Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

mitchellm

Members
  • Posts

    25
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by mitchellm

  1. Post #23 states there will be a more refined process for this (see below). Any updates on this?

     

    Eventually, we will establish exactly which folders each plugin needs, and put that information into the topics in the "Plugin Support" forum here - but until that point, adding the "/" support folder will allow you to "see what we see" when testing plugins.
  2. @Dave Harris: Wow many thanks! Both suggestions work well and I never would have guessed to do either one. I did try the setting tracking to 0 for all text with Helvetica and the result was much much better: there were only a couple of minor things off. With Arial Bold the result was perfect. Both approaches resulted in an SVG of 13.09 kB. 

     

    I look forward to the continued improvement of SVG exporting, but your suggestions have given me great tools for working with some objects I need to prepare for the web right now. Again, many thanks!

     

    It looks like we have a bug with the SVG export of text with leading spaces. We'll get it fixed for the next beta.

     

    What is interesting is why there are any leading spaces to go wrong. It's because the text gets split into many small fragments, because there are many changes in tracking. Some of those fragments happen to begin with a space. The tracking changes were added by the PDF import, because the font you have set, Helvectica Neue Regular, has different character widths to the one in the PDF, ArialUnicodeMS-Bold.

     

    I suggest you do one of two things. Best would be to reopen the PDF, and in the font substitutions specify that ArialUnicodeMS-Bold gets replaced by Arial Bold. That font seems to have the right widths and avoids getting the extra tracking adjustments. When I do that and export with "SVG (for web)", I get a file size of 13.09 kB (rather than 50 kB or so you were getting), and the result looks fine in Safari and other apps I tried. Alternatively, if you really want to use Helvectica Neue, select all the text and set the tracking to 0 manually using the Character tab. Either way should simplify the text and avoid the problem.

  3. Over time SVG export has gotten better and better. But I've run into a current example where the SVG export is really poor overall. It negatively impacts many of the words in the document. I am NOT exporting as "text as curves" because I want the SVG to be posted on a website, and thus as small as possible. You can use this link to download the folder containing: original PDF of mind map, AF Designer file (looks fine), and two different SVG exports. In both cases especially capital Cs are handled poorly in export. 

     

    ​http://mml-2015.s3.amazonaws.com/SVG%20export%20example.zip

  4. Thanks for the suggestions above. Very helpful. 

     

    I already see one problem with the Google Nik plugins. The way that all of them work is they first duplicate the layer (in PS) and then do their magic. This layer duplication step is incredibly helpful for many reasons. However, within Affinity Photo there is no duplication of the layers.

     

    Is this a feature that might be added to Photo in the future? (BTW I'm not seeing an easy way to duplicate a layer. It probably exists somewhere, but it's not in the immediately obvious places I expect: e.g. by control-clicking a layer and choosing duplicate.)

  5. Can you provide any general directions for how to install plugins? I believe when I installed the Google Nik suite of plugins that the installer auto-recognized whether I had Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. I also use a few Topaz plugins, but if I remember correctly the install process was a bit different for them.

     

    Is the best way to simply find the plugins within the Photoshop folder plugin subfolder? Then duplicate and drag somewhere else? That might work with Google suite, but Topaz seems differently organized.

     

    I use plugins a LOT, so I can't really test out the beta until I can figure out how to incorporate the plugins to my workflow. (BTW I realize from another thread that some plugins may not work all the time, or work inconsistently: that's fine, it's a beta.)

  6. MEB: Thanks for your quick response. I've been happily using iThoughtsX, a mind mapping app. Some mind maps I want to put on a web page. For that usage scenario SVGs are much better than PNGs or other alternatives. Your post gave me some good ideas and now I think I have a workflow that provides good results both with Designer and Designer beta. iThoughtsX only exports to PNG or PDF (there are other options, but not relevant to image manipulation). 

     

    I've outlined the workflow below. Are there any ways you see that I could streamline this process? It definitely works, but anything shorter/simpler would help. Here's my current flow:

     

    1. print to PDF directly within iThoughtsX

    2. open in Affinity Designer (beta)
    3. delete big/white surrounding box
    4. select all with click-and-drag of mouse
    5. group into 1 object (command-G)
    6. observe size in right Transform area (typically this will be around 728 x 320 pixes)
    7. go to Document Setup (command-shift-P)
    8. unlock dimensions area
    9. set dimensions to be current width + height with 20 pixels added to each dimension
    10. choose Arrange toolbar icon. Set to vertical and horizontal center alignments
    11. Save as Affinity Designer document
    12. Export as SVG
     
    I realize there may be no way to make this simpler, but if there is a more efficient way to accomplish the same end result then I'm all ears!
  7. I have tried bringing in a PNG and a PDF created by a mind map app. I then wanted to export as an SVG. When exported the SVG files "seems" okay on my desktop (i.e. I see a miniature version of the mind map). But if I try to open in Preview I just a white blank canvas. Ditto if I try to embed on a website. 

     

    Is there something I'm doing wrong? Or does Designer not export to SVGs well when starting with a PNG or PDF?

     

    I've attached both the Designer file and the exported SVG. I'm not a graphics design professional so there may be some key step I'm unaware of. 

    mytest.afdesign

    mytest.svg

  8. I'm downloading Nik Collection for my current computer (without PS). But the Google help page only gives directions for how to install and use with a limited number of apps (Photoshop, Aperture, etc. ). So if there are any specific instructions regarding using with Affinity those would be much appreciated.

     

    For example one of the weird things that happened when Nik moved over to Google is the HDR Efex no longer shows up in the same place as the other plugins within PS. True also with Affinity? 

  9. This is fantastic news! The ONLY reason I continue to use PS is for compatibility with the Google Nik plugins. 

     

    So now for the stupid question: How do I install (or "make available") the Nik plugins for Affinity? I'm not currently on a computer that has Google Nik installed, but will be later when I go to my office. Does Affinity auto-magically find the plug-in? 

     

    And if I wanted to use Nik with Affinity on my current non-PS installed machine, what steps do I take? 

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.