Unofficial PDF Manual - Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher

[MikeTO]

Updated for Publisher 2.5 (May 2024)

This free in-depth manual is filled with steps, tips, and recommendations for:

• Documents, Pages, Master Pages, Sections, and Baseline Grid
• Character and Paragraph Formatting
• Text Styles (paragraph and character)
• Text Frames, Text Flow, and Stories
• Images and Picture Frames
• Books and Chapters
• Cross-References, Table of Contents, and Index
• Notes - including Footnotes, Sidenotes, and Endnotes
• Fields - including Page Numbering, Running Headers, and Custom Variables
• Anchors and Hyperlinks
• Printing and Exporting
• Settings
• New for this edition: Getting Started, Variable Fonts, a Dutch, Polish, and Ukrainian terminology dictionary, and more

This manual does not cover other types of objects, path and photo editing, or the other artistic features.

You can find the 335-page PDF manual in the Tutorials area of this forum:

 

Edited May 23 by MikeTO

[MikeTO]

An updated version is now available with 30 more pages on printing, exporting, colour settings, and more.

 

[Archangel]

5 hours ago, MikeTO said:

An updated version is now available with 30 more pages on printing, exporting, colour settings, and more.

 

Thank you @MikeTO You are a legend.

[MxHeppa]

Thanks allready how you made mac keyboard symbols what you use? to tell keyboard keyboard shortcuts.

 

[Oufti]

24 minutes ago, MxHeppa said:

how you made mac keyboard symbols what you use? to tell keyboard keyboard shortcuts.

These characters are Unicode (Technical symbols) :

⌘ U+2318

⇧ U+21E7

⌥ U+2325

⌫ U+232B

and so on…

To introduce them, you can use the Glyph manager or type their code U+…, followed by menu Text > Activate Unicode (or ⌃U)

— Mike did some more work on it to mimic a keyboard key… 

[MikeTO]

Oufti is correct, they can be typed by entering the glyph unicode values.

Tip: If you don't do this often and can't be bothered doing it the normal way, just google the key name (e.g., "command key Mac") and Google will probably show you the glyph in the first hit. Then you can copy and paste it into Publisher.

You can use a lot of fonts to format these characters but I used SF Compact Text in the manual.

Cheers

[MxHeppa]

On 10/9/2023 at 2:54 AM, Oufti said:

These characters are Unicode (Technical symbols) :

⌘ U+2318

⇧ U+21E7

⌥ U+2325

⌫ U+232B

and so on…

To introduce them, you can use the Glyph manager or type their code U+…, followed by menu Text > Activate Unicode (or ⌃U)

— Mike did some more work on it to mimic a keyboard key… 

i think key simulation realiely easy. but huge thanks.

[MikeTO]

New version! I have uploaded a new version of my unofficial Publisher manual. In addition to being updated for the changes in Publisher 2.3, this version covers character and paragraph formatting, text styles, and all the other text-related features. It is 120 pages longer than the original.

Although it's written for Publisher, most of the text features are the same for Designer or Photo so you may find it useful for the other Affinity applications, too.

Cheers

 

[jmwellborn]

@MikeTO This is what I have been hoping for! Your manual has been absolutely terrific, but the text styles stuff has been my bugaboo since Publisher first arrived. Not that the Text Styles panel isn’t useful. Just “how in the world does it work?” As is the case with everything about Affinity, there is such a plethora of wonderful options that one can get lost in the forest when searching for a tree. Being one of those fossils who learn most quickly from reading vs watching, the Help sections have been consistently underwhelming. I am so thankful for your elegant PDF manual. In one instance, I found the solution for a problem in a matter of seconds on one of your pages for which I had searched again and again, in vain, in Publisher Help and on the forums. Can’t wait to delve into this newest iteration! Thank you so much for the massive amount of work and effort you have expended to help us all.  And Merry Christmas!

[Oufti]

Hello @MikeTO, Thank you once again for this wonderful work!

Having read the section Text styles, I have not seen in it a tip that I find very handy if you need to “transfer” formatting from a style to another. (It's useful, for example, when you copy text from elsewhere and you want to update existing styles accordingly, or when you come to juggle with predefined TOC text styles) :

When some text is selected, you can update any other style via the burger menu on its right side in the Text styles panel, so this style will reflect the current formatting.

I know you don't want to include too many or too lengthy tips but I thought this could be worth sharing it to others, in this topic at least. 

[MikeTO]

18 minutes ago, Oufti said:

Having read the section Text styles, I have not seen in it a tip that I find very handy if you need to “transfer” formatting from a style to another. (It's useful, for example, when you copy text from elsewhere and you want to update existing styles accordingly, or when you come to juggle with predefined TOC text styles) :

When some text is selected, you can update any other style via the burger menu on its right side in the Text styles panel, so this style will reflect the current formatting.

Thanks!

I'll add a tip for step 2, bullet 2 of "To update a text style to match the current formatting" on page 125 to clarify that you can update any style and not just the current style.

[Oufti]

I want to express my gratitude to you because you try to understand and then say better than I do what I intend. 😁

[MikeTO]

New version available for Publisher 2.4: 

I have uploaded a new version of my unofficial Publisher manual to the Tutorials forum. This version has a chapter on images and picture frames as well as additional pages on exporting to PDF for digital publishers, the Tags panel, more OpenType features, and a few other features. Now 300 pages.

Most of the features are the same for Designer or Photo so you may find it useful for Designer and Photo, too.

Cheers

 

[AllanP]

@MikeTO - belated thanks for the 2.4 update to your great user manual resource. I really appreciate what you've done here.

I particularly like the clear section on Books and Chapters, explaining the limitations regarding the merging of sections/chapters where consideration needs to be given to the presence (or not) od blank pages between sections/chapters. 

regards,

[Godzilla]

Much appreciate. This manual is a godsend. I've printed many pages to read offline and I've shared the link to this thread several times on social media. Your efforts are very much appreciated by the community.

Will you need to do any updates for 2.4.1?

[MikeTO]

9 minutes ago, Godzilla said:

Will you need to do any updates for 2.4.1?

There were no changes to functionality in 2.4.1 aside from the new Lessons or Samples in the New Document dialog.

I don't know what will be in 2.5 but I'll update the manual again then so check back for a new version of the manual each time a 2.x release happens.

Cheers

[Godzilla]

Thank you. If I might suggest a small addition to a future release...

On P. 35 explaining the start position of the baseline grid: for most uses it's more practical to have the grid align relative to the top margin. That way it aligns with the area(s) where the text will be placed. Having it align to the top of the page can lead to the baseline in the text area starting awkwardly (only a partial grid space).

 

[MikeTO]

2 hours ago, Godzilla said:

On P. 35 explaining the start position of the baseline grid: for most uses it's more practical to have the grid align relative to the top margin. That way it aligns with the area(s) where the text will be placed. Having it align to the top of the page can lead to the baseline in the text area starting awkwardly (only a partial grid space).

Thank you, I could have explained that better so I'll improve that section. The reason top of spread is the default is that you're expected to align the margins to the baseline grid, too. (I could never use Top Margin, I feel compelled to align my margins to the spread's baseline grid.) But the Help system and my manual don't explain that that so I'll explain when to use top of spread vs. top margin.

Thanks

[Godzilla]

Thanks again. I am not in agreement with you on the alignment of the baseline, however. I can't see why it would be better to align with the page than the margins if there will be no text outside the margins. What purpose does the grid serve outside them? And doesn't that require the user to reset the default margins to fit the baseline rather than the other way around? I look forward to reading your explanation.

My reasoning: I want an exact 1" margin at the top and bottom of my page to handle running heads (1" is pretty standard in book publishing — I'm working with imperial because book and paper sizes in North America are still in inches and most publishers/printers are not going to switch to metric any time soon). My body text is 11pt with a 13pt leading. Aligning the grid (13pt) with the top (0-0) of the page means the first baseline in the text area begins 5.54pts below the top margin. The first line of text will then begin 18.54pt below the margin. If I align the margin with the baseline, it is either too high or too low (admittedly only by 5.54 or 18.54 pts).

I have also calculated chapter headlines at 24pt with a narrow 26pt leading to accommodate the baseline (still looking for a suitable typeface for that tightness however) to start at a fixed location approx 3.4in or 19 baselines below the top of each opening page for a 6x9 book (or 3 in/17 baselines for 5x8 book). I am tinkering with golden ratio proportions; if I set the baseline at the top of the page, it alters those measurements slightly.

My experience doing newspaper layout in the early '90s was using flats and pasting printed/waxed columns on them, aligned with the pre-printed (in non-repo blue) grid of the flat. To the best of my recollection, the grid was not printed in the margins, only in the columns (i.e. within the margins). Yes, I know, that was back during the Ice Ages (paste-up is a lost art...). But it makes sense to me that way.

Anyway, thanks again for the manual. I have found it an excellent source of information. I hope Affinty/Canva recognize your effort and recompense you for it. It should be included with the program (and someone should be found to do the same for Designer and Photo, but I digress...)

Cheers

Ian

 

[MikeTO]

1 hour ago, Godzilla said:

Thanks again. I am not in agreement with you on the alignment of the baseline, however. I can't see why it would be better to align with the page than the margins if there will be no text outside the margins. What purpose does the grid serve outside them? And doesn't that require the user to reset the default margins to fit the baseline rather than the other way around? I look forward to reading your explanation.

It doesn't matter and it's likely no better, but I prefer the header and footer to align to the same baseline grid as the body text. It just 'feels' right to me. Publisher defaults to this approach so I don't think I'm alone in this preference, but Publisher gives us the choice to do it either way.

[MikeTO]

New version available for Publisher 2.5: I have uploaded a new edition of my unofficial Publisher manual. This edition covers variable fonts and is updated for all of the many minor interface changes in this version of Publisher. The new Getting Started chapter provides an overview of the interface and includes setup instructions for those who use the English interface but write in another language. There's also a new Dutch, Polish, and Ukrainian terminology dictionary in the appendices.

Now 335 pages.

Most of the features are the same for Designer or Photo so you will find it useful for Designer and Photo, too.

Cheers