Bryce

No, it has not been improved yet.

that would be more appropriate. Thanks for the update.

I guess I could use Designer to make the initial document but the guide manager doesn't work with all the artboards right, does it?
I did successfully do our first newspaper edition this week using Publisher instead of Indesign. It actually worked without too many problems. No showstoppers and the separations looked okay for the most part. Some of the ads that gray was specified ended up separating as RGB converted to CMYK and I'm not sure why. If you made sure ahead of time that the color in the ads were 0 0 0 100 then the colors translated to the correct plate.

Is there anything wrong with:
option-click to sharp node ctrl-click to smooth node ?
affinity.help/designer/English.lproj/pages/CurvesShapes/edit_linesAndShapes.html

on the mac it seems to do nothing. 
from the responses I found online it looks that windows versions are crashing.

Thanks Walt! that was it!
 
You are full of knowledge!

It probably means that you do not have the Edit All Layers option enabled.

Did you happen to watch the very good tutorial video that they have for this? It shows using to different data sources simultaneously. for the most part, much more powerful than Indesign. The only feature I miss is the blank cell feature to remove the line.

Kudos! Amazing job for the new Datamerge features.

Some little enhancements requests for an updated 1.1 version of it:

1. Add a «Text Overset Detection» report
2. Add a «missing or wrong images path» report, of better before executing the merge
3. Add the ability to use relative path for image base on the location of the sources db file. It’s actually a pain to have to edit the full path each time the a folder is moved.
4. Add a «remove blink fields» option. A must for mailing address datamerge.

... and for a 2.0 version:
1. Add various if/then condition possibilities

InDesign CS4 option: 

I do wonder about the energy/environmental impact.
Once the book is made it's done with any negative impacts.
On the other hand the digital file may not cost much upfront - not counting the cost of constant upgrades of electronics, required to read the file, and will easily outlive the many devices you will have, but it must continue to use energy every time the file is opened. Even 100 years from now, if it's even able to be found/opened/formats changed will require electricity. The book, however, will still sit nicely on the shelf and will be retained - possibly for hundreds of years, without ever using any more electricity to be read.
When it's time to discard the book permanently, it will gently go back to the dirt - clay coatings and all, while the device(s) must be recycled and cost much more. Most are not as we know but thrown in landfills, heavy metals, lithium batteries, lead, and more.
Which was more environmentally friendly?

I do wonder about the energy/environmental impact.
Once the book is made it's done with any negative impacts.
On the other hand the digital file may not cost much upfront - not counting the cost of constant upgrades of electronics, required to read the file, and will easily outlive the many devices you will have, but it must continue to use energy every time the file is opened. Even 100 years from now, if it's even able to be found/opened/formats changed will require electricity. The book, however, will still sit nicely on the shelf and will be retained - possibly for hundreds of years, without ever using any more electricity to be read.
When it's time to discard the book permanently, it will gently go back to the dirt - clay coatings and all, while the device(s) must be recycled and cost much more. Most are not as we know but thrown in landfills, heavy metals, lithium batteries, lead, and more.
Which was more environmentally friendly?

One of the best tools in Designer is Slices. You should not have gone back and created a new document and copy and paste in to it as that can cause problems - just like it can in Indesign or Illustrator. I would assume that the resolution is the issue. I try to keep all at 300 no matter what. Never let programs guess what resolution it should be. I have a strange issue with logos between documents that sometimes the stroke will get very thick from one document pasted to another. I don't know why but it does. 
I just tried to copy and paste between documents and I couldn't get it to change size even though the documents were different resolution and size. I tried rasterizing the object and it made no difference rom copy and pasting.
Here is the solution I would do in your case:
Use artboards for each of the graphics in the same file. Name the artboard what you want the file name to be. Go to Slices and select all 3 artboards then choose the PDF for Print export (or PDF X/4) then choose export slices. It will name them all for you and keeps everything nice and neat.

I just want to tell you my appreciation for Serif listening to customers, even when it requires patience on our end. I use the programs everyday. For 90% of our work it has completely replaced Adobe. I wouldn't be surprised that once PDF passthrough is enabled and works that we will be at 99% for creative production and newspaper. 
Unfortunately there is no replacement for Acrobat and the plugins that we use all the time.
The ability for Serif to be able to have all three of their programs ready for a new platform on day of release of the OS is a testament to their dedication for their software and customers for the future.
Adobe, on the other hand, hopes to have Lightroom by the end of the year and Photoshop out next year. Nothing about Indesign or Illustrator. I'm sure it's a mess of code because of years of just adding in without making sure was optimized. 
Thank you and God bless!

I just want to tell you my appreciation for Serif listening to customers, even when it requires patience on our end. I use the programs everyday. For 90% of our work it has completely replaced Adobe. I wouldn't be surprised that once PDF passthrough is enabled and works that we will be at 99% for creative production and newspaper. 
Unfortunately there is no replacement for Acrobat and the plugins that we use all the time.
The ability for Serif to be able to have all three of their programs ready for a new platform on day of release of the OS is a testament to their dedication for their software and customers for the future.
Adobe, on the other hand, hopes to have Lightroom by the end of the year and Photoshop out next year. Nothing about Indesign or Illustrator. I'm sure it's a mess of code because of years of just adding in without making sure was optimized. 
Thank you and God bless!

I just want to tell you my appreciation for Serif listening to customers, even when it requires patience on our end. I use the programs everyday. For 90% of our work it has completely replaced Adobe. I wouldn't be surprised that once PDF passthrough is enabled and works that we will be at 99% for creative production and newspaper. 
Unfortunately there is no replacement for Acrobat and the plugins that we use all the time.
The ability for Serif to be able to have all three of their programs ready for a new platform on day of release of the OS is a testament to their dedication for their software and customers for the future.
Adobe, on the other hand, hopes to have Lightroom by the end of the year and Photoshop out next year. Nothing about Indesign or Illustrator. I'm sure it's a mess of code because of years of just adding in without making sure was optimized. 
Thank you and God bless!

I just want to tell you my appreciation for Serif listening to customers, even when it requires patience on our end. I use the programs everyday. For 90% of our work it has completely replaced Adobe. I wouldn't be surprised that once PDF passthrough is enabled and works that we will be at 99% for creative production and newspaper. 
Unfortunately there is no replacement for Acrobat and the plugins that we use all the time.
The ability for Serif to be able to have all three of their programs ready for a new platform on day of release of the OS is a testament to their dedication for their software and customers for the future.
Adobe, on the other hand, hopes to have Lightroom by the end of the year and Photoshop out next year. Nothing about Indesign or Illustrator. I'm sure it's a mess of code because of years of just adding in without making sure was optimized. 
Thank you and God bless!

I just want to tell you my appreciation for Serif listening to customers, even when it requires patience on our end. I use the programs everyday. For 90% of our work it has completely replaced Adobe. I wouldn't be surprised that once PDF passthrough is enabled and works that we will be at 99% for creative production and newspaper. 
Unfortunately there is no replacement for Acrobat and the plugins that we use all the time.
The ability for Serif to be able to have all three of their programs ready for a new platform on day of release of the OS is a testament to their dedication for their software and customers for the future.
Adobe, on the other hand, hopes to have Lightroom by the end of the year and Photoshop out next year. Nothing about Indesign or Illustrator. I'm sure it's a mess of code because of years of just adding in without making sure was optimized. 
Thank you and God bless!

I just want to tell you my appreciation for Serif listening to customers, even when it requires patience on our end. I use the programs everyday. For 90% of our work it has completely replaced Adobe. I wouldn't be surprised that once PDF passthrough is enabled and works that we will be at 99% for creative production and newspaper. 
Unfortunately there is no replacement for Acrobat and the plugins that we use all the time.
The ability for Serif to be able to have all three of their programs ready for a new platform on day of release of the OS is a testament to their dedication for their software and customers for the future.
Adobe, on the other hand, hopes to have Lightroom by the end of the year and Photoshop out next year. Nothing about Indesign or Illustrator. I'm sure it's a mess of code because of years of just adding in without making sure was optimized. 
Thank you and God bless!

I just want to tell you my appreciation for Serif listening to customers, even when it requires patience on our end. I use the programs everyday. For 90% of our work it has completely replaced Adobe. I wouldn't be surprised that once PDF passthrough is enabled and works that we will be at 99% for creative production and newspaper. 
Unfortunately there is no replacement for Acrobat and the plugins that we use all the time.
The ability for Serif to be able to have all three of their programs ready for a new platform on day of release of the OS is a testament to their dedication for their software and customers for the future.
Adobe, on the other hand, hopes to have Lightroom by the end of the year and Photoshop out next year. Nothing about Indesign or Illustrator. I'm sure it's a mess of code because of years of just adding in without making sure was optimized. 
Thank you and God bless!

I just want to tell you my appreciation for Serif listening to customers, even when it requires patience on our end. I use the programs everyday. For 90% of our work it has completely replaced Adobe. I wouldn't be surprised that once PDF passthrough is enabled and works that we will be at 99% for creative production and newspaper. 
Unfortunately there is no replacement for Acrobat and the plugins that we use all the time.
The ability for Serif to be able to have all three of their programs ready for a new platform on day of release of the OS is a testament to their dedication for their software and customers for the future.
Adobe, on the other hand, hopes to have Lightroom by the end of the year and Photoshop out next year. Nothing about Indesign or Illustrator. I'm sure it's a mess of code because of years of just adding in without making sure was optimized. 
Thank you and God bless!

Thanks, Hokusai.
But part of the reason I asked is that I'm not sure why one would need to convert all that text to curves. For example, if one is exporting to PDF and needs the text as curves there, one can leave it as curves text in the Designer document and just convert to curves in the PDF during Export.

C'mon guys ... Affinity Designer is $50 and you have been getting large, free functionality updates since 2014(!!!).
I don't think it would be fair to even ask for ANY special pricing or discount after getting THAT much for a small one-time price.

I'll disagree, at least with respect to the Help info. Not everything can be completely obvious and self-explanatory. In fact, any complex function will have aspects that the user won't fully understand without reading the documentation, or performing extensive experimentation.

"Select same" for me will be the best...
Please introduce select "all text objects", even if them are grouped or blocked.
That will increase the workflow for me when I have to convert text in curves.
Thanks, great job!!!