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Affinity Publisher - Sneak Preview


TonyB

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14 minutes ago, Tourmaline said:

I would suspect begin fall, end of summer.

I wouldn't be surprised if it needs final work and is released in end of Autumn... I wouldn't get angry or in a carousel of emotions....People here is too young or too old to remember Duke Nukem For Ever, hehe. I mean, if I'd get an euro for every time a software app/game/whatever has been delayed years, not months... Is very common. I prefer to get sth a bit later, and deal the stuff with other apps in the meantime, but get already a first beta with a solid foundation, not to expect an ID killer, but so that for them is easier to build upon that a good publishing solution. Which is going to  take much longer than a summer, obviously, software developments of this size take time...

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Michail said:

Why do people always want to do everything on the go? Isn't it enough that they already eat and drink on the way?

It could be one of the following:

  • You are out of your place of work and decided to make changes (a brief moment of inspiration, for example).
  • You are reviewing your work for a second time and then you realized you made a mistake.
  • You are running out of time and that'd help you finish your work before you present it (imagine you have just a Desktop device and the iPad).
  • Something else.

It's not doing everything, it's making changes on something you already did.

Best regards!

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3 hours ago, Michail said:

Why do people always want to do everything on the go? Isn't it enough that they already eat and drink on the way?

My iPad Pro has replaced a old MBP. I consider it my mobile computer, so it would be nice to use it for such work, too.

Tablet usage will become the normal computing experience in the future, with a few professional areas staying on expensive desktop workstations.

Mac mini M1 / Ryzen 5600H & RTX3050 mobile / iPad Pro 1st - all with latest non beta release of Affinity

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More prosaically ... you have a desktop but you also need a mobile device because you are often out of the office.
Affinity has similar performance on the iPad or higher (since it is like a Wacom Cintiq) to a normal laptop that on average costs more than an iPadPro (equal performance).


In addition I would say that Affinity Photo is spectacular on the iPad and if Serif is able to match this feature also for Designer and Publisher becomes the most powerful graphics suite ever on the iPad;)

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I"m not sure something like Publisher would be usefull on a tablet. (I can't imagine doing what I do on inDesign with 2 screens, switching from one app to the other, needing to keep some panels or info visible while working on another part of my document… on a tablet).

But if there's a Designer iPad version, and it's able to open .afpublisher files to modify few simples things, it can be usefull.

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Not everybody works with 2 screens. And not everybody works at such an intense level. I for example have fought at work to get only 1 big screen instead of 2 screens. I hate dual screens because of the borders right in the middle of my vision.

And not to forget: DTP has been done professional for a long time an screens smaller then iPadPro and computers much worse then a iPadPro. So I don't see any technical hurdles.

Mac mini M1 / Ryzen 5600H & RTX3050 mobile / iPad Pro 1st - all with latest non beta release of Affinity

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1 hour ago, Tia Lapis said:

Tablet usage will become the normal computing experience in the future, with a few professional areas staying on expensive desktop workstations.

For my field, illustration (and eventually, some gigs, comic), I don't expect it to happen massively unless they'd be able to physically output (and do enough sells of it in the market as to establish a sustainable line) of a 22" or + size... (and I hear the shouts calling me "crazy"...But for a painter, is common to go outside with an A3  (or bigger) folder for sketches, or even a canvas and a bag of oils... so, not that crazy....I've done that every freaking day for many years.

And I know, a % of illustrators love it (the iPad Pro) and say that (for now) they love it as their single tool for all work. I can tell you, not the case for a vast majority of others, which don't see 12,9 inches being enough, at all. I even know a bunch of other designers (I do that, too) that (edited) don't love to work in 12 inches. My own personal take: I love iPads and the Surface (but I hate its pen jitter) for fast sketching and having some functionality on the go, but that's it... Also, big screens = easier on the eyes for long sessions. As well as for back and general body ergonomics...

I have worked as well for years in making graphics for games. I don't see myself or a bunch of colleagues using a 12.9 inches screen all day long. Try to handle a large 3D scene with many tiny objects... is not just about tired eyesight, is about real state space for large compositions... Or texturing with a PBR workflow any complex character in today's standards, modelling a several millions polygons ultra detailed model... I've seen recently more game studios, and they're, if anything going for bigger screens, not smaller. Latest time I visited a video/after Effects based company, of quite some importance in my country, the designers were having 27 inches monitors, Mac and Windows... (in games is Windows more often. In design related, you see a lot more Macs, yet today. Often in a 50% )

So, is 3 large fields I know by deep experience, and with whose pros I keep yet some relation... I've seen no case of going for tablets and definitely not, smaller screens...

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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It all depend on which files your are working on. I do this professionnally since ±2000, and getting a second screen was so wonderfull I bought a second one at home.
And we all have a second screen at work since they bought newer and larger ones, and they realise that's improving productivity.

I own a Windows tablet, and I thought I would use graphics apps on it. But really, that's like drawing on my phone… it can be usefull, but if I can avoid it I do.
Adobe do a lot of app too. I only see this as way to ask us to work everywhere. But sometimes, it's more efficient to think and plane your work when you are away from your computer, and do it faster when at the office, than trying to work everywhere whithout doing anything really usefull.

But that's only my point of view. And at work, we have a laptop with all the apps needed for going to meeting with clients when we need to leave the office.

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Then you are one of the customers for the expensive workstation. Many *users* are happy to be away from pc/mac - it has always only been a clunky tool for them. It could happen the smartphone take the top computer spot for most people. Connect a BT keyboard and a screen  - as soon as the os is able to scale to the bigger screen the people will be happy with it.

Mac mini M1 / Ryzen 5600H & RTX3050 mobile / iPad Pro 1st - all with latest non beta release of Affinity

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19 minutes ago, Tia Lapis said:

Not everybody works with 2 screens. And not everybody works at such an intense level. I for example have fought at work to get only 1 big screen instead of 2 screens. I hate dual screens because of the borders right in the middle of my vision.

And not to forget: DTP has been done professional for a long time an screens smaller then iPadPro and computers much worse then a iPadPro. So I don't see any technical hurdles.

When I started, that 10" amber CRT was what there was for working with a PC. When in 1990 I bought that 14" paper white monitor with its ability to do layout work and see 256 shades of grey, it was heaven. A year or so later I bought a 17" sVGA the instant that ViewSonic hit the market. You see where I am going here. I do use a 14" laptop often enough when I am out but its screen isn't taken up with a on-screen kyboard, either.

A comp version, however, where I am using fingers & gestures for dragging out text frames and placing images, some insertion of lorem ipsum or live text, etc., etc., etc., would be nice in order to take those mock-ups and port them directly to the layout application on the laptop/desktop would be nice. While I don't have an iPad, if I did I would play with Quark's DesignPad. Tis free. Then again, so are the napkins I often use when out & about...

I think that with the Affinity products' ability to open each other's files, having APub itself on the small screen is/would be, less important. Changes, testing something using AD for the iPad, sketching layout options, etc., could be done in it.

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17 hours ago, DerHerr said:

I just hope we get the beta "soon"...

In my experience Serif have a track record for releasing versions of their "Plus" range of software before it was really ready - then people have to find endless work-arounds for problems and/or wait for patches.

They seem to be doing a bit better with the Affinity range. :D

Personally, I'd much rather wait a little longer and get a better product!

Acer XC-895 : Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz :  32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 : Windows 10 Home
Affinity Publisher 2 : Affinity Photo 2 : Affinity Designer 2 : (latest release versions) on desktop and iPad

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I find this lack of a vision for the future depressing 8(

Some pc/mac users act like there never should be any evolution of our tools. Just faster and bigger...

Mac mini M1 / Ryzen 5600H & RTX3050 mobile / iPad Pro 1st - all with latest non beta release of Affinity

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If you don't like having a "split" in the middle when using two screens, try three! ;)

Acer XC-895 : Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz :  32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 : Windows 10 Home
Affinity Publisher 2 : Affinity Photo 2 : Affinity Designer 2 : (latest release versions) on desktop and iPad

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Don't :)

That's like thinking ebook will kill paper-book, and before that Radio/TV/etc. will kill books. We've got better technology, and miniaturisation, but it's not always eficient depending of your work. Perhaps it can be usefull for flyers, but not for 720 pages books created from imported data, using lot of scripts and tricks, or even regular publications, needing access to files from a server, etc.

When I dream about possible futur, I'd rather have more "télétravail" (work from home), with lesser days spend in long comute to go to the office (but some days, since it's important to meet colleagues and work with them around).

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In the office I have a 27 "iMac and a Cintiq and I feel very comfortable, often when I come from customers I find myself using a colleague's iPad Pro to describe or edit files directly during the meeting.
I stopped doing it on the MBP mip because it is less immediate and functional.

It seems obvious that paginating for more than eight hours on a 12.9 "is worse than doing it on a 27" ... maybe the speech is taken a little 'too much on the wrong side!

I imagine that having a version of Publisher on iPad is not a primary prerogative, a convenience yes!

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1 hour ago, Tia Lapis said:

Then you are one of the customers for the expensive workstation.

Not so long ago, we were working on old workstations downgraded to Win XP for using CS6 apps. It was laggy, buggy, we needed tricks to open more recents files send by clients, etc.) but we couldn't afford CC. Some time later and few people less ( :( ), we are now on new computer using CC.

That's why Affinity apps are important and a lot of us, independant, small or big company are waiting for Affinity Publisher and testing AP and AD. Being able to _keep people_ and changing computers when needed, and being enought to do the work and working with good apps can depend of the price of those apps. That's why a desktop app seems more important today, and why I think that if Serif sell enought of them, they'll be able to develop for tablet later, as an aside and complementary app.

And since I'm a dreamer, I hope switching to Affinity will help companies to keep people and upgrading their hardware.

(going from CSx to CC can be a 1 to 6 change in a company budget — new hardware needed, licences, updating archiving or other workflow apps…)

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2 hours ago, Tia Lapis said:

I find this lack of a vision for the future depressing 8(

Some pc/mac users act like there never should be any evolution of our tools. Just faster and bigger...

I am not against having a small phone (I admit I dislike phones other than for talking, in general, tho, but my reasons are non related to this fact, trust me. I'm just extremely practical) or a mini cube pc, as there are some already (they seem to have it hard to put there something greater than a core i3, under powered, and no card, not a lot of pieces.... And if putting sth bigger, it gets prohibitively expensive). IF, and is a big "if" the phone can put as much performance as a PC can.... problems for that are the following, and it all has not really a solution, is a bit of a catch-22 problem : 

- As of today, no phone can deal with very high res images editing, high polygon count (several millions) modeling, very high res files for print with 100s layers, etc...or those that can till some point, do fully miss the match with a workstation. Reason is simple: We can -and we do- have systems for refrigeration, and larger chips can output more performance. In games, as an extreme example of certain scenarios, they can have very advanced liquid cooling (and top notch system general ventilation and air circulation) that can allow them to multiply the performance greatly. 

Now you might tell me that I am just one of those crazy geeks that are all about hardware. Believe me, I'm not (I know because I've known quite some of those.... ). But having not good hardware (I do know pretty well about that, am even a master in getting the best from the worst) is a pain of slowing down , and time is money doing gigs, one would earn literally a lot more by 3D rendering faster a large scene in CPU or GPU, I can edit videos with much smaller waits for rendering,  and not less importantly, is possible to use GPU based painting software that do absolute wonders (even while I think that is very limiting just now, and non convincing. But a pair of them will probably be in great status in about one year or 1.5 years). The more brute performance in the GPU-CPU (must go together to not allow bottlenecks)  the higher the resolution usable for the canvases, which is key for printing, specially working in raster mode, usual for painters, illustrators, game artists. I've done the 3, and yeah, I yet to see a profile where the hardware is not often falling short.

Can you do all this in a phone, to a very smaller scale/speed/features/workflows/scenarios? ....yyyeeppp, of course. As a professional, for now, I wish best luck to whoever goes that route, though.

Even if phones get ever enough power, by pure physics -of what we can do now, and in yet quite some years-  larger space of a PC tower allows larger chips, and better refrigeration = more performance, if compared in maximum tech effort in both cases (a phone or a PC/Mac), obviously. So, for quite some years, bigger space means greater performance. It depends on your tasks. If you are only making business cards, fully in vector, I'd say you can work fully with the iPad. Congrats if you are making all your freelancing income with that (you'd be my hero or heroine)  Most freelancers and employees need to do way more varied stuff....

Also, while connecting a phone to a large, professional monitor, or at least, at 23 inches one like mine (at least I can calibrate color by hardware, I believe you can't even do this in iOS) is possible, and for now, there's iOS apps enough to make somewhat basic work (Affinity is making a difference here, thankfully. But IMOP the rest of the operating system and apps are not in concordance) , IMO it still would be a bit of a nonsense. As the phone advantage is portability, and being able to work everywhere, I suppose. But that screen would be anything but portable. Static in a room never to be moved as you'd even fear to damage the (800 to ...whatever) expensive thing, besides being pretty heavy. So, for that...I'd just have a cheap tower. With around 700 euros I beat any high end phone out there, curved or not, or able to morph into some alien shape.

I would totally agree with you in that "a portion" of humanity is migrating to phones and portable devices. A large portion, Not everyone. And, in any case, I see it as the future for average usage, common browsing, email, watching movies. For t he 100% of the use of the average joe and jane.  Well, that is the reality already. But as we are in a graphic apps forum, and supposedly Affinity apps are definitely not toys, are professional applications... I'd go as far as to say that there is a bunch around here with interest at least to work professionally with them, even if not being making graphics the actual current job. Even if not being freelancers or company employees using Affinity, but doing works for a hobby which are not possible with more basic software.

If... in a few years they (the big brands) FINALLY produce a phone sized machine, a PC of a phone size that is better than a raspberry, or than the best current phone model out there, and is REALLY capable to handle the usual weight of a graphics professional in 2D/3D (and handle smoothly the heavy load of a print file in these new GPU based painted applications)  , that day, which will surely come at some point, I might jump ship... But I have to see that truly happen FIRST, as I've been hearing this song with different lyrics for a while, now, years....

Even then...hehehe.....if happens like, today, that, at same core power, same output, same performance (although in my test, same specs, a non portable device tends to be even there more powerful...) because of the greater cost of putting the same available-at-the-time power in such tiny space, the much more expensive production makes same hardware cost a huuuge lot more... I, as a professional, will still be on PCs, I'm afraid. I might have amazing tablets for reading comics or books, browsing in the coach, or carrying to a meeting. But for the pro work, sorry, all the above must have been solved, first, or would be a terrible business.

Oh, and about the 2 monitors thing... Everybody and their dog are doing it.... I even had a strong discussion about it with a mate, until he told me about me using Wings3D and Blender, and made me remember there's a point in non standard ways.... He obviously demonstrated (as I did with Wings/Blender) that 2 monitors are a win-win.  Of course, not to place them with the division in the middle, necessarily. It depends on your desktop available space.... This guy had his monitor 100%  in front of him, the other to a side, so he had the scene being rendered there while he worked in other stuff (the machine was really powerful for the times). Today is a standard.  In my latest two IT jobs (one games, the other software development) a lot of programmers had 2 monitors, is not a graphic nerds stuff matter, only... Reasons, when I asked for that... They used to have a code editor in one, a console in other for compiling stuff or whatever, or checking the browser or real time engine, etc. The typical complain in all the workers I can remember of, was..."bigger and better screen" or..."a  second/third monitor, please....". Certain guy, would have the panels in one desktop, in one monitor, and the actual painting canvas in another. And THAT makes a ton of sense....For the less frequent panels. Is also great to have in front of you your work monitor, and another with references, project documents, etc.

If anything, I've seen an increasing tendency for bigger monitors. A 4k video can be indeed seen in a phone, but is eons away from the wow factor -here talking about average user experience, too- of a 24 - 27 inches screen. 

Just ask any  CIntiq QHD 27" if they would prefer to paint on a phone...hehehe.  I've heard too many of them's feedback about that wonder! . And again, using a 27 screen connected to a phone defects the purpose: I'm needing somewhere a large physic space and a solid desktop table for that kind of monitor. I will need to be at the place. If so, better have a decently priced phone for its best uses (including social networks etc) and a cheap machine that can do absolutely everything.

That said, is very handy to have Affinity in a tablet. For the reasons mentioned by others, to advance work, or do starting concepts, sketching, etc.

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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I guess you never have used Procreate on a iPad Pro. It runs circles around Photoshop on my big MacPro (6core Xeon) when doing paint work at 8k. 

For big screen: Many private people have already big screens - we call them TV. I know it's hard for IT professionals to accept that the time of the pc is ending. It will remain for our usage as a special tool. But I don't see it in usage at most private homes and even many office jobs. My personal guess is that by 2030 there will be no traditional PCs anymore - even in special usage cases.

Mac mini M1 / Ryzen 5600H & RTX3050 mobile / iPad Pro 1st - all with latest non beta release of Affinity

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SrPx, when I was using Silicon Graphics, I never imagined that "normal" computers would take the place of Unix workstations ... today we know how the story went.

You do not know when, but having tried Procreate and Affinity Photo I dare not say that before long the story could be repeated! https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/search?q=iphone10

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Indeed, that's what I said... for general usage, to each his own... for pro work, big screens, sorry... In the times of UNIX as the only machines for 3D, they used big screens for detailed work, too... now, we use big screens, as well... 

I always said for professional work. I have nothing against everyone using an ipad for browsing, games, office apps, etc...My point is only for professional graphics creation. Procreate yep, is cool in some aspects... IMO, not as featured as PS and others. The main issue for me of a tablet, is the screen.... And for many pros.

 

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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And nothing speaks technically against connecting big screens to Smartphones, Tablets etc.

Procreate: Not as features? It's a painting app and beats Photoshop in this by far. But yes it's not a photo editor. Affinity Photo is a very good competition to Photoshop as a photo editor even on a iPad.

The big advantage of an iPad is the screen - It is much better as everything Wacom has delivered till now (no parallax error etc) and very good color accuracy and depth coupled with very high resolution. All in perfectly fine A4 drawing size that can be moved and scaled if you need more or need to do fine work. Never got why people get Big Wacoms and Cintiq, the A4 one is the maximum size that's comfortable to work with.

Mac mini M1 / Ryzen 5600H & RTX3050 mobile / iPad Pro 1st - all with latest non beta release of Affinity

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I am waiting for two great facts;)

1) the release of the new iPad, because it does not lack much.

2) the output of AD for iPad.

I was able to try AP on large files and I was impressed. I can say that the interface of AP for iPad is fantastic and leaves you all the free monitor ... certainly the 3D and the studio work will continue to do it on a desktop with one or more large monitors and "maybe" a new cintiq.

However, more than once we did sketches or changes during business meetings using a large monitor managed with AirPlay and Apple TV!!!

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2 hours ago, Tia Lapis said:

And nothing speaks technically against connecting big screens to Smartphones, Tablets etc.

of course not... this I addressed too in my too long post... But at these times in tech, I get a lot of more capabilities and  raw performance doing just that with a PC, and the big screen is not really portable (by any means...), so, it doesn't hurt to have a pc instead, as anyway I need the space for the fat professional monitor, lol...and as I get a lot more power for the same money (or much less) than the same solution in portable, due to construction costs (of a laptop/phone/tablet compared to a PC purchased per parts...extremely cheaper at same raw capabilities (or better, as the portable do not reach certain key levels)) . Due to being much more expensive to cram all that in such small space, without refrigeration. The best shot a it of portable solutions, and the best shot at it of desktop, will have the latter as more powerful, for physical reasons. May this change in the future ? Maybe, with biological based computers, or light based, or even the current gen but with just 7nm architecture (AMD is preparing that) instead of the current 14nm ones. And that is close, somehow. I don't see it all ending in portable being more powerful with the same money than a PC, in many years. Like with learning new stuff, that I go in a "need to nerd" strategy (instead of learning everything to be the perfect unicorn, I learn as needs and projects arise) what I do is I use a new tech, or new technological approach when it makes sense in my work (my hobbies, normal use, that could be another thing), becomes as the most practical solution for my work. Right now, it is the PC, as it has been my entire (long) working life, and I don't see this changing soon.

2 hours ago, Tia Lapis said:

Procreate: Not as features? It's a painting app and beats Photoshop in this by far. But yes it's not a photo editor. Affinity Photo is a very good competition to Photoshop as a photo editor even on a iPad.

Doing illustration for clients you need a lot more than just painting features,  besides most freelancers I know do a bit of everything, only a few lucky ones can do their entire income with painting only.. but that would be a wider -even- debate....

2 hours ago, Tia Lapis said:

The big advantage of an iPad is the screen - It is much better as everything Wacom has delivered till now (no parallax error etc) and very good color accuracy and depth coupled with very high resolution.

It depends how you see it. iOS hasn't got great features for custom color calibration (adjust the screen for a somewhat "usable" CMYK color profile for printing with certain company, even while I know that's only a poor approach, but is something..that have worked always in my case), and as far as I know, we can't calibrate it with a hardware calibrator yet. Yes, it now has a wider RGB color space (P3), not just sRGB like the first iPad Pro generation, but still falls short. I do get more in the color managing department with a professional monitor than with an iPad Pro screen and iOS.

About the tablet sensitivity and actual drawing feel, there's a lot of controversy. A bunch of people that I have contacted which have used both prefers a Wacom intuos or Cintiq. Heck, I have used both (I recon iPad quite little, but the tests were very solid), and I see I get more control in my Wacom Intuos XL and a pro 23 " monitor. Yes it has less parallax than some Cintiq alternatives, but the very latest -to compare apples to apples, no pun intended- Wacom Cintiqs, the parallax is reduced to a level I personally wouldn't notice at all. I am not sure about if you have illustrated/painted like, during a month over a cintiq of a good size -22-24, ideally a 27 QHD-  8 hours a day -my drawing sessions (as a freelancer and before as an employee) are often much longer, sigh- and same time and sessions with a tablet... then you could compare and decide what is more comfortable, accurate,  and less tiring. And/or, if you would start seeing (maybe in a pair of weeks, or maybe not, maybe even not in months, but probably in a pair of years) back pains/issues, or in the neck, carpal tunnel, etc. But this is as for working so long, one is better if having the best position possible, and enough space (to leave arms relaxed, back relaxed, use less wrist movements, and more arm movements, etc, etc. Trust me, am not making up these things....are common ground...). Eyesight suffers much more working so close, too (even with plain paper)., and this is common for both a cintiq and an iPad (indeed,as I have said lately, for very long hours, I prefer working with a pro monitor and an intuos)  I've know a lot of cases, but this in using tablets for day long sessions -I have a friend, she's not even a designer, and she has been told by the doctor not to use so much the tablet- and cintiqs... IMO, the good old drawing tablet + monitor allows the best ergonomics.  Nothing of this applies to 2 hours sessions, of course. But again, I'm always speaking of a professional usage. Not a hobby situation, neither a pro use for a limited concept/sketching period per day. That would be very different. But that wouldn't constitute a replacement, in any way (and how I see it, u can do sketching and concept AND the full heavy work with a PC... the opposite, not at all...be 3 years like that...I hope you are lucky (could happen) and don't develop any problem -for all day long sessions- ) But professionals and intensive professional use are not going to disappear any time soon. That's my point in saying that I don't see ipads replacing PCs, sorry.

2 hours ago, Tia Lapis said:

Never got why people get Big Wacoms and Cintiq, the A4 one is the maximum size that's comfortable to work with.

Again, the professional usage POV. Even for comics it was typical to work in A3 (Jean Giraud (Moebius/Gir), an absolute genius, a great illustrator and comics artist, would always draw in huge formats. Not sure about how he does it now, but I remember going to an exposition showing his amazing originals, used for later on printing the comic page), back in the day. Still is done that way by many, as, believe it or not, there are many comic artists, even very young ones, still with their Bristol paper and their pencils and inks. 

I have painted 8 meters * 2 meters tall scenarios (for theater and stuff). And in Fine Arts, we got used to paint as a normal daily thing in 2 meters tall canvases, just for charcoals sketching. Or to paint entire walls with a mural technique (ie, like was done by the Romans and in medieval age) And for painting, anything from an A6 to larger than an A0. It makes you quite more skilled in drawing and composition, but that's my opinion, too. This doesn't affect the fact that you can also draw in small if feel in the mood. I've made some of my best concepts in a paper napkin at a coffee place.

Also, from a pure digital drawing perspective, if you prefer not to set (or set them really low...after all is to compensate the magnetic digitizers, always less accurate than our hand) line stabilizers (some call it "line smoothing") for LINE ART (digital painting and illustration is a very different matter, is not necessary. And for photo retouch, even less.) for comics inking, or just line art based illustration, you get a ton more control in an Intuos Pro L or XL than a Wacom Small , or a 12,9" tablet. Even if it's with The Pencil, which I concur is a technological jewel . I know. I've done the tests, and used many sizes of tablets. It simply gives you a lot more control over the lines. Make the test one day drawing in an intuos small, as there is very noticeable, the difference. 

So, unless something changes hugely in the markets, I don't see that replacement happening for the professionals in graphics creation very soon. What would need to happen in the market should be two things: 

- Apple and/or other brand if using Wacom technology internally (Or just doing sth just as good as these two (Pencil and Wacom) are) need to produce tablets focused in professional usage. Like  Microsoft Studio or Dell Canvas, but not so big. Make the miracle of making that very light in weight despite being 21 -22 inches, at the very least.  I don't see this happening any time soon, although they have it already in cintiq and cintiq alternatives (btw, some supporting 94% of Adobe RGB color space!)

- That the entire software ecosystem, including color calibration, but also the actual applications one uses for pro work, were available in the tablet. I don't see another way than using a Mac OSX or a Windows in there. Not an iOS or Android, certainly. Or they would have to evolve a lot. The prob is not capability. Is the market, companies and the people. If people don't want to use tablets for pro usage, companies wont produce tablets bigger than 12,9, neither a full OS for the system. And software companies , despite some great cases like Serif, wont port their applications to iOS or Android. If it'd happen, that would be a huge step to what you say or wish it to be. But is a bit of a catch-22 again, as if the companies don't make tablets of 20 -22 inches, and in full operating systems, allowing full control in color management, all software for 3D, video,  2D, fully available there,  if this does not happen, why would a pro loose a large chunk of her/his clients just because a tablet is cooler... 

- And I'd add a third,...and like the others, yep, it can happen, but the ipad has been among us for long, now, even the iPad pro has been already some time, and I don't see any of the above matters being a royal focus... The third would be that a tablet would be as affordable as a PC (with more flexibility in usage, I get the same or more with even 500 euros than the 1200 that costs me an equivalent iPad solution). Cost in maintenance also is important : If a piece breaks in my 9 years PC, I can replace it with another, even a better, more powerful one. Out of warranty, this is an issue with an iPad(well, it is an issue even just the software/os  update situation, after 2-3 years of purchase...)

Again, being here, in a forum about a very serious graphic creation suite, I'm not talking about normal use of everybody. I'm focusing on pro usage, by professionals, and all day long sessions, or close to that. And all what one ends up needing in pro activity. A very varied jungle where one must have the maximum flexibility in software, capabilities, performance, etc.

For hobby usage, I believe even that the iPad makes quite sense. But there are even quite some people that don't "like" tablets, even for a hobby, will purchase a PC. Count among those, very strongly, on every hardcore gamer. Their usual discussion is about how a Ryzen is crappy because an intel can reach 5.2 GHz with overclocking thanks to special cooling, or how the latest Ryzen 2700x is approaching in benchmarks to the latest 8700k intel. And they are a large bunch, is not some crazy reduced number of geeks like it was in the 90s. Heck, even the much more numerous e-sports people and casual gamers, those will want to play the games that are mostly to be installed in PC/Mac and recently too (in bigger numbers), in Linux machines... Indeed, this has been one of the biggest reasons for the Windows dominance, together with pro applications being there for ever, and the bigger user base since almost always.

I see the iPad Pro approaching, well, being already, a professional tool for showing work to clients, for meetings, for illustration if you are not all the freaking day at it, and don't need to do very large and detailed compositions (comfortably without zooming in constantly..also as  in art, is key to have always a global view as you paint) for concept art previous to starting a larger and complex composition, and absolutely great for sketching. For vector based design (again, IMO of not too huge complexity in detail) This is all pro work, too. For replacing the PC at the other stages... I don't agree, sorry. I speak from experience working a lot with a 12 inches screen cintiq (for 8 months), having tested enough the iPad Pro, and having worked with all the Wacom gamma  (from Intuos 1....and also, Kurta and Summagraphics, previous to Wacom tablets) of sizes, and several monitor sizes, professional and not...

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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Hello!!!!

I love Affinity Products :D but i have a question.

-Can I Try The Affinity Publisher Beta?

I would like to try this product, to know whether to buy the Designer or wait for me at the Publisgher. Forgive my misspellings, I use a translator xD

Regards!!!! :D

 

 

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