Terry44

I do not have access to Fireworks or any Adobe product so it is not something I would be able to do myself.

It would be interesting if someone were to reverse engineer the files created with Fireworks and get all that data out so that an exporter could be created. Not sure if anyone on staff has that ability or if it could be outsourced.

Not sure where the Adobe pricing complaints are coming from, they have had it in writing since 2010 when Creative Cloud started that pricing was not a fixed thing and could change at any time. It seems that pricing changes being talked about are not company specific but fees governments are changing or adding for various taxes and is a country by country situation. If these taxes were not changing would the actual cost of the service still be going up? I no longer have an Adobe account so I don't know. Affinity Publisher from what I understand is a new concept and wouldn't be released to beta until both Photo and Designer were out and into second generation. I came by that understanding based on conversations with staff within the forums. Designer was the first product to be released, then Photo and once those are well on their way into development then Publisher. It's a generalization I came to based on the conversations in the forums that 2.0 would be seen in Designer and Photo before Publisher beta. Though it was made clear that they haven't started on it yet other than some mocking up. The best situation for the company in my opinion is to keep quite and just release info as developments occur and not future project timelines.

This would be an issue with the carrier and not Serif specifically. Once it leaves their warehouse / office it is out of their hands, literally. Were you given a tracking number to track the package, if so you could contact the carrier directly and see if they could reimburse the shipping to you that you paid. I don't know how that works with over seas delivery but here there is a certain window and if they don't make it in that time then you can ask for reimbusement of the accelerated delivery UNLESS it is just regular mail or ground then you get it when you get it.

I have the Intuos Pro Medium tablet with the wireless feature and I love it. There is no delay at all and works exactly the same with or without the wire which you have to use to charge it but it doesn't take that long and you can use it while it is charging so there is no need for down time. I have not had any issues at all with it though some softwares work better than others though that is a program dependant thing. If you place the programs in wacom's settings software then the tablet will adjust to the software where as if you don't sometimes there can be misalignments that happen but it is a per software thing and not the tablet directly. I tried the smaller versions and I like the size of the medium, the large is way too big and I don't have anywhere that I can put a tablet that big. You can adjust the way the tablet works to use one screen if you have multiple monitors or one screen for one application and another for something else or operating system dependent features, like controlling what programs open when you click a button. If you do a lot of fine work then I would say the Medium Inuos Pro is the best option. I wouldn't go with something smaller. The thing I like about the medium version is that it has more programmable buttons which helps a lot compared to the lesser versions or even the non-pro tablets. The only thing I don't like about the pen that comes with it is the rubber coating on the bottom half of the pen collects dust and dirt which does not clean off. Other than that I don't have any negative to say about this tablet.

As long as you can work with the files the company or individuals have then it shouldn't matter UNLESS they are doing something specific with photoshop features that you MUST have or something similar like plugins to get the same look and feel. Though I can't see why you would not be able to get the same results with Affinity Designer and Photo. You have both applications right? Because Photo is mainly for Photographs and Designer is mainly for well how I use it is for Web and UX / UI, both apps work together complimentary. Also will you be working with Teams? It helps to have the same tools they do but as long as you can work with the files then it shouldn't matter.

More memory will allow you to do more things at the sametime it does NOT speed up the computer. Upgrading the CPU will benefit overall performance and moving from Hard Disk to SSD will add speed. Dedicated graphics card will allow for working with video and high end photography for those applications that can harness the processing of the GPU which I believe Affinity does. Whatever computer you get make sure that you can upgrade the hardware later, Mac's tend to be one and done, whatever it comes with when you order it that is all you get. Depends on the model though. Microsoft Surface computers are same way, I believe Dell and HP are coming out with their own better versions of the Surface, I would wait for those if anyone is looking to get a Surface like computer, wait a little yet. For Memory I personally would not go with less than 16 GB and for CPU an i7 4 or 5 generation. I like Nvidia GPU's and would go with at least a 980 ti - EVGA is good brand., it depends what you are doing some software can't use the 10x0 gen cards due to architecture changes in the new models so you need to look at the entirety of what you are going to be using the computer for and research the softwares and reviews to see what people in the real world recommend and not just the companies themselves.

Have you looked at FXhome HitFilm 2017 or Smith Micro Moho and Clip Studio Paint? The Foundry has some interesting products as well. Though it depends what you mean by motion graphics, most if not all of these create animated GIF or video based output and are not Html CSS Animations like something for the Mac, Tumult Hype or Animator Pro plugin for the Pinegrow web editor. Smith Micro also has Motion Artist which creates animated Html5 based output though it is meant more for creating comics though you can do other types of projects with it.

In Fireworks the groups are created automatically, in Designer you have to create groups yourself. Unless there is a setting somewhere I don't know about.

The ability to flatten all layers down to ONE would be nice to have, while keeping everything vector objects that you can change later. To do the Flatten or Rasterize your layers into a single bitmap select all layers and then right click and choose Group. Duplicate this group and hide the first one. Preserves editing in future. On the second group right click and select Rasterize. Done.

My understanding on this is that it is not upgradeable so you get what you get and that's all you get for CPU, Memory, SSD their all hardwired into the system.

I decided on PagePlus X8 and X9 even though I knew they were end of life products because X9 was semi-recently released, a year ago, so I know it will have file format handling I need and also the promise of Affinity Publisher coming down the line. I was just about ready to buy X9 when they changed the price which made it a no-brainer, I was waiting on the update but pushed button on purchase after price change. For those reading this just make sure whatever you are buying can do what you need it to, don't get caught up in bells and whistles or addon packages or even price for that matter. Affinity Publisher won't be released until sometime in 2018 and even beta's won't be available until end of 2017 so by all means research available apps and get what you need now because this product is a long way off yet.

That's interesting. I took a look at their product and watched the video on their page but it seems PagePlus X9 does all that too and it is now only $25.00. I used Xara Draw and 3D way back years ago but it was too limiting compared to other options. I sort of look at Xara as a me too company that focuses on that one niche tool that they build their software around to compete with the big boys but don't quite get there. At least that is my impression from using their software from years ago, I haven't worked with any of their software in years and probably won't be starting now.

Have you tried to open any of your files in Affinity Designer? I noticed that it can open PDF files and allow to edit the text, which I find odd for a graphics software but I guess the code base is going to be shared between the Affinity Line which I can see with Designer and Photo.

I use Brackets. Someone said it has same ability but I don't see it yet on my end. Either way all you have to do is save the file and it will auto refresh in Pinegrow. The Atom plugin just does it without saving the file first I think. No big deal, it works no matter the external editor used, you just have to save the file first. I am sure a plugin will be made for Brackets and other editors at some point.

I just checked the link @Patrick Connor linked to and I was able to get to it no problem. Clear your browsers cache, close it then reopen it or use something like CCleaner after you close the browser to clean out all the temp files, caches and what not then try again. If you still can't get to it and you are in one of the countries they are saying is blocked then that may just be the reason though I do not know why a server error would be displayed it should redirect or give a message or at least that is the professional way to handle blocking. Or just don't provide a buy now button, I don't know.

For a Webdesign app I found this which is well on it's way to becoming an Adobe replacement for web design. https://pinegrow.com/ There is a 3rd party plugin available for it also that gives animation support for making scroll effects, triggers and targets, fly-ins and usual web page animation stuff. It has some features that I wish Dreamweaver had, when I was using it. I look at it as a hibred between Muse and Dreamweaver if you come from Adobe world of products. Only reason I mention this is that Serif has said they do not have any plans to make another webdesign app so I had to go looking else where. I am a Windows user so all the good webdesign apps typically are Mac based such as Tumult Hype. Pinegrow is one of if not the only really good Adobe alternative I have found for Windows. Unless someone else has found something that has similar features that compares that is Windows based. It is designed off of a platform that works on Mac, Windows and I believe Linux too. For the DTP stuff I just bought X8 and X9 of PagePlus so until Affinity Publisher comes out I think I am good for now on that end. When Affinity Photo comes out of beta and is released I will buy that also then I am 100% covered for Graphic creation and Photo Editing, Publishing and with Pinegrow webdesign. I am not sure what else I need to replace coming out of Adobe. Audio editing there is Audacity and for Video there is FXHome HitFilm Pro and the free version of Black Magic Divinci Resolve. Which I have those as well. For the most part I think for me these replace what I was using Adobe Creative Cloud for.

I ordered the Workbook on the morning of November 17th and I just received it sometime today November 19th. It was waiting in my mailbox when I got up. Probably was delivered an hour or two after my last post. The Affinity Angels there at Serif are working over time. Nice!

Not sure how long it will last but when Affinity Designer was officially launched the 20% discount offer for the workbook was offered when I purchased AD. I don't know if there will be a similar book for the Photo version of the software, I read somewhere that the workbook includes instructions for Photo also but I won't know until I get the book.

You should rename the thread to remove the Beta part otherwise it is a bit confusing.

If I switch computers in the future, get a new one can the license be deactivated then reactivated on the new computer?

Ha, I had samething happen also I wasn't too impressed they didn't include instructions on how to install their brushes and assets. I am totally new to the program, played with the beta a llittle but not too indepth and had to experiment forever before figuring out how to install them. And the UI Sheets in that other download I haven't figured out if it is possible to keep them in AD as assets or I have to keep them in a dedicated folder somewhere in case I want to use them.. Instructions would be nice.. LOL I did order the Work Book though after I purchased AD, maybe it tells in there how to do it.

Corel Draw X8 is a $400.00 software, the upgrade is $150.00+ USD Yeah, I wouldn't imagine a $50 USD software could compare to that.

I am at 10 seconds from clicking Affinity Designer shortcut icon to the application being available for using, for me that is a slow loading app. Windows 10 Pro 64 bit 16 GB Ram Intel i7 -2600 CPU @3.40 GHZ Quad Core Older spec computer but runs EVERYTHING I need. If you can tweak the loading times so it is in the 2 to 4 second range from click to opening on my computer I would be happier. ;)

Because Adobe hasn't told anyone how Fireworks PNG files are created, as far as I know there is no 3rd party applications that can support Fireworks Files. Even Photoshop converts the layers to it's own format, but photoshop can open them because that software is made by the same company.