Greengestalt

Thank you for the pledge - we are big "Grain of Salt" here due to the real world effects of Maxxon taking Zbrush, that CEO of Unity, etc. And this is for real products not franchises and hobbies - better not get started there. Most of the time - IRL - when a corporate entity comes in the product is DESTROYED or downgraded and sucked DRY. Even if they seem to want to chase their customers away. Reason? Short-selling stock. Apparently they can "Bet against the team" even if they set it to RUIN and not get jailed for criminal fraud. Source - Gamestop early 2021 where it got in the news because some Redditors countered their plot - though the stock brokers bailed them out. Or my own eyes having managed a store during the recession and being one in fifty that made a profit had some vicious middle manager sent in to wreck it. We could at the very least do a mass letter and call/email to our officials and hamstring the bailouts, tax breaks. In the USA lobbyists give $70K for every $1 in bribes, but when they do get attention they demand lots of money to do nothing. And there is competition and even if not well if you turn it into a pricey subscription model, might as well go back to Adobe... I'd rather go forwards - As long as 1 and 2 are followed I'm with you tenatively. My big issue again - Auto trace - want it back and better. Just tell them to dust off the old files, old source code, etc. More innovations and yes I'd PAY for them in the upgrade: A - Photoshop brushes, filters, plugins - Work on getting them to work. DAZ really butchered Poser doing this. B - (should be easy) LUT browser and preview C - Ai - NOT for Art (shut up luddites) but for training and feedback D - hyper privacy so they can work with data but no way of detecting individual users or spying on them even if wanted to - 100% waring "You are not in privacy mode, in training mode" on screen in case of any necessary research. This gets to where #4 interests me: I'm taking some AI classes and refreshing myself on programming. Not high skill but these tools are incredible and I'm seeing tons of usage for them already. Now we don't need to put innocent little sprites through harrowing mazes but what IF we used a learning module and gave it access to features of the software and then gave it feedback...? This also means improving the sliders and options. Then the thing's brain is trained by positive/negative feedback and fueled by keywords. I don't mean a machine that is true AI/AGI but can break down the colors and shapes and user added tags - then process requests at first crudely then take feedback and keep feeding the system. Then the learning modules are created work and useful in the main software and could be as easy as "I want to turn this into a comic book illustration" and it'd even partially flatten and stretch/modify. Or "I want this to look like a 70s Grindhouse movie", "I have 3DCG people, make it look like a real photograph" This is stuff I do WITH my human non artificial intelligence but it could be codified using modern AI modules without needing a supercomputer -rather, by Xer standards we all have a Cray Supercomputer or better on our desks now! End users would then work with their own systems and have their custom AI modules saved (back it up offline, people) so if a crash/new computer/lockdown virus you pop it back in. These personal modules would be based on their own feedback and training. And yes they'd help the module but reasonable paranoia make it so general data is still optional AND its anonymized in a way you couldn't peek if you wanted to. Working with us - the users - we could improve this into something really next level. We could also turn this into a custom "Ai Upscaler" competing with the few working good but pricey modules on the market now. No "Dis" to them they are good but the ones that work pretty pricey. And users that put in a lot of work for modules get credit and free upgrades or shares? Anyways we are very cautious here - but we'd like this to be good and improve going forward. Most of the anti-Ai people are the "AiArt turk mur jurrb!" scardeys - and we don't really need an "AiArt module" already easy and fun to use affinity photo to correct bad fingers and such. But machine learning can make its ability to modify photos and objects and setup documents go next level and the purpose of this type of software is to do just that.

Thanks there - I don't know how he thought it was "Amateur" software. The "Amateurs" pirate Adobe which "One Man's Opinion" was made possible by them as 4D Chess aka if they steal it they VALUE it and better thieves rob banks versus becoming real radicals and making a different currency... It's a LOT more risky making a counter program than just making plugins for Adobe and hoping they'll hire or favor you someday. If it comes to it the pledges and statements could be used for a class action... Though I don't want that - I just want AutoTrace back and them to continue normally. BTW - On the "We have older computers" - it works on NEW ones too!. Brand new computer from Dell, huge memory modern processor (20 core) graphics card - so I can crank out hyper 3DCG, juggle dozens of documents, handle new Ai based things OK... And I popped in the DrawPlus and it WORKED - from my DVD-Rom straight. No messing with earlier windows version. My pic from a project I'm working on took seconds to render even with "My God this will take half an hour...!" settings from what 10 years ish ago?

Yep, that's where I got in. Loved it. And the new versions were much better and the older ones run without struggling with emulation mode. But they weren't clunky amateur stuff, you could import/export all the major files and if you ever tried the Auto-Trace it gave even Macromedia a run for its money.

>>I doubt it because Serif were aimed at amateurs and your strange uncle who did the local model railway club magazine. MY 'strange uncle'? I hope that's generic vs targeted harassment/insulting. This isn't some "Exceptionally gifted" school where the lazy bored "Teacher" just assumes the first punch loses so you try to provoke all day. Yet that's what I feel here. It's also super untrue; Serif even way back was pretty powerful. The Gimp made me feel like...well the name. Early Krita was nice but a huge memory/processor hog. I could go onto dozens of others that had their fun (Dogwaffle, anyone) but tended to make me feel like a crash test dummy saving after EVERY few minutes in fear. By contrast I assembled novels and edited images out of the dock and never missed not having Photoshop or the (right) fear/guilt of pirating it. I was glad to be rid of it.

Ahem, GOING there I've met people who could strip locked devices of major brand names and get custom OS's installed. Wish I could have taken one of their cars back. No I don't mean a tuk-tuk. Try $6K for something that'd be easy to run, repair, fuel with CNG, super safe in a crash. But it'd be taken and trashed when I tried to take it from the shipping container. Software isn't as protected as auto companies so one of the few things we can "Outsource" the Outsorucers for. This is serious. Ten years ago, yeah, it'd cost too much. Twenty years ago, both cost too much and less outsourcing options. Today it's almost Fiverr. I haven't participated in the forums here much - and when Ai got topical I tried because Affinity did NOT have it. More a 7-up commercial thing; "Never had it..." and was trying to get in suggestions they advertise based on it - no AI no Data scraping. Also - not that anyone noticed - I've been with this software since Serif only software. Furthermore "AI" is a catch all for machine learning. That's where a crowdfunded thing could make new stuff the others don't have; One of those machine learning simulators where it'll try 10 million times in an hour but can from scratch learn something. Imagine that for helping with "This photo is too low resolution, notably the face and edges", "I'd like these 3D Poser images to look more realistic and like a 70s movie" along with help on sliders, filters...? How about the format so you could setup a "Zine" that you'd print out, cut and fold the documents and it'd adapt it if you added pages? I'm just going to ignore status the hecklers - what do they think this forum is - Twitter (X)?

Considering programming courses often tell people how to make graphics programs nowadays and plenty of open sourced code I bet a good base could be hired even from Fiverr. Also the backlash if kept up and the prospect of a crowdfunded project to literally replace them would keep them on the Affinity track at least. Thanks for at least not a hurtful, trollish remark. I'm pretty miffed nobody seemed to remember AutoTrace which was a ripoff of VectorTrace from Macromedia Flash. Mentioning it also highlights they ripped off Adobe and Macromedia (then seperate) to try a hodge podge of stuff others wanted without spending a few thousand for some behemoth "Suite" that punished real users and was pirated openly to double make you feel like a fool for paying for it. ANYONE been a user since they were Serif not Affinity?

Also this isn't the 1990s or the 00s. IF these guys do mess with us by going subscription we could pitch in and MAKE OUR OWN. How? India. I've got friends who work with tech companies there. Think Fiverr prices but legit pros. Imagine thousands of VERY PO'd people willing to pitch in to develop a new suite software that does what Affinity (and Photoshop) does? Pool a bunch of $50, $100 notes for shares to get the work done... We'd make it a low profit company with rules not to be bought out and what we couldn't do. Mainly no subscription service. I'm FOR AI - look at how Corel Painter 2021 implemented those features (not image generation) and no complaints. But frankly you can use Affinity as it is to fix fingers and have the Ai Engine separate. As it is Affinity is NON-Ai, no data scraping (never got around to it) so that's an edge. We'd run the company as a kooky mass Democracy with a few (LIMITED %) major stakeholders having slight edge to tie break, maybe a CEO with 1 person (share % minimum but not too minimum) one vote? $ for advertising, improvement, what features? Again we have a computer base in the Gigabytes of memory, Gigaherts for speed and incredible graphics cards. And Ai isn't just making art and data snooping, lots of AIs (learning modules) could be used. We could put in our ELUA absolutely NO way they could be used to spy on customers and any data collected is anonymized so no way to trace to any party. But we have (by Xer standards / childhood memories) a CRAY supercomputer on our desktops in comparison to way back. Adobe had an edge of making its software work in the early Megahertz/Kilobyte era -that was like ATARI having people who could program ANYTHING on that system... Not as complex, time consuming and tons of people cranked out by colleges to then weep as the foreign countries cranked out more so our corporate pigs could cheat them... Furthermore (privacy paranoia) there are lots of places for a "Canary in the digital mine" if we hire international (India) programmers so any authority (USA/Europe) comes in with a gag order and "You will put spyware in" the alarm sounds and in the company charter its not a breach of trust but ring the bells, call the lawyer. This is versus a for maximum profit big corporation who goes "Uh, if you have some undeserved tax breaks there we'll welcome you in and keep it secret!" No need for a gag order even if they are a major VPN and the spyware the govern-NOT forces in is hacked in hours and sold as a backdoor on the darkweb... The need - a Photoshop alternative that can do and use features most need now and again - but most don't want to subscribe. --that costs $ to justify investment but isn't For me.... . I want "Auto-Trace" back. That was a Serif (Pre Affinity) feature they used to compete with (RIP thanks again to Adobe) Macromedia Flash and it's vectoring - that's why I keep my Draw Plus disk. I'd like it back and improved so it can both do what we wished but "Poster edges" never does and it did so much better - both for art style effects and legit vector creations for websites that take bytes to kilobytes vs megabytes. Company wants me and most of us to stay? No subscription or at worse always a "Perpetual" with sane upgrade prices - put in EULA Bring BACK auto-trace and improve it Keep AI art a "Subscription" option since the field is changing so rapidly it'd be obsolete in months.

BTW - please forgive the double post in the thread here - but I want to also be constructive vs my earlier one on worry of subscriptions, etc. A feature from the "Serif" days - Draw Plus - the "Auto-Trace" which flattens an image like poster paint but a lot more wiggle room and makes them vectors that can be then used and modified in other software AND dropped into some HTML website construction engines like Xara! It's an imitator of the now dead (thanks Adobe...) Macromedia Flash's "Vector Trace" and even ancient ware it runs like greased lightning on modern Gigabytes, Gigahertz computers. Here's an example - Again this I WILL pay for - not subscription but UPGRADE package part of when you do V3. Make the $ a sane level and add features and I'll pay. Suggestions - for V3 what I'd pay to upgrade to and I'd even pay better part of US$100 for. (I'm current in Affinity now) 1 - well this - I want "Vector Trace" back - it was formerly in Draw Plus which is the predecessor of Affinity Designer - make sure to add tons of new sliders and options and to keep all the old vector formats to import and export! 2 - Full use of Photoshop Brushes and Filters 3 - Improved LUT construction and preview - via Humble Bundle I have tons of LUTs but it's tedious to just guess and load/undo this should be simple, IMO anyways. 4 - expand the filters section with perhaps allowing others to make (and sell?) 3rd party filter sets? 5 - Pixel Canvas - to work with the neo-pixel/retro arcade people - so you can edit pixel and sprite sheets even low resolution but it will adapt to it and pull it up full screen and allow modern images to be converted into them. 6 - Easier to lock objects - I've recently played with making Kaleidescope things in Designer - a bit tricky to set up but fun - what if you could lock shapes automatically in various ways to insert inside even if randomly across the board and change it? Maybe you can already, I'm learning there... 7 - - OBJ and other major 3D object direct unwrapping and support - perhaps some easy guide like I'll try to put a tatoo on a Poser figure but it's either ballooned or microscopic come render so a stretch or image ref layer? Again - keep your edge by NO AI - but consider an ethical AI module you subscribe to - that's a subscription I'd consider. But full privacy, NO censorship, you can have it work with your own LoRa's (Ai training modules) and other major formats. Keep it "Ethical" and the public domain + art gulags we'd get anything anyone would care about the whiners are really overrated. And 100% opt in to respect a lot of luddites I've sent this way due to No AI so make sure the language is 100% spelled out, anything full Opt-in, etc. Not demanding all of it but #1 is most important and 1-3 I'd welcome highly.

I'd think AI would be where they could offer a subscription service - AI is so rapidly changing the old school premium $ (several hundred) for one time software doesn't work - it changes weekly or less. So they could offer subscription to an AiEngine and make various claims (hopefully true) of "Our stuff is 100% legit sourced" as if a RL human artist doesn't do openly what they whine about in AI including stealing styles which are not copyrightable. The public domain + art gulags + lawyers could make a sourced AIart engine combined with users dropping their own training modules for their own work (individual, no responsibility, no direct involvement if issue) and privacy if subscribed with NO censorship vs Midjourney and other public Ai would be an edge and something I'd pay for as long as the base software remained pay for version / upgrade once in a while at worst. "One Man's Opinion" and tinfoil hat on but I think the AiArt as we know it was prompted by Adobe - they have a huge piracy % and their own ELUA has allowed scraping for a decade + including pirated software. Having to log into a server it's easy to tell if anyone is a paying customer and make them subscribe. The important thing is the Luddites are on full freak out mode over AI. But they'd benefit very little scraping user data to add/sell without permission. So easy to make it clear and solid and problematic if they break it that it's Opt in, not part of the main package and again 100% opt in, don't have to use it + privacy and takes personal LoRa's too. Again Adobe has had this - and it's been noticed. Serif didn't. I emailed them, went over the details. I love AIart - use Affinity photo to correct kooky Finger things and ADD my own on top of AiArt (a tree, character, some sparkle) so if it's stolen I can take 'em to court - not for AI but for the tree I painted and slipped in. But I gladly promoted Affinity software to the screaming luddites because if by the luck of not getting around to it they didn't have it or scrape data. Note again Photoshop has been SUPER pirated for decades as most digital artists needed it but couldn't afford it - then the full priced version could crash and it'd take weeks to reach the right tech support. But the ELUA allowed them to scrape... SO - this new company could put in an AI option but: A - subscription since AI is and will be too edgy for old school models for years B - Opt in 100% C - NOT affect previous versions D - allow personal LoRa Drop E - No censorship vs open commercial F - NO data scraping. IMO not worth it but 100% opt in and in the letter. I've had some vehemently worried about Ai people who WERE pros who could draw good (think sci-fi Barlowe rip off with evolved space slugs) say they'd be for AIart IF a model can be made that's 100% ethical since they use high tech tools in modern computers. For reference Adobe's issue - I'm posting this to remind the new owners the EDGE they have. For now it's "Never had it...likely never will" so huge AiPhobe magnet. Later it could be a contract with an "Ethical" AI and opt in and personalization to justify a NON-connected to core software subscription. The luddites get assured they don't have to touch it that their "Furry" art that'd make Carpet Sample look like the late Frazetta won't EVER be scraped.

I like the "Current" weasel word snuck in - NOT. Whatever you do don't slime in some kind of "Subscription". Serious, I've been promoting Affinity/Serif for years for that; One time purchase, then occasional upgrade but dirt cheap compared to Photoshop and does 99% of what most people would do in the big 3 from Adobe. As a bonus I reff'd you to technophobe luddites screaming about AiArt since by luck of never getting to it Serif never got into it, too busy trying the toe in Adobe's door. For a very simple statement - Look into Zbrush (Pixologic) and Unity game engine. Both got bought out/into by some 3rd party. Zbrush went subscription leading to a massive exodus to other software. Also more piracy since it's pretty easily hacked - I see full working copies while in India for US $30 but had bought mine at full professional price. Nice having the license randomly go out or get lost with a computer crash/reinstall and wait... Come Maxon they moved to other software including Blender (FREE) where once you climb the learning curve it's most of the critical. Unity (Game engine) got bought into by someone too greedy for Microsoft. So they were forcing in a license that make everyone have to spam with ads or face potentially unthinkable fees they'd have to pay. (Installation fee?) The backlash permanently lost them a chunk of the market and are still recovering from it. This isn't 1990s - computers are in Gigahertz and Gigabytes and there are tons of full professional programmers. There's tons of competition now for graphics programs of all sorts, game DIY engines, 3D software. Serif/Affinity had a good thing - keep it up. IF you offer any subscription let it be for niche things like an "AiARt" engine like Adobe. Make it absolutely clear it's OPT-IN and there will be NO data-scraping by contract EULA from users. IF the latter 100% opt in with warnings. That's a strong "Edge" you now have over Adobe that was just given to you. Got a lot of business from luddites worried their sub-highschool "Furry" art would be taken... So I mentioned Affinity when Photoshop's data scraping thing came out.

Wow! I missed the email. Too much other email from my projects. And I just bought the standard pre-release... It's $5 but any way to get that turned into store credit or something? Regardless I'm excited for the release. You guys ever consider an Affiliate program? Like simple banner with userID if someone clicks through and buys it then later some slight residuals? I plan to at least link you on some new projects and I've made note of your software many times elsewhere not expecting anything back - just good to have a stable easy to use alternative to the "Shop" and their racket.

Thanks!

Hello, newbie to forums but have used product for years. Logged on active to help/test the Affinity Publisher. I'm putting this note here to request you get the evolved "Vector Trace" under way. I still use the Vector trace from Serif, it's one of the reasons I bought the software in the first place - a relic from having loved Flash but that is being killed off and other programs that could do that were horribly expensive and/or under the 'subscription' racket. I find the vector trace very useful for many options, from graphics I might use in games someday to digital painting experiments to just putting backgrounds quick - From a recent trip to India - for blog backgrounds - very helpful in the latter - some pictures I shot from an "underground" market and even overground they don't like their image taken and passed around so vector trace makes it all anon, and so beautifully captured the motion and mood. So, please, please work out some way to upgrade it into the new Affinity version. It's been a while and still the #1 reason I go back to the Serif/keep it installed. Thanks!

Hello, Long time Affinity user since Serif days. Love the programs as sane priced competitors to the 'shop racket, no huge fee or subscription and very useful. I've used Affinity Photo as the end result of countless 3d images and final edit/cut. I've done lots of vector graphics. And last but not least I use the last PagePlus to self-publish my works. So, here are my suggestion/requests: 1 - Master file same image Reason - the thing multiplies file size even when you use the same image - I like to make headers, footers, use scans of parchment for background, etc. If I use "ParchmentScan001.jpg" it should only be used once in document memory, even if used on 100 pages. 2 - Create a "document importer" or "create pages from page instance". That is, say I set up the template I'd like to add pages - create a full page of text then go to the text file and Cntrl+C, Cntrl+V the whole document - have it multiply that page X number of times till it makes the pages to hold it. This can be one - time so if you change the font and there are less or more pages needed, user needs to adjust manually. My last work was around 80 pages and my next one will be into 120 easily. The only thing I hated about the software was to manually add that box and link each and every new page... Then add another proofreading to make sure I didn't like link page 30 and 42... Otherwise it was fantastic, such as adding pages in-between and keeping the text line consistent or moving graphics/changing fonts. 3 - immunity flag from "Master Page" - ideally an easy to find icon or right click on mouse button. Say we got #2 by my request, my next work I'll first create the "Generic Text" then import the document, make sure the Font is good, right size, background JPG ok... THEN - I'd add the cover page, chapter breaks, an intro comic I commissioned... Credits for artist I commission for pages....public domain clipart I use... That internal page where I put the disclaimer its a work of fiction and if there are Insectoid ET's that contact man in the future this book is just fiction, not slandering them for 'wanting our women' etc. to see if anyone is reading... So I'd like to blind it from "Master Page" options so I don't have to re-edit every special page if done after. 4 - "Page Number" tag. Bows in shame if you have this and I haven't found it yet. But it'd be neat to do a "Display Page Number" but then have it workable so I could have it number starting ... page also have it ignore pages - such as those with full page illustrations/comics placed there already. (turning off the Display page #, flag immunity per #3) I'm not an advanced programmer, but I think it'd be relatively easy to add these functions. Lots of "indie" writers, comic artists, etc. just need a cheap but reliable and good program to help assemble a finished product so they can put it on Lulu, DriveThruFiction, Kindle etc. This feature would take WYSWIG to a whole new level. So far I'm very excited for this new program. Insert that Fry Futurama thing. I'm just making some suggestions I'd really like to see if you can manage them. Thanks for your time and continuing to improve but keep sanely affordable product!!!

That's exactly what happened! I'd manually added it each page that file but put the same jpeg of scanned parchment in 'master' on the one that kept opening. Good work so far - definitely an issue its good to correct now. Again - forgive me posting this a lot -but these are things you should be able to do and will really help an "Indie" self-publisher for long stories/comics 1 - Make a 'master' image source so the file doesn't magnify many many times if I use page borders/backgrounds 2 - Make a "Page Generator text drop" where I can format a page - say backgrounds, borders, text block - then drop a huge text file like 40+ pages and I automaticly get that page multiplied with the features, optional page #, etc. that I can then add pictures/pages with full page picture to, etc.