Span Columns in Publisher 2 still missing?

[Lord Gareth]

120 / 5 000

 

Am I blind or is Publisher 2 still missing the Span / Split Columns feature that a lot of users have been asking for?

[fde101]

It is missing a lot of things that people have been asking for, so why should this be any different?

It also includes a handful of things not previously present which people had also been asking for.

They can't do everything all at once.

[Uncle Jack]

1 hour ago, fde101 said:

It is missing a lot of things that people have been asking for, so why should this be any different?

It also includes a handful of things not previously present which people had also been asking for.

They can't do everything all at once.

Your answer is like a joke, because Affinity had many years to program span column. By the way: Span column is one of the most important functions for a layout program - and Affinity is so stupid to continue to ignore this. Publisher is not made for professionals. And it is clear that I will stay with Adobe InDesign!

[fde101]

18 minutes ago, Uncle Jack said:

Span column is one of the most important functions for a layout program

For what subset of its users?

I would argue that global layers, cross-reference support and right-to-left language support are BY FAR more important to get right than spanning columns, and they don't have those working yet either.

This type of software is used in *many* professions, not just yours (whatever that happens to be), and not all of them have the same requirements from such software.

The lack of this feature may prevent it from being useful to you (or perhaps makes it less convenient to use), but for many potential users it won't mean anything as they would never use it anyway.

[Uncle Jack]

16 minutes ago, fde101 said:

For what subset of its users?

I am a professional and layout books and magazines.

[fde101]

8 minutes ago, Uncle Jack said:

I am a professional and layout books and magazines.

If you are producing magazines, then I tend to agree that the lack of this feature will hit you much harder than it will hit people who produce, for a few examples off the top of my head:

• Novels
• Recipe books
• Technical documentation
• Product catalogs
• Calendars
• Instruction manuals
• Many types of corporate handouts
• Bibles
• CD case inserts

[garrettm30]

2 hours ago, Uncle Jack said:

Span column is one of the most important functions for a layout program

I agree, but for a little perspective, it is interesting to see how many similar statements “X is one of the most important/basic features” I have seen in just the last 2 hours, all with many different X features. That is not at all to say that any or maybe all of them are not important, but just to point out that Serif cannot do it all at once.

Indeed, I am on your side: column span is a feature I do look forward to eventually being added. I don’t see it as “absolutely essential,” as even the big 2 DTP apps lacked it for many years. Of course, you could also say that by the same logic, a sewing machine is not essential to a tailor, as tailors made many fine clothes for centuries without one. Or probably I should make some example of a car without brakes: it is amazing how many different features have been likened to the brakes of a car on this forum. I digress…

I can say that for me personally, going without column span is sometimes extra hassle, or perhaps I decide to go a different direction in design because of its lack than I otherwise might have done. But for perspective, I have also had a few other “essential/imporant/basic” features that have been finally met with this update, and I am content with that forward progress, with the understanding that the progress does not stop here. I don’t think the “it’s one of the most important functions” argument does much, because Serif is probably pretty near immune to them by now, after they have heard them so many times about so many things.

[jjk]

I am also very disappointed by that lack. I don't understand neither why Serif ignores that feature which is essential even vital for magazine publishers like me.

Because the workarounds written in this forum are very hard to use, and surely not elegant at all.

So I have to keep still Indesign. Too shame.

Pray to have that in v 2.1

[Herby49]

Ich erstelle einen wöchentlich erscheinenden Newsletter, der als eBook über Yumpu.com veröffentlicht wird. Auch ich hatte gehofft, das Überschriften über mehrere Spalten in der neuen Version 2 enthalten sind. Leider ist das nicht der Fall. In der ganzen Suite habe ich für mich wenig bis gar nichts gefunden, das die Version besser macht, abgesehen von einem neuen Design und einer insgesamt verbesserten Oberfläche. Allerdings ist der Preis für die Upgrades aller drei Affinity-Programme mit 119,- € auch relaziv gering. Dennoch: Bevor ich weitere Upgrades "blind" kaufen werde, werde ich in Zukunft erst mal genau die neuen Features anschauen.

[IanButty]

I must say, the first thing I thought when I heard about v2.0 was "Ooh... I hope we get column span" - the lack of that feature is the one big frustration I had since moving over from Adobe InDesign to Affinity Publisher.

[captain_slocum]

Like others I am underwhelmed by this 2.0 release. Lack of column span and still no table to text or text to table and no flowing tables are enough to keep me with InDesign. I have been a DTP professional for 35 years, I know what is needed and what is not. One monthly mag I produce would take me a lot longer without those features (and lead to errors). As a flyer app it is very capable and I have supported it, and offered my professional advice for some time, but I just get ignored. It is a great pity. If they had listened to the professionals who use this to make a living, they would by now have an InDesign replacement.