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Looking at the text frame settings in Publisher 2 it appears that the opacity of the fill still only has a slider and no imput field. Also, corner options for text frames, as with images, would be nice.

I thought I had sorted the problem by reinstalling, but it came back. My files originated in InDesign and I left all images as Photoshop files. I have now gone through and saved all images as Affinity Photo files that are much smaller then Photoshop and replaced them in Publisher. So far exporting to pdf is working in that the preview appears much quicker and export can be started before the preview has appeared. Affinity files are smaller than Photoshop so that may account for it, or Publisher is slow handling Photoshop files. In the process of replacing the files using Resource manager a message appeared several times stating that the file size was getting large and would I like to link images, even though they were all linked. Even with all images linked the file was over twice the size of the InDesign file.

What a lot of ranting and raving. When it comes to discounts for new versions and loyalty to users, Serif have made their position very clear ever since Affinity was introduced. Before Affinity, Serif produced the Windows only range of Plus programs. These were dropped when Affinity arrived (originally for Mac only) and users of the Plus range have never been able to open their files with Affinity. However, I don't think anyone can complain about the cost of Affinity or the improvements that have been made during the life of version 1. If Serif had given a bit more thought about not upsetting people they could have offered free upgrades to version 2 for those purchasing version 1 during its final six months or so. When it comes to installation of V2 this seems that again Serif are out of touch with users. I landed up purchasing from Serif but then downloading from Microsoft store and using the Serif credentials to activate. On a second PC with almost identical specs the msix files installed with no problem, except for not giving me a choice of which drive to use. When someone purchases programs it is extremely frustrating to have to go through no end of hassle before they can even start using them. And then there is the constant knocking of Adobe. I have been using Adobe going back to the days of Pagemaker before the birth of InDesign. I consider their pricing acceptable when looking at the cost compared to the income they have enabled me to achieve. The Creative Suite contains so many superb programs. Affinity has three. If these three programs provide all that is needed then the cost of the Adobe suite cannot be justified. But if the need exceeds what Affinity provides, Adobe may well be the better solution. I am well into retirement so no longer need, or have, an Adobe subscription and the three Affinity programs quite adequately provide all I need now, and provide a good degree of enjoyment. I still have Adobe CS6 so happily use both Adobe and Serif. In the end I think one has to accept that Serif are offering well designed programs at reasonable cost but lack ideal loyalty to their customers which may just be a case of lack of thought. The result has been the release of new versions, which do offer a good number of improvements and new features, clouded over by a lot of dark clouds of frustration.

I don't know what platform you are using but I have Windows 11 and when uninstalling and reinstalling an Affinity program many items from the first install remain. Using Revo uninstaller gives the option to check and delete any remaining files. With Affinity programs there are vast lists of remaining files.

I have uninstalled all three programs, removed all the leftover files with Revo uninstallerand reinstalled. So far everything is working and the export to pdf completes in a few seconds. I did have trouble with the original installation. I purchased all three programs from Serif. They are msix files and Windows 11 gave a message that the files would not run. In the end I installed from Windows Store and used the email and password set up with Serif to activate them. Will just have to wait and see how things go. There is much to like with the Affinity programs. I just hope this has just been a blip.

Another development. Having tried again to export, the same error message but now all the images on the first seven pages of the document have been deleted. Tried two other InDesign files and the same problem. I have been trying Publisher for some time and hoped by now the importing of InDesign files would be trouble free. However, I still have no confidence that going through all my documents and saving them for use in Publisher will enable me to move over to Publisher on a permanent trouble free basis.

Thanks MikeTO for your suggestions. The spinning icon appears as soon as the export window opens. Selecting a range of pages or current spread makes no difference at all. I notice you are on Mac while I am on Windows 11 so the problem may be solely with Window.

It seems as if the problem is the unbelievably long time it takes to create/preview the pdf. If I export straightaway the error message appears instantly. If I wait the bar showing the export appears for a short while and then the error message appears. After waiting 45 minutes with still no preview the export starts and, going by the displayed progress, it reaches about 25% before the error message appears. At that rate I need to wait 3 hours if the export is to succed. The document has around 80 images. Maybe Publisher just cannot cope with that number of images.

I have opened an InDesign file in Publisher 2 which is an A5 booklet with 40 pages. It imported very well with only four text frames requiring a small degree of resizing. However, when trying to export to pdf the preview never appears (I gave up after 45 minutes) there is just the revolving icon. If I try to export anyway there is a message that the export had a problem. Trying many export settings all had the same result. Creating a new four page simple booklet with a few images and text exported to pdf with no problem, so is this a known problem with imported InDesign files? If so this is a real problem as I have a vast number of them.

Thanks for the suggestion MickRose. Resetting Preferences/Colour works initially but seems to randomly go back to US web coated. Reinstalling has not solved the problem. Am giving betas a rest for a while. Several features I need seem to be a long way off. The same has to said for Photo and Designer. I should add that I think what has been achieved so far is impressive but as a user of Adobe's Creative Suite it seems to me that horizons need to be wider - Publisher, Photo and Designer on their own will not persuade me to change ship. I have purchased Photo and Designer and will almost certainly do the same with Publisher, but as far as I can see they will be programs to play with in the hope that eventually they, together with any additions, mature to what I need. Rather drifted off the original subject but there we are.

Have a number of documents that were set up with a document colour setting of CMYK coated FOGRA27. Since beta 206 whenever they are opened the colour setting is US Web coated (SWOP)v2. Resetting, saving and re-opening returns to US Web. Starting a new document has the same effect.

Thanks for your reply Chris. It happened when I inserted a layer on a master page for soft proofing. Trying to move the master layer to the top on any page then caused a crash. However, I have now reinstalled and can't reproduce the same behaviour. If it does recur I'll let you know with a sample. Thanks again.

If attempting to re-order layers by dragging the program crashes.

Thanks for this. I have just done a quick test and it works. Great.

A usable consistent way of working across all programs is what I am looking for. To have to insert a soft proof adjustment via a layer might just about be acceptable in Photo (you also have to select the correct colour profile) but is not practical in Designer or Publisher where layers are limited to individual artboards or pages. It is a matter that Serif themselves seem to be putting to one side - the only sample they provide for Publisher uses images that are all RGB. This may be because they expect viewing to be on screen although the Document settings show the intent as print. I find there is much to like in Publisher but colour proofing (and hyperlinks) are essential if I am to switch. Most of the other shortcomings I can live with in the expectation that they will be sorted over a period of time.