such hiccups. Hence, I thought a standard layout aimed at laser/inkjet final output would be good practice. I hate reinventing the wheel, so I posted here to see if (as usual) others were way ahead of me! For instance, I know that I don't properly understand the relationship between spread and page layout - which to change, which takes precedence.
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I now create most assets (usually small graphics) in Designer and save them as assets, but I am wondering if they can be efficiently exported to or shared with Publisher. I see there is an earlier message about "importing clip-art" but I am unclear where the folders it refers to should be created - do Designer or Publisher have pre-defined folders for assets? Is there any way that an asset created in Designer (or Photo) can be automatically updated in Publisher?
What do colleagues feel is the best approach to using/sharing assets across Affinity products?
Font matching
in Pre-V2 Archive of Affinity on Desktop Questions (macOS and Windows)
Posted
That doesn't appear to work for me if I copy/paste from a website, the text just pastes into Designer as Arial and the Paste Style option is greyed-out.