Diller

Features such as this STILL missing from this program (in 2022!) lead me to believe that the Affinity team have decided that their software is good enough. I'm very disappointed in this team and this software and like most of my colleagues I've had to go back to using Illustrator. It would be nice if we could move past the indie status of Affinity products but like the Serif suite, the Affinity suite is already old and unfinished, in an industry that is always moving forward. It is a shame because Affinity had a good start but it seems content to have its head stuck in the ground dwelling on the past. I guess I'll have to check back in another 3 years.

Features such as this STILL missing from this program (in 2022!) lead me to believe that the Affinity team have decided that their software is good enough. I'm very disappointed in this team and this software and like most of my colleagues I've had to go back to using Illustrator. It would be nice if we could move past the indie status of Affinity products but like the Serif suite, the Affinity suite is already old and unfinished, in an industry that is always moving forward. It is a shame because Affinity had a good start but it seems content to have its head stuck in the ground dwelling on the past. I guess I'll have to check back in another 3 years.

The things Affinity does, it does very well; the big issue is that there's not enough "things" in the program and the inordinate amount of time it's taken Serif to add them. Affinity is one of the best alternative options to Adobe or CorelDRAW out there. Affinity is focused on building up three programs simultaneously with it's revolutionary studio link and universal file format. This is exciting news and for those who primarily use raster and vector together in their work, this is a winning formula. The potential downside to this approach is that the attention and energy is spread across three programs and not niche down to making one great. For years I always thought of Designer as the inevitable "Illustrator killer" and I think for some people, it is now, or eventually will be. This is because not everyone needs all the options available in Illustrator/Corel and a streamlined efficient program like Designer will suffice.

For vector power users and those who may need more than the basics offered in Affinity, the alternative options are sparse. Stick with Adobe and pay through the nose or cling to CS6 until technology's advance makes that impossible, or make do with Inkscape or CorelDraw or use another program that has the missing features. Patrick from Serif made an telling point a few weeks back, (paraphrasing) that we should choose to invest in Affinity for what is is now, not what we hope it will one day become. We all expect Affinity to continue to mature and develop over time, but we should not purchase today based primarily on the future expectations we want to project onto it.
This is why I don't think Serif would mind that we discuss alternative programs and workarounds that provide solutions to missing features in Affinity now. Every forum discusses the pros and cons of the supported programs. It's human nature to look for solutions even if they fall outside the normal channels.
As @Dazmondo77 has shared, investing in another program that accomplishes the tasks currently missing from Affinity makes it worth the purchase. I have used alternative programs for specified tasks long before Affinity, when I was primarily using Illustrator. Vectormagic for vector trace, Vectoraster for vector halftones, etc. In fact, for a long while, Affinity was an alternative tool I used to gain certain results that my version of Illustrator could not produce! Even today, if I get an AI file that will not open in my old Illustrator copy, I can usually rely on Designer to open it without issue!
I agree that Vectorstyler is not as polished a UI as Affinity and that it can be confusing to use where Affinity is more streamlined. There are also some features in VS that appear to be similar to one another but organized as separate features. There are a LOT of options and tools and it can be confusing for sure. I admit that I was turned off by this approach when I first started learning VS. The more I used it however, the more it became comfortable it became. I started by doing what basics I could in VS and then when I got stuck or confused, I'd push as far as I could before copying and paste the work into Affinity or Illustrator and complete it there. (I had done the same thing when I was first learning Designer - moving things over to Illustrator to complete)
In VS, I focused on getting familiar with the toolbar functions that were universal to any vector based program and then expanded out from there. Going through the panels menu was what helped me next after that. I also try to keep in mind learning a new program is always challenging and a struggle because we are so used to what we already know. I spent too much time trying to request and hope that Affinity would do things just like Illustrator because I was so used to Illustrator already. It wasn't until I let go of expectations and embraced the idea that Affinity's way was different, and that was not necessarily "bad", I do the same with VS and other apps as well.
 

Being able to import DXF files would be great.  Please add another vote to being able to do this.  Thank you Affinity.

Hi Serif Team
 
please add my request for dxf import to the loooooooong list of names above. I use designer for everything I do and it's frustrating and inefficient to have to go out of app for conversions of dxf files ( which don't work properly half the time!)
 
please add import/export dxf functionality🙏

Hello,
+1 for dxf and dwg support! As an architect i really need this feature to be able to touch-up drawings created in autodesk software (autocad/revit).
 

+1 for DWG / DXF support
This is the ONLY reason that I am hanging on to DrawPlus
I import DXF into Draw + every single day.

another request for dxf export.
I have a silhouette cameo machine that works best with dxf rather than svg files.
At the moment I'm considering moving over the the full affinity suite but can't without this feature - I'll need to keep illustrator for this

Hello all,
Serif Drawplus could work with 'dwg' files years ago, thank goodness I kept hold of my copy. Is it that difficult for Designer?

I work with Lasers and they use DXF files. I bought this program with the expectancy that it would handle these very useful file types. People have been asking Serif for 5 years now and nothing is being done to help a lot of interested people. Come on Serif team, sort this issue out and help a lot of people.

I really don't understand this.
DXF has open specs and this feature would simply convert every person working with laser cutters to a customer.
This is a huge pool of people who are begging for alternatives to AI (expensive) and Inkscape (cumbersome).
There must be something we miss, cause this seems like you guys prefer to compete in a difficult market (graphics designers need a ton of features and need Adobe because they must exchange files) when there is an empty spot on the market for product designers/makers who just need basic vector editing in a good/stable/easy to use environment and would switch to a 50USD software without a second thought.
Anyway...  

Hi Edward_Goodwin  
DXF has been requested previously by multiple users, in the below thread our head developer TonyB commented that DXF is a 'good candidate' for additional supported formats, although admittedly this post is slightly dated now.
In terms of whether this is about to be added, or never will be, I can't give an exact answer.
I can tell you it's not currently on our Roadmap for Designer, and AFAIK it's not due to be part of the next major update in Affinity, but of course this is subject to change.
Equally, AFAIK it's never been denounced or officially confirmed that it won't be supported in any version of Affinity for any technical/legal reasons, especially considering the aforementioned post from TonyB.
My apologies I can't provide a more specific answer, but please know that we're aware of the want/need for this feature in Affinity Designer and we're always looking to improve our software in every way possible

We are very interested in transitioning from Illustrator to Affinity Designer. We are product designers (not illustrators) and use Illustrator in combination with our CAD package; it's an essential workflow for us. Anyway, part of this workflow involves importing and exporting dxf files.
I've seen in this forum the request for dxf support. However, as I've not yet bought Designer, I'm not sure if this feature has been added. Has it? If yes, great! If not, please can someone outline if this feature will be added soon and when?
Thanks in advance.

+1 for DXF support. For workflows where I'm exporting drawings out of Fusion360/AutoCAD to laser cut, this is essential. Inkscape doesn't work well on a Mac, and I was ready to go all in with Affinity... but this is holding me back. I can see myself either going with Corel, or virtualizing Windows to use Inkscape, but my future with Affinity's not looking too bright with the current roadmap/dev priorities.

+1 for DWG support + add some measurement tools for simple CAD. The idea would be to have some simple scale conversion in order to make the DWG import useful

This is clearly very popular. What's the hold up? I also need this.

Serif's DrawPlus does open DXF and DWG files and they seem to copy and paste well into Designer.
Assuming there are no unforeseen snags (Serif could advise if there are) and given that DrawPlus does other things as well, would it be worthwhile paying the £19.99 for a copy to supplement Designer?
Link: https://www.serif.com/en-gb/

I would love DXF import support also. I am mainly using it to import files from fusion and laser cut, currently I still need to use Inkscape as part of the flow to convert DXF to SVG then import with Designer.

Just wanted to import DXF from SolidWorks... Wow! I can not believe this isn't supported.
SolidWorks can export ai files, but in Designer circles are not circles any more. Just clouds of dots, connected with straight lines. Not usable!

Does it really take 4 and a half years to decide or at least give a time-line if these formats will be supported or not?

Hi Elvys,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Yes, we are listening and aware this is something that must be reviewed/fixed as soon as possible. Now that v1.7 of Photo and Designer are out as well as Publisher we should get back to regular updates/fixes soon. I'm sorry for the inconvenience this is causing you all. Thanks for your support/understanding.

I just purchased this on the Mac App Store and came here to congratulate Serif on an incredible release. Well done Serif! :)

I believe it's easier when we communicate in the same language, English in this case. If you can do it, go ahead. If you are not that good, you improving your English skills is a good thing.
Best regards!

Imagine everybody start writing in their own languages. You would waste your time in translations and in one moment you will start to hate this forum and try to avoid it because of this.

Wait .-)