Jens Krebs

wow. I tested the idml-import and it works quite nicely! ->>> with linked .ai files...
edit: WOW!
edit: well it lasted 15 minutes until it crashed. But to be fair – I opened every single IDML file I had...  But again: WOW!

Status: Beta
Purpose: Stability and General Testing
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Publisher
Mac App Store: Not submitted
Download: Download
Auto-update: Not Available
---
Hi,
We are pleased to announce that a new Customer Beta of Affinity Publisher (1.8.0.502) is now available as a download from the link above.
As this is a 'Stability and General Testing' beta it is considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity where you may be adversely affected by the application failing, including the total loss of any documents. 
We hope you enjoy the beta, and as always, if you've got any problems installing or running up, please don't hesitate to post in this thread. 
Any problems actually using this version please make a new topic in this forum and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Please feel free to leave general suggestions and comments in the Discussion Forum. 
Many thanks for your continued feedback.
---
StudioLink
This build of Affinity Publisher, 1.8.0 Beta, requires 1.8.0 Beta builds of Photo and Designer for StudioLink to function. We hope to make these available soon.
---
New Features and Major Improvements
IDML Import
This build includes an importer for the IDML ((Adobe) InDesign Markup Language) file format. Many entities, attributes and properties are not currently imported. In general if a feature currently has no native support it is unlikely to be imported entirely successfully. In addition to this, please find below a list highlighting features we know are not currently supported fully.
Document
- Document User details
Spread / Page Items
- Promoted master page items
- Overprint properties
- Arrowheads
- Text on path
Transparency / FX
- Directional Feather
- Gradient Feather
Text Frames
- Content transparency / FX for text vs text + frame
- First baseline offset
Story Items
- Text layout can differ due to differences in composition and metric vs optical kerning
- TOC
- Index 
- Page number fields
- Hyperlinks
XLSX Import
This build includes an importer for the XLSX (Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet) file format. Excel files are placed as tables. The following are not currently supported.
- Formulae are imported as their calculated result value, which Excel stores in the file alongside the formula
- Local formatting is imported, but global Table Styles currently are not
- Overflowing cell content is handled differently in that Excel allows content of an overflowing cell to draw on top of adjacent cell if the cells are empty
Column Rules
The facility to add (vertical) rules / lines between columns in a multi-column text frame. The rules can be configured via the Text Frame Panel
Fixes and Smaller Updates
General
(Mac) Unified Toolbar tweaks
'Edit Document' for Linked Documents now works correctly rather than editing the embedded copy
Layers Panel should now maintain the expand / collapsed status of objects when switching spreads
Fixed issue for specific document where placed Designer file prevented Save
Fixed issue where export was causing application hang for specific document
(Win) Fixed crash dragging fill layer to bottom of layers stack
(Win) Fixed freeze editing colour from Swatches Panel
Master Pages
Changing size of Master Spread now offers option to update size of spreads it is applied to
Fixed issue whereby duplicating a Master Page Instance could unlink it
Blendmode / Opacity not working correctly with Master Page Instances
Adjustments were not working correctly when used with Master Page Instances
Picture Frames
Empty Picture Frames weren't showing in Assets Panel thumbnail previews
Replacing Master Pages containing Picture Frames with promoted context could distort content
(Mac) Original Size button wasn't functioning for Picture Frame content
Text
Paragraph Panel layout fixes
Fixed crash transposing characters (e.g. <Ctrl>+T on Mac)
Fixed Drop Cap anomalies
Leading Override can now be set to Auto in Text Style Editor
Fixed crash changing capitalization on multiple Text Frames simultaneously
(Win) Kerning in Base text style is now set to "Auto" 
(Mac) Custom text style shortcuts were not showing in Text Styles Panel
(Mac) Spell check not learning words originating from Master Pages
(Win) Fixed crash adding tab stop in Text Style Editor
(Mac) Paragraph leading, wrong separator being used with non-uk locale settings
DocX
Importing docx with no Text Frame selected fails to import style
Importing docx fails to apply 'Normal' style 
---
To be notified about all future Mac beta updates, please follow this notification thread 
To be notified when this Publisher update comes out of beta and is fully released to all Publisher customers, please follow this thread

Separated Mode has several uses, one of which is to have two (or more) different views of the same document visible at the same time, either on one screen or distributed among several of them if you have a multi-monitor setup. It also supports a mix of tabbed & separate document views, & the layout of its panels is independent of the layout in unseparated mode.
So for example, in Affinity Publisher you could have two or more different views of an open document visible simultaneously & zoom each window independently of the others so one window shows several pages or spreads while another shows a zoomed in view of all or part of one page or spread. Among other things, this makes it easier to see how page to page text flows are affected by changes in one page & streamlines copying & pasting items between pages.
As for not working properly, if you mean that document windows can be covered by Studio & Tools panels, that is true but the same thing is true for unseparated mode if you use floating (undocked) panels. In Separated Mode you also can move the main & context toolbar pair anywhere on a display with a simple drag. On large screens, this can be used to reduce how far you have to move the mouse pointer between a document item & the toolbar, in much the same way you can do this with floating panels in unseparated mode for the same reason.
Because the panel layouts are independent, this means that if you also own Photo & Designer, you can have a total of six layouts, each with the studio panels & panel groups & tabs configured differently to suit different workflows.
Admittedly, it can be a chore to get everything configured, but for some of us it is worth it. Also, for Publisher in particular, there are some improvements that would make Separated Mode more useful, like being able to show Master pages in one window & document pages in others, & maybe some automatic window tiling options, but hopefully they will be added at some point.

You may not, but for a sizeable group of people like myself – in my case, I've been personally working with Macs for 16 years –, I can assure you it does.
May I ask, if that's not too personal, if you ever worked with Windows PCs and, if so, when did you do the switch?
I did mine back in 2003, when I was still using an old Pentium III box running Windows 98 SE. Back then, even Windows was fairly consistent, but then Mac OS X was even more so. Then, Microsoft got completely out of control and started experimenting with their UI.
It's true that Apple did, too, and these latest Marzipan apps and unified toolbars are yet another step in a tricky direction. And, yet, I'd still argue that macOS is still more internally consistent, and third-party Mac-only, Mac-first or “Mac user-loved” are waaaay more consisten with Apple's first-party apps, than Windows and its third- and first-party apps.

Well, Adobe may have had a 20 year head start, but here is a quote from Adobe's feature list for ID 1.0 before it was even released--in fact, the documentation was written in PageMaker 6.5...
Set InDesign to package a preflighted file for you, arranging a copy of your file along with all of the necessary links, fonts, and other external files in a single folder. (Packaging fonts is unique to Adobe’s publishing programs. Subject to your font licensing agreement.) And therein lies how Serif can make a bit better version: collect all the fonts. Period.

It's in the TEXT menu, there's a submenu called "Spelling". Turn off "Check spelling while typing" — made me slightly mad as well.

Any chance to get a "Pass-Through-PDF-Import"  ?!?! Please, its very important!

I, too, have a few thoughts on the matter. I'm curious about the thought process at Serif behind using a text input field for something which, well, is most definitely not a text input field.
Again, guys, quit fiddling with stuff which is very much settled down in Apple's HIG or otherwise firmly entrenched in common practice. Please. I honestly don't want to be proven right when I say you are extremely cavalier as to Apple's UI and UX conventions, but you keep doing so time and time again. I know this is just a beta, but… seriously? How did this pass through QA?
macOS already has a method for displaying and editing file names on the title bar, black on light in light mode or white on dark in dark mode, with no extra roundrect backgrounds whatsoever, with the little drop-down arrow to the side; using the equivalent to a search field or Safari's combo bar is definitely not the right way to go about it. The same goes for the convention of putting a dot on the Close button for modified and unsaved files, which goes as far back as Mac OS 10.0. If you want to put an asterisk on each document's tab, fine, but on that field? It's just redundant and, once again, non-standard, IMHO.
Thankfully, that title field is removable, as not only is it the wrong design, it also precludes me from displaying as many buttons as before on my 13'' MacBook Pro… If it wasn't, I'd be asking you to make it so.

Amen.
Illustrator's historic nemesis, FreeHand, originally had a single page residing in a limited size pasteboard, much like Illustrator. Macromedia gave FreeHand multiple pages long before Illustrator ever acquired multiple "artboards". In the arguments that ensued throughout the years between, during which Illustrator devotees insisted that giving Illustrator the ability to have a "page 2" would constitute the end of all that is holy, I explained the advantage with the following:
A conventional-wisdom page-layout program has a page-flipping metaphor. All same-size pages stacked like a book. FreeHand, though, had a sheet-spreading metaphor, entirely different from conventional wisdom. It was more like gathering up all the various documents pertaining to a project, spreading them out on the office floor or conference room table, and freely arranging them.
That's exactly how I use "artboards" in a drawing program. In a sign project, for example, I may have the customer's tabloid-size concept draft in the lower left, a row of three or four full-scale working drawings for the construction above it, and six full-scale sheets of various lengths on each of which all the vinyl cuts for a specific vinyl color are nested to save materials. Those are the sheets that are exported to the cutter.
For an identity package project, I can have all the different press-sheets for the letterhead, business cards, note pads, etc., etc., each ganged appropriately for the specific press-runs.
FreeHand didn't need any kind of special screen for handling its pages. You just zoomed out, used the Page tool to select pages and drag them about. They abided by the very same alignment, distribution, spacing, and guide or grid snapping  as any other objects. And as of CS6, Illustrator's treatment is still hugely more tedious, cumbersome, and frustrating by comparison.
Of course, those were also the days before someone got the bright-eyed idea to make a LAYERS palette into what should be called an OBJECT STACK palette, by insisting on listing every freaking object in it. I still despise that. It makes me scream "STOP HELPING ME" at all of today's inelegant drawing programs.

I personally tend to have artboards all over the place. Not in a sequential order like pages. Many times I end up with very differently sized artboards when e.g. working on a web project.
I find the Navigator Panel helpful to keep track of the artboards. Or I simply hit CTRL+0 to get a complete overview and then z to zoom to the area/artboard I want to work on.
I do not miss an additional art board panel.
d.

Actually, they are layers in the Affinity products.

To me a "drop shadow" is a shadow that gives the illusion of the object floating being raised up from the background or objects behind it, regardless of the shadows position.

I second this. The icons are noticeably smaller to me. It's not just harder on the eyes, but it also makes for a smaller click target.
The below screenshot has 1.8.0.499 on top and 1.7.3 on bottom. This is on a 2019 27" iMac with macOS Mojave 10.14.6.

I don't want to be a buzzkill, but mailing lists are EXTREMELY old fashioned, not at all spontanious, much slower and harder to use than a forum (for one you have to dig through a lot of mails each day, whereas in a forum you can easily set reminders just for the topics you are interested in and even activate mail alerts if you want to).
Also, many mailing lists have additional advertising and spam included nowadays -- it is very easy (and for the admin very tempting) to simply post ads or offers once they have a collection of personal mail addresses (including the permission to send mails to everyone).
In addition you seem to be a very new member, and, sorry to say that, I personally would not trust you with my email address or any other contact details, simply because it looks as if you just registered to this forum to start pushing your email list and tout for the service you are using to run it -- I might be wrong here, but I do advise you to build some trust by participating in the discussions here, answering questions and talking to people before asking for personal information.
Last but not least, I am sure it's not in anyones interest to split this community up and form an email splinter group -- this forum is a great source of knowledge and information regarding the Affinity software as well as first line of contact to the developers. Are you seriously trying to convince people, there is a better way to get answers to questions than to communicate directly with the people who create the software (and I'm not only talking about Serifs stellar support team members but also about the actual programmers running around and helping in these forums!)?
What you are doing here is comparable to walking into a hotel lobby, drinking the complementary water and walking around with a large sign for your B&B around your neck -- very bad style.

I would like to congratulate the Affinity Team on the latest implementation of Master Pages and how you handle migrations.
Earlier I had to manually relink text boxes each time I changed a master page of a given page or a spread but not any more.
I created a document with 4 independent stories running across each master page and the text boxes on each page were relinked automatically.
In other words the links with the previous spread and the consecutive spread were not broken.
This also applies to spreads with mixed master pages.
That wasn't the case before.
Love it.

They've probably had a very terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and therefore decided to create a very terrible, horrible, no good, very bad forum post with an even worse completely undescriptive subject line to decrease their chances of getting help ... don't worry about it, it'll get better when we're all dead.

I don't want to be a buzzkill, but mailing lists are EXTREMELY old fashioned, not at all spontanious, much slower and harder to use than a forum (for one you have to dig through a lot of mails each day, whereas in a forum you can easily set reminders just for the topics you are interested in and even activate mail alerts if you want to).
Also, many mailing lists have additional advertising and spam included nowadays -- it is very easy (and for the admin very tempting) to simply post ads or offers once they have a collection of personal mail addresses (including the permission to send mails to everyone).
In addition you seem to be a very new member, and, sorry to say that, I personally would not trust you with my email address or any other contact details, simply because it looks as if you just registered to this forum to start pushing your email list and tout for the service you are using to run it -- I might be wrong here, but I do advise you to build some trust by participating in the discussions here, answering questions and talking to people before asking for personal information.
Last but not least, I am sure it's not in anyones interest to split this community up and form an email splinter group -- this forum is a great source of knowledge and information regarding the Affinity software as well as first line of contact to the developers. Are you seriously trying to convince people, there is a better way to get answers to questions than to communicate directly with the people who create the software (and I'm not only talking about Serifs stellar support team members but also about the actual programmers running around and helping in these forums!)?
What you are doing here is comparable to walking into a hotel lobby, drinking the complementary water and walking around with a large sign for your B&B around your neck -- very bad style.

Requested screen shot of the unified toolbar. Retail in back, Beta in front. Pen tool selected in both.
 

Interesting! My internet connection is working fine! I just re-downloaded the actual version of InDesign for a test in some 5 minutes!

But it is ok. The new beta cycle will work without me as well.

It can take a while to get used to how these things work but once it clicks it becomes second nature, or close to it, for the most part.
When you add layers to another layer – I’ll call it putting child layers into a parent layer – the child layers are then susceptible to any changes you make to the parent layer. For instance, if you put some shapes into a parent layer and then you give that parent layer a new fill colour, the child layers will also be given the same fill colour. This change becomes permanent, at least until you change the colour again. You can only undo this change by using the Undo function; setting the fill colour of the parent colour back to None just gives all of the child layers a fill colour of None too. Dragging a child layer out of the parent layer will stop that child layer being susceptible to further changes to the parent layer but any changes made while it was a child layer will still be in effect.
However, adding something such as an Effect, Adjustment, Opacity or Blend Mode (I’ll call these consequences) to the parent layer works slightly differently. Adding any of these consequences to a parent layer will subsequently apply that consequence to the child layers but that change will only be applied to the child layers while they are children of the parent layer. Dragging a child layer out from the parent layer will cause that consequence to be removed from the child layer.
So, some changes to a parent layer, such as changing the fill colour or stroke width, are applied destructively which means that once a change has been made it is permanent – unless you use the Undo function or make changes to the child layer – even when you take the child away from its parent. However, some changes, such as Effects etc., are made non-destructively which means that the change only applies to the child layers while they are a child of the parent the change was made to.
Collapsing/expanding a parent layer in the Layers Panel has no effect on how the document is viewed. The Layers Panel is there for you to see how the layers are organised. However, you can set a parent layer to be non-visible (the check-box to its right) which will also make all of its child layers non-visible.
Preview mode is there so you can see what the document will look like – as far as it can be shown on-screen – when it is printed/exported. All this really does is to hide things like the guides and grid so you have less on-screen clutter.
I’ve attached a GIF that might help to make things clearer. Notice how some changes have permanent outcomes while others do not.
Note: Sorry but the GIF is very low-quality. I'll try and make time to upload a better one.
Does this help? If not, you might have to upload your document or give more detailed information.

They've probably had a very terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and therefore decided to create a very terrible, horrible, no good, very bad forum post with an even worse completely undescriptive subject line to decrease their chances of getting help ... don't worry about it, it'll get better when we're all dead.

Welcome to the forums.
Just about every object you add to a document will also be a layer, whether that’s an image, or a shape, or some text, or many other things.
Some things, such as guides and effects, aren’t added as layers but that’s something you just have to learn over time.
While having pretty much everything on its own layer gives you a lot of flexibility it can also be confusing as the number of layers grows.
However, you can also organise these layers by adding your own layers, which sounds like it might be further confusing things but it becomes clear once you get used to it.
You can create your own layers – think of them as folders to contain other layers – and move other layers into them.
All you need to do is create a new layer (menu “Layer – New Layer”, but there are many other ways to add one) and you’ll see a new layer in the Layers Panel that has a folder icon. Then rename that layer as required, e.g. “Calendar Framework”.
Select the layers you want to keep together and drag them into the layer you created.
You now have a layer containing all of the things you want to maintain together.
Repeat until you have your layers organised.
Does this help any?

@IanSG This is not obvious enough I fear. My eyes keep rotating while reading the OP comment. What is wrong with some people? Ask your questions in a civilized manner. First time I use a new software I play with it, looking through the options to get a feeling about handling the application. If this is not self-explanatory I have a look at the (normally) in-built help section. Still want some more information I am looking for some extra resources like here. The question marks on my face won't go away, then I ask here in the always helpful forum sections.
I don't get it.

Well ... I guessed wrong. 

Status: Beta
Purpose: Stability and General Testing
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Publisher
Mac App Store: Not submitted
Download: Download
Auto-update: Not Available
---
Hi,
We are pleased to announce that a new Customer Beta of Affinity Publisher (1.8.0.499) is now available as a download from the link above.
As this is a 'Stability and General Testing' beta it is considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity where you may be adversely affected by the application failing, including the total loss of any documents. 
We hope you enjoy the beta, and as always, if you've got any problems installing or running up, please don't hesitate to post in this thread. 
Any problems actually using this version please make a new topic in this forum and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Please feel free to leave general suggestions and comments in the Discussion Forum. 
Many thanks for your continued feedback.
---
StudioLink
This build of Affinity Publisher, 1.8.0 Beta, requires 1.8.0 Beta builds of Photo and Designer for StudioLink to function. We hope to make these available soon.
---
New Features and Major Improvements
Unified Applications Toolbars
Updated layout of toolbars in main application Window. (Mojave or later)
Text Editing Keys
Choose between 'Serif Defaults' or 'Apple Defaults' for text editing keys. e.g. Serif default for 'Move to Beginning of Word' is <Cmd>-<Left Arrow> whereas Apple default is <Alt>-<Left Arrow>. Available via Preferences.
Improved master page handling when adding single pages in a facing page document
Adding single pages to a facing page document with facing masters no longer shuffles master pages from left to right or vice versa.
Migrate frame contents when replacing Masters
Option to 'Clear' or 'Migrate' content when replacing a master which has modified text / image content on the target page. Available via Pages Panel 'Apply Master…' etc.
Re-order Master Spreads
Added the facility to re-order Master Spreads using drag drop in the Pages panel.
Merge Documents
Facility to merge specified pages from one document into the current document. Available via Pages Panel context menu or Document > Add Pages from File...
Linked 'Embedded Document' Resources
Better handling of Linked 'Embedded Document' resources to prevent files with such resources bloating on save.
Collect Resources
Facility to collect all up-to-date linked document resources in a single specified folder. Available via Resource Manager.
Find and Replace MRUs
MRU lists for recent Find and Replaces, available on the field drop menus on the Find and Replace Panel.
Anchor Panel
To manage Hyperlink Anchors. Access via View > Studio > Anchors.
PANTONE
Updated PANTONE Solid and Bridge Palettes for September 2019 update (Link)
Text Features
Last line outdent.
Drop Caps now let you set the number of characters dropped.
Indent to Here.
Add Right Indent Tab.
Insert from the Text Menu 
Added additional fields, plus option to show the Fields Panel.
TOC
Added option to skip line breaks in a TOC.
Added option to skip or include inline images in a TOC.
General Fixes and Minor Improvements
Open / Import
"Make a copy" and "Continue" buttons when opening a non-beta project file were reversed
Improve support for DeviceN bitmaps based on LAB colour space on PDF import
Document Management
When moving pages, transform pasteboard content so it doesn't end up on spread
Margins change with document DPI on non-master pages
General / Tools
Added option to make bleed of embedded Affinity documents visible
Strokes on master page objects now extend into the page bleed area
Setting K-Only for a missing linked image caused crash
Linked images that fail to load now fall back to previews
Fixed Populate Picture Frames across multiple artboards
Convert to Picture Frame was disabled for EPS
(Win) Create Palette from CMYK images imports as RGB
(Win) Fix for inconsistent document tabbing
Text
Can now use <Ctrl> / <Cmd> (Win / Mac) to link multiple text frames
When linking text frames stories are now concatenated
Preserve Manual Position not reflected correctly in Pinning Panel
Add special hyphenation rules for solidus (U+002F) to distinguish e.g. fractions
Changing spread / artboard in an Embedded Document now updates Text Wrap
Fixed default wrapping around Embedded Documents with transparency
Prevent table cell separators from being copied to non-tables (fix for non-deletable breaks)
Fixed auto-correct bug entering double spaces
Fixed line endings for Paragraph decorations
Now possible to remove arrowheads if inadvertently applied to Text Frame
Leading override could not be set to Auto in Text Style
Text with 'No break' did not always break before the no break
Fixed hyphenation issues in last line of column
(Mac) Missing font dropdown doesn't list missing fonts
(Win) Spell check identifies numbers mixed with other characters as incorrectly spelt
Tables
Adjusting Table properties for multiple cells fails if selected cell already has the desired property
Fixed possible crash when auto fitting table to text
Find and Replace
Fixes for skipping occurrences when replacing
Tidied up finding around end of text
Hyperlinks
Fixes for hyperlinks in Tables
Hyperlinks are no longer generated in PDF output if hidden
Fixes for Hyperlink panel not always displaying correct page of link target
Fixed hyperlink bugs when switching to / from facing pages
Glyph Browser
Glyph Browser now always renders glyphs at screen scale
DocX
Importing tables from docx files could fail to import formatting resulting in crash
Fields
Added yyyy-MM-dd date format
Resources
Linked images - Context toolbar not updated after converting to embedding
Filenames with underscores not displayed correctly in Resource Manager
Font Manager
Font Manager 'Locate' did not locate full runs
Export / Print
Prevent spurious warnings about overflow text in text frames that won't be output anyhow
Overprint Black now only sets to overprint if tint set to 100%
Fix for "Rasterise nothing" was causing PDF export failure in certain circumstances
(Win) Print dialog wasn't always removing the red overlay after page had been scaled to fit
---
To be notified about all future Mac beta updates, please follow this notification thread 
To be notified when this Publisher update comes out of beta and is fully released to all Publisher customers, please follow this thread