Heike

Status: Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Designer
Mac App Store: Not submitted
Download: Here
Hello,
We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of the first beta of Affinity Designer 1.7 for macOS.
Designer 1.7 is a significant change to the currently shipping 1.6 version. Files edited in this version will not be backwards-compatible with the shipping 1.6 version. As such, we would not recommend using this 1.7 version for critical or production work at this stage. It is inevitable that there were will be a number of issues with 1.7 but we hope these will be minor and aim to resolve any issues very quickly, so please use it and explore the new features, but also do keep in mind that you may find snags and we would appreciate your help with finding and reporting these to us.
If this is your first time using a customer beta of an Affinity app, it’s worth noting that the beta will install as a separate app - alongside your store version. They will not interfere with each other at all and you can continue to use the store version for critical work without worry.
It’s also worth noting that we aren’t done yet - we are still working through reported bugs from previous releases and hope to fix as many as possible before the final release of 1.7.
With all that said, we hope that you will enjoy the new capabilities introduced in this initial release and we look forward to any and all feedback you give to us.
Many thanks,
Matt

Affinity Designer 1.7 - Changes Since Last 1.6 Release
 
Tools
- We've overhauled most of the core tools, adding subtle new features to make you more productive:
   - Node tool has a new 'Transform Mode' which provides a containing box for the selected nodes and allows for more freeform editing of the nodes.
   - Node and Pen tools have an utterly amazing Construction mode which gives easy access to common construction features to help you build complicated shapes or intersections accurately and easily, giving you simple access to parallels, right angles, reflected and mirrored angles, in addition to circular construction snaps and all construction intersections. This really needs a video to show how to use it - but it's awesome.
   - Pen tool now has a 'rubber band' mode and also a mode to allow future curves to be added to the current object's curves (for example, the character 'a' is constructed of two curves in a single 'curve object' and this mode makes that construction simpler).
   - Node tool can now auto-snap nodes if you drag a node from one curve over the top of a node from another (selected) curve and pause, it will offer to snap to the same geometry as the node you're hovering over (ie,  modify the on and off-curve nodes to match). This is really useful for trying to reconstruct areas of one curve from another curve.
   - Node tool now allows for lasso selection of nodes by holding the Alt/Option key and dragging a selection lasso.
   - Pencil tool now offers a 'sculpt' mode that allows for extending or manipulating curves in a more natural way. More to come in this area soon.
   - Many tools now allow for 'Alignment widgets' which you can toggle the visibility of in the context toolbar. When enabled you can visually adjust the alignment or even, for example, 'align to centre, snapped to the left edge of this object' by simply click/dragging.
   - Fill tool correctly allows editing of skewed fill handles and newly-created skewed fills draw much nicer now.
   - Ruler origin can be edited by simply dragging the area where the rulers intersect each other - it can even be snapped onto objects in the document.
   - Guides can be edited in most tools by simply dragging a guide in the ruler area.
   - Grid setup is now more interactive: origin can be dragged, axis scale adjusted and angle adjusted on-document, complete with snapping to objects and angles in the document to help you reconstruct useful grids from finished artworks or sketches.
   - By enabling 'Edit in Plane' on the new Isometric Studio, tools can edit objects and appear to make those edits along the currently active plane - extremely useful for artists who enjoy working with any axonometric projections.
   - You can now drag the rotation centre point (when enabled on the context toolbar) while holding Ctrl and it will translate the object - this is actually very useful for positioning and snapping objects relative to others.
   - Shapes tools now have presets so you can create your own favourite shape setups and more easily use them again.
   - There are just far too many subtle tool changes to mention here, but hopefully you'll find the tools much improved
 
General
- New brushes, styles and assets are now shipped with the product.
- Visible bleed (accessed from the View menu) so you can more easily design into the bleed area - a common feature request.
- “Alternate futures” for document history have been added. Traditionally, if you roll back the undo history then do something else all your changes after that point are lost. Designer will now display a small branch icon in the history tab when you do this. Pressing that button will cycle between all the different “futures” after that history entry - meaning you will never lose work you have done.
- New 'Isometric' Studio makes it easy to setup and work with various axonometric projections within the application.
- HEIF images can now be loaded directly into Designer. If they contain a depth map, this will also be loaded as a second layer. Because depth maps are typically lower resolution than the main image, optional “smart” upsampling will be performed.
- Designer now supports custom document presets - a popular feature request.
- A new blend mode - Linear Burn - has been added.
- New “Move inside / outside” commands have been added - useful for quickly clipping/unclipping.
- New "Merge curves/Separate curves" commands.
- Grids now have an editable number of angle subdivisions.
- The Hard Mix blend mode has been improved.
- Numerous text improvements have been made - including new features such as bullets and numbering.
- Significant PDF import / export improvements and fixes.
 
Brushes
- Designer 1.7 introduces a new “sub-brush” mechanism, developed in conjunction with Paolo Limoncelli (DAUB® Brushes). This exciting feature allows any brush to have a list of other brushes attached which will draw at the same time. Each sub-brush has a fully separate and customisable set of dynamics. You can control when the sub-brushes are drawn and how they blend with the main brush.
- Symmetry (up to 32-way) is now supported - including on-canvas controls and optional mirroring.
- Wet edges and accumulation are now available on colour brushes and brushes with HSL variance.
- Brushes with multiple nozzle textures have always chosen the nozzle at random. In 1.7, the nozzle choice has a dynamic controller and ramp for greater control.
- All pixel brush tools now support left and right arrow keys for rotation - a common feature request.

Adjustments
- The HSL adjustment layer has been rewritten. It now supports custom hue ranges, a new algorithm, new UI and picker controls.
- The Levels adjustment layer now supports output levels - a common feature request.
- The White Balance adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- The Selective Colour adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- PSD import / export of adjustments has been improved.
- The Vibrance adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- The Recolour adjustment layer has gained a lightness slider.

 
Misc
- Numerous other bug fixes - too many to list!

This thread is locked, there is a newer beta available from the thread pinned to the top of this forum
Click here to download the latest beta for Windows
Status: Public Beta
Purpose: General Testing
Requirements: None
As this is a beta it is considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity where you may be adversely affected by the application failing, including the total loss of any documents. 
We hope you enjoy the latest build, and as always, if you've got any problems installing or running up, please don't hesitate to post here.
Any problems actually using this version please post to post in this forum and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Many thanks for your continued feedback.
Please post any bug reports here. Please feel free to leave general suggestions and comments in the Discussion Forum.
Fix List
Document / Page Management
- Fixed crash opening some documents containing images on a Master Page
- Pages Panel updated to improve layout and performance
- Add Page buttons now enabled correctly after converting Artboard based document to Spread on Windows
- Removed bleed setup from Add Master Page dialog, it is a document setting
- Select Anchor to page should be selected by default for scaling in spread properties
- Fixed Page redraw after deleting artboards

General Tools and Menus
- Added Layer > Arrange, Alignment, Geometry, Transform, Insertion
- Added Layer > New Layer, Layer > New Adjustment
- Preferences options missing from dialog drop down menu
- Fixed marquee zoom when using the <Space>+<Ctrl>
- Fixed Find and Replace text field drop menus on Mac
- Fixed toolbar customisation - Distribute, Operations on Mac
- Fixed Guides editing default for Select Tool on Mac
- Updated minimum Zoom Out for view
- Fixed crash when assigning keyboard shortcut to File > Place on Windows

Text Tool
- Symbols indicating overflowing text added to text frames
- Fixed bug redrawing text flow after unlinking text frames
- Text wrap options dialog fixed for light UI on Windows

Text Panels / Text Style Editor
- Tidied Paragraph style dropdown drawing on Mac
- Fixed application of Kerning by dragging icon on Mac
- Text Styles Panel fixed to display description fully
- Fixed deselection of Stylistic Sets from Character Panel
- Fixed Initial Words not applying in Text Styles
- Fixed hyphenation Minimum Score not applying in Text Styles
- Fixed bullet character style for bullet not applying if tab stop value is 0 in Text Styles
- Fixed 'Ignore space if same style' not applying in Text Styles on Windows

Tables
- Icons added to table row / column extenders to advertise their purpose
- Table tool headers now reflect insets
- Frame settings now applied correctly to new tables
- Double-click on default format now edits that format rather than creating a duplicate

Resources / Resource Manager
- On File > Open, if linked resources are missing, request to locate

Assets
- Fixed Asset thumbnails when asset include image in CMYK document

Picture Frames
- Fixed Convert placed image to Picture Frame
- Custom zoom and placement maintained when Picture Frame is resized

Print / Export
- All formats now export with optional bleed
- Fixed export of Artboards in embedded afdesign files
- Print model not saved with pre-set on Windows
- Double sided prints always flips on longest side on Windows
 

As a user who experimented a lot with vector graphics over the years, I find it might be helpful for others for me to share the differences between Illustrator, DrawPlus, Designer, and CorelDraw. A lot of you might be unfamiliar with one or more of the programs. There are things I like about each and things I do not like. Onur has decided to help out in giving me background to CorelDraw since that is one I am unfamiliar with.
 
I will explain why I prefer certain programs and why I don't prefer them with the features that I find most or partially helpful. Here are 26 I came up with.
 
Last Updated (1/27/2017)
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 
Flood Fills
Being able to add fills to unclosed shapes (overlapping regions)
Illustrator: Yes, but fills cannot be added to weight variations, brush strokes, or effects DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No CorelDRAW: Yes Artboard Tool
The overall canvas which can be resized manually or multiplied
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus: No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Nested Layers
Layers that can be expanded to reveal the paths within
Illustrator: Yes, but sublayers will cause each layer to be expanded when the file is open (CC1 & below) DrawPlus: Yes, but sublayers cannot be added, and paths and groups cannot be hidden or locked Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Pencil Path Continuation
Being able to continue a path from its end point with the pencil tool
Illustrator: Yes, but sharp corners or sensitive handling will cause the shape to delete or change form DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No, but it will be added in 1.6 CorelDRAW: Yes Fast Loading Effects
Effects such as inner and outer glows, shadows, feathers, and blurs
Illustrator: No, They take far too long to load depending on the amount (sometimes 5 minutes) DrawPlus: Yes Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Image Tracer
Converting a picture into vector artwork
Illustrator: Yes, but it takes far too long to load depending on the size (sometimes 5 minutes) DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No CorelDRAW: Yes Rounding Single Corners
Creating round corners to a single corner as oppose to all corners of a shape
Illustrator: Yes, (Updated) DrawPlus: No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes, but not as simple as Designer Transparency Tool
Adding a fade effect to objects
Illustrator: No, but there is one for InDesign? DrawPlus: Yes, but it only works on single objects or groups Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Fill/Stroke Switcher
Switching the color of your stroke to your fill or fill to your stroke
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus: No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: No Pixel Tools and Layers
Having pixel tools and layers available
Illustrator: No DrawPlus: No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: No Pasting Inside
Being able to paste clipboard selections into objects
Illustrator: Yes (Updated) DrawPlus: Yes (Updated) Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Replicate Tool
Being able to make duplicates of an object by resizing its bounding box
Illustrator: No DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No, but a replicate feature will be added to 1.6 CorelDRAW: No Customizable Vector Patterns
Ability to change the size, rotation, and skew form of a pattern fill while its selected
Illustrator: No DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No CorelDRAW: No B-Splines
Creating B-spline curves enabling the nodes to be in an outer fenced area
Illustrator: No, not in CS6 and below at least DrawPlus: Yes Designer: No, but it has the Smart Curve Pen Tool CorelDRAW: Yes (Updated) Smooth Gradients
Having to easily create gradients, then rotate and resize them easily
Illustrator: No, You must use the Gradient panel resulting B/W first, then adjusting it is not user friendly DrawPlus: Yes Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Smooth Type on Path
Having to easily create type on a path, and then being change the path's size or shape
Illustrator: No, Changing the size and shape was made a lot more difficult than they needed to be DrawPlus: Yes Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Over 1,000,000% Zoom
Able to zoom into your drawing over 1,000,000% zoom size
Illustrator: No DrawPlus:  No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: No Pixel Preview
See what your vector drawing would like like in pixels
Illustrator: Yes (Updated) DrawPlus:  No Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: Yes Realistic Brush Presets
Brush presets that that look natural
Illustrator: No, there are several brush presets, but they are all flat DrawPlus:  Yes Designer: Yes CorelDRAW: No Lots of Shape Tools
Having a variety of shape presets to choose from
Illustrator: No, a total of 6 in the latest version, and live shapes weren't introduced until CC DrawPlus:  Yes Designer: Yes, and excellent manipulation for the cog tool CorelDRAW: Yes Redraw Paths
Able to redraw a selected stroke
Illustrator: Yes, but it can change the form that was not altered DrawPlus:  Yes, but it can be tricky to figure out Designer: No CorelDRAW: No Indicators
Indications of which tool, swatch, path, or other options are selected
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus:  Yes/No, no indication on swatches, paths, or effects Designer: Yes/No, dark indications on tools are hard to see with the dark background CorelDRAW: Yes Eyedropper on Select
Copying a color while an object is selected to change the selected object to that color
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus:  No Designer: Yes, but it cannot copy the other properties CorelDRAW: Yes Vector Eraser Tools
A tool that erases vector objects and maintains its quality
Illustrator: Yes, but it changes the shape's proportion DrawPlus:  Yes Designer: No, but there is a pixel eraser tool CorelDRAW: Yes 3D Extrusion
Turning flat objects into 3D objects, and then rotating them in a 3D perspective
Illustrator: Yes DrawPlus:  Yes Designer: No CorelDRAW: Yes Full Boundary Selections
When objects are selected with a complete close from its selection box and not partially selected
Illustrator: No DrawPlus: Yes Designer: Yes, and partial selections can be used as well if adjusted in the preferences CorelDRAW: Yes   
If this is very helpful to people, then I will update this list as progress moves forward. I hope this helps.