Is there a [NO!] PDF manual for [NO!] Affinity Publisher? [NO! I said.]

[TheOtherRoland]

Hello, fellow Affinitizens. I've been using Affinity products since the early 1900's and don't recall there being a PDF manual.

I know there's an online manual. But what if there's an apocalypse and all the electricity goes out? What then, huh, Mr. Smarty Pants?

I'm not that lost for answers, but I'm curious if anyone has [NO!] made any efforts to [NO!] make a [NO!] ... oh, never mind.

Just having some fun with this information super highway thing. But I'm curious, is this an evil ploy to get us buying that print edition book; you know, the one that costs as much as a small car? Is there a secret Affinity cabal behind keeping information in pdf form out of our hands? Perhaps someone can run with this as an idea for a new novel? (Just mention me in the dedication).

[walt.farrell]

19 minutes ago, TheOtherRoland said:

But what if there's an apocalypse and all the electricity goes out? What then, huh, Mr. Smarty Pants?

If you still have enough power to use the apps you can use the built-in Help

[TheOtherRoland]

No can do. I've noticed a spike in my backup generator when clicking on that link. (It's drawing too much power from the di-lithium crystals, captain!)

Okay, jokes aside, I've probably used that feature on a number of occasions —  in addition to online tuts, etc. — but I guess I'm spoiled with always having had a nice large, picture laden PDF file to stare at in most other apps.

Perhaps using the traditional bribe system will get them onboard. I'll start with an offer of $3.00 (CDN, not USD).

 

[TheOtherRoland]

I just gave it a second look — that "thing" you spoke of in the help menu with the tiny font in the TOC. It's okay I suppose. If I press command + on my Mac, I can get the font to enlarge enough to read; my eyes aren't what they used to be in terms of reading small print these days. [Note to self: get an eye transplant.]

I just upgraded to v2, so it's more like a knee jerk reflex thing: "I need a manual." And then I start reading the help files and realize 1/2 the stuff I need to know isn't there anyway. (Manuals have a habit of not going into forensic detail.)

Okay, enough of this silliness. Back to work.

[MikeTO]

1 hour ago, TheOtherRoland said:

I just gave it a second look — that "thing" you spoke of in the help menu with the tiny font in the TOC. It's okay I suppose. If I press command + on my Mac, I can get the font to enlarge enough to read; my eyes aren't what they used to be in terms of reading small print these days. [Note to self: get an eye transplant.]

You may wish to consider reading the online help on the website: https://affinity.help

[TheOtherRoland]

19 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

You may wish to consider reading the online help on the website: https://affinity.help

Thanks Mike. But my initial grumble fest was about having to be online for that information — whereas a PDF gives you a little freedom from being tethered to the modem.

The in-app help for APub is okay. Not as good as a PDF though because you have a number of options, including "+" in the menu.

If I could have the ONLINE version of the manual as a PDF (not as single printed pages as they offer) then I'd be happy with that. Can't be too hard to make that happen, can it?

[dominik]

5 hours ago, TheOtherRoland said:

If I could have the ONLINE version of the manual as a PDF (not as single printed pages as they offer) then I'd be happy with that. Can't be too hard to make that happen, can it?

Hello @TheOtherRoland,

converting a website into a PDF is possible. There are (free) online tools available and you could try these (search for 'website to pdf'). But I think this may not work too well because a website works different than a PDF file.

I would try one of those (free) programs that mirror (= download) a website locally to your computer. That way you can browse the original help pages without an internet connection. Look for WebCopy or HTTrack.

d.

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, dominik said:

I would try one of those (free) programs that mirror (= download) a website locally to your computer. That way you can browse the original help pages without an internet connection. Look for WebCopy or HTTrack.

The built-in Help is already on your computer as HTML files, unless you're using the iPad version of the applications. You simply need to navigate to them with a web browser and open the root file. No need to mirror anything down.

[dominik]

2 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

The built-in Help is already on your computer as HTML files, unless you're using the iPad version of the applications. You simply need to navigate to them with a web browser and open the root file. No need to mirror anything down.

Thanks for pointing this out. I had forgotten about this fact.

d.

[thomaso]

8 hours ago, TheOtherRoland said:

But my initial grumble fest was about having to be online for that information — whereas a PDF gives you a little freedom from being tethered to the modem.

The in-app help for APub is okay. Not as good as a PDF though because you have a number of options, including "+" in the menu.

For offline reading you can alternatively open the in-app help in a browser, too. On a mac you find it in the app's package file that you can access via right-click. Then an URL for the browser is for instance for APub V1:

file:///Applications/Affinity%20Publisher.app/Contents/Resources/AffinityPublisher.help/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/index.html

Not sure which "+" option you have in mind.

[v_kyr]

And as an alternative in DE ...

• Affinity Publisher 2 - E-Book
• Affinity Photo 2.1 Update: alle Neuerungen
• ... etc.

 

[TheOtherRoland]

4 hours ago, v_kyr said:

And as an alternative in DE ...

 

• Affinity Publisher 2 - E-Book
• Affinity Photo 2.1 Update: alle Neuerungen
• ... etc.

 

Yes, for the price of a small car...you can now own your very own manual.   I'm just joking around. But on a rare serious note: Blender offers a web-based version of their manual but also an ebook version — the core of which is html; I know because I create my own ebooks as well.

I'm just saying, I shouldn't have to "McGyver" something from 3rd party software just to get an independent users manual for Affinity stuff.

As I've said, I've used the in-app help menu in the past and it's been helpful. But even that is tethered to the app itself, whereas PDFs (and ebooks) are "free range."

[PaoloT]

I make manuals, and as of now I’ve been asked to deliver them as PDF files (but I’m working to also release them as web help sites).

Just yesterday someone complained because we don't release our 1600+ pages manuals as printed books. When I objected that this would make updates very complicate, I was offered the hint to release the base big book, plus all the updates as separate leaflets.

This is something I actually did in the past, when working for a different company, and I remember ending with some twenty bigger or smaller books to be checked to understand a mature product, each one containing contrasting information.

I love web help and silent updates…

Paolo

 

 

[TheOtherRoland]

9 minutes ago, PaoloT said:

I make manuals, and as of now I’ve been asked to deliver them as PDF files (but I’m working to also release them as web help sites).

snip [...]

Paolo

I have no idea how big the manual would be for Publisher. But I also use audio apps such as Cubase and Digital Performer, which have traditionally had very large pdf manuals. I think from a user's perspective the manual size is not an issue, but from the coding/creation side, I can understand why silent online updates are a preferable setup. Saves time and is easier to organize. Totally agree.

[v_kyr]

29 minutes ago, TheOtherRoland said:

Yes, for the price of a small car...you can now own your very own manual.

Wrong, for the price of an one tank filling! 😉

30 minutes ago, TheOtherRoland said:

I'm just saying, I shouldn't have to "McGyver" something from 3rd party software just to get an independent users manual for Affinity stuff.

As I've said, I've used the in-app help menu in the past and it's been helpful. But even that is tethered to the app itself, whereas PDFs (and ebooks) are "free range."

All nothing new here and a bunch of people are demanding this since aons, but it's entirely Affinity's part to do some PDFs and offer those alternatively as downloads for their software too!

[Grant Robertson]

22 hours ago, TheOtherRoland said:

Thanks Mike. But my initial grumble fest was about having to be online for that information — whereas a PDF gives you a little freedom from being tethered to the modem.

The in-app help for APub is okay. Not as good as a PDF though because you have a number of options, including "+" in the menu.

If I could have the ONLINE version of the manual as a PDF (not as single printed pages as they offer) then I'd be happy with that. Can't be too hard to make that happen, can it?

Oh, I've given EXTENSIVE list of reasons why providing a .PDF file is far superior to an online help file. Not least of which is that one can never be sure that one has seen every page of the documentation in a web-based help file. There will always be some page that you can only get to if you happen to find that one link buried in a paragraph that you thought you didn't need to read. I don't like Dungeons and Dragons. I don't want to have to play it to find all of the pages of the documentation. 

My suspicion is that companies don't like .PDF documentation because A) They want to be able to change the documentation without anyone noticing, and B) They don't want to pay for the additional utility that would generate the .PDF file from the base-source of the documentation.

[PaoloT]

On 7/16/2023 at 2:51 AM, Grant Robertson said:

There will always be some page that you can only get to if you happen to find that one link buried in a paragraph that you thought you didn't need to read.

I think this is one of the nicest things in a hypertext: you learn by following your own path. No need to read what you don't need, or aren't interested to. If while using a software/device/product you feel you lack information, you can go back to the manual, do a little search, and start a new path of discovery.

Paolo

 

[Grant Robertson]

20 hours ago, PaoloT said:

I think this is one of the nicest things in a hypertext: you learn by following your own path. No need to read what you don't need, or aren't interested to. If while using a software/device/product you feel you lack information, you can go back to the manual, do a little search, and start a new path of discovery.

Paolo

 

It's not a bug. It's a Feature!   😭🤦

[PaoloT]

12 minutes ago, Grant Robertson said:

It's not a bug. It's a Feature!

Hypertext has been invented to go though the magnum opus of St. Thomas. The older way was to read each page of the gigantic collection of writings, one after one. The new way was to connect ideas and themes, and get a holistic view on what Thomas had to say about them.

The new way doesn't replace the older one. It's just much more efficient.

But I assume anyone is free, for example, to browse the web page after page, without using that buggy idea from Tim Berners-Lee.

Paolo

 

[MikeTO]