Jowday
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Posts posted by Jowday
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17 hours ago, MikeW said:
Best of "luck" with your new endeavor!
Thank you @MikeW 🙂
Take care and stay healthy!
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Well well well, this thread (and many others) goes on and on and on. This week I finally made a career move away from my last few hands on tasks in Illustrator and InDesign to project management and project work in large and huge projects full time. Good stuff. For me Affinity was a fruitless wait since 2014. Also it was unbearable to see software developed like it is. The year is 2021. Not 1995.
Just imagine that these tools will not come to Affinity at all or in a form you don't like. Imagine if Affinity still rasterizes so much more than professional products. Imagine if all current issues and usability issues will not be resolved. Imagine spending the same amount of time on workarounds for years. How long will and can you wait?
There is no such thing as a free lunch. But time has a value.
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I have a feeling that the Nikon software stores an embedded JPG preview plus a color profile / color settings that is used by Nikon software and the embedded jpg is read by XnView (some RAW viewers show the embedded JPG preview, not the RAW data) while Affinity simple reads the RAW data and renders the image using the white balance from the RAW data - actually renders the RAW data from scratch.
Just a hunch - but the somewhat natural colors in Affinity Photo substantiates my theory, I think.
Some info from XnView: https://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?t=6100
You will loose some of the niceties from manufacturers like Nikon when using third party software. Adobe added color profiles almost identical to those found in Nikon cameras to Photoshop and Lightroom but it is still not the same or as much as what you get from using Nikon software with Nikon cameras and scanners. Manufacturers can store a lot in the RAW files besides the image data and metadata. Unfortunately their own software is often far from perfect.
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4 hours ago, Medical Officer Bones said:
Yes, I agree. I think Affinity has many nice features, but unfortunately marred by as many paper cuts, such as this one. These are the main reason why Photo is a complementary application for me, not the main image editor in my daily workflow.
I remain hopeful, though. 🤞
Well, hope has its limits and time is precious. I know Serif will work - and work hard - to fix some bugs, make changes and add features.
Usability improvements though... serious changes... it is not just added tasks. Somebody (up high) needs to open their eyes, somebody (developers) has to handle the responsibility and ownership over UI to others (specialists), business networking and user tests has to take place (enter user experience designers).
What really baffles me is that a downright crazy program behavior like this with customers complaining about it still exist. The obvious issue was not a) identified by Serif itself b) resolved years ago. That does not leave much space for hope.
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12 hours ago, Paul_Hol said:
As I work more with Affinity Photo, a couple of 'features' are starting to drive me up the wall and back to Photoshop.
If I select view actual pixels, that's exactly what I want. I don't want the image jumping up to fill the window every time I change a dimension or crop a bit. It might be a suitable behaviour if I'd chosen zoom to fit or zoom to width fitting, but it's hugely irritating when I'm try to work on specific actual pixels for web imagery.
THIS! It is issue in itself shows that Serif cannot really be interested in reaching a mature and professional audience. Many workflows are crippled by bad usability in Photo but this issue is insane. It was reported for years and never fixed. It just cannot be a major issue to fix, but it is a huuuuge annoyance in any kind of workflow with web images etc.
Further these usability issues are rarely fixed. With no user experience designer involved in the Affinity apps ... do not expect a fix either.
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On 2/26/2021 at 10:17 PM, jaromor said:
I bet most of the people on these forums will defend the UX, but maybe there are significant numbers of users who give up without even leaving a note.
They usually do - but there is no UX in Photo. No user experience designer. Just a chaotic interface with very little focus on workflows. If at all. But while some bugs are ironed out all the usability issues are not, year after year after year. And that in itself is proof that Serif will never reach true professionals. And that they probably do not intend to.
- emmrecs01 and Jenna Appleseed
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4 hours ago, wonderings said:
I would say there will eventually be optimization and native support for M1, unless of course they plan to stop developing for Mac OS, which I doubt. You are an early adopter to a new CPU from Apple, you are going to have to expect some draw backs for the moment I think.
Not exactly the story Serif is telling and selling with big letters:
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5 hours ago, uli123 said:
Mmm, not mine 😞
But thanks!
Still? Now both dialogs are showing CMYK values in percent on this machine and 8-bit if I select that. Instantly (have to hide and show the dialog without the option first of course).
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On 2/26/2021 at 12:17 PM, MattyWS said:
Man, I have been getting that a lot on this forum... We ask for the methods of our workflow to be better or just possible, explaining exactly why it currently isn't viable in AP and get remarks from other forum goers like "just do this 50 step thing using these 5 other applications, whats the problem?". The problem is always quite simple, the solution is always clear... yet people on this forum seem addicted to resisting feedback on behalf of the devs and it washes out the discussion.
If people dont agree (understand) with feedback, requests or constructive criticism of the topic, don't bother coming into the topic just to disregard it.Bingo. Sad but true.
On the positive side I found the price tag on my professional software quite acceptable now. And love that professional software even more.
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10 minutes ago, uli123 said:
Ok, got it. It was in Percentage
But in my case the sliders remain in 8-bit values.
Try to keep it in percentage and see what happens. My color chooser suddenly changed to percentage as well after I changed the unit to percent. But not immediately.
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25 minutes ago, uli123 said:
And what is this: The values next to the cmyk sliders are different to the other values ... ARRRRHHHHHH
This is a usability issue - one of many - in Affinity. Inconsistent layouts or/and missing feedback. Sliders above (47) shows 8-bit values - fields below (18) percentage.
In the color panel you can select 8-bit or percent as a display unit - if you know where to look that is. Some labels or tool tips would help at least.
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2 hours ago, Aleksandr Novakov said:
You're probably aware of it, but even after the latest update (1.9.1.979) this is still an issue. Sorry for bothering. 😓 Just to remind.
I hope the fix for this is scheduled for 1.9.2 - crippling the pen tool in exactly Affinity Designer is a self-destructive business move.
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14 minutes ago, affinitydesignerfan said:
I'm constantly amazed by how excellent and dependable the Affinity suite is. Certainly I'm aware of certain bugs, which can be a pain, but these are complex apps and, in my experience, they do get addressed in updates. Not trying to push anyone's buttons or delegitimize anyone's frustrations. Just want to report that I'm incredibly happy that Serif exists. Literally my favorite apps ever.
Please share your technical insights about the complexity of the apps? And how your personal happiness is relevant for costumers who report issues that frustrates them?
Reaching a professional audience is truly up hill for Serif when the official forum is littered with fanboys and apologist answers like this.
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On 2/13/2021 at 4:34 PM, captain_slocum said:
But where I do think Serif have shot themselves in the foot, is in not using real world professional users to help them create a better product.
Bingo.
QuoteI suspect that part of the problem might be that the people who check and report back on what is posted on the forums do not have the in-depth DTP experience to read and fully understand the arguments being put forward. This results in them treating the posts numerically, that is to say just looking at the numbers who want a particular feature, rather than the quality of each request and the experience and status of the person posting.
Bingo.
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9 minutes ago, Nashorn said:
Does the publisher has non-breaking spaces in text frames?
I need a space that is not stretched when the text is justified.
I have to write the name of the French supermarket Super U.
In justification, the space between super and U is stretched and that looks totally stupid.Thanks!
Text -> Insert - > Spaces and tabs -> Narrow Non-Breaking space
Also scenario for text assets @sfriedberg ? Eg. Super<Narrow Non-Breaking space>U
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4 hours ago, madonnaragu said:
The only problem is that it looks that this feature has been in the works for years now, so how many more years will it take to get a proper, professional export preview?
At least they added it now - not having one was impossible to work with.
If you followed the link I provided one employee from Serif said:
QuoteHi Jowday, the Export Preview is just an added perk to the File > Export dialog which is essentially a 'quick export' feature. Its sole purpose is to give you a quick idea of what the export will be like without the complexity of entering the Export Persona to really fine-tune your export. Whilst I agree that a few contexual improvements would be beneficial, it is not meant to be comprehensive or feature-packed.
It's likely that this will receive some improvements in the future but we want to focus on the Export Persona which is essentially the equivelant of the export preview seen in sday, PS.
So it is very difficult to tell where the UI is heading. How will export preview evolve, how will the export persona evolve. Will they be merged one day. Will they look and work like today for years.
Purchase now what you need now.
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3 hours ago, 78deluxe said:
If you work in software development as you claim. Kind of shameful you propose any upgrade cost wouldn't be worth it to you, even to maintain and receive modest new features for a few years. (they haven't had an upgrade charge in over 3 years)
Rubbish. If I see no future in the software for serious use, I won't upgrade. That goes for software as well as any other product. Serif is not the Red Cross. We are not crowdfunding anything either here for a poor or struggling company. Serif is doing very well. Probably better than ever before. Not asking for an upgrade fee for years is part of a BUSINESS STRATEGY that indeed works very well for Serif. You do not owe them a favor or money.
I do not work IN software development - I am a product owner that directs one, occasionally two development teams in one or another direction. I am the customer. They develop what we need now and in the future. The end users... well, their choice to use our product or leave it. We go out of our way to make them choose our stuff. Our choice is to actually meet their expectations and always important to deliver more than that. And communicating that we will also be a wise choice in the future is key. That's why the BUSINESS DECISIONS I implement make the difference between what end users choose now and in the future. And that is why these BUSINESS DECISIONS are underway for years.
Shameful... you GOTTA be kidding me. That's a new low. Even for this forum.
I won't comment further on this.
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4 hours ago, Sam Neil said:
I hear what you are saying but there is a huge difference with Affinity team and Adobe. First of all they are a very small but capable team who have started from ground up and this has been a "catch-up" with the rest of the usual offerings. Second of all due to the complexity of the software it has had its fair share of bugs and regressions which have been continuously fixed and updated by Mark, Andy, Adam & Matt which has (I think) left them with no time to start on the version 2.0 road map. Unless I am very much mistaken and they have working secretly in a cave on version 2.0 as a "Major version" I am not seeing it to be on the horizon. For example RTL support which has been lacking from day one is still not added and will require a major re-write or retrofit which I doubt will make it to the next version.
So in short It's a catch up game at the moment and make it 1.9.X stable with the existing features before offering the next "Major Version".
I work with software complexity in huge projects. What really makes a difference is business decisions. The rest follows, good or bad. Expand stroke fx. New features were more important for years. Stopping up for a moment and stabilizing was not. We are currently in our fourth major revision of our product. Lets call the current version v4.5. Every major revision WAS a revision of architecture, platform and user interface. What made us invest in a major revision every time was a business decision based on what was expected from us. Every time we kind of could continue as before with the features, platform and user interface that served us well for some years, but a radical change would simply be a much better platform for the future. Every time we got the chance to rethink many features and much of the architecture. Pull the plug on inefficient code and features. Every major update took 1-2 years of intense non-stop work but was totally worth it. Looking back at the previous version I always felt relieved we did it. We had to pause many initiatives while these huge projects were underway - the world had to wait - but still worth it. All is forgiven when you give the masses what they were waiting for or something that impresses.
Fx the user interface - the panel concept - Publisher is flooded with panels after its birth and just a few releases - it begs for a revision of the interface and panels before it ends in chaos. They can't just add layers and layers of panels.
I do not expect 2.0 to be in the horizon. It would be worth waiting for. Much more than small increments that doesn't lead anywhere real. Serif worked on Affinity for a long time now - I am sure they have a long term vision and a revised backlog and a lot of revised plans. It takes a lot of effort to make a major update and I can patiently wait for it. They need time and space for such a task.
If the team continues to add complexity in near yearly releases without fixing many old issues and never REALLY revising the platform and just adding layers of features, then we have a new Xara. I can't even in my wildest dreams imagine that Serif wants to go there.
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2 hours ago, Medical Officer Bones said:
Sure, but have you checked the new export preview? It is so rudimentary, that I assume it cannot be anything else BUT a first version.
Yes, I offered some feedback and got this response... it is an added "perk" ...
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4 hours ago, Medical Officer Bones said:
The current preview is not there yet. Developers call this a MVP - Minimal Viable Product. Read up on it here:
It is only a MVP if they have bigger plans for the future and it is an early step. 😮
Otherwise it is just the product.
As a vector design program Designer is a MVP - and on top of it I have a MVP export.
Workarounds for Distortion, Warp, or Perspective distort?
in Feedback for Affinity Designer V1 on Desktop
Posted
The status 'Ex User' was written after I finally stopped using the software. Didn’t - and don’t - plan to use the forum more either. This is a rare Sunday evening exeption.
I wouldn’t waste time with Vectorstyler either - unstable, incredibly buggy early beta software disguised as release candidate number SIXTEEN. S I X T E E N!! I tried it, believe me. I found so many bugs in a few days in the core program itself and in output files.
I voiced a lot of concerns in here but I sure as hell also posted a lot of bug reports and features requests. So quit talking about whining. I participated! I had too much patience with Affinity though thanks to twelve months of lockdown boredom but a career move finally got me moving towards a better place. I will have SIX user experience designers and several professional networks at my disposal. That is SIX user experience designers and several professional networks more than Serif.
No further comments. The forum and waiting is all yours.