first impressions from a long time user of Serif software

[Marj]

First impressions: I installed Affinity Beta 2 days ago. I have problems with Edit>Preferences>. 1) I can not get the language to stay as English (United Kingdom) yes I read where it said it required a restart. I followed this edict and tried several times. It still opens up set to the US version.
2) I find the very dark background difficult to use and wanted to lighten the UI but non of the sliders produced any observable changes. I did try some of the other preferences but did not find anything noticeable either. Is this a fault or was my copy corrupted while downloading.
(3) Effects- 3D does not produce a sufficiently deep effect, it only rounds the edges of a quick shape or Circle.  Previous Page  & Draw models completely domed these objects and that is important.
(4) some of the video tutorials do not have commentary - personally I have no idea what is going on in them and so find them useless. There is also a deficit of ‘basic, introductory get stated offerings , they all assume that you know basic stuff already.

Other observations: (1) I have used Adobe Illustrator for a number of projects. I have also used In Design and of course Photoshop. These products have always been over priced and over complicated, user unfriendly and un-intuitive.  Yes they were feature rich and the professional market endorsed them for whatever reason. But even though I was using them for serious commercial projects, I personally hated using them. So basing the UI so closely on the Adobe model disappoints me immensely, I was hoping for something more user-friendly like the original Serf Draw and Page models. Surely you can incorporate an ‘undo’ icon, and a window of page size icons instead of that intimidating set up window that seems to be the only way to open a new document.  (2) I am not a fan of keyboard shortcuts. Its all very “nerdy” to have learned all those “arcane symbols” I’m sure, but personally I find it quicker and more efficient to whisk the mouse cursor up to an Icon on the toolbars or use a drop down menu. (3) It seems Apple users have taken to Affinity with some enthusiasm. But then, as I understand it, they never had the joy of using the original user friendly and intuitive Serif Page and Draw software and only have the Adobe and other so called high end alternatives to compare with. Windows users will have a different perspective. I will continue to add comments as I gain more experience.

[Alfred]

1) This beta version hasn't been fully localized/localised yet.

 

2) You're not alone! You can only adjust the gamma.

 

3) I haven't tried this.

    Edit: I have now – see attached. How domed do you want your objects to be?

 

4) There are many useful videos, complete with commentary. What videos did you find?

 

Unlike you, I am a fan of keyboard shortcuts, but I still missed the 'Undo' and 'Redo' icons at first (especially since Ctrl+Y toggles wireframe mode instead of performing the expected 'redo'). However, the History panel slider is a wonderful alternative: you'll find the History panel at the bottom right, grouped with the Transform and Navigator panels.

We're_all_domed!.afdesign

[Mark Ingram]

I was hoping for something more user-friendly like the original Serf Draw and Page models. Surely you can incorporate an ‘undo’ icon, and a window of page size icons instead of that intimidating set up window that seems to be the only way to open a new document.  (2) I am not a fan of keyboard shortcuts.... they never had the joy of using the original user friendly and intuitive Serif Page and Draw software ...

 

Hi, the Affinity range of software is aimed at a Professional market, whereas the Plus products were aimed at hobbyists and home users, as such we designed the UI and workflow scenarios with this in mind.

[Patrick Connor]

miclyn212,

 

Do you really want your username to be an email address? It would seem to invite spam

[Ken Cope]

3) I haven't tried this.

    Edit: I have now – see attached. How domed do you want your objects to be?

 

Hi Alfred,

How did you mange to get the radius up to 157.5 pixels? I can only manage to get the radius up to 100 pix and it's a bit odd because it keeps jumping back down again whether I slide the button across or type a figure into the box.

[MikeW]

@Ken,

 

Typing a number sticks for me no matter the number (well, I stopped at 600 px). But the slider would only go to 100px.

[Ken Cope]

@Ken,

 

Typing a number sticks for me no matter the number (well, I stopped at 600 px). But the slider would only go to 100px.

Thanks Mike, however much I try I cannot get the radius or depth to go beyond 100, no matter what number I type in the box - see screenshot

 

[MikeW]

Here's what I get...

[MikeW]

Ah, that's the issue, Ken.

 

Using the panel I can enter any value. Opening the Effects dialog it can only go to 100px.

[Alfred]

How did you manage to get the radius up to 157.5 pixels?

 

I actually did it by initially making the object smaller than I wanted, ticking 'Scale with Object' in the Layer Effects dialog and then dragging the object out to its final size (which is why I ended up with that strange value) but Mike's method is better.

[Ophie]

To your first points I would say that basing the UI and most importantly the default shortcuts on Photoshop/Illustrator benefits those who come from using them. I didn't have any trouble picking up Affinity as I am already used to a certain workflow and changing that would be the cause of frustration and ultimately would have put me off just a bit. However, not as much as the subscription price puts me off from using adobe products, so there's that. I am sure that the designers of the Affinity products have made that decision quite consciously. That said, the similarities are not always one to one, they managed to fix a lot UI pain points that I have had with AI and I'm quite happy with it. The counterpart tools in Affinity are miles more user friendly and they behave exactly as I expect them to. My point is that you are, perhaps, a bit unfair with your assertions. 

[Ken Cope]

@WikeW Ah, that's the issue, Ken.

Using the panel I can enter any value. Opening the Effects dialog it can only go to 100px.

 

 

 

This should be available in both dialogues - Layer Effects and Effects tab - for consistency. (It would be best for both to be able to extend beyond the 100pt that the Layer Effects currently allows.)

[jennyjennyjenny]

hi alfred us serif /daisytral members seem to be trying this out .I Found the  video tutorials with no commentary hopeless,There over before they begin and leave me more confused than before I started. ^_^  ^_^  ^_^  :rolleyes: 

[Mark Ingram]

Sometimes when a control accepts text input and has a slider drop down, the slider has a smaller range than the text input accepts. 

[MikeW]

Mark--the error/bug is that the effects dialog will not accept values larger than the slider will produce. The panel accepts larger values.

 

Mike

[Mark Ingram]

Thanks Mike, we'll look into it.

[Alfred]

I Found the  video tutorials with no commentary hopeless 

 

Where did you find these tutorials, Jenny? Someone mentioned them in another thread, but the in-house tutorial videos are neither rushed nor lacking in verbal explanation.

 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/10815-in-house-affinity-designer-video-tutorials/

[bikeman]

Hi, the Affinity range of software is aimed at a Professional market, whereas the Plus products were aimed at hobbyists and home users, as such we designed the UI and workflow scenarios with this in mind.

 

 

AD doesn't see itself as a competitor to Sketch then? Or as a Fireworks replacement? PS is overly complex for UI design, Sketch and Fireworks were refreshingly focussed. It's a shame if Serif just want to replicate the bloated PS. 

[MEB]

Hi bikeman,

Affinity apps are not a replacement for any specific application. We are just targeting the professional market which inevitably leads to comparisons with other software. Some features will look similar  (in some cases there's no other ways to perform the same kind of tasks) in others we take a different approach. We never tried to explicitly replicate functionality from other apps.

Affinity Designer now offers (latest 1.5 beta) several new features for UI/UX design and as such it may be compared to Sketch or Fireworks for that purpose. In any case Designer is not "competing" directly with Photoshop. We have our own RAW converter/developer and photo editing application (Affinity Photo) which will be available for Windows later.