sc300

I've posted before on this forum for a need for a slug, but I'll jump in on this topic as well. I design & layout a lot of packaging which require the slug area for print & manufacturing notes. I've tried to use workarounds on Affinity Publisher and Designer (eg defining a larger bleed area and then manually drawing in crop marks), but they take up far more time than what is economical.
I've attached a pdf of the type of work I'm talking about
I still rely on Indesign CS6 to manage my packaging work and am waiting ever so patiently for a slug feature to appear in Publisher so I can finally ditch CS6.I haven't lost hope yet, but my optimism is waning.
BVJACK039.pdf

In professional contexts, it's now well recognised in my experience. There are several things to use it for, but the really positive thing about slug area is the simplicity and that the information reaches the right people in the right place at the right time. When the printer receives the file, they have all relevant instructions and information immediately available on the document itself, streamlining the process and reducing the risk of misunderstandings or errors.
When you collaborate with others on a regular basis and learn to include information you know they'll ask for, you're more likely to leave work on time, whistling and happy.

The attached opera ad includes a slug at the bottom. Created in InDesign. When inserting the PDF in an Indesign publication, options allow only showing the art, or the bleed, or the whole PDF including the slug. I use slugs to identify the art, and occasionally to include specific art instructions.
Bob K

I've looked through the Affinity Publisher V2 tech specs but saw no mention of a slug area, nor on the preview of the 'New Document' window. I'm losing heart that this fundamental feature will ever be included. Have I missed something?

An old and annoying problem from 2019. Now (march 5, 2022!! version 1.10.4) This should have been solved long ago. 
Thanks sc300, for the workaround by opening the file through the APub menu. Took quite a few work hours resultless searching for a solution 😖
Come on affinity! I showed a loyal customer of mine my super software 😟 He had a subtile smile of pity on his face...
greetz, Jos

Is anyone thinking of doing the opposite? From Affinity Publisher to indesign maybe again through and IDML file?
M

Not having a slug area has been one of the things that keeps stopping me using Publisher. I'm giving it another go and creating guides instead as a workround.
Creating templates is the corner stone of my magazine design and I have been finding the transition from Indesign to publisher a much bigger learning curve than I hoped.

This file isn't the correct format, just using it for illustration (I don't have access to the bitmaps at present so can't experiment) however the look is basically what im talking about. I want to change the black parts to a spot colour and have control over the colour of the bounding box. In Quark (shudder) it was very simple, InDesign a little more involved but simple enough. Import the Bitmap, click on the bounding box, choose a colour and it would fill the box with that colour. Select the bitmap within the box, select a colour and the bitmap would then be that colour. Then when it came to colour separations you knew for certain that the icon was the colour it should be. Using blends, masks and CMYK images does not guarantee correct colour and is also a lot more involved.

As a time-served Compositor (most of you will need to Google that job) I have many years creating artwork on many typesetting systems from the early 1970s onwards. In recent decades, like many people, I have been using QuarkXpress and InDesign to build artworks. Unfortunately, those softwares are prohibitively expensive, so it comes a pleasant surprise to find a software that is on the surface, is a good as the industry standards at a reasonable price.
One observation is that I notice that Affinity Publisher does not include a Slug area. This is a much ignored and misunderstood feature within InDesign. It's sole, but sometimes essential purpose is to allow the creator of the artwork to place information on the edge of the artwork document that can be included or excluded from the  PDF sent to the printer.
This can be simply page numbers or essential information to the Printer pertaining to the page(s) it is attached to. The beauty of the slug area, is Adobe  PDF allow it to be included or excluded from the PDF, therefore it doesn't interfere with Imposition software but it can be included whereever it is necessary. 
In my decades of experience very few people understand its purpose, however it is to the professional artwork creator essential.

I agree with these points but they aren't representative of every designer's business.
I have clients (mainly not-for-profits) who want to do seasonal updates to advertising (ie text changes), in which case I provide an IDML package. When they want a redesign then they come to me. They have staff who have learn't the basics of indesign but aren't designers. This workflow works for them but I don't expect they'll reskill to Publisher just because I have changed.
I have other clients where a styleguide may be produced by myself or another company and compatible templates need distribution to other designers. If Affinity Publisher can't slot in to that workflow, then it will be marginalised if Adobe is the only common ground.
Not all my work requires I provide original documents, but occasionally I do, and it works well for my client relationships.
Personally I am looking to move away from Adobe because I can't afford the subscription, and I would like to use Affinity products solely for my design work.  I own CS6 but indesign will no longer be compatible with next years OSX. My contingency is to run a virtual machine with High Sierra and CS6 -- but this is a messy contingency. So is running CC and Affinity together. A common file format is ideal. Affinity Photo exports PSD -- compatible with Photoshop, Designer exports EPS or SVG -- compatible with Illustrator and for Publisher I hope that IDML will close the loop with Indesign.

I agree with these points but they aren't representative of every designer's business.
I have clients (mainly not-for-profits) who want to do seasonal updates to advertising (ie text changes), in which case I provide an IDML package. When they want a redesign then they come to me. They have staff who have learn't the basics of indesign but aren't designers. This workflow works for them but I don't expect they'll reskill to Publisher just because I have changed.
I have other clients where a styleguide may be produced by myself or another company and compatible templates need distribution to other designers. If Affinity Publisher can't slot in to that workflow, then it will be marginalised if Adobe is the only common ground.
Not all my work requires I provide original documents, but occasionally I do, and it works well for my client relationships.
Personally I am looking to move away from Adobe because I can't afford the subscription, and I would like to use Affinity products solely for my design work.  I own CS6 but indesign will no longer be compatible with next years OSX. My contingency is to run a virtual machine with High Sierra and CS6 -- but this is a messy contingency. So is running CC and Affinity together. A common file format is ideal. Affinity Photo exports PSD -- compatible with Photoshop, Designer exports EPS or SVG -- compatible with Illustrator and for Publisher I hope that IDML will close the loop with Indesign.

I would say IDML export is equally important to import for those who have to collaborate with other designers to some extent. Affinity Designer & Photo have some ability to export documents which are editable in the Adobe counterparts. Though I don't expect a full feature set to be maintained in a collaborative document format, it's important to have this capability to  have a capacity to transition from Adobe product. I can't expect every client who want's original artwork supplied to adopt Affinity Publisher, they'll just go somewhere else.

The supply chain prefer the crop marks to be close to the artwork when stepping up the artwork on a plate. They mask out the slug info but keep the crop marks so the guillotine operator has a reference. If the crops are too far out, they would need to add them in manually themselves. (attached is a wrap label showing trims & creases. N.B.Final art is supplied as a pdf without that overlay)
pack-example.pdf

@sc300 Aaah, thanks. Yes, that makes perfect sense!

Great to hear, because it will be a pretty important option in my opinion 

Feel free to post any you find. So far I found this one in the PDF Export > Advanced options. Move the sliders and they become detached and hover over the app afterward. Have to quit and restart to make the disappear.
 
 

Is there a way to add a Pantone swatch from the Pantone palette into the document swatches and for it to retain it's name, rather than changing to 'Global Colour x'? Specifically relevant for spot colours from the Pantone Solid Coated & Uncoated books.
 
eg if I select 'PANTONE 205 C; and then add it to my document swatches palette it will be renamed 'Global Colour 1'. If I export a pdf then the colour swatch in the pdf will also be called 'Global Colour 1'
 
Do I have to manually rename the colour back to it's pantone name each time?
 
Also, if I want to change the global colour to another Pantone colour , the edit colour palette won't let me search for another colour by name or show a list. I have to guess from the swatches which is my new colour. Is this a bug or am I missing something?