Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Affinity Publisher - Sneak Preview


TonyB

Recommended Posts

If the Adobe story has taught us anything, it should be that we have to have options and engage them in order to have an uninterrupted work flow (Mike W seems to epitomize this). When Publisher hits (Beta or otherwise), I'll be there. I've transitioned from Photoshop and Illustrator to Photo and Designer, I've got Pixelmator, and I've been using QuarkXpress for 7 months now with no regrets. Took a while to export/import my InDesign CS5 files (some still to be converted) and I'm happy to say that I'm out of the Adobe design cycle. I use the latest CC at work because that's what they've got. The possible future of elements of the Creative Cloud can be seen firsthand in Adobe's EOL of MUSE. As many have posted here before, there's quite a bit of perfectly good software that Adobe has killed off and other programs that they've let wallow or become bloated. Pretty sure that no matter what Publisher may lack at the outset it will only go forward and become better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The "like" wasn't for the mention. It was for the message of moving forward, because as you state, there are options.

What's that saying? The biggest lie Satan ever told was that he didn't exist? That's akin to the lie Adobe has convinced the world of: There are no options outside AdobeLand. But there are. And more and more people are coming around to that fact. If Serif had begun releasing the Affinity line-up a decade or so ago, I doubt it would have been as successful as it is and APub is just going to prove that more as it matures.

Here's the thing. There have always been alternatives to Adobe software. Many have come and gone due to ill timing (I think) among other factor. But many are still around but have never generated the buzz that the Affinity line has. Some are better/more efficient to work in for the type of things I create. But because they didn't generate the buzz, they will still not create the "excitement" that the Affinity products are doing. 

Timing is everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, skiphunt said:

It's kind of baffling how indignant, angry, and impatient some are with this. Personally, I'd rather they take their time and get it right. The iPad Photo launch was pretty bumpy to be honest... so I'm betting they're making sure this thing is fairly rock solid before anyone even gets to play with it. 

I'm cool with that. 

Although the frustration comes from the fact that this was originally announced about 6 years ago. We waited patiently while the iPad was given higher priority and now I am just about running out of steam with this. I love pageplus but to be honest, if something else came along that fitted the bill, Serif don't have much of my loyalty any more. A sad thing to say as I was always recommending pageplus to every page layout specialist and designer that I chatted with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So much pages for the same software. 
I believe Serif should make it very attractive even in beta version for the level  of frustration to be dropped down. 
When is summer really ending? 

We are already in July so waiting few more weeks is not a bad thing. 
@MattP will Affinity Publisher work on a  PC with 4gb Ram + 2ghz Core2duo running windows 10 Pro x64 version 1803? 

See it's not only a good thing to make a good software but it's better make it run on config with just enough resources, if it works well with that then those having monster config will enjoy even better and everyone will be happy at their respective level. 

Please make sure we have the link or live link ready and working for the beta version, so we can test it and revert back telling you how it works. 
I believe you have prepared something great guys!
You rocks and have my support. 

Never be the Same Again !
---
Dell Optiplex 5090 SFF
Intel Core i5-10500T @2.30GHz with 12GiB 2666MHz DDR4
Intel UHD Graphics 630 for 10th Generation
M.2 2280, 512 GB, PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4, Class 40 SSD

Windows 11 Pro x64 22H2 + LibreOffice 7.5.3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Arnaud Mez said:

@MattP will Affinity Publisher work on a  PC with 4gb Ram + 2ghz Core2duo running windows 10 Pro x64 version 1803?

Matt is the lead developer for Affinity Designer. I think your question would be better directed at @AdamW. (Adam was the PagePlus project manager for many years.)

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)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/4/2018 at 2:10 AM, MattP said:

Really sorry about the lack of updates - some of this is down to the fact that there's very little to update you on regarding Affinity Publisher (still looking good, still on track for Beta - to the best of my knowledge at this point) and some of this is down to the fact that Affinity Designer for iPad has been occupying 100% of my time recently as I get it ready for launch. That situation will change. Soon. ;)

So hopefully you'll see more obvious progress over the coming months... :) 

Understood, but is there ANY update as to when to expect the beta, other than "soon" or "this summer, sometime"? (I guess I'm a little more impatient than I thought.)

Mac OS High Sierra (by choice—won't "upgrade" until forced to), MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018), 2.9 GHz Intel Core i9, 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4, Radeon Pro 560X 4096 MB, Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB, two 43" 4K TVs for monitors. 

+ a 2008 Mac Desktop and a 2008 MacBook Pro 15", both of which still work great, but are just slow, comparatively.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, αℓƒяє∂ said:

Matt is the lead developer for Affinity Designer. I think your question would be better directed at @AdamW. (Adam was the PagePlus project manager for many years.)

 Really thank you for that, I never read about him before. 
So nice to have peoples like you around. 

Never be the Same Again !
---
Dell Optiplex 5090 SFF
Intel Core i5-10500T @2.30GHz with 12GiB 2666MHz DDR4
Intel UHD Graphics 630 for 10th Generation
M.2 2280, 512 GB, PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4, Class 40 SSD

Windows 11 Pro x64 22H2 + LibreOffice 7.5.3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, magicdesign__ said:

Although the frustration comes from the fact that this was originally announced about 6 years ago. We waited patiently while the iPad was given higher priority and now I am just about running out of steam with this. I love pageplus but to be honest, if something else came along that fitted the bill, Serif don't have much of my loyalty any more. A sad thing to say as I was always recommending pageplus to every page layout specialist and designer that I chatted with.

My thoughts exactly. Been a loyal PagePlus user since V3!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/2/2018 at 12:15 PM, Petar Petrenko said:

Well, I've asked this because all of us want Publisher to come out ASAP. I think this way everyone can stay calm if they are informed that it is about 80%/90% done.

Dont speak for me. I don't want it to show up ASAP. So not "all of us" :PI want it to be out when ready. When it can be real alternative and can get world excited about Affinity. I dont want half-baked product that is pretty much beta. If it takes year from now - so be it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, nezumi said:

Dont speak for me. I don't want it to show up ASAP. So not "all of us" :PI want it to be out when ready. When it can be real alternative and can get world excited about Affinity. I dont want half-baked product that is pretty much beta. If it takes year from now - so be it.

Count me in for the "all of us" segment! The sooner I have something I can test to see if I can get off the MonopAdobeoly merry-go-round, the better—even if it's not ready for prime time. 

"Promise me anything, but give me chocolate!"

Mac OS High Sierra (by choice—won't "upgrade" until forced to), MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018), 2.9 GHz Intel Core i9, 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4, Radeon Pro 560X 4096 MB, Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB, two 43" 4K TVs for monitors. 

+ a 2008 Mac Desktop and a 2008 MacBook Pro 15", both of which still work great, but are just slow, comparatively.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff
On 7/5/2018 at 6:44 AM, Sam Neil said:

The is issue is getting the priority right. Personally I would find the value of a major product on major platform which make up 1/3 of the collection far more important than shifting the focus on Designer for iPad. Is their user base is so high that it warrants such decision? I am sure Adobe would not have delayed the development of InDesign and say we are focusing on Illustrator for iPad first! To me this madness... But hey I am not the company or the developer...

There's no 'priority' issue here. I'm the Project Manager (and Lead Developer) of Affinity Designer, so I'm busy working on my next release (AD for iPad) whereas we have a whole team of developers working on Affinity Publisher and have had for a long time now. My post was really about apologising I've not been around as much as usual (because I'm very busy!) and about reassuring you that Publisher is still coming along nicely from what I can see... I'll move on to help out the team with Publisher imminently, sure, but it's not like there's been a pause while everyone waits for my help! ;) They're much better at Publisher-specific stuff than me anyway, so I just need to help out in the areas that I'm good at! As with any of our products, they won't be released until we're actually happy with them, because at the end of the day, nobody wants software that doesn't really 'work' properly! :S 

It's difficult from my perspective to imagine what we could have done here to make customers feel less frustrated by the lack of progress?... Development of good software is often an iterative process - it's SO unlikely you'll just hit the sweet-spot on your first go at typing something and you'll need to start again with new knowledge and try something a little different - that process is notoriously terribly difficult to estimate how long it takes. In a world where it only matters if something actually works or not, then maybe your first go would've been good enough and maybe timescales are easier to guess, but we're looking for a great solution, not just any solution... So Publisher seems to be taking a while when viewed from the outside - but there's no 'problem' here, everything is going great and we're converging on something special - but rushing to reach a goal before it's truly ready would just be a terrible idea and would setup the product very badly for the future. I think the 'teaser' video for Publisher we released was partly to show that it really was happening, and partly because we're really excited to show it to you! The guys working on the product are doing their job, but it's also something they're passionate about, so they're proud of their work and want you to enjoy it. The alternative was for us to have never said anything about Publisher at all but then customers would just wonder what we were doing that was meaning we weren't updating Photo/Designer very often recently and then would get frustrated. Hang in there - it's on its way and it's going to be good! :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not been tracking above thread progress precisely but correct me if I am wrong:

-Whats the problem? If its been so long 'preparing' AFP  for ANY  preAlphaTestWhatever launch, then showing some mysterious presentation then again nothing

-Money? People? Time? Guys, maybe project manager of AFP could share his sorrows, maybe we could/should collect some fund whatever BUT MOVE IT.

Or say its just bothering and stop that pointless talks here? Feel tired w/it and feel I am not the only one.

Is it worth or not? Is it gonna happen or not? Whats the problem?

cheers,

AF Photo+Designer+Publisher and their betas on Win10 x64/Gtx760+AmdFX+24GB RAM

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff
1 minute ago, Zbigg said:

I have not been tracking above thread progress precisely but correct me if I am wrong:

-Whats the problem? If its been so long 'preparing' AFP  for ANY  preAlphaTestWhatever launch, then showing some mysterious presentation then again nothing

-Money? People? Time? Guys, maybe project manager of AFP could share his sorrows, maybe we could/should collect some fund whatever BUT MOVE IT.

Or say its just bothering and stop that pointless talks here? Feel tired w/it and feel I am not the only one.

Is it worth or not? Is it gonna happen or not? Whats the problem?

Whaaaaaaaat? I thought I was really really clear above. I'll be as clear as possible now.

There's NO problem. Stuff takes time. If you want it sooner but broken, then that's great, but we don't. What's the point of releasing to an alpha/beta/whatever if you're not happy yourself yet?

 

Hope that makes more sense? :)

Matt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, MattP said:

Whaaaaaaaat? I thought I was really really clear above. I'll be as clear as possible now.

There's NO problem. Stuff takes time. If you want it sooner but broken, then that's great, but we don't. What's the point of releasing to an alpha/beta/whatever if you're not happy yourself yet?

Hope that makes more sense? :)

Matt

Matt, you are clear about that. However:

1. Time. How long still and why so long ?

2. Perfection. You can elaborate the project to the end of the time. Every project. In the meantime somebody invents a biolink and computers become useless or sth similar-jokin but that the way it is.

3. The time is NOW, lots of people switched to AF because they saw you could offer promising, effective tools at affordable price and you ensure good customer-provider relations and development/support relations. This wil not last forever though.

If it be NOW: what would be the stage of WORKING features of AFP?

cheers,

AF Photo+Designer+Publisher and their betas on Win10 x64/Gtx760+AmdFX+24GB RAM

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not understand all this frustration and the tone of many posts.

We had already paid for the application APu I would be on your side, I would scream too.

Here it seems very clear to me that the Affinity developers want to write and offer different and useful software. They need their time.

It all seems very exaggerated, do we have any expectations? Well ... it is not an obligation of Affinity to satisfy them in the time that we want. We are not children, it is not their duty.

How many times as boys have we been stressed for results? Too many.

How many times do we want our life to change ... today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow.

Like many in here and out I would like to interrupt the now tired relationship with Adobe ... more for what it offers than for the money.

When APu will come out I will still keep the Adobe contract for one year because for all it takes the right time! How I would say no to Affinity if you told me to give up Adobe, Affinity asks for time to release its products.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6. Juli 2018 at 10:13 AM, MattP said:

The alternative was for us to have never said anything about Publisher

Thanks for your statement. Perhaps the “problem” was that some people needed the whole promised suite and no iPad apps but should have waited until 2019 for all three products.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, MattP said:

There's no 'priority' issue here. I'm the Project Manager (and Lead Developer) of Affinity Designer, so I'm busy working on my next release (AD for iPad) whereas we have a whole team of developers working on Affinity Publisher and have had for a long time now. My post was really about apologising I've not been around as much as usual (because I'm very busy!) and about reassuring you that Publisher is still coming along nicely from what I can see... I'll move on to help out the team with Publisher imminently, sure, but it's not like there's been a pause while everyone waits for my help! ;) They're much better at Publisher-specific stuff than me anyway, so I just need to help out in the areas that I'm good at! As with any of our products, they won't be released until we're actually happy with them, because at the end of the day, nobody wants software that doesn't really 'work' properly! :S 

It's difficult from my perspective to imagine what we could have done here to make customers feel less frustrated by the lack of progress?... Development of good software is often an iterative process - it's SO unlikely you'll just hit the sweet-spot on your first go at typing something and you'll need to start again with new knowledge and try something a little different - that process is notoriously terribly difficult to estimate how long it takes. In a world where it only matters if something actually works or not, then maybe your first go would've been good enough and maybe timescales are easier to guess, but we're looking for a great solution, not just any solution... So Publisher seems to be taking a while when viewed from the outside - but there's no 'problem' here, everything is going great and we're converging on something special - but rushing to reach a goal before it's truly ready would just be a terrible idea and would setup the product very badly for the future. I think the 'teaser' video for Publisher we released was partly to show that it really was happening, and partly because we're really excited to show it to you! The guys working on the product are doing their job, but it's also something they're passionate about, so they're proud of their work and want you to enjoy it. The alternative was for us to have never said anything about Publisher at all but then customers would just wonder what we were doing that was meaning we weren't updating Photo/Designer very often recently and then would get frustrated. Hang in there - it's on its way and it's going to be good! :) 

Matt with all due respect a Teaser of "Existence" video is NOT a progress report. Even if it was surely you should put out more videos of your progress (Publisher Dev Team). We have all established that APUB exist. The fact of the matter is for a way late product, a teaser video will not suffice and real progress reports would be useful. I understand one cannot put a specific date on it but you have to admit this is also not the way forward and makes it very frustrating to check everyday in hope of something. I think the lead developer of Publisher should come forward and give some solid indication and real progress and not teaser videos. Your products are outstanding and that is why all of us here so lets make the third one as good with being more transparent and clear. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Zbigg said:

3. The time is NOW,

Sorry to sound a little harsh, but I can't help it :(
You are not in the position to define that 'the time is now'. We all are not.

Please note that words spelled in capital letters are considered on a forum as an equivalent to yelling.

On the other hand I support the idea of open speach and exchange in the forum ... with respect.

All the best,
d.

Edit: correction 'spelt' to 'spelled'

Affinity Designer 1 & 2   |   Affinity Photo 1 & 2   |   Affinity Publisher 1 & 2
Affinity Designer 2 for iPad   |   Affinity Photo 2 for iPad   |   Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad

Windows 11 64-bit - Core i7 - 16GB - Intel HD Graphics 4600 & NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
iPad pro 9.7" + Apple Pencil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Zbigg said:

1. Time. How long still and why so long ?

Because developing Software is unpredictable.

2 hours ago, Zbigg said:

3. The time is NOW, lots of people switched to AF because they saw you could offer promising, effective tools at affordable price and you ensure good customer-provider relations and development/support relations. This wil not last forever though.

And for many people the time for a DAM is now, as well as some people wanting Editing Video capabilities now. I'm sure, if you were part of the managing team, you'd realize that just launhing it to the public like that without being a good Beta, would be a mistake.

Best regards!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, Sam Neil said:

Your products are outstanding and that is why all of us here so lets make the third one as good with being more transparent and clear. 

Cant see the logic there. Your complimenting a well thought, patiently done work of product and asking for a rushed follow up product?

im also excited checking the forum everyday when i get time but... really?

More transparency also means competition will know your next move. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Oval said:

Thanks for your statement. Perhaps the “problem” was that some people needed the hole promised suite and no iPad apps but should have waited until 2019 for all three products.

And that's the thing, for many people, the iPad version was more suited to their needs.

Best regards!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, MattP said:

There's no 'priority' issue here. I'm the Project Manager (and Lead Developer) of Affinity Designer, so I'm busy working on my next release (AD for iPad) whereas we have a whole team of developers working on Affinity Publisher and have had for a long time now. My post was really about apologising I've not been around as much as usual (because I'm very busy!) and about reassuring you that Publisher is still coming along nicely from what I can see... I'll move on to help out the team with Publisher imminently, sure, but it's not like there's been a pause while everyone waits for my help! ;) They're much better at Publisher-specific stuff than me anyway, so I just need to help out in the areas that I'm good at! As with any of our products, they won't be released until we're actually happy with them, because at the end of the day, nobody wants software that doesn't really 'work' properly! :S 

It's difficult from my perspective to imagine what we could have done here to make customers feel less frustrated by the lack of progress?... Development of good software is often an iterative process - it's SO unlikely you'll just hit the sweet-spot on your first go at typing something and you'll need to start again with new knowledge and try something a little different - that process is notoriously terribly difficult to estimate how long it takes. In a world where it only matters if something actually works or not, then maybe your first go would've been good enough and maybe timescales are easier to guess, but we're looking for a great solution, not just any solution... So Publisher seems to be taking a while when viewed from the outside - but there's no 'problem' here, everything is going great and we're converging on something special - but rushing to reach a goal before it's truly ready would just be a terrible idea and would setup the product very badly for the future. I think the 'teaser' video for Publisher we released was partly to show that it really was happening, and partly because we're really excited to show it to you! The guys working on the product are doing their job, but it's also something they're passionate about, so they're proud of their work and want you to enjoy it. The alternative was for us to have never said anything about Publisher at all but then customers would just wonder what we were doing that was meaning we weren't updating Photo/Designer very often recently and then would get frustrated. Hang in there - it's on its way and it's going to be good! :) 

Thanks for sharing this with us, Matt.

I know it's hard for you as well, because I'm sure you'd love to have Designer on the iPad as well as Publisher on Desktop out here in the wild right now. Keep up the good work, stay focus and be confident that some of us are really excited about the work you are doing.

I know some people get angry, frustrated and the only way out for them comes in the form of harsh words (having part of reason or not). Well, I recommend those people to try some angry management therapy or something. It's not good for their own health.

Also, for those who are as impatient as I am: keep showing the Dev Team the interest in their development, but without cursing their entire bloodline, please (it's no use). I know that Publisher was promised for 2016, but it's not like Serif said "we are going to troll these folks for some laughs".

Best regards!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why should software development be ruled by some other rules than these applying to project development at all?

I dont get it. If a project does not meet its goals at the time and/or scope and/or quality - something's wrong with management of that project, dont you think?

When did you start coding for AFP? Did you? )) Too much undocumented mystery, too little deadlines ?

What do you mean by 'unpredictable'? Does the project rely on  public funding, gov's contracts, weather?

Because if its too much amateurship - maybe its nothing to bother about ?

No, I am not gonna insult or depreciate anybody, I expect -as present user for some your products and potential user of the other ones - to be treated SERIOUSLY.

cheers,

AF Photo+Designer+Publisher and their betas on Win10 x64/Gtx760+AmdFX+24GB RAM

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Aaron Martin said:

Cant see the logic there. Your complimenting a well thought, patiently done work of product and asking for a rushed follow up product?

im also excited checking the forum everyday when i get time but... really?

More transparency also means competition will know your next move. 

:64_zipper_mouth:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everything is a surprise in life.

I started to get interested in Affinity just to see if the iPad Pro could be a good alternative to updating my Cintiq and renewing a laptop.

Compared to the past I work less out of the office, in fact for the future I prefer to invest in a MacPRO that is performance for rendering and product and graphic design.

The need for mobility, however, remains, an iPad Pro seems to me as powerful as a great MPB but at the cost of an entry level ... my Cintiq is 10 years old, continues to go well but it would be time to change it.An iPad Pro could also be a cheaper alternative to a new Cintiq.

Affinity Designer and Photo seemed to me complete software to use them on the move, I bought them for the desktop to test them and they practically replaced AI and PS ... now I'm waiting for the announcement for the new iPad because I'm sure AP and AD will give me more than what I expected!

So, thanks for running AD for iPad ... that's why I looked at Affinity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.