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Publisher which we hope to release in 2016.

 

:(  :(  :(

Really does not sound hopefully.

 

Serif told us even this year we get Publisher this year.

Even the Designer is not finished for professional use and a complete CANVAS will start next month. If we get Publisher 2017 it will be finished 2020? …

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Chill out man,

 

I know, the wait is killing me too, but that what it is. Affinity will always play a catch-up to ADOBE, unless they commit more manpower towards the affinity Trio. (Designer, Photo, Publisher).

 

Remember, it's £29 a pop so it's not that they are taking your money and running away with it. The price more than fully justifies what the software represented at the moment.

 

The professional moniker attached to the Designer and Photo is bit of a stretch at this point in time but that's the space they want to be in.

 

I'm confident that they will get there. Until then, people who would want to use these programs professionally and break away from ADOBE, will need to wait a bit.

 

I think that's what's killing you, right :-)

 

:)  :)  :)

2017 27” iMac 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 • Radeon Pr 580 8GB • 64GB • Ventura 13.6.4.

iPad Pro (10.5-inch) • 256GB • Version 16.4

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will need to wait a bit.

I think that's what's killing you, right :-)

 

No, it is about communication: They communicate a professional app, but it is a green banana that must get yellow with the help of the purchasers.

 

Yes, it took too much time too explain, what has to be and what is buggy.

 

In 2014 we thought, we will get a trio in 2015 that will work … but we wait and hope that the things we need (and already have with other apps) will be ready to use in 2016 or 2017 or …

 

We never had this situation that an app like Designer is “produced” via a forum! Good idea but not for professionals.

 

Ohmmmmmm, Om, Om …

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Serif told us even this year we get the Publisher this year.

That reaction is why we try not to give out dates. Although I don't think we ever said Publisher would be launched this year. We did say the public beta would start towards the end of this year, with the product available to buy from the Mac App Store next year. That available to buy is what I was referring to in the post you quoted, and hasn't really changed: it's still next year. Whether the public beta makes this year remains to be seen; it's still possible, but time is ticking away so I am no longer saying this year for that, even tentatively.

 

I used the word "hope" in my post out of habit. Our policy is to avoid giving, or even implying, guaranteed release dates.

 

Even the Designer is not finished for professional use and a complete CANVAS will start next month.

Whether Designer is usable for professional work depends on exactly which features your particular professional work needs. Everyone has their pet must-have features, and they aren't the same features for everyone. For some it's printing, for others it's multiple pages, for others it's art boards, for others it's better guides and snapping, for others it's arrow-heads, for others it's vector mesh warp, for others it's Pantone colours, for others it's PDF/X, for others it's customisable shortcuts. On the other hand, some people are using Designer professionally right now, and have been for months. What we do, we generally do pretty well, and over time we will cover more and more use cases.

 

If we get Publisher 2017 it will be finished 2020?

No-one from Serif is thinking 2017. We need it earlier than that. That said, we've been actively developing PagePlus on Windows for over 25 years, and I expect we'll be adding to the Affinity apps long after 2020. We're in it for the long haul.

 

Meanwhile, we'll release Publisher as soon as we can. We know some of you are waiting eagerly (if not always patiently).

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Hi Oval,

Well, I've been in the digital publishing space ever since the Mac+ and a Laser Writer came on the scene (and even before that) so I know a thing or two about publishing software.

I remember using PageMaker when it was still in Beta and I remember when inDesign beta came along (not to mention QuarkXpress).

It took a good few iterations of inDesign to bring it to the Professional level.

The same will happen with Affinity Publisher and other software from Affinity. Unfortunately, that's life.

 

I am also a programmer so I know that to eradicate all bugs is just not possible but I have full confidence in Affinity folks to get it right.

 

Also, no offence Oval, but you need to re-read your posts a few times more before posting, because some of your posts come across as very offensive, at least in this country. You can achieve much more by expressing your views in a more "friendly manner". :-)

 

:)  :)  :)

2017 27” iMac 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 • Radeon Pr 580 8GB • 64GB • Ventura 13.6.4.

iPad Pro (10.5-inch) • 256GB • Version 16.4

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Even the Designer is not finished for professional use 

 

 

Hi Oval,

 

What's your definition of a professional? it has been described as someone who gets paid for their work. I know I certainly have and many more jobs to come. Some of the work i've seen created in Designer is amazing and very professional. Of course there are many features users would like to see implemented and i'm pretty sure Team Affinity are on the case and the road map for both designer and photo looks promising.

 

As for Publisher, yep, I would love that already, but for the work I do, I have worked around it using Designer/Photo. I'd rather have an app that took longer but was implemented correctly rather then rushed and not thought through. Love the 2 apps so far and love where they are going, but whether its Affinity or any other app if it does not have features that I need i'm always gonna look for alternatives esp. if its for paid work.

 

Just my two cents worth :)

 

Allan

About me: Trainer at Apple, Freelance Video Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Website Designer, Photographer. Yes I like creating things!!!

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mystrawberrymonkey/

Twitter: @StrawberryMnky  @imAllanThompson

Web: mystrawberrymonkey.com  Portfolio: behance.net/allanthompson

YouTube: Affinity Designer & Photo Tutorials

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I don't think we ever said Publisher would be launched this year.

 

Hey, am I the only one who tells the truth?! What Serif told us purchasers:

 

22571139rq.gif  22571175wc.gif

 

Followed by crazy reactions like this:

 

22571211dd.gif

 

 

Best is to be objective and tell the truth. Not to be friendly and lie. Hm, the public beta starts towards the end of this year and "Publisher which we hope to release in 2016“ … so everybody knows that Affinity Publisher will not be available in September 2015 as published by Serif. No release update via email to the clients who purchased the first apps (to get a whole working suite workflow). No excuse. Well, perhaps they can read it somewhere in a forum?!  ;)

 

Too many questions that are not answered or seemed to be ignored. Crazy PR.

 

The forum is full with bug reports and missing tools for professionals. And we had experienced extremely slow reactions. Many times no understanding. Too much waisted time for all of that. But is there still hope for the InDes… killer?

 

(PageMaker has never been professional. InDesign was it from the beginning because it had the tools for being. Ask a professional typographer. And I am not discussing betas here.)

 

Designer was and is still promoted as professional. Some essential tools you cannot use professionally. You need to do it in other cheaper (or if you like in more expensive) software. Words are missing.  :(

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The difference to the iterations which InDesign took is, I think, that they took some iterations because the features did not exist before and they had to create the workflows.

So to say the job of Affinity is 70% implementing existing features. Some get refined. Some few are new.

 

So I agree to every post which want´s to get existing features faster...Couse obviously they don´t have to give all the thoughts into the software which already have been made before..

 

I can also see the problems and the effort and there actually is a relatively small team so I´m not saying that the devs are lazy!

 

They´re all friendly and I absolutely disagree to statements which suggest that they would want to cheat on us. They do their best.

 

Peace out! :)

 

And the wrong release date - well - that´s live - they just miscalculated 

 

 

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Best is to be objective an tell the truth. Not to be friendly and lie.

Looks like I was wrong, and we did mention more optimistic dates back then. I didn't think we did, but we did. Just as well I qualified it with, "I don't think..." rather than claiming to be certain. I'm sorry for the mistake, but please don't accuse me of deliberately lying. At no point have I attempted to mislead you.

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It is so easy and clever to formulate "I think” etc. but nobody accused you. We just formulated generally what is the best and what is not. The other thing is what we wrote about Serif. We did it like professional journalists. Verifying the facts. Telling the truth.

 

Well, our question still is when. Perhaps 2015 is hexadecimal?  :(

 

PS: We just want to inform now and here: Serif wrote 12 days (!) ago: "hoping to release a free public beta of Affinity Publisher late 2015/early 2016.” We calculate: Maybe Publisher will be available: August 2016? Too late for the big iPad?

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Oval,

 

I realize you are anxious (as are we all) but you are getting a bit out of line. Have you written software? Do you realize the amount of designing, testing, working around OS issues etc. that is required? With all that involved, do you really think it is possible to be  accurate on time estimates? Not to mention with all that, they are trying additionally to satisfy user requests. They are juggling 2 apps and their roadmaps while trying to get a third to the point of a public beta.

 

And your solution to that end is what? Calling them liars and using sarcasm, really?!

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Calling them liars and using sarcasm, really?!

 

No. Cannot believe what you are writing. We just formulated generally what is the best in communication and what is not. It was not the question of how to organize software releases. It is the question how to manage PR and explain delays and “issues”. We were “surprised” hearing that the announced launch was canceled and not communicated in a way that explains the reasons why customers should wait suddenly half a year or more. When something gets implausible, potentially customers fear that something runs in the wrong direction and invest in other solutions. We fear that it will be a too long way for that complex app because Serif communicated suddenly hopes after communicating sharp launching infos. When we would tell our customers that we hope to finalize the software for an exhibition or congress in time … "hope to release in 2016” sounds a bit like “could be in 2017”. It came as a shock.

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You said in your above posts "Hey, am I the only one who tells the truth?!" and "Well, our question still is when. Perhaps 2015 is hexadecimal?" is rude and sarcastic. I can't believe that you are trying to justify your attitude by saying that you thought you were just formulating the best way to communicate. Ever heard the saying that you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig?? Obviously you never heard that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

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JimGoshorn, on 19 Jul 2015 - 7:06 PM, said: Calling them liars and using sarcasm, really?!

Nobody did that! Does anybody here thinks that “Publisher is launching in 2015” is the truth? Hands up. And does anybody thinks it was a good idea, not informing the purchasers about the reasons of a perhaps 6 or more months delay?! Not really funny to read those painful news accidentally in a forum and having many bug reports. Without any sorry for the first promised availability. Then they told us purchasers: "Our policy is to avoid giving, or even implying, guaranteed release dates.” Hm, “Publisher is launching in 2015” etc. are no release dates? This and "I don't think we ever said Publisher would be launched this year” shows that the people are doing a good job (yes, really, Mr Harris) but perhaps Serif does not secure that the team is informed (marketing materials). “We hope to release in 2016” does not make hope in view of many bugs and unfinished apps. You can read it so often: “When will we get Publisher, can’t wait” etc. The reason is, because many people thought beta will start before September – this year. Sorry, sorry, sorry for a little stand-up comedy! It was needed that we get informed. 

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I was being calm and I was controlling myself. Having been a coder years ago, I stick up for people in the trenches because I know all too well what is involved. You do miss anticipated release dates and try as hard as you can, software frequently has bugs. You can either accept that or you can jump up and down (which won't get the software done any sooner and can create ill will with the developers). I prefer the former and with that, I rest my case.

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Ok, I'm reading the back and forth in all this...everybody please sit down and take a breath. Please.

 

JimGoshorn, I agree with you in terms of the enormity of the task. No one here can deny that. Most of us here are users and have NO idea as to how many lines of code it takes to write programs like Designer or Photo. Let alone the compiling/re-compiling of the code and the shakeouts before it's ready. No small task, this.

 

Oval, I'm not going to try to say that your disappointment is unfounded. Based on the original estimates, I, too, thought we'd be playing with the Publisher Beta by now. But when I realized that the Photo Beta didn't hit the ground until February 2015, I knew that September was being a bit optimistic for Publisher. Serif is/are working their collective pants off. Granted, the original rough timeline may have been a bit naive. However, Affinity is trying to create Publisher while still trying to implement features for Designer and Photo. And, I'm going to put myself out on a limb here because I suspect that your (collective?) anger is misdirected. I don't think the timetables are all Affinity's fault. All I'm saying is to look past Affinity and Serif, and see who else is truly benefitting from the uprising of this product line. Deals have been made, agreements signed. And now, the corporate "we've gotta have product XYZ ready by this date" begins. I used to work in that world. When your benefactor tells you not to announce certain things, you don't.

 

Having said all that, the above statement is just my opinion. I have no insight into the inner workings of Serif, Affinity, or any partner organizations, legal, corporate or otherwise.

 

No matter how much we may have counted on a product launch for the completion of our projects, such is life and the corporate timetable--fleeting and ever-changing as the seas. It tends to suck, but there is little we can do about it. I personally am using a developmental copy of Scribus (1.5.0) until Publisher arrives.

 

Hope this helps--if only a little bit.

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