Change text or shape size in inches

[kevbot]

Hi,

 

I am trying to see if I can switch from AI to Affinity Designer. I am a sign maker, and need to be able to size text in inches I'm definitely not a pro designer, so I'll explain my workflow in simple terms. 

 

AI:

 

Create text

copy/paste to have a version I can change the text with if needed

Create outlines so I can size the text within the top toolbar.

 

For shapes, I create the shape with the tool, and then I can adjust with the toolbar in inches.

 

I'm looking for a toolbar or similar to use to resize objects in inches. 

 

So far, with searches on the forum and the Internet, I have not seen a way to do those with Affinity Designer. Is there a way to do so? I know this is a bit niche. If the workflow is different, that's no problem. Several features are much better than AI, but this particular one would be helpful.

[MEB]

Hi kevbot,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Go to Affinity Designer Preferences, User Interface section and uncheck Show Text in points. Then select the View Tool (the hand icon) go to the context toolbar and change the document units to inches (if you haven't done that change already in the beginning).

[kevbot]

Thank you. Is there a way to see the individual size of each letter? Also is there any way to make a box an exact size?

[kevbot]

Actually I found the box sizing under the transform panel on the bottom right! Great. Now all I need is to be able to see if individual letters are at the size needed because some need to be a minimum height, and as I imagine you can guess, if "USDOT, 12345" is used, the software measures from the bottom of the comma to the top of the T, and can lead to false readings. I don't know if that makes sense.

[GryphonArt]

So my text suddenly started show in cm??? Thanks to the above at lease I knew where to go but it was already set to show text in points... somehow unblocking and and click it back on reset to show in points which is what i want.