angelhdz12

Regarding the scripting language, Javascript sounds to me the more modern approach:
Take a look here on how to embed a very performant engine (the one used by Nodejs) :
https://v8.dev

I hope that we can get scripting soon. We are big company and we could save a lot on licenses with Affinity. But we can't start using Affinity without script support. My personal preference is TypeScript and we need WebSockets.

Get a tutorial or something. Don't blame the software of your own ignorance. 
You don't even respond to the answers you've gotten. You're only bitching about how hard it is.
it's not gonna get any better with that attitude.
Read a manual or watch a tutorial. Put the effort in to understand the difference between pixels and vectors and don't expect to understand it all overnight.

Hey guys!

Is in your plans allowing programmers to control the affinity programs with code? Like commands/actions in Python, C# or Javascript? Preferibly Python or C#.

So we programmers can develop commands/actions that people can install or run to execute certain tasks.

I need a definitive answer to this, to see if it's worth waiting for it, or a definitive NO!

Thank you!

Everybody has a favorite scripting language, Frank.  But no scripting language is everybody's favorite.
In practice, the Affinity document/object API and its binding to the scripting language is going to be far more significant than the language itself.  An incomplete, poorly organized and badly documented API/DOM will be agony to use in any scripting language.  Conversely, a comprehensive, modular and well-documented API/DOM will be easy to use in any scripting language.  We don't need Serif to give us Python, or Lua, or Perl, or ECMAScript, or FORTH, etc.  We need them to give us an API.

Python for me. It's used in most other software that has pro scripting now. Others have mentioned graphics software, it's also pretty common in CAD. Also, if you need to do stuff to AppleScript other applications on Mac it's easy to call out to AppleScript from python. Here's a bit of Python code I wrote in my CAD software that takes some regenerated renderings and replaces them in a report using AppleScript:
if os.path.exists(reportDoc): log("Looking for report {} to update".format(self.chosenReport)) script = """ set imgs to {{""}} set replaceList to {{{}}} set reportDoc to POSIX file "{}" set diagramsFolder to "{}" tell application "Pages" activate set the activeDoc to open reportDoc tell activeDoc repeat with theImage in images set theFile to file name of theImage set theFilePath to diagramsFolder & "/" & theFile if file name of theImage is in replaceList then try set file name of theImage to POSIX file theFilePath on error errMsg display dialog "A problem occurred while trying to replace the image: " & theFile end try end if copy theFilePath to end of imgs end repeat end tell end tell get imgs """.format(replaceList, reportDoc, self.diagramsFolder) log("Report {} located".format(self.chosenReport)) p = Popen(['osascript', '-'], stdin=PIPE, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE) stdout, stderr = p.communicate(bytes(script,'UTF-8')) log("{} {} {}".format(p.returncode, stdout, stderr)) If you use javascript you lose access to the whole ecosystem of python packages that can be used to do basically anything. e.g. I've written stuff that takes images taken on my phone and uses a python library to extract the EXIF data to get the lat long and direction and then uses another python library to do GIS calcs to translate them into the coordinate space of my CAD drawing and then uses the python integration in my CAD software to place the lines representing the points and direction of the photos on a site plan. Took me about a day to put that together in python. I have no idea where I would start trying to do that in javascript because, as afar as I am aware, there are no easy to use libraries available to do this stuff in Javascript.

The main reason why Javascript is in the discussion is that this is what is used in InDesign and the other Adobe creative apps. Many of the people looking for scripting in Affinity apps will no doubt have built scripts in those and so using Javascript would make sense in that there would be an easier transition in that regard. I havn't used Quark in a long time (v6.5) so I have no idea what that uses other than just Applescript.
There are plenty of Javascript libraries out there, for example https://github.com/exif-js/exif-js - however, that is where the argument for Javascript does fall down in that because Adobe's Javascript implementation hasn't been updated in well over a decade you cannot actually use any Javascript libraries because they are all using newer features that break in Adobe's environment. For example when I built my last large InDesign script I needed something to write tests in - the best I could manage was getting 14 tests running in Jasmine before it would die.
I don't know Python but that's only because I have not yet had a need to learn it. If we get Python-based scripting in Affinity then great, I guess I will have a reason to learn it. I just feel like the focus really needs to be on making sure that whatever implementation is chosen gives us the depth comparable (or better) to that of InDesign as opposed to the half-assed implementation of Acrobat Professional.

In Publisher 1.9 I can no longer sort the resources in the resource administration by page number. It works according to name, status, placement etc.

Okay, so I uninstalled 1.9 and installed the previous version on my laptop.  SAME ISSUE.  I did NOT have the issue before I upgraded to 1.9.  As an experiment, I installed the version prior to 1.9 on my husbands laptop and everything worked just fine.  That told me that 1.9 did something to my system. NO WAY was I installing 1.9 on his.  

I uninstalled the previous version on mine — again ... and found a “restore point” on my laptop from about a week and a half ago and wound my whole system back to that point.  THEN I installed the version of Publisher prior to 1.9, and everything works just fine.  
Note to self:  wait a few weeks after a new version is released to get the upgrade.  
 

- Slow Pixel selection
- Grouping objects breaks text size
-  Marque Tool place was wrong, then I noticed the "From Center" check box was checked by default (I never used that parameter).
- Pressing  CTRL to select multiple layers, just creates a Pixel selection on one of the layers.

I'm getting back to version 1.8.* because there's probably more and more issues in 1.9.

Edit: Uninstalled 1.9, installed 1.8.5 back and all issues are gone.

Tip: Never install a new version as soon as it releases. They always come with bugs.

 

The obvious limitation of this approach is that the second shadow will include a shadow of the first shadow.
If you want two shadows that are cast in different directions (to reflect two light sources at different angles) this approach won't really work for that.

I hope they add scripting it in 2.0 or 2.5 top. Otherwise I'm not paying for version 2x.
So many expected and needed features missing like Layers filtering/search, Non-destructive Mesh Warp, Trace bitmap, 
- Multiple Effects/Fills/Strokes per shape
- Convert Pixel selection to Vector shape/path
-Mesh fill tool
-Knife tool
-Calligraphic line styles
 

Still no scripting in 1.9?
Man, what are you doing over there?

Why people always assume things?

Many people love to do everything in a single place, not the hassle of having to switch programs constantly because one program have "x" tool but the other program not. Is not about a workflow problem.

Adobe understood this, and improved Photoshop to allow doing everything on it, animation, vectors, pathfinders, etc.

I came from Photoshop. I did everything there. Never needed Illustrator.

 

I've posted a lot in a thread called Scripting. Please allow us to use Javascript, TypeScript, C# or Python to make plugins! Affinity SDK!!!

I think the best approach is server/client. Discord did it this way, and in their Discord's server, they have separate channels for each programming language that have a Discord Client API, and you can even request a channel if there's a language that doesn't have one, but is active and you want to work on the API for said language.

This way, everyone can enjoy controlling Affinity Suite programs from their favorite languages, and then the debate is over. No more "my language is better than your language" silly arguments.

You start the server with a button or menu option in the Affinity programs, then in your favorite language, install the affinity client library, import it, connect to the server, and start calling the methods that will send messages via Sockets or HTTP requests, to the server, and the server then process the messages and send the actions to the program.

I expect this on version 2.0 if I will spend money to upgrade.

Just chucking another request for scripting support onto the pile. I'd dearly love to jump over to Affinity Designer but it just won't work for me and the team I work with until we can do some automation of stuffs.

I do empathize greatly. I've been investing some time in workarounds. One of my InDesign scripts, for example, was a barcode generator. Instead, I'm converting it to a shell script to generate an SVG image, and then I'll just place the image into a Publisher document . . . but it's definitely a substandard workaround. Not having scripting really makes it hard to shift entirely away from InDesign. But I'm also really tired of the increasing random Adobe is demanding just to have access to my documents. (Similarly, not supporting right-to-left text is a major bummer, since one of my projects involves Semitic languages.) I like that it does 90% of my work-a-day stuff, but that last 10% is presently pretty painful.

Are you making fun of us? Can't tell...

HOW DARE WE wanting a complete suite of programs to be finally free from the enslaving subscription-based competitor... HOW DARE WE!

I've given up on Affinity.
I started this thread over two years ago with great hope of replacing CC but there's been zero input from Affinity regarding progress on scripting which gives me little confidence anything will be coming. 
It seems the primary market for Publisher, Designer etc is smaller agencies who might not benefit greatly from scripting. I continue to tweak our InDesign scripts and software every few weeks and I just can't see how we could survive doing everything manually. I'm retiring from the trade next year so it's not going to be relevant to me anyway, but it's a shame it doesn't seem to be on the radar of important features.

Hi @angelhdz12
I haven't been able to recreate this. I made my heart file in Designer and placed it in to the second blank document. The layer thumbnail updated when I changed the colour of the heart.
What file type did you place? This might be why I couldn't reproduce it. Could you upload your heart file here so I can try it in my document please?

But OP requires a bitmap Perspective tool from APhoto ("I know it's available in Affinity Photo, but it would be helpful to have it available for use in Designer").
"Vector" transformation tools (such as Mesh Warp Tool) are, of course, something else, and have been required repeatedly and for a long time.

Even a very basic 'destructive' vector distortion tool would be great and really should have been available years ago - still no light at the end of the tunnel

Serif is markering Affinity Designer as "professional graphic design software for desktop and ipad" and it would be fair to expect people with professional needs and a professional workflow to expect something real and concrete from that sentence. Many workarounds are for amateurs and hobbyists and for struggling through temporary incidents here and now. You bill clients for time used more than anything. How much you can deliver depends on how easy and fast you can archive certain effects. This is not exactly groundbreaking news, so I expect the majority in here are hobbyists and users with simple use cases.
An effective workflow is key and pointless redundant work is costly and not creative in any way. Designer improves my workflow?
I would have to disagree. Designer is not quite there yet. It is a pleasure to work with when doing hobby stuff but the second you (or a client) pour real ambitions into your work it is all about manual work, workarounds and not much support from fx perspective distortion. That alone effectively rules out re-use of some complex layers/groups elsewhere in a drawing. BOOM! Business case falls to the ground, dead. Misplaced over simplistic, silly girlfriend analogies better suited for a much younger audience doesn't change that or the world.
The Affinity Suite is no longer a new product or technology and the honeymoon is over. More is expected and with good right. Let costumers air their concerns, criticism and needs in here without the constant whining from loyal users. Affinity is a commercial supposedly professional suite of programs with a company run forum for feedback from customers. Let costumers talk and let Serif answer professionally.
In fact the waves of emotional answers from hobbyists in here will probably not convince any professional potential customer that the vivid marketing statements are true.
ANYWAY - the current build of 1.8 is just the first build of the new 1.8 code branch surprisingly early. There is nothing new and shining in it yet. It may be a good time for a service release with stabilizing bug fixes, optimizations and fx the long awaited improved expand stroke. But it will be a(nother) momentum killer for Designer if more advanced professional features are scheduled for 2.0 and then available in perhaps 3 years from now. Or longer.
Designer is more than suitable for a segment of creatives - users of the wonderful brushes and textures from Frankentoon, DAUB and Stuart. Has been for years. Other segments are still waiting for small or bigger features for their use cases though. Plenty of evidence for that in this very forum. I don't think you are doing Serif any kind of favor telling these customers or potential customers that they don't need features they damn well know they need. Alternatives are out there.

I've found a lot of lack of consistency among Affinity Suite programs.

This is one of them. We still don't have Non-destructive Mesh/Perspective in Designer, but there's a Perspective Live Filter in Photo... 🤦‍♂️