Web Design - Designer or Publisher?

[UkeyD]

Hi,

Which programme do you recommend for web design - Designer or Publisher? 

Thanks 

UkeyD

 

[v_kyr]

Both are limited to just the plain graphics creation portions here, since for the whole web design process a bunch of more supporting part aspects (like ... HTML, CSS, JS, etc.) would be software wise needed. So I would personally say that for creating vector graphics (buttons, labels, forms, banners ... and so on) Designer might be finally overall better suited.

[UkeyD]

Hi thanks so much.

That’s really helpful. In the past I used Freeway to make websites which were pretty good until responsive design came along and then it became a bit of a headache. Now I’m just doing the design part and passing these on to a coder. I notice that Publisher and Designer both have presets for web design. 

Thanks again

UkeyD

[v_kyr]

On 3/4/2020 at 8:43 PM, UkeyD said:

I notice that Publisher and Designer both have presets for web design.

I assume you mean the predefined document page size settings with presets here, well those are just page size presets and nothing more. As indicated before, since none of the Affinity tools exports to ...or... generates HTML/CSS,  they are of limited use for building whole web pages and the like. - I think what you are looking for is more some WYSIWYG based Website/Webpage design tool (?), so probably more something like BlueGriffon, Google WebDesigner, Sparkle and things like these.

[UkeyD]

Hi thanks for your reply.

I don’t need a programme that outputs code. As I mentioned I’m just doing the design and was wondering which one of the Affinity apps would be better. I’ve gone for Designer as recommended. Thanks again

UkeyD

[Geoff777]

I used Freeway too and really liked it..... closest thing to iWeb out there.

Now won't work under Catalina (it's a 32 bit app) so they are developing Xway...... https://www.softpress.com/xway/index.html

Might be worth a look when it's finished!

[DamianJst]

If you were only interested in buying one of them, then yup, Designer will do.. I was lucky enough to get the whole Affinity suite at a discounted price, so I get to use both Designer and Publisher, and Publisher makes it simpler and therefore faster to work with type, so if you can splurge, I don't think you'd regret getting both, switching between the two at the click of a button, literally, saves so much time and effort

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, DamianJst said:

I was lucky enough to get the whole Affinity suite at a discounted price,

Everyone can get it at a very discounted price right now: 50% off.

[SamRamSan1]

A lot of experts here will say that designer is the better choice, and I agree with the recommendation.

Just consider that within publisher you can jump between Publisher & Designer with ease, and if You need to edit image you can jump between Publisher & Photo with a single click without leaving Publisher multipage advantage.

Of course, you need to have the 3 apps in Your possession to be able to create such an effective production environment, but let's face it.

Quote

Nothing beats a robust IDE.

 

So in my humble opinion, Publisher (and at least Affinity Photo) will give You all and more than you require to get the job done.

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by SamRamSan1
simplification of sentence

[SamRamSan1]

On 3/5/2020 at 1:21 PM, v_kyr said:

I assume you mean the predefined document page size settings with presets here, well those are just page size presets and nothing more. As indicated before, since none of the Affinity tools exports to ...or... generates HTML/CSS,  they are of limited use for building whole web pages and the like. - I think what you are looking for is more some WYSIWYG based Website/Webpage design tool (?), so probably more something like BlueGriffon, Google WebDesigner, Sparkle and things like these.

But You can export as PDF and convert that PDF to HTML5.

There are lots of services that do this, for example: https://www.pdftohtml.net/

[clearnew]

This is an older topic but I'm going to weigh in. I've been using Publisher to design websites and love it! I use Master Pages to create my header, footer (stuff that's on every page of the site) then apply them to the pages.

Like @SamRamSan1 mentioned above, you can switch between the 3 apps (if you've got all 3 and why wouldn't you?) so I create my vector graphics in Designer, bitmap graphics in Photo and place those into my Publisher file. Once in there it's super easy to jump around to edit if need be.

A lot of people will tell you that apps like Sketch are the best (and Sketch is really good) but they're expensive so I've been looking in to how I can use Publish Assets to create libraries of items you would use over and over again like you have in Sketch. I don't know if that would be useful with websites as usually every design has it's own assets etc.

Anyway! That's my two cents!

[rvsf]

I think a. designer is better, you have more freedom with the work tables and constraints that fit. It's the closest to Sketch. Too bad studiolink is not available from a. designer, it would be interesting. I can only access it from publisher.

And icons/ butons library!

[HeiligerBimBam]

Quote

I use Master Pages to create my header, footer (stuff that's on every page of the site) then apply them to the pages.

Tried this as well, works pretty good! There are other benefits though, various typo functions are working on web too (floating texts around vector forms, text columns, ...). And as you already said, switching to the Designer and Photo UI on the fly is just amazing.

The only thing that's really annoying to me so far, is changing the size of the pages, i love the Artboards in Designer, to have different page mockups next each other, its super comfortable to expand the height. In Publisher the only way to do this, is to change the pixel height of the layout page? Naming the pages would also a nice thing.

[User_783649]

5 minutes ago, HeiligerBimBam said:

In Publisher the only way to do this, is to change the pixel height of the layout page?

No one stops you from working with artboards in Publisher. Just create them in Designer persona of Publisher. No need to mess with Master Pages. Leave those for print projects. Instead, Symbols can be used for same repeating elements. Easy to update, easy to control. Very convenient.

Personally, I find Publisher with all three Personas being the best way for designing websites. Way better and powerful than Sketch, Figma and XD.

Typography tools, image editing tools are just on the next level. Love it!

[Sam Neil]

Try this - WYSIWYG Web Builder

[HeiligerBimBam]

Quote

No one stops you from working with artboards in Publisher. Just create them in Designer persona of Publisher. No need to mess with Master Pages. Leave those for print projects. Instead, Symbols can be used for same repeating elements. Easy to update, easy to control. Very convenient.

@Alex M Yeah, I thought about it. I've tried those synced symbol stuff in the past, it was damn buggy at this point. But that's kinda long ago, so thanks for the advice, I'll give it another shot!
 

Quote

 

Personally, I find Publisher with all three Personas being the best way for designing websites. Way better and powerful than Sketch, Figma and XD.

Typography tools, image editing tools are just on the next level. Love it!

 

I agree, it's freaking amazing, you'll never get a better tool set, especially for this price.

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However, if someone sticks with master pages, I just figured they have very helpful settings (just open your content page, right click the master-page-layer and hit settings). In the upcoming dialog (screenshot attached) you are able to control the alignment, so the for example the footer sticks to the bottom of the page, even if you resize it.

[KenethHooper]

I have Publisher and used it to design a flyer - it was fairly straightforward. One of the things I especially look forward to is adding a circular logo (text to a path is what it would be called in PhotoShop), and I wondered if I could do that in Designer or Publisher. I'm actually considering finding an icon designer for hire soon since I'm not entirely sure if I can design something important by myself. I'm currently working on designing the logo for my future company. Even if I have some experience with design, I believe it would be better to let a professional do it.

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, KenethHooper said:

(text to a path is what it would be called in PhotoShop)

In AD or APub , draw an open or closed curve or a quick shape like an ellipse, select it, & from the Layer menu select Convert to Text Path.

[clearnew]

6 hours ago, KenethHooper said:

I have Publisher and used it to design a flyer - it was fairly straightforward. One of the things I especially look forward to is adding a circular logo (text to a path is what it would be called in PhotoShop), and I wondered if I could do that in Designer or Publisher. I'm actually considering finding an icon designer for hire soon since I'm not entirely sure if I can design something important by myself. I'm currently working on designing the logo for my future company. Even if I have some experience with design, I believe it would be better to let a professional do it.

@KenethHooper dig in and learn how to make the stuff yourself my man! A quick Google search helped me find this article with 50 Excellent Icon Design Tutorials. These forums are great for questions on how to achieve certain things with the Affinity Suite as well.

I understand though, if you need something fast, you may have to go with a freelancer or (like in my case) there are people out there who are just plain better designers than I.

Now for designing elements like icons etc, I would use Affinity Designer as it's better for that and you'll have nice vector images. Then you can use what you've made in your Publisher documents.

[clearnew]

On 12/16/2021 at 8:40 AM, HeiligerBimBam said:

@HeiligerBimBam However, if someone sticks with master pages, I just figured they have very helpful settings (just open your content page, right click the master-page-layer and hit settings). In the upcoming dialog (screenshot attached) you are able to control the alignment, so the for example the footer sticks to the bottom of the page, even if you resize it.

Well that's incredibly handy to know! I've been keeping all my master pages the same hight and placing the footers at the bottom and having the rest just blank! Same for headers!

Thanks!

 

[Juhani]

On 12/16/2021 at 10:42 AM, User_783649 said:

No one stops you from working with artboards in Publisher. Just create them in Designer persona of Publisher.

Last time I checked Artboards are not supported in Designer persona when starting a new project in Publisher, which is kinda essential in laying out the pages in multiple sizes. That's why I'm also leaning towards starting a website mockup project in Designer instead. What's the general sentiment about this at the moment?

[walt.farrell]

42 minutes ago, Juhani said:

Last time I checked Artboards are not supported in Designer persona when starting a new project in Publisher, which is kinda essential in laying out the pages in multiple sizes. That's why I'm also leaning towards starting a website mockup project in Designer instead. What's the general sentiment about this at the moment?

If you use File > New from the Designer Persona, set the number of Pages to 1, and disable Default Master Page, then you you can enable Create Artboard.

[Juhani]

Ok, but then why use Publisher at all when you lose the master page feature anyway? Are there any other compelling reasons to use Publisher instead of Designer specifically for designing website mockups (without any code output needed)?

[walt.farrell]

Just now, Juhani said:

Ok, but then why use Publisher at all when you lose the master page feature anyway? Are there any other compelling reasons to use Publisher instead of Designer specifically for designing website mockups (without any code output needed)?

I'm not sure what functions would be useful to you, in general, but Find and Replace seems like one that should be. 

[Juhani]

Right now I'm trying to gather more input from more experienced designers who have been there done that already. My own web process has been completely different in the past (Illustrator > Divi on Wordpress), but now I've been asked to focus solely on the design aspect and start producing website mockups, which I'd like to use the Affinity suite for.

So find and replace is not available in Designer? Also not floating texts around objects nor text columns? Could there be a definite list of features comparing Designer and Publisher feature by feature?

Also are there any drawbacks starting the file in Publisher instead of Designer, I don't know, like a possible performance hit or sth?