Using Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo V2.40 as a Swiss Army knife program?

[Ben Wiens]

Introduction
I'm "kicking the tires" of the Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo V2.40 suite this week and wondered if anyone else has also been thinking of or are using it as a Swiss Army Knife program suite for all document related work like notes, letters, reports, papers, books, websites rather than just traditional "desktop publishing", to replace Microsoft OneNote, Word, Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop totally.  I've been wanting such a suite for 34 years and after just 4 days of experimenting, I'm already dreaming of a world where the Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo suite is dominant in all these areas. We are only allowed one main question, so what additions to the Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo suite would be required for my vision of the future? Version 2.40 now has almost all the things that critics claimed were missing in version 1.0 as a desktop publishing program.

The present plague
I got my first "real"computer 34 years ago in 1990 and within 1 year I was already trying to import AutoCAD drawings into Microsoft Word for a steel pole manufacturing company user manual. Most of you know that Microsoft Word has never displayed vector illustrations properly and likely never will. I asked the secretary of the company to print out a few pages I had made with filler text and the drawings I had imported, to check the quality of the lines which looked horrible on the monitor. The secretary was horrified at the filler text thinking this was the final draft and notified all the head people in the company and soon I was confronted by an angry mob in the lobby where the head accountant put me in a choke hold and tried to strangle me to death. After this I experimented with Ventura Publisher which only displayed thumbnails in the image boxes, then Page Maker, Frame Maker, and finally Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop where I discovered how huge those Adobe files are and so would only be suitable for the largest of projects. 

The file size problem
Smallest Microsoft Word version 2016 docx files are 12 K, Adobe Indesign version 2.0 indd files are 144 K, but Affinity Publisher V2.40 files are only 10 K. So Adobe Indesign documents are not typically going to be used in any corporate or home office for small items. Below are minimum file sizes for different documents.

Affinity Publisher 10 K, no thumbnail on save
Affinity Designer 9 K, no thumbnail on save
Affinity Photo 8 K, no thumbnail on save, 22x20 mm stamp size image

Adobe Indesign 144 K, compression, no ICC, no pdf editing
Adobe Illustrator 273 K, compression, no ICC, no pdf editing
Adobe Photoshop 685 K, 22x20 mm image, CMYK, 8 bit

Writing everything directly in the desktop publishing program
Most people think that writing should be done in a word processor and later inserted by a professional into a desktop publishing program if required. We all know how many times documents are edited, so in the end the "finished" document spends more time being edited than the original write, and it only makes sense for the author to do the editing in the desktop publishing program. So everyone in a company should be using the Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo suite. The desktop publishing experts would be used to set up the documents and help people with the editing, illustrations, and photos?

Program suites
Visual documents filled with illustrations and photos are much more compelling but also are often required. A long document text, vector, raster suite of programs developed by the same company is required for this to work seamlessly. There are only 2 companies now in the world selling reasonably popular, reliable, and easy to use suites that do this, Adobe with Creative Suite and Serif with Affinity Suite. Alludo (Corel) decided to drop Ventura Publisher, and Microsoft decided to focus on text and ignore complex graphics. File sizes of Adobe documents are too big and the subscription fees too high for wide use. This leaves only Serif to fill that void for the mass markets. And just like QuarkXPress lost their domination, Adobe Creative Suite could lose it's title of being most popular by missing on the mass market end if my vision of the future becomes reality.

Even note taking could be done by Affinity Publisher
There are likely over 100 different note taking programs available. Everyone of them has the same problem, not being able to draw or edit quality (Bezier) vector illustrations or add vector text to raster images. The original Zettelkasten note system was using 3x5 inch stiff paper cards, were widely used by academics for text, charts, diagrams, but present computer note programs focus on text only. But what is also required is a proper note making program. I work in the field of science and engineering and we make a lot of research and design notes. So instead of copying something from the Internet, we have to make our own drawings, tables, and formulas. And these are often quite formal with quality drawings and illustrations, as orderliness, precision, and attention to detail results in better conclusions.  None of the present note taking programs will do this, they are more for fleeting notes. So am considering using Affinity Publisher to generate these permanent note and invention files. The actress Joan Rivers was reported to have one million cards in her Zettelkasten system. This is why small file size is so important. Because digital documents can be text searched, I am proposing to use longer notes than what was used in the original Zettelkasten system, might be up to 20 pages if there is one main idea, with individual digital files for notes instead of a single huge file like in present programs. This allows addition of different file types like document, database, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and image. A descriptive file name is typically used in computer filing systems and complex coding could be used, but also tags would be required for searching. Presently l can't find any tags that can be added in Affinity Publisher that can be found with the advanced search in Windows Explorer?

 

[Brian_J]

Here’s my opinion.

Can Affinity apps replace Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop? Yes, for sure! Users have different needs, so it would be best to make use of the free trial to see if the apps meet yours.

Can Affinity apps be used as a SwissArmy Knife program suite for all document related work? In my opinion, no. I don’t think a suite of apps exists that fills those shoes.

Note taking apps (OneNote, Notion, Evernote, etc.) have features that making taking notes quick, easy to navigate, ways to structure, organize, cross reference, and more. Using a desktop publishing app or graphics app for note taking wouldn’t come close to the power and convenience of an app made specifically for taking notes.

Your requirements for taking notes in the field of science and engineering may be different than the majority of people’s. I can’t imagine replacing a note taking app with an Affinity app — but I’m not in a science or engineering field — maybe using a combination of apps for taking notes would fit your needs.

Web design: If we’re talking graphic design, for sure, Affinity Photo and Designer are strong contenders. For web page layout and mock-ups, it comes down to personal preference. There are apps available that are more specifically targeted at mock-ups, icon design, collaboration, and things like that.

Regarding Writing everything directly in the desktop publishing program. In theory, that would be great. But I think mastering a desktop publishing program is a specialized skill that should belong to the people hired to do that type of work. People in an organization should focus on what they do best. The majority of people in an office know how to use a word processor — it’s not what I would call a specialized skill. An app like Affinity Publisher is much more complex than Word — there may be a lot of people that don’t have the interest or aptitude to learn how to use a DTP app.

The Affinity apps are great at doing what they were created to do: graphic design, photo editing, and page layout. Getting creative and thinking of new ways to use tools and resources is good, but I don’t generally try to push apps into doing things they don’t excel at.

[Alfred]

On 3/7/2024 at 9:31 AM, Brian_J said:

I don’t generally try to push apps into doing things they don’t excel at

Neither do I, but — speaking of Excel — it has famously been demonstrated by Tatsuo Horiuchi that it’s perfectly possible to produce impressive works of art using only a spreadsheet program.

https://www.boredpanda.com/80-year-old-excel-paintings-tatsuo-horiuchi

[DesignDex]

I'm tempted to use Affinity Apps for note-taking and world & story building, since I can't find their art creation and design features in most note-taking apps. OneNote does have vector drawing capability, but it lacks precision and is certainly not for detailed vector illustrations. I also want to paint character concept art as editable raster images so that they can be iterated on, and stay with the character's information within the document flow. Samsung Notes is the closest to offering what I need, but its page width is pretty limiting, and its paint editor is missing several features like lasso select, layers, and more. So to weigh the pros and cons of using Affinity Apps:

 

Benefits of Using Affinity Apps for Note-Taking

• Better drawing tools for vector and raster art. 
• Embeddable and editable art documents with layers (no need to export a PNG to use in another app).
• Way more control over image positioning and wrapping within text with Affinity publisher. 
• More export options and settings.
• No subscription. 

Considerations

• More elements you may have to make yourself (e.g. setting up bulleted lists, designing flow chart bubbles, etc.)
• Syncing with iCloud can take a while depending on the document size, and real time collaboration isn't possible.
• Searching text within multiple Affinity documents isn't directly possible, from what I know. 
• Potentially less convenient for opening notes. On iOS, you can organize notes within project folders without leaving the app, but I don't believe that's an option on desktop. 
• Likely will be digging through the layers panel or needing to switch between tools more often, which is generally not ideal for quick note-taking or jotting down an idea before it's forgotten. 

 

I think I could make Affinity work for a larger project I'm working on alone, but eventually I would want to upgrade to something with search indexing, note organization and linking, and other note app specific features. I think I would also miss the convenience of a simple note app for jotting down quick ideas on my phone whenever they come to me.

Those are just my thoughts. 

[PaoloT]

I fear programs trying to do everything. I like specialized tools conceived to be optimal for particular tasks. In any case, I wouldn't consider a program made to drive printing machines the ideal tool for taking quick notes. 

As for note-taking, I think Apple Notes, Freeform, DevonThink for us text explorers, or the much lauded Obsidian, are already doing a lot of advanced things. I like how the Apple programs are letting me have notes taken everywhere immediately at my desk.

Paolo

 

[Bryan Rieger]

I’ve found I’m using the Affinity apps more and more as a means of ‘making meaning’ out of my notes (I also did this with InDesign previously).  By that I mean I still capture everything in Apple Notes, Freeform, MindNode, and DevonThink, but as I begin to build concepts from those notes I often find myself working in Designer, and increasingly Publisher.
 

They don’t replace note taking apps for me, but rather allow me to enhance the ideas captured into something more meaningful that I can then use to create a finished work.

[Ben Wiens]

I started this thread more than 1  year ago. Since then I did buy the Affinity Suite and have big plans for it. See my other more current posts of "Future-proof computer setup for Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo workflows" and "A Digital Asset Management (DAM) system for Affinity using Windows Explorer and Adobe Reader?" for more current ideas.

(1) I suggested to convert all the Affinity files to pdf. This way you can use Adobe Reader's very excellent multiple file search features which are simply best in class. Sure it's an extra step but this way you can also search on Android or other Apple devices and convert other program files to pdf and search for everything at once.

(2) Yes, search programs like Copernic can search multiple files types at once but they can't search inside Affinity Files. And neither can any of the affordable DAM programs. Searching for text inside of text based programs can be an incredible time saver, especially inside long documents with thousands of important key words.

(3) Yes, I have tried a lot of the note taking programs and the thing that is lacking is support for a combination of  text, vector, and raster images. Affinity Publisher can combine all three types with ease.

(4) Sure I like programs like Obsidian with their automated filtering and mind mapping features, but this program was created by programmers that think the whole world revolves around text and links to everything else. Like a Wikipedia page or Web pages. But try to save the documents or print them and you're out of luck. Not very practical in the real world. I like the container system which stores everything in one document like a pdf document that combines everything into one for easy saving, portability on your hard drives, or sending to other people, or for printing . For example one of my note documents is 500 pages long. Why so big? Because it's an idea diary, and I like to see the daily progression of thoughts. With Affinity Publisher or Adobe Acrobat search features, it's as easy to find stuff in the long document as a collection of Obsidian files.

(5) My notes start as a jumble of thoughts and then generally I combine these thoughts into nicely formatted reports. With Affinity programs I can do this, assemble them into a paper or book and not have to convert the text, vector, or raster formats. Not possible in Obsidian. 

(6) There is a real advantage in sticking to one program type for most document work. I used to use Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop because of this issue. Now I use the Affinity Suite. Can I use Adobe Illustrator files in Affinity Publisher. No, they are not compatible. Can Microsoft Word have vector drawings in it, yes it can use svg according to Microsoft, but svg or any other vector drawings don't work in real life. If you want to use a variety of note taking programs and word processing programs, you are going to end up tearing your hair out in frustration when more complex notes need to be taken. Not so with Affinity Publisher. Does it make sense to use Abobe Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop for your do everything program? Please don't try this. The file sizes of Adobe programs is so huge it is not practical. Affinity Publisher files on the other hand are as lightweight as Microsoft Word files and are practical for everything from notes, to letter, papers, articles, and books. To make the total files the smallest you will use svg for vector drawings and png for raster images but the Affinity Publisher files are very small especially if not saving a thumbnail.

[Alfred]

6 hours ago, Ben Wiens said:

Can I use Adobe Illustrator files in Affinity Publisher. No, they are not compatible.

The Affinity apps can’t read the proprietary Adobe Illustrator file format, but if you save from Illy with the ‘Create PDF-compatible file’ option checked (which I believe it is by default) then the resultant file will include a PDF stream that the Affinity apps can read.

[Ben Wiens]

7 hours ago, Alfred said:

The Affinity apps can’t read the proprietary Adobe Illustrator file format, but if you save from Illy with the ‘Create PDF-compatible file’ option checked (which I believe it is by default) then the resultant file will include a PDF stream that the Affinity apps can read.

Sure, I've done this and then you can save it as an Affinity Designer file but in my experience that doesn't usually result in an illustration that is the same as the Adobe Illustrator one. Microsoft also says you can import SVG files, for example an Affinity Designer file exported as svg, but once in Microsoft Word the illustration doesn't look anything like it did in Affinity Designer. That's why suites such as Adobe and Affinity were created. Imagine doing a book full of illustrations in Affinity Publisher, when you try to publish it again in Adobe Creative Suite by doing the conversions, you might have to spend 4 solid weeks checking every single line in the illustrations and making corrections.

It's the same problem we had in Computer Aided Design. That's why I wanted to stay with AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop but the problem was that 90% of my clients left the platform and went to other CAD programs. It's a cruel world. The US Military begged developers to use the same underlying file format at least but the CAD companies thumbed their nose at the Military. Imagine being a fabricator and having to deal with all these file formats. It's enough to drive people insane.

Why am I so excited about Affinity Suite? Because at least here we have a file format that is better than anything else we have had before relating to documents, illustrations, and images. The file size is very small. The programs are reasonably lightweight. The programs are non subscription and reasonably priced. I pray that it will gain immensely in popularity. I suggest it should be used for notes, letters, reports, brochures, papers, and books because that way you don't have the constant conversion problems.

That said, I have had good luck converting Affinity Designer files to svg and Affinity Photo with text layers to png, and then using them in Affinity Publisher while converting Adobe Illustrator files to svg and Adobe Photoshop with text layers to png and then using them in Adobe Indesign doesn't work so good. And using those svg and png files in Affinity Publisher results in a lot of errors. So it seems to me that Adobe doesn't do the conversions to other file formats as well as Affinity does. Any further experiences and data regarding conversions would be welcome.

[Alfred]

24 minutes ago, Ben Wiens said:

I have had good luck converting Affinity Publisher files to svg and Affinity Photo with text layers to png, and then using them in Affinity Publisher

You wrote “converting Affinity Publisher files to svg … and then using them in Affinity Publisher”. Did you perhaps mean to write something else?

The Affinity apps use a shared file format, hence the inspiration for the name ‘Affinity’. If you want to use Affinity Photo files in Affinity Publisher, there’s no need to convert them to PNG format: you can simply open them in the other app (which preserves everything as editable layers).

[Ben Wiens]

31 minutes ago, Alfred said:

If you want to use Affinity Photo files in Affinity Publisher, there’s no need to convert them to PNG format: you can simply open them in the other app (which preserves everything as editable layers).

I did the conversion because the png file format is about 20 times smaller than the Affinity Photo file. Likewise I converted the Affinity Designer file to svg because it was about 20 times smaller. I agree that editing later can be a problem but for some things that's OK when archiving or when you are using the same file for many projects and you save the Affinity files as an original. I like to create folders with all the linked files and don't like linking outside of this folder as each file might have variations over time which often results in many near duplicate illustrations and images. A good example of this is creating an svg for a letterhead when using Affinity Publisher for letters in a company and over time 100,000 digital letters get sent out. You would not want to have an Affinity Designer file embedded in all these letters. But you would want the Affinity Publisher letterhead to appear identical to the Affinity Designer file so compatibility is very important.