Affinity Publisher as All-in-one app?

[albertkinng]

I need to convert a Publisher Document made in pages into multiple artboards like it was made in Designer.

I own all apps from Affinity, The feature of Publisher that let you have all of them fully functional when working on a document is great, however when I open a Designer document in Publisher it doesn't let me save or export as a different version as Photo or Designer. Is there a way to achieve this, or it is just impossible? This is the only thing that doesn't let me use Publisher as my all-in-one app for designing.

[prophet]

1 minute ago, albertkinng said:

it doesn't let me save or export as a different version as Photo or Designer

Is there a particular reason you would need to save in those formats? Since all 3 apps can open all three formats (all really the same format under the hood anyway), why would saving with the specific format be a benefit?

[Old Bruce]

2 minutes ago, albertkinng said:

I own all apps from Affinity, The feature of Publisher that let you have all of them fully functional when working on a document is great, however when I open a Designer document in Publisher it doesn't let me save or export as a different version as Photo or Designer. Is there a way to achieve this, or it is just impossible? This is the only thing that doesn't let me use Publisher as my all-in-one app for designing.

There is no need to save as a Photo or Designer or Publisher document. It is already all three.

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, albertkinng said:

however when I open a Designer document in Publisher it doesn't let me save or export as a different version as Photo or Designer.

You should be able to change the file type during a Save or Save As, if you really want to. There's no real need, as others have mentioned, but it works on Windows and I would expect it to work on Mac. But someone who uses a Mac would have to comment on that.

Edited April 18, 2022 by walt.farrell
Typo

[R C-R]

15 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You should be able to change the file type during a Save or Save As, if you really want to. There's no real need, as others have mentioned, but it works on Windows and I would expect it to work on Mac. But sunshine who uses a Mac would have to comment on that.

I am not sunshine 😃 but that won't work on a Mac. Annoyingly (& unnecessarily), you get this:

However, on a Mac after the file saved nothing prevents you from changing the file extension in Finder after you answer a cautionary 'are you sure' message like this one:

Quite silly but of course, as already been mentioned there is no real need to do that.

[albertkinng]

4 hours ago, prophet said:

Why would saving with the specific format be a benefit?

Good question. I work on many files at once with a lot of clients. Sometimes I have all apps open at the same time. If I’m working on a brochure in Publisher and suddenly my client ask for a different approach, I can’t add an art board to redesign the layout, Publisher doesn’t let you do that. So I need to create a Designer doc, so various layout designs can be in one place for fast productivity. 
 

If I’m working on a collage design with photographs on Publisher using the picture shapes I can’t export it as a Photo Doc either without rasterize it or consolidate on a JPG, and I can find 10 more scenarios I’ve been dealing with for a while. Instead of having a lot of files, having just one with all my art boards inside will be great. Many Publisher features aren’t available in Photo or Designer, and you know how it is. I know not all designers have the same needs, but I’m a one band man, and sometimes it’s overwhelming all these docs when you know it will be easier if you have the option to have all your designs in one document. 

 

[Alfred]

7 minutes ago, albertkinng said:

I can’t add an art board to redesign the layout, Publisher doesn’t let you do that. So I need to create a Designer doc

The Affinity apps use a shared file format, so a Publisher document is also a Designer document and a Photo document: the filename extension merely serves to identify the originating app. The upshot is that you can edit the document in Designer, add one or more artboards, and then continue working on it in Publisher.

[albertkinng]

2 hours ago, R C-R said:

there is no real need to do that.

I may differ, but knowing how this forum can get with different opinions, I may stay out of it. Thanks for the suggestions, man. I totally forget that extension feature on Finder! More than 20 years using Macs can blind you for basic system details. 

[Alfred]

4 minutes ago, Alfred said:

you can edit the document in Designer

You don’t even have to switch from Publisher to Designer if the functions you need are available via the Designer persona in Publisher.

[walt.farrell]

13 minutes ago, albertkinng said:

If I’m working on a brochure in Publisher and suddenly my client ask for a different approach, I can’t add an art board to redesign the layout, Publisher doesn’t let you do that.

It doesn't let you add an Artboard to a document that has Pages, but it will let you work on documents that have Artboards instead of Pages. And if you have a document with Artboards open in Publisher you can add additional Artboards in the Designer Persona.

Or, if you switch to the Designer Persona, you can create a new document that has Artboards instead of Pages.

You really don't need to switch from the Publisher application to the Designer application unless you need the Export Persona.

[albertkinng]

7 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The Affinity apps use a shared file format, so a Publisher document is also a Designer document and a Photo document: the filename extension merely serves to identify the originating app. The upshot is that you can edit the document in Designer, add one or more artboards, and then continue working on it in Publisher.

Maybe I don’t know how to it, if I create a new document of two pages in Publisher and want to create an art board it doesn’t allow me to saying multiple pages can let me do art boards. I will need to record a video of a normal project to show what I obviously can’t explain with words.

[albertkinng]

4 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You really don't need to switch from the Publisher application to the Designer application unless you need the Export Persona.

Export Persona is my main used tool. 

[walt.farrell]

Just now, albertkinng said:

Maybe I don’t know how to it, if I create a new document of two pages in Publisher and want to create an art board it doesn’t allow me to saying multiple pages can let me do art boards. I will need to record a video of a normal project to show what I obviously can’t explain with words.

You can't have both Artboards and Pages in a document. It's one, or the other.

However, you can work on both kinds of documents in either Designer or Publisher, and you can create both kinds of documents in Publisher.

If you want to create a document with Artboards in Publisher you'll need to do that from its Designer Persona. The File > New dialog there will let you create an initial Artboard as long as you don't create any Pages or Master Pages.

[R C-R]

5 minutes ago, albertkinng said:

Sometimes I have all apps open at the same time. If I’m working on a brochure in Publisher and suddenly my client ask for a different approach, I can’t add an art board to redesign the layout, Publisher doesn’t let you do that.

All the Affinity apps support either pages or artboards (even AP) but none can support both in the same document. So for example, working entirely in APub, after creating a single page document with no master pages, I just switched to its Designer Persona, where the artboard tool is available & created this 3 artboards.afpub file. Switching back to the Publisher Persona I get this message in the pages panel but I ignored it & saved the file.

That file can be opened in either AD or AP via dragging it onto either app's Dock or Application folder icon, or via a right-click "Open with..." choice in Finder. Once opened in either app, it is possible to use File > Save as... to save it with the *.afdesign or *.afphoto extension respectively.

As has been mentioned multiple times this is because the file format for all three apps is the same. The extension just determines with app will open it by default if you double-click on the file in Finder.

[albertkinng]

3 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You can't have both Artboards and Pages in a document. It's one, or the other.

However, you can work on both kinds of documents in either Designer or Publisher, and you can create both kinds of documents in Publisher.

If you want to create a document with Artboards in Publisher you'll need to do that from its Designer Persona. The File > New dialog there will let you create an initial Artboard as long as you don't create any Pages or Master Pages.

I know that. Thanks for explaining. I was just sharing a need for my particular need in my daily work. I appreciate your help.

[R C-R]

24 minutes ago, albertkinng said:

Export Persona is my main used tool. 

Is there some reason why you do not want to use File > Export, which all 3 apps offer?

EDIT: Maybe more to the point, is there some reason that if you really need to use the AD or AP Export Persona that from APub you do not use File > Edit in Affinity Photo or File > Edit in Affinity Designer to do that?

[iuli]

11 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Designer Persona, where the artboard tool is available & created this 3 artboards.afpub file

I’m going to save this 3 artboards file for when Studiolink will come to iPad this summer (assuming it will work similar to its desktop counterpart). I have (had) some experience with Indesign but I know Publisher is a different story and I will need all the help I could get in these forums. This is valuable information for me.

(Sorry for intruding in your discussion)

[albertkinng]

4 minutes ago, R C-R said:

All the Affinity apps support either pages or artboards (even AP) but none can support both in the same document. So for example, working entirely in APub, after creating a single page document with no master pages, I just switched to its Designer Persona, where the artboard tool is available & created this 3 artboards.afpub file. Switching back to the Publisher Persona I get this message in the pages panel but I ignored it & saved the file.

That file can be opened in either AD or AP via dragging it onto either app's Dock or Application folder icon, or via a right-click "Open with..." choice in Finder. Once opened in either app, it is possible to use File > Save as... to save it with the *.afdesign or *.afphoto extension respectively.

As has been mentioned multiple times this is because the file format for all three apps is the same. The extension just determines with app will open it by default if you double-click on the file in Finder.

It’s fine. I was aware of your explanation since you first mentioned. Thanks for your help. My post was sharing a need for a particular need in my daily routine of tasks. I use Eagle for fast access to my clients archives and Rasking for fast projects browsing (highly recommended). I was trying to have a way to save my files for each format so clients that doesn’t have Publisher and only use Designer can open my document without going to the hassle of changing extension and so on. No problem if it’s hard to understand my situation. I appreciate the efford.

[albertkinng]

11 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Is there some reason why you do not want to use File > Export, which all 3 apps offer?

With export persona I can export many files in different formats with one click. That’s one of many great features that I love from Affinity. For example, I work for an Agency that one Designer document have 200 art boards. Different web ads in different sizes, social media flyers, website banners, blog post pictures headers, and so on. One click and their server get all files in four formats they need, Jpg, png, pdf and Eps. I love Export persona.

[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, albertkinng said:

I was trying to have a way to save my files for each format so clients that doesn’t have Publisher and only use Designer can open my document without going to the hassle of changing extension and so on.

As long as they have any one of the three Affinity apps they do not need to change the extension or doing anything special to open any document saved in the native file format. As has been mentioned multiple times in this topic (among many others) it does not matter in the slightest which Affinity extension the files uses (*.afpub, *.afdesign, or *.afphoto) because the file format is exactly the same & all three apps can open any of them.

[R C-R]

5 minutes ago, albertkinng said:

With export persona I can export many files in different formats with one click. That’s one of many great features that I love from Affinity. For example, I work for an Agency that one Designer document have 200 art boards. Different web ads in different sizes, social media flyers, website banners, blog post pictures headers, and so on. One click and their server get all files in four formats they need, Jpg, png, pdf and Eps. I love Export persona.

OK, but as my edited post mentions, you can switch from APub to AD or AP from the File menu to use the Export Persona of either of those apps.

[albertkinng]

Thanks.

About the Art boards, I know the workaround. This video shows it's not as easy as opening a new document. You need to do a couple of things to be able to have your art boards and so on. 

And about the Formats, I said I understand that all files are basically the same, I was answering @prophet 's question.

Again, thank you all for your answers. This topic is done now.

Edited April 18, 2022 by albertkinng
Finalizing the topic discussion.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, albertkinng said:

This video shows it's not as easy as opening a new document.

It is as simple as creating a new document, but as I've said above you need to do it from the Designer Persona if you want to do it via New Document:

1. Switch to Designer Persona.
2. File > New
3. Turn off "Default Master Page"
4. Select "Create Artboard"
5. Create

Or, you can create a new document from the Publisher Persona, and then use the Designer Persona to create the Artboard:

1. File > New
2. Turn off "Default Master Page".
3. Make sure number of pages is 1.
4. Create.
5. Switch to the Designer Persona and use the Artboard Tool to create an Artboard.

[R C-R]

4 hours ago, albertkinng said:

And about the Formats, I said I understand that all files are basically the same...

Not just basically. They are exactly the same internally. The only difference is the filename extension, & if you want you can change that among any of the 3 extensions using Finder & the file still will open equally well any of of the 3 apps.

You also have the File menu options to switch to editing in either of the other two apps & continue working on the file, so it does not matter which of the 3 you initially open the file with. The only thing that really matters is if the file has pages or not. If it does then it cannot also have artboards; & likewise if it has artboards it can't also have pages.

[albertkinng]

4 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

It is as simple as creating a new document, but as I've said above you need to do it from the Designer Persona if you want to do it via New Document:

1. Switch to Designer Persona.
2. File > New
3. Turn off "Default Master Page"
4. Select "Create Artboard"
5. Create

Or, you can create a new document from the Publisher Persona, and then use the Designer Persona to create the Artboard:

1. File > New
2. Turn off "Default Master Page".
3. Make sure number of pages is 1.
4. Create.
5. Switch to the Designer Persona and use the Artboard Tool to create an Artboard.

 

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Not just basically. They are exactly the same internally. The only difference is the filename extension, & if you want you can change that among any of the 3 extensions using Finder & the file still will open equally well any of of the 3 apps.

You also have the File menu options to switch to editing in either of the other two apps & continue working on the file, so it does not matter which of the 3 you initially open the file with. The only thing that really matters is if the file has pages or not. If it does then it cannot also have artboards; & likewise if it has artboards it can't also have pages.

Guys, is ok if you don’t get it. It’s fine. Really. I can go again trying to explain and it will be hard because it’s about how I use Publisher and how I deliver to clients. In my mind is easy to explain but when I write it down it hard to understand too. 
 

I don’t need more explanations, really. The formats are the same, the artboards can be done in Designer persona, I get it and I also knew it since the beginning of the conversation. I feel bad now because you are trying to explain something that I already know just because it not easy to comprehend. 
 

That’s why I think this topic is no longer important. I hope the moderator can close this thread so nobody can jump in and keep trying to explain the same thing over and over. It’s ridiculous. You guys are great, really. Thanks for all your effort. Sorry for my post, honestly. 
 

It was educational and fun. You’re the best guys. Have a good one. 

Bye.