Linked Graphics?

[tinyheero]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if Affinity Designer had the ability to have "linked graphics"? Specifically, the concept found in InDesign (https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/graphics-links.html). I recognize that Affinity Designer is not designed for this and this feature may probably be more suitable for Affinity Publisher?

 

My problem is I am trying to generate scientific publication figures that often are multi-panel. Each panel in itself is a separate plot (that I would generate in some program like R). I can't find a way to easily link all these plots into one plot. In fact, I can't find a way for Affinity Designer to simply just embed/import a PDF into  Affinity Designer document (there is the "place" option, but that rasterizes the image).

 

 

 

 

[Paul Bravery]

Hi tinyheero, 

 

Affinity does not link files at all in the way Adobe or other apps do. 

 

Placing the file embeds it instead (similar to Smart Objects in PS). 

 

A placed PDF is not rasterised – to edit it's properties, you can double-click the placed image & it opens in a separate window. 

 

If you place them or copy & paste from PDF files that you open in Affinity, the separate panels should be easy to arrange within the document as you see fit. 

 

Please refer to the screen shots below to illustrate the difference between opening & then copy/pasting into your document vs placing into your document: 

  

 

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Paul.  ;)

[MEB]

Hi tinyheero,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

There's currently no way to link files. You can only embed them.

Embedded PDF's are only rasterised on export, you can edit them as Paul explained.

Linked files will be available later in a future update.

[tinyheero]

Thank you for the replies. Much appreciated. I found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpHYh6z8HDI) which seems to be what you guys are referring to.

 

When I use the "Place Image Tool", I am able to arrange and edit. But as MEB mentioned, the final export is rasterized which is a problem. Many scientific journals (e.g. Nature, Blood, New England Journal of Medicine) require PDF/EPS outputs so that their staff can do the final layouts for publications. Is there a reason why the export function rasterizes the output? Is there anyway around this? 

 

Thanks

[Mart]

Hello you all,

 

I am from the Netherlands an new to this forum. I read that in the future Affinity Designer can work with linked files.

Is it in the near future or does it take a long time? Does anyone know?

 

Affinity Designer is a very great program our needs almost perfectly; our workflow however needs a possibility however to link a files instead of embedding.

 

Already thanx for the answer.

Mart

[gah5118]

Agreed.  The ability to link files is a must have for our workflow.  Ever since Adobe added this feature, it has changed the way we work and can't look back from it.

 

Hello you all,

 

I am from the Netherlands an new to this forum. I read that in the future Affinity Designer can work with linked files.

Is it in the near future or does it take a long time? Does anyone know?

 

Affinity Designer is a very great program our needs almost perfectly; our workflow however needs a possibility however to link a files instead of embedding.

 

Already thanx for the answer.

Mart

[Alex_M]

Hi,

 

Are linked files coming to Designer any time soon? This is a crucial feature for many people's workflow, including me. File size gets enormous very quickly without this feature (especially with multiple artboards) and you've got to manually update every placed image. It's maybe the feature I miss the most in Affinity Designer.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance!

[designchris]

It looks like it's been implemented partially in Affinity Designer 1.6.0:

When placing an image there's no way to select "embed" or "link", but when replacing an existing image, the file open dialog lets you choose that option!

Unfortunately it still does not do anything - the file is going to be embedded, no matter what option you have selected.

Hopefully this feature will be finished soon!

[MEB]

There's no support for linked files in Affinity Photo/Designer 1.6 (only embedded files). This should be introduced with Affinity Publisher later (not released yet) and then eventually ported back to Designer/Photo.

[gmweb]

Thanks @MEB for information I hope that it comes in near future!:)

Have a nice day!

[X-Raym]

+1

Linked file will be a very nice feature to have in Affinity Photo.

It would also to have way smaller "grading" files for photos, like when you retouch photo with software like RawTherapee. It doesn't create a new file with all the pixels from the original photo, it is just linked to the original one, and it create a very small files (few Ko) for the color grading. Very very efficient, and allows to save a lot of hard disk space !

Thx for considering it.