Is 13 inches enough for Affinity?

[RandomAffinityUser]

I am currently in search for a laptop. I've never used a 13-inch screen in my life. How is Affinity (Designer & Photo) on a 13 inch screen and should I even consider it? How does the UI look, is it too small to use? Is it productive? Do you feel like it is limiting your imagination? I'm coming from a 15 inch laptop. Can somebody with a 13 inch screen take a photo of their laptop with Affinity software maximized or take a screenshot? Thanks in advance

[GarryP]

Welcome to the forums @RandomAffinityUser

I don’t have a 13-inch screen so I can’t show you a screenshot of it but you could try ‘un-maximising’ your application window, then measure 13 inches across the screen diagonally top-left to bottom-right (with a ruler or measuring tape, but be careful not to scratch the screen), then position the window at the top-left of the screen, and then resize the window to the point you measured.
That should give you a quick idea of how the application will look and work on a 13-inch screen.
See attached image for an example taken on a 15.1-inch screen.
P.S. You don’t say if you are using Windows or Mac; some screen densities and what-not may be different.

[RandomAffinityUser]

Thanks! Im using Windows. Unfortunately my laptop is dead, so I deassembled it and I am going to sell the parts seperately. Cant do what you suggested Thanks for trying to help!

[MikeTO]

I'm using a 13" MBP. I spend most of my time in Publisher, some in Designer, very little in Photo, and the working space is limited on a 13" screen. It reminds me of working on a 1980s computer. However, I did a lot of great work in the eighties on those small screens so it's possible, the difference being that the UI takes up more room because we have all these convenient panels. I've increased the space available by tweaking the UI.

• I turn off Show Toolbar when I don't need it. Once my template is set up it's just wasted space.
• I turn off Show Tools. The only two tools I need after setting up my template are Move and Frame Text so I just use keyboard shortcuts to toggle and save the space.
• I turn off Show Rulers.
• I hide my macOS dock (the taskbar on Windows) to save more vertical space.

I'm debating whether to replace my MBP with a 16" when the next one comes out but I really prefer the smaller form factor. I will likely just get the 14" which will be about the same case size with a slightly larger screen. I can live with this for what I'm doing.

Here's a screenshot of the UI with the toolbar, tools, and rulers all on.

And here's one with them all off - note that I've got the macOS dock turned off in both screenshots.

[MikeTO]

4 minutes ago, RandomAffinityUser said:

Thanks! Im using Windows. Unfortunately my laptop is dead, so I deassembled it and I am going to sell the parts seperately. Cant do what you suggested Thanks for trying to help!

Note that GarryP's screenshot shows the Tools with 2 columns and the right-side panels wider than the minimum because he normally uses a larger screen and can afford to do this. I forgot to mention that if you need to keep tools open on a 13" screen then you should definitely use a single column, keep your panels to the min width, and your top toolbar should have text turned off (icons without text.

[Alfred]

I moved from a Windows laptop with a 15.6″ screen to one with a 14″ screen and haven’t encountered any major usability issues. From a brief look at the Affinity apps on a 13.3″ screen (which seems to be a more common size for Windows than the 13″ of a small MacBook) I wouldn’t say it’s a step too far. I second what @MikeTO has suggested about the tools and the toolbar.

[RandomAffinityUser]

Thanks everyone! The conclusion I came to is that it is probably usable, and I will need maybe a week or a month to adapt to the changes. And thank you Serif for adobe-level software at a much lower price 🙏

[RandomAffinityUser]

46 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

Note that GarryP's screenshot shows the Tools with 2 columns and the right-side panels wider than the minimum because he normally uses a larger screen and can afford to do this. I forgot to mention that if you need to keep tools open on a 13" screen then you should definitely use a single column, keep your panels to the min width, and your top toolbar should have text turned off (icons without text.

Also what is your screen resolution?

[MikeTO]

4 hours ago, RandomAffinityUser said:

Also what is your screen resolution?

The display is 2560x1600 but that was Big Sur's default of 1280x800. I could comfortably work in Affinity at 1440x900 (see screenshot below) but I spent most of my day research and writing outside of Affinity and my tired old eyes prefer Safari at the default resolution.

Also note that the widths of the left and right-side studio panels are variable depending on which panel you're viewing. For example, Index and Find/Replace are wider than Pages - the Affinity apps dynamically change the width of the panels as required.

[PaoloT]

10 hours ago, RandomAffinityUser said:

I am currently in search for a laptop. I've never used a 13-inch screen in my life. How is Affinity (Designer & Photo) on a 13 inch screen and should I even consider it?

My current laptop is a 13” MacBook Pro. The display is small for publishing, even if if what you are doing is typing on an existing layout, it works fine.

My hint is to get a large monitor for working at your main desk. You will,still be able to continue working on the internal display when needed, but when at home/office you will have all the room you need.

Paolo

 

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