How do I warp text in Affinity Designer?

[SSA]

On 7/10/2019 at 11:43 AM, TonyO said:

In defense: It is technically still version 1 software. Adobe illustrator is like version 29 or something like that, the features will come, give it time.

In not-defense: I find it weird that they implemented a bunch of complicated but overly niche isometric perspective tools that maybe 1 in every 100 designers will even experiment with, before fixing expand stroke and adding envelope distortion and a vector eraser...

But it’s their roadmap... and nobody is forcing us to use their apps, so it’s probably just best to nicely keep drawing attention to it, versus getting hostile. You’ll  catch more flies with honey than vinegar, haha. 

 

Well, here's a further reminder. A simple Warp Text control is badly needed, and something many Designer users would like. I'm very impressed with the the software, but this is a massive gap.

[v_kyr]

Well in the mean time one has to use other third party tools for vector based warping features like for example ...

• Inkscape (Win + Mac)
• VectorStyler (Mac)
• Amadine (Mac)
• Photo & Graphic Designer or Designer Pro X (Win)
• MS Expression Design 4 (Win)
• etc.

[v_kyr]

2 hours ago, ErrkaPetti said:

Strange that we doesn’t have this warp function in any other app on the iOS/iPad OS platform...

And, we have a lot of others vector drawing apps, several pretty powerful, but non of them has warping...

It's probably due to different usage/handling concepts there, or slightly different Apple APIs, since those latest generation iOS platform devices would be CPU/GPU wise powerful enough to handle these things for vectors graphics too. Some iOS tools already do support pixel based distortions so far. - Recently have read that an Amadine version is actually build for iPads too, though I don't know if it's free form distortion feature will then also be ported to iOS.

Also for example Linearity recently added an autotracing feature to their Vectornator software for iPads.

Quote

The app iDraw (nowadays own by Autodesk and renamed to Graphics) hasn’t this after more than eight years development...

New coming software like VectorStyler (actually seems to be in beta), does have such features from start up. Amadine too offered this from ground up. - So I think it's more a matter of the respective software implementers feature priorities here and then too what features the end users would like to see/have and use.

[Mike W077]

Corel Draw (Now for Mac as well as Windows) has had this feature since the 1990s. It would also be great to see dimensioning tools in AD (like 1" equals 1'). They are great for laying out rooms or landscaping. 

[mediumcheese]

amazed this still isn't a thing.

[PhilThis]

Why is this still not a feature? Logo and type designers need this. It's basic. Using a tool like this is even a trend in vintage type and logo design right now.

Does Serif need more $? Engineers? Programmers? Rocket Scientist? I mean, what does it take?

There are 4 pages of request and complaining here for this tool/feature from 4 years ago!

Hate the fact that I have to go back to Illustrator to use a tool like this.

I used to look at the Apple logo and think "okay, I got that figured out, anything else is my fault." Now I open up a Serif app and think, "It's so beautiful and fast. But why are they crippling designers and their software with so many missing key tools and features."

This is basic Serif, B A S I C.

[Mike W077]

Yep. I think the main problem is that the programmers are not end users. They give us what they think we need, not what we really need. Or, they burn the midnight oil to copy some arcane Adobe feature that almost no one uses in real life. Then, they don't listen to their users when we users tell them what we need/want. So, in a way, Adobe is still setting the standard. Look at Publisher, all ready to be an InDesign killer and what do they do? They leave out a fundamental, everyday feature like span columns. People immediately pointed it out, then complained. Nothing has been done. So, now Publisher sits, languishing and unused, in my dock while I still do my regular, money-making work with InDesign. Sad.

Apple was doing the same thing with its MacBook Pros, designing for engineers rather than end-users. They finally started taking end-user comments/suggestions/complaints seriously and the result was the brilliant and praised 16" MacBook Pro. Let's hope Affinity follows Apple's example. 

[When_Subscription]

I too have found the need for such a basic function in Designer. This thread was started back in 2015, it's now 2020 and we still don't have this? I recently ditched Adobe and bought into the hype of Affinity, thinking these guys really care about their customers needs, but reading over posts like these I'm not so sure they do. Whats the point of buying Affinity products if you still need to maintain a Adobe subscription for those occasions when you require such simple functions? This is supposed to be professional level software, yet as a logo designer, I can't fully express my creativity with it.

Don't get me wrong, I love Affinity software and they're near close to perfect, I just wish they'd speed things up already on those missing but essential features. As creators we can only hang on for so long.

[BIOSMonkey]

Saw the release for 1.8,  which I have been waiting for specifically in hopes of adding mesh warp.

Installed it, searched in vain, and immediately wound up in this thread.

Please tell me they added it and I just can't find it...

[Kiarian]

15 minutes ago, BIOSMonkey said:

Saw the release for 1.8,  which I have been waiting for specifically in hopes of adding mesh warp.

Installed it, searched in vain, and immediately wound up in this thread.

Please tell me they added it and I just can't find it...

Text on a path using Affinity Publisher is the only way I can see how to do it using Affinity menus. But then that's been in Publisher since release.
The only other way I think in Designer is to create the text, convert to curves, ungroup group, add as curve, press A then individually pull the nodes to a projected path holding shift.

It's not fun. Affinity must be holding out until version 2.0. There is no logical reason we should be waiting five years for this feature.

[bordercross]

Agreed. They have had this carrot hanging out for quite some time. It is disheartening to know it was not added.

[jgarza]

5 YEARS LATER and NO VECTOR WARP - why people are pissed is because this feature was part of their previous draw program and somehow is not being implemented. Vector warp is a standard feature.

[TLeyva]

I can't believe that I commented on this over a year ago, and it is still a hot button issue! What will it take to get an answer from Affinity about this? The total silence on here from the devs is quite disheartening.

[Mike W077]

It does seem inexplicable. This feature was in Corel Draw in 1998 — 22 years ago. I used to to create logos back then. Count me as one who would like to leave Adobe behind completely too, but can't. In Publisher, did they add Span columns yet? It was one of the key missing features that kept me on InDesign. However, as long as we keep buying the products whether they have these key features or not, what incentive does Affinity have to include them? Part of it might be a desire to have feature for which users will upgrade to 2.0 — which is a foolish way to try to build loyalty — and part of it may be simply a lack of real-world, everyday experience by programmers. They simply don't realize that text warping and spanning columns are vital features because they don't use the programs daily. (And, I have seen so many fanbois arguing as to why you shouldn't need these features... Where do they find these people?)

[BIOSMonkey]

I have to agree that it would seem their feature inclusions are driven by a particular segment of designer. 

If you do general illustration and vector art, well, then perhaps the need for accurate warping is not as strong. 

If you do logos or signage, it is absolutely critical - and a glaring omission from an otherwise pretty solid application.

So while I can maybe forgive an early release of an illustration product from having such a feature - I just can't get past the fact that people have been asking for it for FIVE YEARS and have been met with silence.

 

Affinity offers a nice suite of software for a very reasonable one-time price.   And I have no problem paying for major upgrades IF they add features that reflect a clear commitment to enhancement. 

But despite owning all the Affinity apps, I've given up for now and moved to Adobe CC (which I luckily get from work now).

 

[Jowday]

Quote

“We’re building world leading professional creative apps, striving to inspire the creative industry to think bigger, work faster and create better.”

- https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/careers/

That is "marketing-English" for "We made some pretty good budget software"

[camloken]

I'm beginning to think they can't actually add this feature as it is very complex. They probably need to hire a mathematician who specializes in vectors.

[Mike W077]

Hmmm. That could be. Could it be hired, though?

[GRAFKOM]

Indeed, VectorStyler has everything users have been asking for from 5 years for Serif to implement Affinity, and VectorStyler is currently in beta and only for Mac.
I watched VectorStyler tutorials on Vimeo.

[Psykossi]

Hey! I'm coming from the future and just wanted to inform that it's 2025 and warping text is not yet possible on AD. I wouldn't be worried about it though, because devs told us it's on their roadmap. I was planning to comment on 2015, but couldn't due to the limits of my timemachine, something to do with vectors...

Edited February 29, 2020 by Psykossi

[Kiarian]

I had a scary 'tin foil hat' thought the other day - (insert image of Morpheus looking deadpan into the screen) what if Adobe are paying Affinity to not release a vector text warping function?
 

[TLeyva]

7 minutes ago, Kiarian said:

I had a scary 'tin foil hat' thought the other day - (insert image of Morpheus looking deadpan into the screen) what if Adobe are paying Affinity to not release a vector text warping function?
 

 Kiarian, as much as I'd hate to not believe that, it's possible that you just hit the nail. I had a car that could get 37 miles per gallon in 1990, yet today they "celebrate" when a car can get 30+ miles per gallon, like it's something new! Yes, mega corporations do pay big money to keep progress limited, and to choke out the competition. Autodesk is another evil example. They have bought almost every competitor in order to stay at the top and charge ludicrous subscriptions for their products!

 I hope this is not the case with Affinity, but the cynical part of me is in total agreement.

[Jowday]

Serif sucessfully avoided that business opportunity for 20+ years. They do not pose any threat to Adobe. This is budget software in an entirely different league.

And as you can see with the “huge massive improvements” to strokes and boolean operations there is no technological threat or innovation threat... at.. ALL.

Sometimes the explanation is simple.

[TonyO]

I have kids, and when they act like spoiled brats, I purposely don't give them what they want.

If you people think this software is so awful because of one missing feature in VERSION 1.X, then please just go back to using Adobe and stop being such a jerk in these forums. You won't get what you want by slinging insults.

[Jowday]

Just one? 😀

It would be just great if Serif treated custumors with such lack of professionalism. At their expense.

It is not an insult btw. Back to the point. The product is going nowhere.