Affinidesigner

You're not allowed to talk about killing cats round here!

We've still got a cat, it's just a new one

Would you have been happier if the update was announced a month earlier? And/ or if the termination date for the upgrade offering was announced in advance?

Thanks for the V1 OS updates, but it’s a shame this wasn’t announced at the start - finding £90 for a time-limited offer to stop my existing purchases from becoming obsolete during a time of economic crisis has been stressful, and I’m afraid it’s dented my faith in the company, as has the harsh response to voicing my concerns on here. I no longer feel comfortable cheerleading your products to others, as I have done over the years.
Best of luck with V2, but unfortunately you’ve lost a loyal customer here. 

Ha! Well, lets see in the end who’s got the right info/prediction…
But, in the end, I’m 100% sure that we’re not gonna see a public version of Publisher for iPad this year…
 

Exporting the file in PDF/X-1a solved the issue! You're a hero @lacerto!

Well, that might explain some things... Graphics are my main job since '95, and I do put all my efforts to get the best (this includes comfortable) set of tools. I would disagree  here, as I believe is more of a psychological barrier, or one that our brain (the lizard brain) sets due to its resistance to change and adaptation. And... that is not good. Not even for a hobby. Besides, if only that would be true, that the main suite (in 2D, 3D, gis, VFX, whatever, is sth that can be applied to other fields) does have you covered in every possible use, and that is really more comfortable, and not simply just all conditioned by the habits you have, that would be super cool. But imo, is not really different or better (imo it'd be the opposite, but is hard to convince anyone about this...unless they've done it) than having polished the use and selection of tools to get you your best possible workflow. Yep, takes extra work, but IMO, works way, way better in the long run. For a hobby, too. Yup, a suite is usually thought for better integration and yadda yadda, but I have plenty of cases with Autodesk tools (by using other alternatives, for example) and even with Adobe's, the latest one very recently, where Affinity Publisher beta (!) even saved the day when an expert with InDesign I worked with was stuck ( and solved by the non-expert in publishing(me) with a beta alternative...lol ). It simply has a feature more, and for that, you needed a somewhat more convoluted workflow in Adobe, that this person (very experienced with InDesign) did not know how to perform (as it had not that feature/capability directly in the editing app) because, INDEED, out of her comfort area, was a bit lost.  This is why comfort zones are not always that good or desirable.

I could always UV Map in 3DS Max, at work, quite some years ago, it was the less resistance path, indeed, as the brain resistance has many faces... the bosses would not trust a solution which is not in the standard suite. IMO, that was very, very short sighted. Happily, I proved them wrong, every single time with this and other apps.(trust me, I'd have been fired, if not !  Those weren't places to play games, if you forgive the pun (er, were game developer studios... and other software companies, mostly)), which was often not tools fully replacing the entire suite, sometimes not even an entire app, but a work task... But doing specific tasks much, much better, and easier. By those years, Ultimate Unwrap was outstandingly better than the UVW unwrap window in Max for unwrapping. Which was a so crucial task to do in game production. Examples like that, there are in the hundreds. Yes, it takes a bit of research, but often is work half done, as is reported by expert users, so you can start from there. (ie, here a lot of people give advice about really good DAM alternatives). In the actual forum post (or blog article, video review, etc), each time, you can easily see if the person is an advanced user, or someone more casual who installed it for a first time and just liked the GUI colors.
They will follow their plans, but also do things as possible. IMO, developing tools is like mentioned by someone, something quite organic : You find obstacles and surprises on the way, judging my years working besides programmers doing exactly this kind of thing. Is not exactly easy (or possible) to establish a fixed date, or know if the business is going to allow to allocate enough time for some particular line, specially as events, investment, competition, the entire market and ecosystem changes/evolves.
No one is speaking for a brand. At least my posts are about common sense and using to the best possible capabilities anything (indeed, I am sure they don't love that I so often mention and even link alternatives...Other vendors do literally forgive this practice in their forums...)  you have in hand (not just Serif's). But not sure if the opposite isn't the case as well. Sometimes a few posts look like speaking against a brand. If they have no time and resources to pull all what they wished, in an initial moment, then is like beating a dead horse. Very specially in this case, as a DAM is sth they have stated they would like to have ! Is not like when people ask for an animation program. They there clearly state they have no future plans on doing anything like that. So, my take is... if they have not finished it, is because they are indeed polishing the core apps, the main functionality : The tools that allow creation, which are not fully complete yet. Plus...I do believe they ARE (or have been, quite) working on a DAM. I believe it could be the case that if it is very pre-alpha work, posting it would bring just a ton of overhead, complaining threads of people not understanding what is an alpha or pre-alpha, and in the end, just adding a lot of distraction work over the pile. Or, just mentioning some advances, would be taken as written-in-stone promises, lol. Also, I don't think we have a right to know how they work internally, or when do they stop to have coffee, pickup the kids from school, etc. I mean, that's an exaggeration, of course, but what I mean is, they produce software, they sell you the released one, not the beta. A lot of brands wont give you so any beta (which here you get once being a customer of that app). That's a gift, imo. I don't defend a brand per se. I will always defend those things that a brand does BETTER than the competition, though, that's for sure.
There's a point where you can't keep expecting the vendor will solve everything for you. Any particular vendor. Not even Adobe !. I saw this while working at very crazy, fast, over pressured environments, often in software development companies and media agencies. You need to solve the issue, not... "WAIT". Hobbyists would be happy to discover that is the best path for them, too.  So, you do whatever is needed. You find the tool, and put to good use. (and if my other option was only to stick to CS6, heck, yeah, I'd be really busy doing that already...sooner or later the app can get even not possible to run in an OS, as is a total dead end, no updates) I mean, this seems hard (it is), but in the long run, is a so, so much better habit to have, than wait sth to be as what your preference is (IMO, it indeed could NEVER be the case. So one must take a more active attitude, solve the problem vs waiting it to be solved. ). I dunno, am too much of a person of action, more than for waiting things to eventually happen. Besides, IMO, is a more satisfying take....

Car all vectors no raster layers

From 3 pm GMT on Thursday 24th December 2020 until 9 am GMT Monday 4th January 2021 the Serif company is officially closed. There will be some light coverage of the support channels during these 12 days, but most staff are taking time off whilst the offices are closed. Customer Service and Technical Support tickets will take priority and queries about bugs and beta builds will be picked up in the New Year. Unusually, the way the year has panned out a number of staff have not been on holiday for obvious reasons so some are also taking annual holiday now before this company closure, and so it is fair to say that from this week there will be fewer staff here on the forums. 
Please bear with us if you contact us during this time and potentially for a short time after the annual closure, whist we deal with any backlog.
Thank you in advance for your patience and we will make every effort to address your queries in the shortest time-frame possible.

...or so it seems! One aircraft that I have always loved is Little Nellie from "You only live twice" I saw her doing her stuff at an airshow way back in the day.
 

Nice work, especially shadows. 

Preview of my next Float series, hope I can finish it tomorrow.
 

Float 04. I also upload my .afdesigner file. I hole this will help to understand how to use Affinity Designer.
For learning purpose only.

Float_04.afdesign

I started this thinking it would be much easier to draw than the Maserati was. It wasn't. LOL

 
 
 
 

 

My new series is on the way, I am trying sci-fi style illustration in this series.
October is little bit busy. So sad.

Float 02

I have been pottering around with Photoshop since version 1.0.7, along with Illustrator 88, along with PageMaker, FreeHand, Ventura Publisher etc.
And had me some fun along the way.
After a long time out I tried to dip my hand in PS again and found that I no longer liked Adobes finest, especially with the subscription. So I came across Affinity, the rest they say is history.
I have always had a soft spot for aircraft, especially the stringbags of WW1 and of course the achingly beautiful speedbirds of the Schneider Trophy.
So I thought my first attempt with Designer and Photo would be a WW1 bird.
The first image is out of designer, the next one is with difference clouds... sorry perlin noise and the third one is with highlighting. The next big step is cammo and I want to have it in the livery of Eddie Rickenbacker´s Niewport 28.
This is a work in progress and I´ll add on as it progresses, so let´s go for a ride.

I cannot seem to find the original, but here is one that is very close. I guess I am disorganized! 

Here's picture I took and edited with AP.

Here's picture I took and edited with AP.

Here's picture I took and edited with AP.

The Skyline behind the River is called - Mainhattan (Frankfurt am (on the) Main - Germany).

I have Photos developed and optimized with AP.

I hope you enjoy it