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I absolutely love that Affinity Publisher now has data merge. It's definitely better than what Adobe was offering a million years ago. But after trying it I realized I was still going to be stuck with multiple text frames when what I really needed was for all of the merged data to flow from one columned text frame to another, page by page. When you're dealing with hundreds of entries, there's nothing quite as mind-numbing as putting everything back together so that you can adjust for pagination, unused space, etc. Well, my husband (who writes code for scientific database uses) offered to make a little bit of Pearl code for me that I could then use to do my own data merge, which results in a simple .txt document being created with all of the info exactly as it needs to be all in one place that I can then copy and paste into Publisher and quickly do a bit of hand formatting (using a combination of find/replace for specific characters and and applying paragraph styles). It has made my life a million times simpler - though it still means if my client comes back to me with a change, I either have to manually go in to make the update (which can sometimes require updated pagination), or redo the entire directory. I realize Publisher's data merge functions are still in beta, but I would be ecstatic to know there's something in the works to have the resulting data merge exist in one continuous text frame. Barring that, would there be a way my husband's code could mark up the data merge in such a way that when I copy and paste it into Affinity, Affinity will automatically apply certain formats? Or is that a bit too outside the box? I'm attaching the little program here. For anyone who understands these sorts of things. It's custom made for me, so don't expect to be able to download as is and use it for your project, unless you know how to change the code. convert_directory.pl

The 1.9 upgrades look fantastic. Question. After registration you can download some of the free packs, like the snow in PHOTO. Where are they downloaded to? no path showing. Can you change the path? I don't have my affinity software on my C drive. Just the OS, so I would like to choose where they go and know where they are. Right now i can't even find them. Gary

Hello Affinity Team, GREAT UPDATE! Request! ( for all the programs , designer, photo, and publisher ) when i downloading content from the account window, I and probably other really need the option to where its downloaded to. My C drive is OS only. I have all my programs and content on D drive. I need the ability to save or move these downloads off my C drive as there is limited space for the OS only. Is there a way now to move them and re add the assests manually? Perhaps a option for downloads later release? Gary

Hi guys, first of all a big Thank you - I am a huge fan of Affinity Design and use it for all my projects. In general the usability is great and it is a pleasure to work with. But there is this tiny detail that has bitten me so many times that I at least wanted you to know :) The thing is: AD obviously remembers the last directory that I have saved or exported to. In general this is very helpful because when saving or exporting repeatedly from the same file, it is very likely that I intend to do that into the same directory. BUT... I often start my work by opening a recent file and saving this under a new name (e.g. "mydesign_02"...). And when I do, I usually want this copy to go into the same directory as the original file, not some other projects export folder from yesterday. I cannot count how many times I have done "Save as", then worked in the copy, then closed AD, only to notice that the file is not, in fact, in the same folder as the original. So I have to start AD again, open some file, select "Save as" and check which folder it is saving to, then find my copy and move it to its intended location. Pretty annoying :) I assume that this is not very easily fixed, but I still wanted to let you know :) I have a feeling that these kinds of usability details are exactly what you're trying to get right, so maybe you will come up with something smart ;) Thanks again, best, Ole.

Could the software please remember the last used directory separately for opening and for exporting. A frequent workflow for me is: 1) Open Image 2) Edit Image 3) Export Image (repeat many times) It's a waste of time to have to navigate back and forth between my "originals" and my "export" directory for every photo I edit. Export should remember the last directory I exported to and this should not interfere with remembering the last directory I opened a file from. This is a very simple software change but would save users a lot of time.