We are in desperate need of Affinity version of Acrobat Pro

[9pt Piotr]

Why am I writing this?

Because I still have to use adobe Acrobat Pro - there is almost no software to substitute this c**p.

Of course one can buy Callas PDFToolbox - but it is very robust and companies use it for automaion.

What would I like Affinity to create is a simple pdf viewer with some Acrobat Pro capabilitties.

1. Separation preview.

2. Overprint simulation and preview.

3. Checking for RGB elements in CMYK files.

 

That's it.

What does Affity Community thinks about it?

 

[PaoloT]

Limited to these features, I would like to see them integrated into Publisher.

Paolo

 

[9pt Piotr]

Just now, PaoloT said:

Limited to these features, I would like to see them integrated into Publisher.

Paolo

 

That would be dangerous - a lot of problems arises in pdf creation process. I need to check the final production grade PDF. Not editable documents.

Won't You agree?

 

Piotr

[PaoloT]

2 hours ago, 9pt Piotr said:

a lot of problems arises in pdf creation process

I would like this not to be the case anymore.

Paolo

 

[Viktor CR]

Check out Pixfile, too:
https://pixfile.com/pdf-editor/

[PaoloT]

My guess is that Serif will never develop a complete alternative of Acrobat Pro.

What we can do, is trying to explain what we need and use it for, so that they could be tempted to create an app with a subset of the features of Acrobat Pro. Or add those features to the Preflight pane of Publisher.

Paolo

 

[PaoloT]

My own use of Acrobat Pro:

- Setting password protection from editing or copying content. This is implemented in Publisher.

- Checking if there are elements not matching the PDF color space.

- Checking for missing or outdated fonts.

- Deleting some pages without also removing the bookmark list. I sometimes add a fake last chapter in InDesign, with a non-printable ToC. These pages will have to be removed in the end, but the bookmark list in the PDF will have to remain. Doing it with Acrobat Pro works fine, with PDF Expert or even Apple Pages also removes the bookmark list.

- Editing the bookmark list. I know, it shouldn't happen, but sometimes I have to add spaces or line breaks in titles, that will have to be manually removed from the PDF.

 

[PaoloT]

On 3/28/2025 at 12:16 PM, PaoloT said:

- Setting password protection from editing or copying content. This is implemented in Publisher.

Ok, this can also be done with the recent versions of Apple Preview.

Paolo

 

[Petar Petrenko]

In this video, David Blatner explains some nice features in InDesign which will be great to have them in Publisher, too. You can skip first 8 minutes (Intro) and the part about animation (IMO really not needed). Of course, there are features already in Publisher, but it is still worth of seeing it:

 

[loukash]

On 3/20/2025 at 9:53 AM, 9pt Piotr said:

That would be dangerous - a lot of problems arises in pdf creation process. I need to check the final production grade PDF.

Given that for a hypothetical "Affinity Peedeefer" app, Serif would likely be using the same PDF library from pdflib.com, it would be "six of one and half a dozen of the other"…  

So yeah, just gimme a proper separation and overprint preview in Publisher and I'll be happy. 

(Just recently I have found out that to properly check exported PDFs, I can run Acrobat Pro X on Apple silicon in a MacOS El Capitan emulation using https://mac.getutm.app. The emulation is too slow for any other work but it serves the purpose, should I be "out of town" with no network access to my old Intel MacBook.)

[Iltirtar]

I understand that this is natural and unavoidable, but it seems to me that wanting Affinity to replicate Adobe is a mistake at its core. From Serif's perspective, it wouldn't be wise to reproduce what others have already done — they need to have their own ideas; wanting to be another version of something that already exists is a mistake and shows lack of character. From the customer side, asking Affinity to do what Adobe does can come across as actually wanting to use Adobe, just at a lower cost. Affinity is behind Adobe in many ways, and with this mindset lingering, it will always be.

Edited April 18 by Iltirtar
spelling corrections

[MikeW]

Well, it's not really about duplicating what Adobe did in Acrobat. Adobe licenses the core code that makes Acrobat what it is from Callas that they use in pdfToolbox. 

But I get the point. 

[Bryce]

it would be very difficult because we use Acrobat for different things. Any Acrobat replacement would need to be fully compatible with plugins such as Pitstop and Quite Imposing +. I also use the color separation features. 

People have given me all kinds of options over the years as replacement for Acrobat, but none I have found does this.

[Dazmondo77]

On 3/20/2025 at 8:50 AM, PaoloT said:

Limited to these features, I would like to see them integrated into Publisher.

Paolo

I agree - I would like to see a pre-press persona in Publisher with proper separation preview with support for spot colours and overprint, an ink density preview and a way to print proper CMYK proofs to devices that expect it without first rasterising at 300dpi and converting to RGB, resulting in colour shifts and contaminated colour bars and fuzzy 300dpi ripped vectors on devices that expect to receive vector information to rip at the devices maximum resolution (2400dpi on my device) - once you create your PDF pub would automatically open it in pre-press persona to check for errors, just imagine how great it would be to have this type of workflow built into Affinity with no extra faff - I'm getting by using Packzview which great if you can get a serial from them but I also have an old Mac running Mojave with Acrobat Pro 9 if I have any concerns via Packzview

[Bound by Beans]

If even Adobe gains access to such technologies through licensing, the odds of Affinity acquiring them without similarly obtaining a professional license from a third party are approximately 0%, as Serif 'Labs' operates without actual labs. There’s an overlooked reason why Affinity is inexpensive while professional competitors are more costly. Developing top-tier products is, quite simply, expensive—whether or not you love the products.

Fundamentally, neither Serif nor others need to create products exactly like Adobe's, unless they can’t make them better or equally good. But the core rule is: respect and follow the customer’s workflow, needs, and preferences, and you're well on the path to success. Unfortunately, Serif didn’t do that.