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[AD] Almost regretting...


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So, back in May I installed the trial and commented in this forum that it lacked some features for my work.
I got some interesting replies with some workarounds and then tried them.
I ended purchasing and now I'm almost regretting that.

Let me explain:

1 - Advanced line patterns (like dash dot dot). While I can easily do this with free vector graphics
applications, I can't with AD. The work around is to create two lines, one with "dash-dot" pattern and another with
"dot" pattern but having to tweak the spacing so when placing them one above the other would give me
the desired pattern. Works but ridiculously not fun to work in this way! If I create an SVG file with
a line using this kind of pattern, then trying to open in AD, it crashes.

By the way, one extra suggestion here is to give one way to "save" some line pattern presets and allow us to select
them through a drop down or something like that. Having to rewrite the values or to "copy-paste-resposition" another

line is also not fun.

2 - Lack of arrowheads. Someone can say "It's already on the roadmap, meaning, priority". Yes, it
has been there for over 3 years. Seriously?
Yes, OK, the workaround is to draw the actual arrowheads ourselves and try to align correctly within the
curves. I don't think this workaround is fun either.

3 - While still trying to use AD, I came across another problem. Often I have a line (let's call this an
"axis") and a shape that must be mirrored about that axis (rather than just horizontal or vertical). So,
my first try was to just rotate and hope that the shape would snap into the line/axis. Nope, there is
no snapping while rotating. So, I searched to see if there was any method to mirror a shape in this way.
I didn't find any method. My next step was then to think code a plugin/add-on. After some research
I found out that AD does not have any plugin API (or is there? My research skills might be very bad).

After a few months I was completely unable to work with AD to produce what I wanted. The result?
Unfortunately I'm going back to Inkscape.

Now, I could only hope for the necessary features to be added into AD but after seeing that one of those
features was promised and even added to the priority list over 3 years ago and it's still not implemented... very,
very frustrating!

Thanks for your attention.

 

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1. I agree. I’d love to see advanced line patterns in the Affinity apps.

 

2. I’d just like to correct a misapprehension. The roadmap isn’t a priority list, it’s a roadmap: if an item is on there, it doesn’t mean we should expect to see it in the app as a matter of priority. All features on the 1.x roadmap will be added in a free update to version 1, but we may have to wait quite a long time. Items which don’t make it onto the roadmap will be added, if they ever are added, in a paid-for upgrade (i.e. version 2 or 3, or later).

 

3. Can’t you simply duplicate the shape and rotate it by 180 degrees?

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Hi Alfred, thanks for your reply.

So, regarding 2. Well, from what I understood the list is created in a way that is meant to be small so what is in there is taken as priority. Regardless, if it's not, my mistake. Yet, having this feature (arrowheads) been promised for more than 3 years is a bit disappointing! And there is the fact that I see this request a lot in this forum.

For 3, unfortunately I can't just do that. Rotating by 180 is not exactly mirroring. The result will be upside-down (when compared to what the mirroring should be). I did re-read what I wrote and I didn't describe correctly my steps for my first attempt. What I tried was first to flip the shape then rotate (but because there is no snapping while rotating I couldn't precisely position the shape again). If necessary I can post an image showcasing what I want and the result of a simple rotation.

 

By the way, if my post did sound like I was angered then I'm sorry, that was not my intention. I'm just disappointed that this app, which looks and feels really great, is of no use to me.

Again, thanks for you attention.

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There is a mirror button on the context toolbar. I am running the beta at the moment, but if I recall it's also in the release version.

 

The List...that list was longer. The items in that list are items that were planned to be in AD by version 2. So the items still there will be ver 1.6–ver 1.99999 additions. But others, text styles for instance, are no longer listed but are in the application.

 

Mike

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39 minutes ago, kehom said:

Rotating by 180 is not exactly mirroring. The result will be upside-down (when compared to what the mirroring should be). I did re-read what I wrote and I didn't describe correctly my steps for my first attempt. What I tried was first to flip the shape then rotate (but because there is no snapping while rotating I couldn't precisely position the shape again).

 

Thanks, @kehom.That makes more sense!

 

10 minutes ago, MikeW said:

There is a mirror button on the context toolbar. I am running the beta at the moment, but if I recall it's also in the release version.

 

I've checked the Context toolbar for the Move Tool, the Node Tool and the Pen Tool. and I can't see it in either version. Am I looking in the wrong place, Mike?

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Hah. Interesting. I had chosen to make a triangle and noticed the Mirror button. I don't know how many shapes have that button appear, but clearly not many (Crescent does though). No idea why for certain, though for some shapes it doesn't matter.

 

However, doesn't the Flip Horizontal work?

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16 minutes ago, MikeW said:

However, doesn't the Flip Horizontal work?

 

Flip Horizontal works fine for flipping about a vertical axis (and Flip Vertical works fine for flipping about a horizontal axis) but the OP wants to be able to flip a shape about an arbitrary axis.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Not a bad idea. Perhaps the Serif Elves could make the rotation proxy serve as a movable/arbitrary axis for flipping.

 

One can (sort of inaccurately) do that now. If I move the rotation point, then grab one of the handles and use shift, ctrl or a combination, that is the point at which the shape/group manually flips. As far as I can tell, there can be distortion if one isn't careful, though.

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Thanks everyone for answering and trying to help!

 

1 hour ago, MikeW said:

One can (sort of inaccurately) do that now. If I move the rotation point, then grab one of the handles and use shift, ctrl or a combination, that is the point at which the shape/group manually flips. As far as I can tell, there can be distortion if one isn't careful, though.

That's more or less what I have done until I gave up.

17 minutes ago, dutchshader said:

maybe using symbols could work:

Perhaps. I did try that but because I have to "mirror" a lot of small shapes through a single "document", that ends not being fun also.

The post I originally mentioned explains my use case, which is to draw origami diagrams. Basically, when you have a "fold", the easiest way to get at least a partial result is to draw the shape and then mirror it along the folding axis. Dutchshader's screenshot showcases exactly the mirroring result that I'm looking for. Symbols can achieve that but would be another workaround. I'm not sure if it would be nice to clutter the symbols with those shapes. By the way, I already set some symbols used for workarounds (like the line patterns and the arrowheads).

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On 10/14/2017 at 5:42 AM, Alfred said:

2. I’d just like to correct a misapprehension. The roadmap isn’t a priority list, it’s a roadmap: if an item is on there, it doesn’t mean we should expect to see it in the app as a matter of priority. All features on the 1.x roadmap will be added in a free update to version 1, but we may have to wait quite a long time. Items which don’t make it onto the roadmap will be added, if they ever are added, in a paid-for upgrade (i.e. version 2 or 3, or later).

 

I thought that the idea was that I wouldn't have to keep paying for upgrades? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or rude, I just honestly thought that. Do they already have plans for a version 2 in the works? If so, what is the proposed price point for the upgrade. 

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42 minutes ago, photogeek said:

I thought that the idea was that I wouldn't have to keep paying for upgrades? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or rude, I just honestly thought that. Do they already have plans for a version 2 in the works? If so, what is the proposed price point for the upgrade. 

 

I think it's pretty standard to have free 'point' releases (minor updates) but paid-for major releases. The people at Serif need money for life's essentials just like the rest of us, and their income would pretty soon dry up if they were completely reliant on new customers.

 

Since I'm not a Serif employee, I have no knowledge of their planned release schedule and pricing.

 

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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3 hours ago, photogeek said:

I thought that the idea was that I wouldn't have to keep paying for upgrades? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or rude, I just honestly thought that. Do they already have plans for a version 2 in the works? If so, what is the proposed price point for the upgrade. 

The main differences with a subscription model (Adobe-like) are, as far as I can see:

  • It's not a monthly fee.
  • If you don't want to pay the upgrade to the 2.X version, you still can use the software.
  • The price for the upgrade will most likley be lower that the first time you buy it.

Also, consider that we still don't have a release date for the 2.X version, so there are still more free updates on the horizon. ;)

Best regards!

 

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4 hours ago, Wiredframe said:

@Mithferion Absolutely agree. I said it before and I'll say it again. Adobe is doing NOTHING for years now and still charge horrendeously expensive subscriptions fees. @OP you regret paying 50$ once for a great piece of software, that's getting better almost every week? Well then...

First of, I said "almost regretting". Second, 50 bucks converted to my local currency is not cheap (at the time of my purchase specially). Third, as I said, I see the potential of the application and I do like how it works. The problem is that for what I want to do, it's not that useful. For instance, I tried to do a simple origami diagram with AD and the same one with Inkscape. The amount of time it took me to complete the job in AD was so big (in comparison to Inkscape - which by the way is free) that I just got really disappointed with AD. Ok, this may be the result of some years of experience with Inkscape compared to a few months with AD. But then again, I open AD everyday (on my spare time) just to try to learn more of it's tools and see if this will eventually become my origami diagramming tool. Unfortunately at the moment it isn't.

Again, thanks everyone for trying to help.

 

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I am also an Inkscape user, and I know that some things you are familiar with will not be the same in Designer.

As I see it, I have two tools for what I want to do. There are missing features right now, of course, but still, it's a matter of time. Time that some of us have the luxury of spending, while others can't. I'd love we all could integrate Designer in our workflows flawlessly, and I personally stick around until that moment comes for the majority.

Best regards!

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