4dimage

If there is a lot of content in the QR code content, the scroll bar does not show. It would be best if I could manually enlarge the text input window.

Hi All,
Below is the list of all new feature and improvements which are included in the 2.5 beta (bug fix list is available here).
To learn more about these features please click on the link to go to each feature's dedicated post. To give feedback or report bugs against any of these features please reply to that same post (also check out bug reporting and feedback tips).
Variable Fonts  Line Width Tool Pencil Tool Improvements QR Code Object "Default preset" for grid Typography Dialog turned into a Panel Other Improvements Getting the 2.5 beta
If you have not enrolled into the beta program yet and would like to take part, you can do so here. This will immediately give you access to the latest 2.5 beta builds to try for yourself.
If you are already enrolled in the beta program you have two options:
1. If you still have the 2.4 beta installed, you can now run up those beta versions and you will be prompted to update them to the 2.4 beta.
2. If you have uninstalled the 2.4 beta, you will need to go back to Your Account -> Downloads and product keys and find your previous order for the Affinity Beta Software Program, and you can download the 2.5 beta from there.
Thanks,
Ash

We have added a new UI for the QR code tool in 2.5.0.2437, and changed the way you add data into it. When you click on "Data" field on the context toolbar you will see a new popup dialog which has a few presets for common schemes.

If you want to use a URI scheme that's not in the list, you would have to use the "Text" preset.

We have also added form validation. If you see a warning icon, hover over it and it will tell you what's expected to be in that field. 

I tested the Roboto flex and Noto sans. Works well, even with effects on the text frame. I guess (in contrast to the 2023 Roboto Condensed) the Roboto Flex and Noto fonts ar far better constructed with only a few uncritical or no overlaps:

 
Noto and Robot Flex don't show artifacts when layer effects are applied, Roboto Condensed still does:

 
By the way: a little reset button/icon in the variable font drop down panel mightbe a nice timesaver after messing all parameters up 🙂

 
Like fonts.google.com

 
 

I'd prefer to be able to see the axis values without having to open a popup because I can't tell that the attributes have changed when arrowing around. The only way to know that the attributes have changed when moving the cursor is to keep the Text Styles panel visible and keep an eye on the tiny, unformatted text in the Current Formatting field. With Adobe I can see the axis values change as I cursor around.

Screen Recording 2024-04-26 at 10.58.58 AM.mov    
 

holding down the alt key on windows will allow smooth scrolling of the slider

The axes have a default value specified so we should reset to that 

I tested the Roboto flex and Noto sans. Works well, even with effects on the text frame. I guess (in contrast to the 2023 Roboto Condensed) the Roboto Flex and Noto fonts ar far better constructed with only a few uncritical or no overlaps:

 
Noto and Robot Flex don't show artifacts when layer effects are applied, Roboto Condensed still does:

 
By the way: a little reset button/icon in the variable font drop down panel mightbe a nice timesaver after messing all parameters up 🙂

 
Like fonts.google.com

 
 

I tested the Roboto flex and Noto sans. Works well, even with effects on the text frame. I guess (in contrast to the 2023 Roboto Condensed) the Roboto Flex and Noto fonts ar far better constructed with only a few uncritical or no overlaps:

 
Noto and Robot Flex don't show artifacts when layer effects are applied, Roboto Condensed still does:

 
By the way: a little reset button/icon in the variable font drop down panel mightbe a nice timesaver after messing all parameters up 🙂

 
Like fonts.google.com

 
 

I tested the Roboto flex and Noto sans. Works well, even with effects on the text frame. I guess (in contrast to the 2023 Roboto Condensed) the Roboto Flex and Noto fonts ar far better constructed with only a few uncritical or no overlaps:

 
Noto and Robot Flex don't show artifacts when layer effects are applied, Roboto Condensed still does:

 
By the way: a little reset button/icon in the variable font drop down panel mightbe a nice timesaver after messing all parameters up 🙂

 
Like fonts.google.com

 
 

I tested the Roboto flex and Noto sans. Works well, even with effects on the text frame. I guess (in contrast to the 2023 Roboto Condensed) the Roboto Flex and Noto fonts ar far better constructed with only a few uncritical or no overlaps:

 
Noto and Robot Flex don't show artifacts when layer effects are applied, Roboto Condensed still does:

 
By the way: a little reset button/icon in the variable font drop down panel mightbe a nice timesaver after messing all parameters up 🙂

 
Like fonts.google.com

 
 

I tested the Roboto flex and Noto sans. Works well, even with effects on the text frame. I guess (in contrast to the 2023 Roboto Condensed) the Roboto Flex and Noto fonts ar far better constructed with only a few uncritical or no overlaps:

 
Noto and Robot Flex don't show artifacts when layer effects are applied, Roboto Condensed still does:

 
By the way: a little reset button/icon in the variable font drop down panel mightbe a nice timesaver after messing all parameters up 🙂

 
Like fonts.google.com

 
 

I tested the Roboto flex and Noto sans. Works well, even with effects on the text frame. I guess (in contrast to the 2023 Roboto Condensed) the Roboto Flex and Noto fonts ar far better constructed with only a few uncritical or no overlaps:

 
Noto and Robot Flex don't show artifacts when layer effects are applied, Roboto Condensed still does:

 
By the way: a little reset button/icon in the variable font drop down panel mightbe a nice timesaver after messing all parameters up 🙂

 
Like fonts.google.com

 
 

I tested the Roboto flex and Noto sans. Works well, even with effects on the text frame. I guess (in contrast to the 2023 Roboto Condensed) the Roboto Flex and Noto fonts ar far better constructed with only a few uncritical or no overlaps:

 
Noto and Robot Flex don't show artifacts when layer effects are applied, Roboto Condensed still does:

 
By the way: a little reset button/icon in the variable font drop down panel mightbe a nice timesaver after messing all parameters up 🙂

 
Like fonts.google.com

 
 

Here's a video demonstrating the new option.

Screen Recording 2024-04-21 at 1.45.11 AM.mov    

Apps: All
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad
A new QR Code tool is now available from the shapes flyout in the toolbar, making it easy to add a QR code to your documents. 
After creating or selecting a QR Code object you will find a 'Payload' option in the context toolbar. Here you can type whatever URL you want the QR code to link to when it is scanned.


You can insert line breaks in your payload by using the CMD/CTRL + Click on canvas dialog

In addition to URLs you can use other syntax as detailed below to have the QR code trigger other functions when scanned by a device:
SMS
Payload structure: SMSTO:number:text message
Eg. SMSTO:07513123456:Hello mate!
GEO location
Payload structure: GEO:lat:lon:height
Eg. GEO:40.71872,-73.98905,100
WIFI credentials
Payload structure: WIFI:S:ssid;T:type;P:password;;
Eg. WIFI:S:MyWiFiSSID;T:WPA;P:MyPassW0rd;;
 

Please, make the Typography panel resizable vertically. Now it has fixed height.

This is typical of GFs own fonts.
But for most fonts the upstream repository is going to have static TTF fonts without overlaps. And OTF fonts too. OTF static fonts never have overlaps, so that is the easiest work-around.
And you can remove the overlaps yourself - I used FoundryTools-CLI (in GitHub) to remove the overlaps on the Roboto Condensed fonts above.
And you could use it to convert the TTF fonts to OTF fonts.

I'm accustomed to looking for overlaps when using Variable Fonts (in either Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW). It's surprising finding overlaps in static fonts (note, I've seen these overlaps in static versions of Roboto Serif and Roboto Slab as well as the sans Roboto). For most users this is not a big deal. But if you're creating lettering that will be sent to a vinyl cutter or cut out of aluminum on a computer driven routing table the overlaps can be very bad. Out of habit I'm looking at every project in outline view.

Here try these - the overlaps have been removed.
Roboto.Condensed.v3.008.(2023-10-19).from.GF.overlaps-removed.zip
Note: Removing the overlaps also causes the hinting to be removed (because the shapes change). This could be added back by running ttfautohint if you desire.

Actually currently for SVG we will always convert a variable font to curves.
For PDF as Walt suggests we effectively create a new static font with the attributes applied which we embed within the PDF file. i.e. if you use 5 variations of the same variable font within your document, the PDF will have 5 'different' static fonts embedded.

Variable fonts
Apps: Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher
Platforms: All
You're now able to use variable fonts in all Affinity apps, providing a plethora of new typographic design possibilities.
As well as providing predefined font styles, such as light, bold and condensed, variable fonts give you fine control of specific design aspects known as axes of variation, or just axes for short.
To try out variable fonts in Affinity, apply one to some text and then:
- On desktop, click the Font Variations button on the context toolbar (or on the Character Panel).
- On iPad, tap the arrow to the right of Bold/Italic/Underline/Strikethrough on the Text Panel and then tap Variations.
Variation settings on desktop.

 
 
Variation settings on iPad.

 
You'll see settings for each axis that the font designer has made individually adjustable.

Axis' slider being dragged.
Many variable fonts allow you to adjust their width and weight axes, and possibly italic, optical size and slant. These five axes are common enough that they're defined by the OpenType specification.
All manner of other axes may also be adjustable, such as:
- the height of ascenders and depth of descenders to better fit your chosen line spacing.
- the stem terminals, to choose between straight and swelling.
- the width of counters, which are enclosed and partially enclosed spaces within glyphs.
For examples of other possible axes, check out the axis definitions that are available for variable fonts at Google Fonts.
You may see fewer axes in Affinity than are mentioned by a font provider's marketing. For example, Google Fonts lists 13 axes for Roboto Flex and Affinity exposes five of them. This is because we respect font designers' ability to specify that an axis should be hidden. This is part of the OpenType specification and means that software isn't meant to provide an interface for such axes.
Why would a designer do this? Well, a variable font might adjust an axis internally based on your choices for other axes that you can directly adjust. For example, observe how counter widths change when the weight axis is adjusted in the animation above.

Variable fonts and PDFs
PDF doesn't support variable fonts. So, when you export a PDF of an Affinity document that uses a variable font, we create a static instance of the font with fixed settings.
We've taken steps to ensure static instances of fonts are well named. You should find this minimises the need to identify the original variable fonts if you later import or place the resulting PDFs.

Variable fonts are a useful addition also with regard to use in web designs.
But there is something strange i found when using the "new" Roboto Condensed from fonts.google.com. I guess this is not a bug, it also appears in the current v2.4.2.
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Roboto+Condensed
For compatibility reasons with current web projects i installed the 18 "static" font styles, not the single variable font itself (RobotoCondensed-VariableFont_wght.ttf).

Here is the test file:
2024-04-19-variable-fonts-roboto-artefacts_1-1.afpub
As soon as a drop shadow or other effects are applied to the text frame, visible artifacts occur depending on the letter.

This doesn't seem to be an affinity bug, but rather due to the way certain letters in variable fonts are constructed. Instead of the usual compound paths, the letters consist of individual shapes that only visually merge into an overall shape through overlapping. Your can see this in the wireframe view even without converting the text frame to pathes.

The problem now seems to be that for certain letters, especially the bottom and top edges, the effects are applied to the internal individual shapes instead of to the entire letter (composite shape). Depending on the font size, this results in “bumpy” outlines.
This doesn't just seem to be a display problem in the editor only. Some of the artifacts are retained even when exporting for the web (PNG, JPEG).
Did the developers also experience such artifacts during the integration of the real variable fonts? Or is this a special case that occurs when a variable font is broken down into individual font styles ("static") for compatibility reasons. Like Google did with the Roboto Condensed variable font.

Hi @4dimage,
I'm also seeing this profile mismatch, I've now logged it with the developers. Thanks for your report.

@anto I guess this is not a bug. The difference is, that you use the additional alignment functions and options from the dropdown. These do exactly what the option "Align to" ("Ausrichten an") say. There is no explicit option "Align to anchor object".

Therefore i customized my symbols with all alignment functions directly availlable. If you then choose an anchor (key) object (ALT + click on Windows), the alignment works like expected:

 

2024-03-28_publisher-alignment-with-anchor_001.mp4 Customize Symbols and Toolbar via view menu: