Import from PhotoPlus X8 or DrawPlus X8

[GildasDad]

Can you import files from PhotoPlusx8 or DrawPlusx8 (file formats *.spp and *.dpp) and preserve the layers so they can be used in Affinity? If a direct import is not possible, is there any way to Export from PP8 or DP8 into a format that includes the layers not just the finished image? I read the post that seemed most likely to answer the question but it talked about using programs or features in .TIFF and .PNG I have never heard of and didn't answer this specific question.

[TonyB]

Can you import files from PhotoPlusx8 or DrawPlusx8 (file formats *.spp and *.dpp) and preserve the layers so they can be used in Affinity? If a direct import is not possible, is there any way to Export from PP8 or DP8 into a format that includes the layers not just the finished image? I read the post that seemed most likely to answer the question but it talked about using programs or features in .TIFF and .PNG I have never heard of and didn't answer this specific question.

 

Affinity can't import DrawPlus or PhotoPlus files. The best way to get designs into Affinity from the Plus products would be to use PDF files for DrawPlus and PSD files for PhotoPlus.

[Mr Black]

I have been using Drawplus for years now and have lots of files, possibly hundreds I often reuse parts of again and again, are you saying that as a loyal Serif customer I have simply been forgotten about in this new venture?  Let me get this right, to reuse a creation from Drawplus in Designer, I must open it in Drawplus, export as PDF then import into Designer. As good as Designer is, and it is damn good, forgetting your loyal Drawplus users isn't nice is it? 

 

Please fix this, add an import for Serif legacy files as a thank you to your loyal customers, such as myself, who has spent money with you upgrading year after year.

[GildasDad]

ARRGGHHHH -- I JUST SPENT A HOUR WRITING A POLITE AND COMPLETE RESPONSE TO THE POSTING THAT SUPPOSEDLY ANSWERED MY PREVIOUS QUESTION. WHEN SELECTED 'ADD REPLY' I GOT AN ERROR AND LOST ALL THAT WORK. APPARENTLY YOU FORUM AUTOMATICALLY SIGNS ONE OUT WITHOUT ANY WARNING OR OPPORTUNITY TO EXTEND.

 

Now a less complete response to Tony B's response to my question.

 

This 'solution' does not address the question asked. I am smart enough to know that I can export my PhotoPlus and DrawPlus photos into any number of formats and import them into Affinity. NONE of these formats preserve the layers so I have to start all over again from scratch if I want to make a modification. So this is not a 'solution' nor an answer to the actual question.

 

I, too, hope that Serif sees this as a deficiency in their thinking and development design and creates a file converter for all elements (layers) of a .spp or .dpp file (even a stand-alone one would be sufficient) so a loyal user of earlier Serif products does not have to start all over again to create a product they already build that is designed to be re-useable and tailor-able.

 

 

[Andy Somerfield]

Sorry, but there will never be a .dpp or .spp importer..

 

Andy.

[Mr Black]

Andy, please could you elaborate as to why there will never be an importer?  Is there a genuine reason ? or are Serif simply not bothered about looking after its longstanding clients?

 

I just bought Designer for windows, after thinking hard and nearly buying Corel, instead I decided on Designer not because of cost but because stupidly I thought Serif would look after its legacy users and make importing from Drawplus  a standard feature. I chose not to go the Corel option because it meant I would have to export my Drawplus files as PDF then import into Corel. I have done the export, import before when print houses have asked for PDF and I was never happy with the outcome.

 

Now without any reason you are saying there will never be and importer.

Nice to learn I have just made the wrong choice and will now have to think seriously about buying any more Serif software.

[GildasDad]

The final word is in -- those of us who have been supporters of Serif for years (and in my case have many times recommended Serif products to people as an excellent alternative to the higher-priced and harder-to-use competitors) have been declared redundant. I anxiously await the notification that Serif is no longer providing updates and thereafter is no longer going to support PhotoPlus and DrawPlus. I clearly understand this is a smart and responsible business decision, but typically, companies I have dealt with provide an upgrade path (at a cost of course) so I am surprised and disappointed Serif chose to abandon rather than upgrade.

[CJT963]

Sorry, but there will never be a .dpp or .spp importer..

 

Andy.

 

Never say never Andy... :rolleyes:

 

I've just arrived ere from SERIF PP-X8, not used AD yet, well I just did & got stuck, see my other post on that. However, I don't like the sound of not being able to import my PP-X8 files direct with all the formatting in place...h'mm. back to PP-X8.. :huh:

 

Over & out,

CJT1963

[Dave Harris]

Andy, please could you elaborate as to why there will never be an importer?

 

Affinity is a new range of products that shares no code with DrawPlus. It doesn't have the same set of features, and where features are the same they usually do not work in the same way. This means writing an importer that gave better results than using PDF would take a long time, and the result would still fall short of what users would want. Doing this work would take resources away from other features which we consider more important. Perhaps in 5 years time we'll have cleared enough of our backlog to consider it, but by then it may no longer be relevant. I'm sorry, especially if the hope of an importer was truly the only advantage Affinity has for you over Corel Draw, but that is the situation.

[Mr Black]

Thank you for a reply Dave. 

                                     

  As it seems you are unwilling to devote time to writing an importer, will you at any time be opening developer up to third party plugins? perhaps there is someone else willing to devote the time, if you allow them the opportunity. As you clearly point out, in 5 years time it may no longer be relevant, Photoplus and Drawplus nothing more than an unsupported distant memory by then?

 

"especially if the hope of an importer was truly the only advantage Affinity has for you over Corel Draw".

 

Not sure where you got the truly from, no Corel Draw has a whole host of advantages over Affinity, but I do understand great things take time to construct, so, being a loyal Serif customer for years now I decided to go the Serif route. Corel Draw 3 was the program I was trained on some 20 years ago, so It's got a few years on Affinity, I was prepared to give Affinity time, as I had hoped all my old work in Drawplus could be imported, but as it now looks like that will not be the case and I am being forced to start again, this time I'm going to count my losses and go the Corel route.

 

Best wishes Dave and once again thank you for clearing up Serif's position on this matter.

[R C-R]

 As it seems you are unwilling to devote time to writing an importer, will you at any time be opening developer up to third party plugins? perhaps there is someone else willing to devote the time, if you allow them the opportunity.

This suggestion raises quite a few feasibility issues I think are worth considering:

 

1. Is the Affinity code architecture even written to support the types of plug-ins that would be required?

2. If the people most familiar with the code say it would take a long time & the results would still be sub par, realistically, what are the chances that third party developers could do any better or produce anything more quickly?

3. It has been mentioned several times in the past that the file format & much of the Affinity code are considered to be proprietary trade secrets, so to insure the company's viability at the least they would require third party developers to sign NDA's for access to anything that required knowledge of that to develop a decent importer.

4. Since some of the 'Plus' features do not currently & may never exist in the Affinity products, could they be "imported" or emulated in a way most users would find acceptable enough to justify the effort, or be materially better than using an 'interchange' format like PDF?

5. Which 'Plus' features should be imported/emulated in which Affinity products? It isn't just that feature parity doesn't exist; it is also that the fundamental purposes of the apps are different.

6. Is there a more feasible way to accomplish this, like say a batch process to export Plus documents to PDF or another interchange format that would enable the content to be used not just with Affinity apps but with others?

 

I have no experience with the Plus apps so I have no idea if all these things are even relevant. I just think it is likely that this would be much more difficult to do than it seems.

[Petar Petrenko]

Maybe Serif's team can make a PhotoPlus export filter for Affinity Photo? Or to PSD with layers?

[Martin132]

Having been a long-time user of DrawPlus, I just assumed that AD would open DrawPlus files, now I do understand what "assume" really means.

AD "shares no code with" Adobe Illustrator, but still manages to import its files.

I'm sure the 80-20 rule applies, I would guess that most basic objects could be imported, and warnings flagged for objects not understood.

 

At the very least, there should be something on the advertising "Features" to warn people that DrawPlus files cannot be imported, to avoid others making the same assumption.

[TonyB]

 

AD "shares no code with" Adobe Illustrator, but still manages to import its files.

 

 

Interesting point but we load the embedded PDF stream file from Illustrator files so we actually are importing PDF. PDF is also the format we recommend users use to import from DrawPlus but unfortunately DrawPlus doesn't contain an embedded PDF file so it must be exported first.

[TonyB]

 

I'm sure the 80-20 rule applies, I would guess that most basic objects could be imported, and warnings flagged for objects not understood.

 

 

Possible after many man years of work but the results will still be better if you import the PDF file exported from DrawPlus.

[Popple]

Sorry but I must have missed something here.  I am a Serif Draw Plus V8 user and have just "upgraded" to Affinity. I have hundreds of dpp files that I need to refer to on a daily basis.

How would importing a PDF be best when I need to retain the editable drawing?

[TonyB]

PDF is the best way to import DrawPlus files. You could import using other file types like SVG but PDF will give the best result.

[Popple]

TonyB.  I think you are missing the point.  I need my lines to be editable as I would need to change one or more parts of the drawings. Does importing from a PDF do that? 

[Dave Harris]

Affinity Designer and Photo can edit imported PDFs, much as DrawPlus and PagePlus can.

[Popple]

But when you import a PDF it doesn't work very well. Everything is an individual object rather than having closed curves.  Arrows become split into curves and triangle objects. The text comes in as part image and part text in the wrong font. And if I want to use the grid to move things around or resize the objects, the grid is only sized in pts, not inches and it won't let me change that.

[MikeW]

Popple, as AD doesn't support arrow line ends (I don't think PDF does, either) then it is understandable that AD has them separated. Even if AD had at present the ability to import DP files, because itself doesn't support arrow line ends, they would at best be triangles anyway.

 

I don't understand the individual object reference. I don't have DP installed any longer so cannot do my own tests, either.

[Alfred]

But when you import a PDF it doesn't work very well. Everything is an individual object rather than having closed curves.  Arrows become split into curves and triangle objects. The text comes in as part image and part text in the wrong font. 

 

If part of the text is an image when imported, then it must be an image in the PDF file. Affinity doesn't yet read embedded fonts, so if you want to use the original font instead of a substitute you will need to have that font installed/loaded on your PC.

 

And if I want to use the grid to move things around or resize the objects, the grid is only sized in pts, not inches and it won't let me change that.

 

The grid uses the document units, or at least it should do!

[R C-R]

And if I want to use the grid to move things around or resize the objects, the grid is only sized in pts, not inches and it won't let me change that.

In Affinity Designer, the grid units should be the same as the document units. So for example, if the document is set to use pixels, the Grid Manager should show pixel units as well.

 

Also, paths with arrow shaped ends can't be imported into AD because AD does not (yet) support paths with shaped ends (other than round, butt, or square caps).

 

Sorry for the redundancy. I did not see Mike's or Alfred's posts until after I posted the above.

Edited December 4, 2016 by R C-R

[TonyB]

PDF is your only option to import DrawPlus designs. We don't import DrawPlus directly as Affinity isn't a new version of DrawPlus it's a completely different application.