So I started a trial of Illustrator on the ipad……

[Mark Freeman]

…. I needed it to provide a client with AI files, so thought I’d give it a go. Initially I was impressed with a few things, rulers being the main feature, but overall?? Affinity is substantially better! The interface is way more intuitive, there is more functionality, keyboard/mouse integration and, my assumption was that AI would have free transform, which it did not. I know that AD has been on the ipad for longer, but unless AI has a dramatic rethink of it’s interface, I will chose AD every time, and subscribe to AI only when completely necessary. So great job Serif! If you can integrate rulers, and have more options when it comes to the artboard background (it’s way too bright), include more keyboard shortcuts, and possibly work out free transform (I’m starting to doubt it’s possible for ipad though?), then you would have even more of a superior product. I’m even more happy I can more legitimately resent Adobe for their business model.

[MoonaticDestiny]

2 hours ago, Mark Freeman said:

If you can integrate rulers

😂

[Alfred]

37 minutes ago, Mark Freeman said:

more options when it comes to the artboard background (it’s way too bright)

An artboard can have any fill colour you like (applied via the Colour Studio).

[wonderings]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:09 AM, Mark Freeman said:

…. I needed it to provide a client with AI files, so thought I’d give it a go. Initially I was impressed with a few things, rulers being the main feature, but overall?? Affinity is substantially better! The interface is way more intuitive, there is more functionality, keyboard/mouse integration and, my assumption was that AI would have free transform, which it did not. I know that AD has been on the ipad for longer, but unless AI has a dramatic rethink of it’s interface, I will chose AD every time, and subscribe to AI only when completely necessary. So great job Serif! If you can integrate rulers, and have more options when it comes to the artboard background (it’s way too bright), include more keyboard shortcuts, and possibly work out free transform (I’m starting to doubt it’s possible for ipad though?), then you would have even more of a superior product. I’m even more happy I can more legitimately resent Adobe for their business model.

I think you would need to spend much more time with both to really see the differences and what each is better and worse at. That being said, Adobe has going for it that it is the standard. You have seen this yourself, your client wants .AI files because they are used everywhere and are the standard for vector work. This is not going to change anytime soon and if you are working or collaborating with other people you may find you need an Adobe subscription in order to properly work with them. 

[Mark Freeman]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:37 AM, MoonaticDestiny said:

😂

What’s so funny?

[Mark Freeman]

On 8/9/2022 at 7:55 AM, wonderings said:

I think you would need to spend much more time with both to really see the differences and what each is better and worse at. That being said, Adobe has going for it that it is the standard. You have seen this yourself, your client wants .AI files because they are used everywhere and are the standard for vector work. This is not going to change anytime soon and if you are working or collaborating with other people you may find you need an Adobe subscription in order to properly work with them. 

I think you’re being presumptious about how much time I’d require to compare, especially when I was referring primarily to the basic interface, but even more complex stuff like stroke pressure (which I use a ton) is more intuitive. As much as AI can do on the desktop, their mobile version needs some work. I had a fairly good look around and stand by my comparison. And if a client needs more than an svg, I’ll pay the $9 no F***’s given. Not entirely sure why you’re on here other than to simp for the “industry standard”. Sometimes creatives require tools that are more intuitive, that’s the point I was making, and as I said, stand by.

[Mark Freeman]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:48 AM, Alfred said:

An artboard can have any fill colour you like (applied via the Colour Studio).

Thanks man. I don’t suppose you can do me a favor and lmk where in the studio, for the life of me I can’t see any options referring to the artboard background. Cheers!

[Alfred]

5 minutes ago, Mark Freeman said:

Thanks man. I don’t suppose you can do me a favor and lmk where in the studio, for the life of me I can’t see any options referring to the artboard background. Cheers!

It isn’t specific to artboards. An artboard is merely a special kind of layer/object, so (just like, say, a rectangle) you can simply select it and apply a fill colour.

[Mark Freeman]

On 8/14/2022 at 8:06 AM, Alfred said:

It isn’t specific to artboards. An artboard is merely a special kind of layer/object, so (just like, say, a rectangle) you can simply select it and apply a fill colour.

Yeah, I don’t think we’re on the same page, this is what I’m referring to, the background is definitely not an object. But happy to be wrong.

 

[Alfred]

56 minutes ago, Mark Freeman said:

the background is definitely not an object

If you look at the Layers Studio you can see that the artboard (i.e. the background) definitely is an object!

 

 

[Mark Freeman]

3 hours ago, Alfred said:

If you look at the Layers Studio you can see that the artboard (i.e. the background) definitely is an object!

If I were to say you were wrong about that I would be lying, but alas, I wasn’t referring to the artboard itself, I was referring to the artboard background, and no amount of i.e’s are going to persuade me otherwise I’m afraid. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume I was right that it couldn’t be altered after all, and that serif should either keep it the same shade as a normal document background, or allow us to alter it ourselves. Again, though happy to be wrong. Here’s a further pictorial example aaaajustincase. 

[GarryP]

I think there may be some confusion regarding nomenclature.

Alfred, I think, is referring to the background (fill) colour of any specific Artboard, whereas you seem to be referring to the “Artboard Background” which, according to the software, is the area ‘outside’ of all of the Artboards, something often called the ‘pasteboard’ (but not by Serif in this case, apparently, for some reason).

So we have artboards, each of which can have a different background, and we also have an Artboard Background which doesn’t refer to any specific Artboard. Not the best naming convention in the world.

I don’t know about iPad, but the “Artboard Background” colour (actually just a shade of grey) can be set on Desktop via Preferences / User Interface.

[Alfred]

33 minutes ago, GarryP said:

something often called the ‘pasteboard’ (but not by Serif in this case, apparently, for some reason)

Hmm. In the past, Serif always used the term ‘pasteboard’ for the area around the pages or the canvas.

33 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I don’t know about iPad, but the “Artboard Background” colour (actually just a shade of grey) can be set on Desktop via Preferences / User Interface.

It’s similar on iPad: ‘Preferences > Interface > Background Grey Level’. As you’ve indicated, Garry, it can be any colour you like as long as it’s grey!

[GarryP]

“Pasteboard” seems to be a better name than “Artboard Background”, which is quite confusing.
But then, what would the “Background” be called (when artboards are not being used)?

A little ‘tightening of the terminology’ wouldn’t go amiss here I think.

[Alfred]

4 minutes ago, GarryP said:

“Pasteboard” seems to be a better name than “Artboard Background”, which is quite confusing.
But then, what would the “Background” be called (when artboards are not being used)?

I can’t see a problem with consistently calling it the pasteboard. Am I missing something?

 

[GarryP]

Serif have ‘split’ the ‘background fills’ into two settings in Preferences / User Interface, currently “Background Grey Level” (when there are no artboards) and “Artboard Background Grey Level” (when there are artboards). Image attached so people can more-easily follow along.

I don’t know why there are two different settings, maybe it was requested in the past or maybe it’s how the Plus range worked, or something else. Personally I think it’s okay to have two different settings, I’m not against that at all.

I’m just wondering, if “Artboard Background Grey Level” was renamed to “Pasteboard Grey Level”, what “Background Grey Level” would be called, so the two aren’t further confused.

[Mark Freeman]

On 8/18/2022 at 4:19 AM, GarryP said:

“Pasteboard” seems to be a better name than “Artboard Background”, which is quite confusing.
But then, what would the “Background” be called (when artboards are not being used)?

A little ‘tightening of the terminology’ wouldn’t go amiss here I think.

Yup, my bad, was unaware of the terminology, but frankly I can’t imagine why anyone would be confused since simply changing the colour of the artboard background as opposed to the “pasteboard” is elementary af.