Designer - Free transform tool (perspective distort)

[MELK0R87]

Having to turn off notifications, this clearly won't be changed any time soon

[Mark Freeman]

9 minutes ago, DGee said:

It’s sad.

Total waste

[jhdesigns]

I needed this feature just yesterday. I use Affinity Designer professionally and a video producer was asking for icons that I had distorted for perspective in vector format. I couldn't provide that, nor could I provide any explanation for why that wouldn't make them wonder why I wasn't using Adobe Illustrator. Please fix. The usability of Adobe is abysmal but the lacking features of Affinity result in very awkward professional situations. Other beta and open source vector programs have this. What's the hold up?

[DGee]

25 minutes ago, jhdesigns said:

I needed this feature just yesterday. I use Affinity Designer professionally and a video producer was asking for icons that I had distorted for perspective in vector format. I couldn't provide that, nor could I provide any explanation for why that wouldn't make them wonder why I wasn't using Adobe Illustrator. Please fix. The usability of Adobe is abysmal but the lacking features of Affinity result in very awkward professional situations. Other beta and open source vector programs have this. What's the hold up?

Vectorstyler does everything one would need to deliver professional work and it’s got just one developer which is crazy.  If it wasn’t for VS I would have gone back to Illustrator at this point.

[Andy05]

11 hours ago, jhdesigns said:

[...] I use Affinity Designer professionally [...] I couldn't provide that, nor could I provide any explanation for why [...] open source vector programs have this. [...]

As much as I agree with the topic of this thread, your comment is kind of weird, if you're really working on a professional base. A professional would just use a different tool, if the currently used ones can't provide the features one needs. As you stated in your comment, there are even free alternatives.

So, again, I wholeheartedly agree that a vector warp feature is sorely missing in Affinity Designer—but, as a professional—you'd better come up with an alternative solution for basic tasks for your clients rather than trying to explain that you're using tools, which won't let you fulfil your clients' requests. A real professional usually has more tools in his bag, especially if some of them don't provide all features one needs.

 

[jhdesigns]

9 hours ago, Andy05 said:

As much as I agree with the topic of this thread, your comment is kind of weird, if you're really working on a professional base. A professional would just use a different tool, if the currently used ones can't provide the features one needs. As you stated in your comment, there are even free alternatives.

So, again, I wholeheartedly agree that a vector warp feature is sorely missing in Affinity Designer—but, as a professional—you'd better come up with an alternative solution for basic tasks for your clients rather than trying to explain that you're using tools, which won't let you fulfil your clients' requests. A real professional usually has more tools in his bag, especially if some of them don't provide all features one needs.

 

I prefer Affinity because it is faster and more intuitive. I find Adobe apps clunky, overpriced, and painful to use by comparison. In this case, I would have distorted the vectors in another app but a) I didn’t anticipate this graphic being requested for another use where vectors would be required. It was a simple landing page graphic. And b) going into vectorstyler, which I do use occasionally, is an awkward workflow that adds time to the task. Vectorstyler and Inkscape also have clunky interfaces by comparison. Affinity suits all of my needs 98% of the time, but that missing 2% is irritating because it shouldn’t be that difficult to add the missing key features. I do use alternative apps for other features too like auto trace. Still, it would be better to have these at the ready within the app. I handle incredibly high volume for multiple agencies. They value my efficiency, part of which is made possible by Affinity’s intuitive interface, which is reminiscent of Fireworks, a tool Adobe acquired and then killed, not realizing its efficiency advantages.

[AffinityAppMan]

26 minutes ago, jhdesigns said:

I prefer Affinity because it is faster and more intuitive. I find Adobe apps clunky, overpriced, and painful to use by comparison. In this case, I would have distorted the vectors in another app but a) I didn’t anticipate this graphic being requested for another use where vectors would be required. It was a simple landing page graphic. And b) going into vectorstyler, which I do use occasionally, is an awkward workflow that adds time to the task. Vectorstyler and Inkscape also have clunky interfaces by comparison. Affinity suits all of my needs 98% of the time, but that missing 2% is irritating because it shouldn’t be that difficult to add the missing key features. I do use alternative apps for other features too like auto trace. Still, it would be better to have these at the ready within the app. I handle incredibly high volume for multiple agencies. They value my efficiency, part of which is made possible by Affinity’s intuitive interface, which is reminiscent of Fireworks, a tool Adobe acquired and then killed, not realizing its efficiency advantages.

I would say Affinity Designer suits most needs for 80% of the time, but that missing 20% is irritating.  That 20% is what's missing to stay competitive.

[jhdesigns]

2 minutes ago, AffinityAppMan said:

I would say Affinity Designer suits most needs for 80% of the time, but that missing 20% is irritating.  That 20% is what's missing to stay competitive.

I think it totally depends on what it’s being used for. I use it mostly for web page layout and creating simple corporate vector graphics. I’d imagine more features are missing for people who do more complex vector illustrations, for example.

[Andy05]

3 hours ago, jhdesigns said:

[...]  I do use alternative apps for other features too like auto trace. Still, it would be better to have these at the ready within the app. I handle incredibly high volume for multiple agencies. They value my efficiency, part of which is made possible by Affinity’s intuitive interface, which is reminiscent of Fireworks, a tool Adobe acquired and then killed, not realizing its efficiency advantages.

Contradicting yourself much, now? Because, if you do like stated in your last comment, your previous one was nothing but an obsolete, trolling rant: ("...] I couldn't provide that, nor could I provide any explanation for why [...]").

Anyway, a true "professional" would probably post in a more consistent manner...

[jhdesigns]

1 minute ago, Andy05 said:

Contradicting yourself much, now? Because, if you do like stated in your last comment, your previous one was nothing but an obsolete, trolling rant: ("...] I couldn't provide that, nor could I provide any explanation for why [...]").

Anyway, a true "professional" would probably post in a more consistent manner...

I think it’s clear who is a troll and degrading the discussion here. We’re providing examples for why this feature is important. Why don’t you go take your personal attacks to the dumpster fire of public social media comment threads. I’m done replying to this nonsense. 

[Andy05]

35 minutes ago, jhdesigns said:

I think it’s clear who is a troll and degrading the discussion here. We’re providing examples for why this feature is important. Why don’t you go take your personal attacks to the dumpster fire of public social media comment threads. I’m done replying to this nonsense. 

Seriously? You provided a tearful scenario; why you, as a "professional", had to turn down a client's job, because you couldn't fulfil it with your favourite app. Next time, less drama, please.

We both agree, that the vector warp is a sorely missing feature in affinity apps. But if you really can't cope with this problem when dealing with clients, you might have to rethink about your "professional" status, really.

[jhdesigns]

2 minutes ago, Andy05 said:

Seriously? You provided a tearful scenario; why you, as a "professional", had to turn down a client's job, because you couldn't fulfil it with your favourite app. Next time, less drama, please.

We both agree, that the vector warp is a sorely missing feature in affinity apps. But if you really can't cope with this problem when dealing with clients, you might have to rethink about your "professional" status, really.

I didn't turn down the job. I ultimately ended up providing the vector icons undistorted to the video producer so he could use them as he willed, and I could have recreated them in another app in distorted form. It just would have been faster and more convenient to actually have the feature so I could give him the original layered file and be done with it since I have heavy work load at the moment. I've been designing for middle market to major brands for almost 20 years and my clients value me and are dependent on my services so I have no insecurities about whether I'm a professional.

You brought the incendiary tone. Affinity needs to know why this feature is important. That includes providing scenarios for when it would have been nice or critical to have. Yes, there are workarounds, but if they want to improve their applications they need to include features that are commonly used. I'm a member of several Affinity groups and this has been one of the most requested features FOR YEARS. So far, we've received radio silence from Serif so it makes sense to keep making noise considering there are companies and open source projects with less development capability who are able to perspective distort vectors. No idea why you took this so personally or felt the need to attack me. I think I've made my point, but I'm doubtful you're willing to grasp it. You just want to find ways to argue or someone to demean. Does that make you feel more professional? Now I need to get back to work. Thankful I don't have to deal with you in any other capacity, professional or otherwise. *SMH* Good grief!

[Andy05]

7 minutes ago, jhdesigns said:

[pointless wall of text snipped]

You stated:

Quote

"I couldn't provide that, nor could I provide any explanation for why that wouldn't make them wonder why I wasn't using Adobe Illustrator."

So, IF you didn't turn down the job, why did you tell such nonsense to your clients? Swear silently about the missing features in your office, but don't tell the client "I can't provide that, 'cause my app won't let me do it!". 

Again, your whining initial post doesn't make sense. Yes, vector warp should be a feature of Affinity apps. Yes, you can complain about this. But seriously, don't try to argue with "I couldn't do my job properly *sniff*." And yes, that made you look very, very amateurish. 

You claimed that Affinity needs to know why this feature is important. So, your argument is, that a professional is losing jobs because of this? Really? You just could have stated that you needed to use a different app in order to fulfil your client's task. That'd have been professional. "I had to explain to my client, that I can't do it with my favourite app!" was an amateur's version. That's all.

[jhdesigns]

3 minutes ago, Andy05 said:

You stated:

So, IF you didn't turn down the job, why did you tell such nonsense to your clients? Swear silently about the missing features in your office, but don't tell the client "I can't provide that, 'cause my app won't let me do it!". 

Again, your whining initial post doesn't make sense. Yes, vector warp should be a feature of Affinity apps. Yes, you can complain about this. But seriously, don't try to argue with "I couldn't do my job properly *sniff*." And yes, that made you look very, very amateurish. 

You claimed that Affinity needs to know why this feature is important. So, your argument is, that a professional is losing jobs because of this? Really? You just could have stated that you needed to use a different app in order to fulfil your client's task. That'd have been professional. "I had to explain to my client, that I can't do it with my favourite app!" was an amateur's version. That's all.

I just told them the layered file I had on hand wasn't 100% true vector. I didn't turn down the job, and when I said in my comment I couldn't provide the icons in vector, I meant at that moment because I was busy with other tasks and they needed it in a time sensitive manner. To do so I would have to take it into another app and recreate and though that's not a big job by any means, my time is incredibly compressed and I'm up against very aggressive deadlines.  It would have been nice to say, "Yes, here you go," with quick turnaround that required only export. I also didn't know when I posted that comment that someone would be eager to make all manner of assumptions and dissect it for argument and character attacks. Silly me. See how off-topic we've gotten now that you continue your tirade against me? Your behavior is the very definition of a troll. Time to stop feeding, for real this time. I'm sure observers are shaking their heads.

[Andy05]

9 minutes ago, jhdesigns said:

I just told them the layered file I had on hand wasn't 100% true vector. I didn't turn down the job, and when I said in my comment I couldn't provide the icons in vector, I meant at that moment because I was busy with other tasks and they needed it in a time sensitive manner. To do so I would have to take it into another app and recreate and though that's not a big job by any means, my time is incredibly compressed and I'm up against very aggressive deadlines.  It would have been nice to say, "Yes, here you go," with quick turnaround that required only export. I also didn't know when I posted that comment that someone would be eager to make all manner of assumptions and dissect it for argument and character attacks. Silly me. See how off-topic we've gotten now that you continue your tirade against me? Your behavior is the very definition of a troll. Time to stop feeding, for real this time. I'm sure observers are shaking their heads.

Again, I don't disagree with you about the missing feature. But copypasting the objects into e. g. inkscape, do the perspective distortions, copypasting back into Affinity Designer and export (as 100% true vector) might have taken just a couple of minutes. The conversation with your clients, stating that you couldn't do it, followed by (I assume) more back and forth conversation surely took more time.

I still can't see the point you're trying to make. The turnaround time of the professional approach (using tools, which include your features) would have been the quick way, wouldn't it?

What I was complaining about was the exaggerated drama you tried to make about the missing feature. 

[Patrick Connor]

Can I suggest that one or both of you use the mute function that is available for any specific user. Either way stop arguing and being personal.

[iuli]

I add my +1 for this feature as well. 

As someone who tries to make a living being an iPad-only user, I do not have the free alternatives listed above (in a very unpleasant and aggressive manner). In fact there are no good true vector distort tool alternatives for iPad at all.

Please don’t forget about us. All the best!

[iuli]

On 5/26/2022 at 9:48 AM, Mark Freeman said:

Canva will eat both

The whole Affinity Suite costs as much as “owning” Canva for a couple of months. I think that Canva will eat itself up, like all the other greedy subscription-based software out there.

Affinity makes a strong argument that people are tired of borrowing (expensive) software. I think that with 2.0 this will become even more obvious.

[Mark Freeman]

1 hour ago, iuli said:

Affinity makes a strong argument that people are tired of borrowing (expensive) software.

You are aware what thread you’re on right? 😂….. and how old it is? 🤣 I will happily be proved wrong if AD implements free transform. I use AD/AP on ipad primarily…. they don’t even have rulers! Great programs other than that, but those two features (or more importantly Affinity’s reluctance or inability to address their absence) will mean that both programs will never be legit competitors in their current iteration. What do you know that I don’t ref 2.0?

[MCFC_4Heatons]

2 hours ago, iuli said:

The whole Affinity Suite costs as much as “owning” Canva for a couple of months. I think that Canva will eat itself up, like all the other greedy subscription-based software out there.

Affinity makes a strong argument that people are tired of borrowing (expensive) software. I think that with 2.0 this will become even more obvious.

This has been years with NO communication from Affinity. IF and when v2 ever turns up, who knows if they'll do anything with Designer, it seems to be at the bottom of their priorities.

The lack of communication is very strange & it will be Affinity's downfall! I don't like to believe the conspiracy theorists but it does seem very odd!

[iuli]

@Mark Freeman,

I obviously have no more knowledge regarding 2.0 than you, or anyone else here, have.

But according to an article published February 7 by aecmag  Version 2 of the suite is due out in 2022 and promises to bring a slew of new capabilities. One customer who is beta testing V2 told (the author) will also make the switch from Adobe ‘even easier’

https://aecmag.com/technology/serif-affinity-for-aec-firms/

2.0 being paid means that most of the criticism and missing features are going to be addressed, otherwise people would be reluctant to upgrade, I think?

I agree with you that Serif would obviously have to address lots of iPad issues and missing features; no ability to import palettes, no rulers, no macro creation, (or that saving bug which continues to be a pain for almost 2 months instead being addressed day 1), and other issues and missing featured from the desktop software, will ‘surely’ have Serif’s full attention for the next iteration. How else would Serif convince people to upgrade?

@MCFC_4Heatons,

The lack of communication is upsetting, but I don’t believe Designer is at bottom of Serif’s priorities; maybe bringing Publisher and StudioLink (edit, to iPad) pushes everything else aside? About the conspiracy theories, I’d never bother to even joke about them. That’s where all the crap in this world takes form.

Kind regards to both of you  

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by iuli

[Mark Freeman]

20 minutes ago, MCFC_4Heatons said:

I don't like to believe the conspiracy theorists but it does seem very odd!

I was resistant at first, but less so with time.

[Mark Freeman]

1 minute ago, iuli said:

 

The lack of communication is upsetting, but I don’t believe Designer is at bottom of Serif’s priorities; maybe bringing Publisher and StudioLink pushes everything else aside? About the conspiracy theories, I’d never bother to even joke about them. That’s where all the crap in this world takes form.

Kind regards to both of you  

Props for staying calm in the face of quasi trolling. We shall see with 2.0 and I’ll check out that link. But in terms of Serif’s communication, maybe it’s company policy to keep Mum, but it sure as hell ain’t winning them any friends if this forum is anything to go by, at least amongst those of us who try our best not to deal with the Adobe devil while making a living with their software. Again, we shall see. Back at ya with the regards 👊🏻

[Mark Freeman]

3 hours ago, iuli said:

As someone who tries to make a living being an iPad-only user

Side note, what’s your main method of doing so? I primarily use Upwork, but have dabbled with other sites.

[iuli]

On 6/2/2022 at 6:33 PM, Mark Freeman said:

Side note, what’s your main method of doing so? I primarily use Upwork, but have dabbled with other sites.

[erased] Now I’m transitioning towards publishing and I’m only doing work with/for my partner’s small and local printing shop here in Brașov, Romania   

Edited June 4, 2022 by iuli
Personal