Why, on why do people want everything?

[rui_mac]

From many, many questions/doubts that I read on the forum, it seems that too many people are asking for stuff that is related to bitmap editing applications.

Affinity Designer is a VECTOR application!!! It already does more stuff related with bitmaps work that what I would expect.

Just wait for the true bitmap editing application (Affinity Photo).

If you want a do-it-all application, that does vector, bitmaps, text, audio, video, web, gardening, carpentry, cooking and household tasks, don't expect it from an application that is under the $50 price tag.

Affinity already does much, much more than it is expected from an application of this price range.

Ok, I just had to vent out this... carry on, have a nice weekend ;-)

 

Rui Batista

[CartoonMike]

+1

[000]

I did actually count on cooking to be implemented as a free upgrade.

[gary]

I'll second that emotion

[CartoonMike]

Well, there goes my idea for a "nodes roasting on an open fire" tutorial. :P

[Ben]

Clearly people expect so much more when they are paying a one-off payment equivalent to less than three months' subscription for applications from another vendor.  I know I would.  And, if I were writing a review I'd make sure I made one to one comparisons based on those expectations.

 

Now, where's the "make the thing in my brain that no one else would ever want" tool I demanded two hours ago!?  :P

[GRScott]

Yeah, but you forgot the Kitchen sink....... :D

[Raskolnikov]

Affinity should continue listening at their user but, following their own roadmaps... consecuently to the program they are developing :)

 

Many features requested are more properly a question of Affinity Photo and Publisher, but... right now they are not here so people do ask for them to be implemented on the designer app.

 

Just take care of those questions for the future apps of the suite :P

[ronniemcbride]

Haha this thread is great! I think we will see plenty of these related questions especially since Affinity has created such a wonderful hybrid app. People are coming from so many different walks of life. the range of skills and understanding is so broad. People really need to be educated on the difference of between vectors editing tools and pixel editing tools.  They truly are missing the pros and cons of both and the when and why to use either method of image creation.

 

Now only if this application could connect to renderman so I can render out a gif animation. -(those who don't know... this  statement was a sarcastic joke)  :P  :)

[rui_mac]

I fully understood your sarcastic statement, Ronnie :)

 

I started out using vector and bitmap application way back in 1989 but I already knew the difference between both paradigms since I was 14-15 years old (1985/6) since I started out programming at that age.

I still remember the Canvas application that mixed vectors and bitmaps. It was nice, but never as powerful as a fill fledged, standalone, set of independent applications.

 

People need to realize that a "Jack of all trades" will never be a "Super Jack professional of all trades".

Its like those urban jeeps: not a really good urban car, not an excellent all terrain car.

[Raskolnikov]

A tool it's a good tool when it's specific for a certain use.

 

For many different applications better have different tools... that's a suite :)

[ronniemcbride]

I like this choir. We all sing so well together hahaha!

[VectorCat]

Three reasons I see for people asking for raster features...

 

1. Affinity Designer came out of the gate with raster tools...people want more!  I reach for Pixelmator when it's appropriate. AD lets me "stay in the tool" for a lot of things.

 

2. Over the past couple decades, the lines between vector and raster apps have been blurred. When I got into this game, everything was divided into "rooms" so to speak, and if you wanted to combine vector and raster, you had to go into these separate rooms, build something, import it, and go back to that room and re-import if you wanted a change. *VERY* cumbersome. AD attempts to remove some of that time-wasting by enabling you to do more in 1 "room."

 

3. Sort of a subset of reason 2, people are expecting tools to incorporate functionality of other tools. There is no physics law that says a vector app can't have raster tools; it's whatever the Devs build it to be.

 

I am confident that Serif will keep their apps lean and nimble by not loading them with too much cross-functionality.

[Ben]

The blend of vector and raster is one thing, but as rui_mac points out - Affinity Designer is not a 3D modeller, video editor, music sequencer, spreadsheet, etc.

 

There is also a clear difference with Raster for drawing and photo editing/manipulation.

 

As far as what we are doing, we will be keeping some clean separation between what we view as the roles of Designer, Photo and Publisher.  There will be some obvious minor crossover, but the three apps will have clear purposes.  Remember though, we are designing these to complement each other in a way not achieved by other software suites, having one file format and inter-app document switching.

[ronniemcbride]

The blend of vector and raster is one thing, but as rui_mac points out - Affinity Designer is not a 3D modeller, video editor, music sequencer, spreadsheet, etc.

 

There is also a clear difference with Raster for drawing and photo editing/manipulation.

 

As far as what we are doing, we will be keeping some clean separation between what we view as the roles of Designer, Photo and Publisher.  There will be some obvious minor crossover, but the three apps will have clear purposes.  Remember though, we are designing these to complement each other in a way not achieved by other software suites, having one file format and inter-app document switching.

 

 

You had me at hello ;)

[catlover]

I think you're doing a great job.

Period.

[Nazario]

Designer for vector. Photo for raster. Publisher to bring them together. Simple.

[rui_mac]

Exactly, nazario :-)

Also, Affinity Designer already does a lot of raster "hocus pocus" in the background to achieve what is impossible to do with vectors (blurring, drop shadows, emboss, etc).

Since vector graphics need to be rasterized anyway (when printing), there are a few things that AD does in advance that would, otherwise, be impossible to achieve with vector-only tools.

Being able to have raster masks is already a plus that is not available in most (if any) other vector applications.

[CartoonMike]

Affinity Designer: come for the raster tools, stay for the vectors. :D

 

In my case, my interest was started by the ability to directly paint with pixels within the app. But the more I use the vector tools the more I came to use only them and use raster tools to accent or add FX that I couldn't any other way.

 

It's like, I love my swiss army knife (the best holiday gift I ever received!), but I wouldn't want to use it in place of an x-acto knife. Specific jobs need specific tools. Sometimes you need a ruler, sometimes a parallel ruler, scissors and an x-acto knife. I wouldn't want to see those 4 items bundled into an all-in-one. Same with adding 3D to a vector app, for example. If I want/need 3D, there's cheetah3d or Blender. I can create in those apps and export an render and use that in AD. 

[Raskolnikov]

This is like if people would want a phone with camera, agenda, mp3 player...  ...oh wait! :D Yes, the world it's crazy!

[ronniemcbride]

Wow, I just received a message from the system that I have reached my quota of positive votes today! Lesson learned...  you can't like everything you read because you will run out of like in this forum. I  have to use my likes sparingly like gold  in here hahaha. Anyway, I love what I am reading on this thread. all the people who I expect to get it have commented in this thread. 

[rui_mac]

I used one more "Like" (haven't ran out of them, yet   ;)  )

 

As I said before, I started out by having to program my own applications.

So, I know how efficient it is to be able to separate paradigms and when it is positive (and desirable) to blend them in.

For example, one of my old, old programs what a vectorizer routine. It "auto-traced" a bitmap, converting it to vectors that I could then use to create animations that would "in-between" two vector versions of images.
All was made in assembler and it was a great example of a symbiotic use of bitmaps and vectors.

 

When I started using professional applications, I fell in love with vectorial applications: autoCAD, MacDraw, MacDraft,FreeHand 1.0, Illustrator 1.0, etc.

Being able to edit stuff without having to re-paint the missing places!!! WOW!!!

 

And when I started using Photoshop (1.0), even after having already used many other raster painting applications, I fell in love again.

 

So, all my professional life was based on using the right tools for whatever job was needed.

 

Nowadays I use mainly Photoshop and Cinema 4D. But I always missed my beloved (and cowardly murdered) FreeHand.

From time to time, I would scan the net looking for replacements (I never liked Illustrator).

The nearest I had reached to have the feeling of having FreeHand back was with iDraw. I bought it for iPad and for my desktop.

But when I found Affinity Designer... oh!!! Bliss!!! :D

 

I eagerly await for the siblings, Photo and Publish.

And thank you for not trying to do a swiss army knife (although, like CartoonMike said, I love my swiss army knife... I use it almost every day) :)

[ronniemcbride]

Like! :P The system can't stop me from liking this

[peter]

Maybe we live in a download-it-for-free-generation. Meaning that if you PAY for it, then it has to be better or even the best. I suppose this is a classic case of Affinity is magic, but Serif Labs is not the proverbial magic lamp. Nice if we could have three wishes each...

 

I still think that some people would want to have one app, with three personas; vector/raster/text. But would they pay triple the price? Maybe, maybe not. Would it be feasible? Now that's a question.

 

So what is 2015 going to offer us from Affinity? Will we have a video editor (not had much luck with MP5 on Win 7), or are they going to stick with the three so far? 

 

Regarding knives, I use a wooden handled 4 inch French Opinel branded knife. It's my goto choice in the kitchen every time. Usability and reliability make it my favourite brand - which is why I have had them on and off for the last 20 years. Build a tool, sell it: buy that tool, use it all the time, job done. This seems to be Serif's mantra. It should be Affinity's too :P

[Raskolnikov]

All-on-one has nothing to do with the best.