Presets

[t.fennell]

See attachment - In Affinity Publisher Print/Presets page. . . why are all examples in millimeters? How do I get all the examples to be in inches? Totally unusable page when everything is in millimeters and sizes are simply all off. And too much trouble to look up and change millimeters to inches in document page on left. Help.

millimeters to inches?

I can change millimeters to inches in 'document

[Alfred]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, @t.fennell.

I’m afraid I don’t understand what the problem is. Your screenshot shows that the metric ‘A’ Series sizes are in millimetres but US Letter size is in inches, which is exactly what I would expect.

[t.fennell]

Hi Alfred. I wasn't clear on the 'millimeters' problem -  here is a better explanation for you - see attachment.

[t.fennell]

Let me know if the jpg and pdf attachments come up - they are the same  - and hopefully explain the problem much better. Simply put - I was talking not about document set ups I was talking about the print templates all in millimeters. I'm used to using inches. Can all those templates on there print page be changed to inches rather than millimeters? 

A - 1 Affinity Publisher Millimeters designation problem.jpg.pdf

[t.fennell]

[DWright]

Hi @t.fennell,

You are not able to change the size units on the presets preview window as these are the units for that particular standard, but when you select a standard  you can change the unit value on the right hand side and this will be the one assigned to the document when it is created.

[rjvela82]

@DWright

The preset preview window should not default to a measurement standard that the Document Unit has been set to. 

Here is why: 

A user may wish to compare sizes between presets in a different unit standard and cannot do because the Document Unit reverts to Millimeter upon each change. 

The solution is not simple but not difficult:

a) The Document Unit should not update upon Preset change. b) The Page Height and Page Width should do the same conversion achieved when the Document Unit is changed, instead when the Preset is changed. c) And the follow up enhancement to these is, refresh the Preset Preview labels to Document Unit upon change.

 

[walt.farrell]

2 minutes ago, rjvela82 said:

2) Paper sizes were originally standardized by inches. The paper size 8.5 x 11 is originally based on inches, so this is the primary example why the Preset Window should maintain the Document Unit upon change.

The A sizes are European standard sizes, and Europe uses the metric system, do using mm is what most users interested in those sizes will expect.

Inches are standard primarily in the US, where for the most part the A sizes are not used.

[rjvela82]

5 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

The A sizes are European standard sizes, and Europe uses the metric system, do using mm is what most users interested in those sizes will expect.

Inches are standard primarily in the US, where for the most part the A sizes are not used.

Hey @walt.farrell

I completely understand but that is not a valid reason nor does it deny the fact that what I'm suggesting isn't appropriate

a) software should be designed properly to meet user experience

b) when a company is committed to various markets across the globe such differences deserve serious consideration

This would be a small but valuable improvement to the many customers of the US market. 

[Alfred]

14 minutes ago, rjvela82 said:

Paper sizes were originally standardized by inches.

US Letter, Legal, and Tabloid sizes are specified in inches. By contrast, the base size for the metric ‘A’ Series (as defined by ISO 216) is A0, which has an area of one square metre, so it’s most appropriate to express its dimensions as exactly 841 mm × 1189 mm; although you can express this as 33.1 in × 46.8 in, that’s merely an approximation.

[rjvela82]

I honestly do not care, and I've removed it from originally argument, however the rest of argument is absolute valid. Imagine if thousands of products made in the US overlooked minor enhancements to accommodate the European market. 

The software should respond to human interaction in an effective manner, if you choose a Document Unit, then why should that parameter change upon selecting presets. Especially when the user's next action is to comparing sizes of the preset in the Document Unit. 

Now explain to me how the above logic should be completely disregarded because of the metric unit standard. Okay if you so bother to argue, then what about Pixels, Points, or Picas. All global standard and yet the same inefficient behavior impedes the user doesn't it ? 

[Alfred]

29 minutes ago, rjvela82 said:

if you choose a Document Unit, then why should that parameter change upon selecting presets

Because that’s what presets do. If I had a ‘Blue Style’ preset and I applied it to green, red, and yellow objects, I would fully expect the target objects to turn blue.

[rjvela82]

@Alfred

I see what you're saying, when you save a custom preset, it maintains whatever Document Unit set, so in other words, you cannot expect the Document Unit to be maintained when switching presets built in because they were built specifically as Millimeters. 

In order for the issue to be resolved, there would have to be a Default Document Unit type that you can save in General settings. Then when going into the Presets, you would have no issues.

• That would be a nice to have because I wouldn't have to recreate the various presets to the Document Unit I most commonly use.

[walt.farrell]

7 minutes ago, rjvela82 said:

That would be a nice to have because I wouldn't have to recreate the various presets to the Document Unit I most commonly use.

But if you're using the "A" presets, shouldn't you be working in mm? That's what printing companies will expect from you. That's how you'll buy paper if you're printing yourself, and it's what your home printer will expect you to specify.