Affinity Publisher

[Herojas93]

Hi guys,

 

I know you are under pressure with all the projects you have but if I can ask:

 

When we could have the first beta of Affinity Publisher?

I'm so excited to see all it can offer.

 

Thanks for your hard work.

[DWright]

Hi Herojas93,

 

The beta for Affinity Publisher is expected around the end of 2016 and we will make an announcement closer to this date.

[Gaz]

 

 

I'm so excited to see all it can offer.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the Beta as well.

 

Creating a DTP package from scratch must be incredibly difficult. Adobe took years developing theirs and InDesign 1.0 was horrible. Best not to rush things.  :)

[peterdanckwerts]

I'm looking forward to seeing the Beta as well.

 

Creating a DTP package from scratch must be incredibly difficult. Adobe took years developing theirs and InDesign 1.0 was horrible. Best not to rush things.  :)

InDesign CC (2015) is pretty good but the subscription is killing me.

[Peterkaosa]

InDesign CC (2015) is pretty good but the subscription is killing me.

Reason for most of us sticking and believing in affinity. 

[pxlgirl]

The day Publisher can replace InDesign will be a day to celebrate for so many of us. Too bad the release got rescheduled. :(

[djluther]

I agree - there is a huge need in the Mac market for a feature rich affordable DTP.  Count me into the Beta when it's ready and I will also be recommending purchase of the final product to all my clients!

[Gaz]

InDesign CC (2015) is pretty good but the subscription is killing me.

Yeah, subscription is a nice idea (for Adobe), but not for me. I wish them luck, but after 25 years of buying and using their products I, for one, am switching to something more reasonably priced.

 

I've weaned myself off Photoshop and I'm in the process of weaning myself of Illustrator. If I can add InDesign to the mix then that would be amazing. I don't think Publisher will be an InDesign killer for a while though. It'll probably take a couple of versions before it has most of the features we're looking for. I get the feeling this product will hit the ground jogging and build up to a run, in subsequent years. But an Adobe free future looks more plausible.  :)

[Frances Proctor]

What kind of export features will publisher have?  Will it be able to do e-books?  will it have things like master pages, booklet layout (in folios for printing?

[Fixx]

So far there is little information about Publisher, probably because project is complicated and takes time. And I would think even developers are not sure what features will make to first release.

 

I would think PDF export is sure thing, but making it robust takes effort. (I would like PDF export to have image scaling (to optimal size like in Adobe products) BUT INCLUDE SHARPENING ROUTINE to ensure optimal sharpness.)

 

Epub export would be nice and it is probable. What version, that is the question. Epub3 is not as easy as 2. (Epub2 is mostly very simple HTML. In creating it most trouble is TO GET RID OF too complicated code, not writing it.)

 

Master pages and paragraph styles everyone consider to be a must in page layout app.

 

I would say booklet export is not something professionals use very much, on the other hand I would think it is easy to implement.

 

I heard paragraph level H&J (HZ-algorithm) is not included, which is bad. After all, all we ever want is beautiful typesetting.

[MEB]

Hi Angelize,

 

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

We are still months away of Publisher's Public Beta.

There will be more information closer to Beta's release.

Stay tuned.

[Tia Lapis]

Months - Really? Does that mean the beta has moved even further to the future then before? 8(

 

It is really getting hard to wait for it... But what did I expect, the Windows port DID take resources that are missing for the Mac development.

[andy-in-mke]

Yeah, subscription is a nice idea (for Adobe), but not for me. I wish them luck, but after 25 years of buying and using their products I, for one, am switching to something more reasonably priced.

 

I've weaned myself off Photoshop and I'm in the process of weaning myself of Illustrator. If I can add InDesign to the mix then that would be amazing. I don't think Publisher will be an InDesign killer for a while though. It'll probably take a couple of versions before it has most of the features we're looking for. I get the feeling this product will hit the ground jogging and build up to a run, in subsequent years. But an Adobe free future looks more plausible.  :)

 

The acid test will come in a few years when Affinity’s software suite is sufficiently competitive to draw a buyout offer from Adobe, which I can easily imagine given the quality and reasonable pricing of Affinity products to date. When Adobe comes knocking with buckets of cash for the Affinity executive team, what’s gonna happen next?

[CEEBEE]

Can't wait for this to be released - i've used Page Plus on the PC since 98 ... Yep 1998 i think it was version 7 or something ... from the little old warehouse in Nottingham! ...

 

Now all grown up we're Mac Users and I've used PP via Parallels for years.

 

I only hope that the MAC version will be compatible with .ppp files. (pretty please) my only request.  

 

BTW i use X9 everyday ... In my opinion it's way better, easier and friendlier than any Adobe product on the market.

[MEB]

Hi CEEBEE,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

I'm sorry to disappoint you but there's no plans to add support for .ppp files in Affinity apps. PagePlus is not under active development anymore.

You should be able to export your projects from PagePlus as PDF or SVG, import them in Affinity (with some loss) and rebuild them from there while you transition between the two.

[Oval]

Does that mean the beta has moved even further to the future then before? 8(

 

Yes.

 

Bingo.

[vonBusing]

Yes.

 

Bingo.

 

Ouch. Not even saying when in 2017. Could just be at least another year to wait...

[MikeW]

Ouch. Not even saying when in 2017. Could just be at least another year to wait...

 

Yep. Never make plans on vaporware.

[vonBusing]

Yep. Never make plans on vaporware.

 

Although the thought struck me, I didn't really want to use that word. Making a reasonably equipped desktop publishing app to really compete with the big guy(s?) on the market is no easy task. I'm quite confident Serif will pull it out, eventually. 

[MikeW]

Although the thought struck me, I didn't really want to use that word. Making a reasonably equipped desktop publishing app to really compete with the big guy(s?) on the market is no easy task. I'm quite confident Serif will pull it out, eventually. 

 

While I don't expect it will take Serif the amount of time that PagePlus took over its 19 versions to get to a useful state (and PP doesn't fully compete as is with ID/QXP), it will take years before APub will compete with ID or QXP or whatever one's choice of layout applications is.

 

I will likely be fully retired before that point. But even so, it may well turn out to be a great layout application for those still in the trenches.

 

Mike

[Jim Monson]

I'll add my two cents to the above who eagerly await the release of Affinity Publisher. You folks do great work at a reasonable cost, unlike Adobe who attempts to do too many things, fails at doing a few things right and charges an arm and a leg. How Acrobat has evolved is a mess for us who have followed it for past decades. Illustrator crashes when working with complex docs. InDesign is much better, but I feel confident that you folks at Serif can produce an even better product for us. Keep up the good work!

[MikeW]

Definitely I will export a book of 500 pages in SVG format from my PPX9 and then import in Affinity.

 

What an idea......

 

Thanks a lot. 

 

Thing is for me, if I have a revision to a previous work, I'll use the original application unless porting it is required and/or it isn't much of a hassle. Ever try to get a Ventura file into PP?

 

But I will use a new version of whatever to do new work as I see fit.

 

If I live long enough to see a useful version of APub and am still working then, I'll follow the above routine just like I have done since the late 1980s.

 

Mike

[MikeW]

I figured as much, Arun. Us two "non-professionals" can make it work!

 

Yeah, the idea of moving a publication via an image format such as SVG would only really work for a flier or couple-sided brochure. Even a PDF better not be too involved and not use transparency (unless they rectify how transparency is resolved in an imported file).

 

It's one thing for having import/export filters for collaborative art or small design publications between applications. It is entirely a different thing to open/import longer, more involved work. Moving a larger publication from one application to another can be either viewed as masochistic or a lot of labor. It is only worth moving even a 32-page brochure (just completed one) if there is absolutely no other option.

 

And I (almost) always have other options.

 

Mike

[Gaz]

InDesign CC (2015) is pretty good but the subscription is killing me.

I basically dropped Adobe at CS6. I knew they would do well with their subscription service, as there are always people with more money than sense and I expect that, post-brexit, they will love the way the subscription climbs and climbs as the £ de-values.

 

I used to upgrade two CS seats every 2 or 3 years, but I'd rather change career than resort to subscribing to Adobe's software.

[Gaz]

We are still months away of Publisher's Public Beta.

There will be more information closer to Beta's release.

Stay tuned.

 

It's important that everything is right before it's released, no point releasing a buggy piece of software. As a developer, I understand software will be ready when it's ready.

I think the Beta was originally planned for late 2015. When you say months, are we talking far into 2017 as an estimate ?  :)