Affinity Publisher - Sneak Preview

[Rick G]

1 hour ago, carl123 said:

But if they up the price from £50 to £100 they only have to sell 1/2 the amount of copies, to users, to make the same profit and you still have the potential for some of the other 1/2 of the users to buy the product in the future if their economic circumstances change.  (Or reel some of them in on a Black Friday mega sale)

And at $200 then only 1/4 the copies? That math doesn't work in the real world as with each price jump you lose part of your market. Also there are benefits to having a large user base which itself will generate interest and demand. Too many companies have gone the greed route and as they start failing, they cannot figure out where they wentwrong

[carl123]

4 minutes ago, Rick G said:

Also there are benefits to having a large user base

And disadvantages....

A larger user base also needs more resources (support staff) to support it hence more costs cutting into your profits

[Perlsowisdom]

Random question, but is Affinity Publisher going to be the official name?
It seems to me that there are quite a few programs named "publisher" and Affinity Designer is sometimes abbreviated AD, while Affinity Photo is AP, that could lead to confusion with Affinity Publisher as AP as well. We could always use something like APub, but branding with a more distinctive name like Affinity Layout or AL, would also be a workable solution. 
Just my two cents.

[Mr. K]

30 minutes ago, Rick G said:

And at $200 then only 1/4 the copies? That math doesn't work in the real world as with each price jump you lose part of your market. Also there are benefits to having a large user base which itself will generate interest and demand. Too many companies have gone the greed route and as they start failing, they cannot figure out where they wentwrong

Post Office marketing model... We aren't making enough money, so we need to charge more. Cable TV marketing model... The competition is beating us to death, so we need to charge more.

[SrPx]

 

Trust me:  In a suite for 2D (ie, PS, AI, ID, etc )  that you would grow a huge user base means everything. If the apps do not become relevant enough, the battle is lost... There were people, imo, not a large user base.... just some of us did know the potential, but it was not where everybody was heading to,  very eager to purchase a really good 3D application (really well thought, better than many competitors), a bunch of years ago. I myself was ready to do the software investment of my life to have it at home, too.  That (compared to competition) small base of premium customers could do nothing. It just had too few users. And so, you don't become a standard, and then you are done... And with that, I mean even just a second or third place. Farther than that, and your chances fall dramatically. But that 2nd or 3rd place alone is huge, and IMO, only able to get with the masses going for it.

Also, you always get people already too used to a way of doing things (in PS, AI, etc). Affinity has to fight against the elements, too. Also to a set of features built slowly after decades, in the main two (perhaps three) big competitor brands. Any issue, any system problem, even if is just a poorly maintained PC system, a faulty driver, a bad system update, and the people blame the non top dog tool. I mean, Affinity has already a lot of wind against it, needs to offer solid advantages (as it is doing) to counter all that (which is mostly, perception issues).

 

[Rick G]

59 minutes ago, carl123 said:

And disadvantages....

A larger user base also needs more resources (support staff) to support it hence more costs cutting into your profits

Think that one out a bit Carl. If you double your business your support expenses do not go up evenly with it. Especially if you are sorting and tracking the number of calls on each issue., you can have pat answers for certain common issues

[oO5Dynasty]

So the beta is gonna launch this year? How will we be able to use the beta also?

[Alfred]

2 minutes ago, oO5Dynasty said:

So the beta is gonna launch this year?

That’s what we’ve been told.

Quote

How will we be able to use the beta also?

We’ll be given a download link, and once it’s installed we’ll be able to run it just like retail software.

[nitro912gr]

16 hours ago, SrPx said:

IMO ~ 50 (even some bucks above) is both a magic number for pure psychology (impulse purchase much more likely to happen!), but also, the kind of price that at the same time makes the product reachable for professionals (who could actually pay more, or most of  them) from the first world, but also from several other countries, not so privileged ones.  And from hobbyists AND students from many countries. This is crucial for large diffusion,  to really build a huge user base (key in this kind of applications), even more when you need to fight a  lot of resistance as there are established tools that dominate the market. IMO, need to keep a no-brainer advantage.

This. As a student I couldn't afford anything software wise, even the student price pack was just too much for me, so I had to find "other ways" to have the software I was learning in college. It could be a no brainer buy if I could get the software for 50€ and I could prefer it.

Even now as a professional that I can afford the more expensive software, I am in a country that taxes are breaking me every day, so I will prefer the 50€ software that does the job more than just fine. Plus I can afford to buy more licenses and have it on every system I have, in the second PC at office, in my pc at home, in my laptop. Something that could be financially impossible to do with more expensive software.

[MEB]

Hi nitro912gr,
You don't have to pay for new licenses to use the software in the computers you own/control as long as you are the only one using the software for commercial purposes.

Here's a link to the End User License Agreement (EULA):

The License granted to you is limited, non-transferable and non-exclusive. Except to the extent any rights cannot be excluded by law, you are permitted:

1. if you are a private individual, to download, install, use and run for personal use, one (1) copy of the Serif Software directly on each computer running Microsoft Windows (“Windows Computer”) that you personally own or control. Commercial use is permitted but only use by you and not by any other users of any Windows Computers that you own or control. For example, other members of your household that use your Windows Computers may make personal use of the Serif Software whereas, if anyone other than yourself needs to make commercial use of the Serif Software, the other user will need to make a separate purchase.

[BernieB59]

On 12/14/2017 at 10:03 AM, TonyB said:

Affinity Publisher sneak peek! Just to prove we're not making the whole thing up, check out this early build of our DTP app. Still lots of perfecting to do; expect the beta next summer. Enjoy.

 

We will try and answer any questions here.

 

 

 

Publisher for iPad coming?

[Michail]

11 hours ago, BernieB59 said:

Publisher for iPad coming?

Why???

[Alfred]

4 minutes ago, Michail said:

Why???

Why not?? 

[Michail]

5 minutes ago, αℓƒяє∂ said:

Why not?? 

Cinema for mice!!!

[Alfred]

7 minutes ago, Michail said:

Cinema for mice!!!

LOL. Affinity Photo for iPad is perfectly usable, and the ‘shakycam’ teaser video that @MattP posted to Twitter last year suggests that Affinity Designer for iPad will be every bit as usable, so I don’t think you should prejudge Serif’s ability to ‘deliver the goods’.

[Michail]

13 minutes ago, αℓƒяє∂ said:

LOL. Affinity Photo for iPad is perfectly usable, and the ‘shakycam’ teaser video that @MattP posted to Twitter last year suggests that Affinity Designer for iPad will be every bit as usable, so I don’t think you should prejudge Serif’s ability to ‘deliver the goods’.

A layout application is another dimension.

[Mithferion]

But if you worked in your project on Desktop, the iPad version would be useful to do some adjustments on the go.

Best regards!

[DerHerr]

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

[Tia Lapis]

Serif said "in summer" not "at the start of summer"...

[Michail]

19 hours ago, Mithferion said:

But if you worked in your project on Desktop, the iPad version would be useful to do some adjustments on the go.

Best regards! 

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

[000]

42 minutes 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?

I would still enjoy having Designer and Publisher on my iPad, because for me it would be nice to some small adjustments directly at the customers office or do sketches in the park or garden (using the iPad instead of pen and paper). 

[Tourmaline]

On 6/21/2018 at 6:43 PM, SrPx said:

Linked images have their advantages, too...

It makes the file smaller as it only "links" to the image. Embadded images eat up space real quick. Especially if you use a lot of them in your design. Means larger files.

On the other hand, if you embed everything, you can't forget to send the images with the file.

[Tourmaline]

11 hours ago, Tia Lapis said:

Serif said "in summer" not "at the start of summer"...

I would suspect begin fall, end of summer.

[SrPx]

14 minutes ago, Tourmaline said:

It makes the file smaller as it only "links" to the image. Embadded images eat up space real quick. Especially if you use a lot of them in your design. Means larger files.

On the other hand, if you embed everything, you can't forget to send the images with the file.

When creating stuff with common elements is really an efficient thing to have. In some apps and with some files, also can help faster loading.

[Tourmaline]

13 minutes ago, SrPx said:

When creating stuff with common elements is really an efficient thing to have. In some apps and with some files, also can help faster loading.

Yup.