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PaoloT

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  1. Hi, Not a feature request, but a short recap of what I still miss to make Publisher my page layout program. As a premise, I must say that I'm a technical writer, with the occasional narrative/philosophy book on which to work. So, my needs are very much specialistic, and not obviously general. - Export to DOCX. This is a file format that would allow exporting to word processors for further reuse, and to programs to be used to generate reflowable ePub books. It would open many opportunities for integrating Publisher into consolidated workflows. - Export to IDML. This would let InDesign users open Publisher files without too many issues. Reuse would be finally possible, and Publisher will be allowed in a consolidated workflow (as is, for example, LibreOffice or Google Docs into a workflow based on the DOCX file format). - Support for long and complex tables. As a technical writer, it is easy to understand how essential this feature would be. - Picture frame/object styles. Being able to quickly adapt the style of image frames to a different house style or output type is essential. For example, I could have shadowed images in the onscreen reading version, and have to remove them for digital printing. Styles would let one do it by just applying a template or editing some parameters in a style. - Accurate CJK language support. I just need the horizontal version, with correct spacing and line breaks. In my agenda, China and Japan are essential markets for both devices and books. - RTL language support. While a less immediate need than CJK support for me, this is important. I have to admit that these wouldn't really be a show-stopper for me, at the moment, since my partners usually prefer to work on a Word/LibreOffice file. But it would be handy, when making multilingual publications and wanting to avoid pasting text as images. - Conditional text. I make different versions of the same project, and conditional text would let me keep all the source materials in the same file. Check a few conditions, and you go from a larger edition to a limited one, or to one for a customized model. - Scripting. This is very much tied to the ability of exporting to different file formats, so it would be a bit premature. Batch-converting several files would be my main use of scripting in Publisher. So, maybe I just need a batch-convert feature. I would like more things (like export to a web site project, or finer navigation through a structure tree), but the above would really be enough to allow abandoning InDesign once forever. And getting able to take advantage of the integration with the other Affinity programs. Paolo
  2. To avoid further incidents in the future, I would suggest you to immediately install an hourly backup system, equivalent to Time Machine on the Mac. Losing one hour of work is not the same as losing one week. And, unfortunately, accidents happen (you only have to ask when, not if). Paolo
  3. Since a web image has no absolute size, I'm also inclined to use 72dpi as a reference, since it has a meaning in the real world. My strategy with multichannel output is to use an image with a high pixel count enough, to be downscaled in a way to look good both on print and on the web. A multiple of 24 should make both 72 and 96 easy to manage without any decimal point. Not bad that 144ppi is the modern standard resolution on the Mac. Paolo
  4. They are unlabelled in the real keyboard, too! In any case, it is a standard ISO layout, and that group of keys in the top-right corner should be the same also in the ANSI version. The top-center key should be the Home one in every standard keyboard. It indeed works in all the other apps (Mac and Windows). Paolo
  5. That's the same for me. Only in Publisher it doesn't work. I use this keyboard. You can clearly see that it has a Home key!
  6. Hi, Mac Monterey 12.7.4, Publisher 2.4. I've the Home key of my keyboard assigned to the Move to First page command, but it doesn't work. The Page Up, Page Down, and End keys all do what they are expected to do when the Move tool is selected, but not the Home key. Paolo
  7. 72ppi for web images is a conventional size. It may be tied to the original resolution of the Mac display, but it is now totally separated from it. It's just a reference number. It makes sense, since 1/72th of an inch is equivalent to one typographic point (1/12th of a pica). Not real measures we use anymore, but a conventional measure used as a reference. For a suite dealing with printed materials, I would say that adopting the 72ppi reference would still make much sense. Paolo
  8. Another reason to default to 72dpi when resizing or exporting: this is the standard ppi resolution for the web. Defaulting to 96dpi means that you will have to change resolution nearly always. It is a way to make errors more likely, and in any case force (or forget) one operation more. Paolo
  9. In addition to opening IDML templates from InDesign, Publisher can also open PDF files. This means that most of the design elements can be derived by any PDF. Each of the elements can then be easily converted into text styles or graphic assets. Paolo
  10. It's not just kerning. OTF fonts include a series of substitution, positioning and justification criteria that allow for a finer management of spacing. In case they can make things clearer (or even more confuse…), here are the specs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/opentype/spec/chapter2 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/opentype/spec/jstf Somewhere they declare that these rules somewhat replace automatic positioning algorithms from the page layout programs ("clients"). Paolo
  11. Not a native speaker, I know how delicate Japanese typography is. I can obviously involve my partners in some tests, but I would have liked to first get some more information here. I'm a bit surprised by the secrecy surrounding this matter. I've asked this question more times, but it looks like CJK language speakers are very reluctant in talking about it. Paolo
  12. Just wondering if the inclusion of layout tables, taking care of horizontal (and vertical) position, isn't already giving the text a perfectly balanced spacing, even without having to compare adjacent lines. That is, if the positioning information contained in the font isn't already giving the best spacing for that font and size, and automatic rebalancing wouldn't be able to do any better, or just imperceptibly better. Paolo
  13. I've watched again to the tests I did at the end of the other thread, and I would say that the current composer is perfectly fine. Maybe the paragraph composer was needed before the modern OpenType fonts came out, but it looks like there are now other ways to achieve the same results. The comparison I did in InDesign and Affinity Publisher shows two nearly identical results (only different in a line, due to different hyphenation). Paolo
  14. I've been using Designer and Photo for paid work since their early appearance. Admittedly, for works that may seem very basic compared to some advanced graphic work from some other users. But even in these mundane tasks, they have given me actual benefit and improvement in workflow compared to the Adobe apps I was using before. Not so for Publisher, that I can't yet incorporate in a workflow including InDesign in the hands of most of my collaborators. And that still doesn't offer support for some of the languages in which my publications have to be released. It has however given me some precious tools, in particular for opening and editing PDF publications that I couldn't have been able to edit in any other way. And it did it admirably. Paolo
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