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Affinity Publisher - Sneak Preview


TonyB

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On 6-3-2018 at 7:59 AM, Alfred said:

 

Serif has a dozen developers; Adobe has hundreds.

And they are still using old code and is still sluggish.

In the good old days you'd be needing a new pc every time you upgraded your Creative suite.

Haven't read the complaints about sluggishness of LR lately.

 

Not so with the Affinity line of products. Fast and responsive.

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On 5-3-2018 at 10:41 AM, nitro912gr said:

If 99% of the listed jobs ask you to know indesign to work there then yes, it is industry standard. Adobe suite is industry standard at the moment and this is disastrous in so many levels.

PDF is a file standard.

Unfortunately owned by Adobe.

 

 

Not a lot of people know that the psd file format is basically an enhanced form of TIFF

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On 5-3-2018 at 2:27 PM, Mithferion said:

It means something that has a ISO Standar, for example, PDF is ISO 32000-2. One of the benefits of this kind of standards is that you don't pay royalties in order to support such format and you can see it's specification. In the case of INDD files, I guess the main obstacle is that it's a propietary format and its specification is not being publicly available. By the way, some folks have talked about supporting the IDML format instead.

My opinion is that the technological barriers are preventing Serif from supporting such format. They've made a good work with PSD, but now trying to do the same with AI (without the PDF stream) and INDD would be titanic for them. (I'm sure they are the first ones interested in supporting such cases, and we can include: CDR, "layered" PNG, and many more).

Now, de facto Standard is what INDD is. And that's because a lot of folks use it. Same case with PSD, but even the support we have today is somewhat limited.

So, I get how you feel about it and how this is developing, but one could say that for the time beign it's as far as they can go.

Best regards!

I don't know about that. I know of some preview plug-ins for Microsoft explorer and they have indd and Ai previews available. However, importing them correctly would be of another mangitude.

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On 5-3-2018 at 4:49 PM, Rick G said:

What does pirated software have to do with the subject? I am not being a jerk, I just don't get the point in the context of importing or reading file formats. How does that affect you or your business if I am running pirated Adobe software vs paid for subscriptions? I am missing something

It has so much to do with it that most people, who don't know how to use it, or can't pay for it, still want to own it because it is "the defacto standard".

Instead of looking any further for software that might suite them better they just want "the standard" no matter what because all the "professionals" are using it. That's how psychology works.

 

They are today as they are because they were pirated, just like Microsoft Windows. I purchase all my software but that's how it works.

 

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On 3-3-2018 at 0:21 PM, Arun Sarkar said:

 

Designer's tabs does not work for me at all. It behave strangely with me.

Nowadays most people use tables for this. Probably faster and more versatile then using tabs. Just remove the lines between the tables and you have perfectly aligned text.

 

I think Adobe and Indesign see tables as advanced tabs as they improved the versatility of tables considerably. You can now move rows and columns of cells around horizontally and vertically as well.

Nice hint to Serif...wink.

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On 27-2-2018 at 9:25 AM, VIPStephan said:

I suppose since current Affinity programs support the import of Photoshop and Illustrator files (and since Serif wants people to switch), it would be stupid if APub wouldn’t also support InDesign files, so the question is kind of moot. :)

If you want to draw people away from Adobe software, then yes, this would be vital. people would need good import from their old files.

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3 hours ago, Tourmaline said:

I don't know about that. I know of some preview plug-ins for Microsoft explorer and they have indd and Ai previews available. However, importing them correctly would be of another mangitude.

I don't think they can read thoses files, but some preview image or PDF preview embedded in them.

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Well for INDD files see for example: What Is an INDD File? it's another more proprietary Adobe Indesign related format.

Generally the problem is, that there aren't that much standardized (license fee free and open) vector file formats for common exchange etc. and mostly every company does use it's own crippled proprietary file format stuff here. A lot of common industry wide used graphics file formats (no surprise) do stem initially from inside of the Adobe universe, since they are historical very long time players in that graphics domain and thus their software is and has been the industry most widely used. Also a lot of their (Adobe) file formats do originate partly way back to old postscript times, but have been changed and modified over the years, also with newer build-in/added custom proprietary elements etc. Other by them used formats have been taken over from software acquisitions and mergers with other companies (Altsys, Aldus, Macromedia etc.) and as far as still in widely use also have been changed over time here.

Another problem is, even if some common file format might be well defined and standardized that doesn't mean that it's treated equally good by every software who can deal with it via import/export etc. Some file formats are very complex and not every software supports every possible aspect of a certain file format (SVG is probably one good example here). So there can be huge differences under certain conditions how a file format is parsed (read) and interpreted at all, also how it is then generated and written back.

All in all and strictly speaking there isn't any one format that can "please them all" here, especially when looking after something that can be always foolproved used for exchanging data between different software systems.

 

 

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12 hours ago, Tourmaline said:

But doesn't that happen when AD has to replace the font, if it can't find the right one?

 

Well with my issue, I used a pretty basic font like Arial. Oh well.

The website is still a work in progress. The "Comics" and "Shop" sections are not yet ready. Feel free to connect with me and let me know what you like or what can be improved. You can contact me here, on my contact page, YouTube channel, or Twitter account. Thanks and have a great day!

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22 hours ago, v_kyr said:

Well for INDD files see for example: What Is an INDD File? it's another more proprietary Adobe Indesign related format.

Generally the problem is, that there aren't that much standardized (license fee free and open) vector file formats for common exchange etc. and mostly every company does use it's own crippled proprietary file format stuff here. A lot of common industry wide used graphics file formats (no surprise) do stem initially from inside of the Adobe universe, since they are historical very long time players in that graphics domain and thus their software is and has been the industry most widely used. Also a lot of their (Adobe) file formats do originate partly way back to old postscript times, but have been changed and modified over the years, also with newer build-in/added custom proprietary elements etc. Other by them used formats have been taken over from software acquisitions and mergers with other companies (Altsys, Aldus, Macromedia etc.) and as far as still in widely use also have been changed over time here.

Another problem is, even if some common file format might be well defined and standardized that doesn't mean that it's treated equally good by every software who can deal with it via import/export etc. Some file formats are very complex and not every software supports every possible aspect of a certain file format (SVG is probably one good example here). So there can be huge differences under certain conditions how a file format is parsed (read) and interpreted at all, also how it is then generated and written back.

All in all and strictly speaking there isn't any one format that can "please them all" here, especially when looking after something that can be always foolproved used for exchanging data between different software systems.

 

 

PSD is an anhanced TIFF. Unfortunately TIFF is also owned by Adobe but now in the public domain. But technically they could make TIFF the same as psd, since they are one and the same. Tiff versus psd won't lose you much. TIFF can have layers etc. Only spot and duotone is not supported by TIFF, if I am correct. Modern TIFF supports layers and transparency.

 

"

Jeff Schewe (the Photoshop Guru's Guru) advised way back in August 2007 on the Luminous Landscape forums that choosing TIFF over PSD was his strong recommendation. I quote:

Look, I'll make it REAL simple...

TIFF = Good
PSD = Bad

Here's some more detail from that forum posting, but I encourage you to follow the link and read the rest of it:

PSD is now a bastardized file format that is NOT a good idea to use. Even the Photoshop engineers will tell you that PSD is no longer the Photoshop "native" file format. It has no advantages and many disadvantages over TIFF.
TIFF is publicly documented, PSD is not. That makes TIFF a preferred file format for the long term conservation of digital files.
And, let me be blunt, anybody who thinks PSD is "better" than TIFF is ignorant of the facts. If Adobe would let them, the Photoshop engineers would tell you to quit using PSD."

Also see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIFF

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16 minutes ago, Tourmaline said:

Tiff versus psd won't lose you much. TIFF can have layers etc. Only spot and duotone is not supported by TIFF, if I am correct. Modern TIFF supports layers and transparency.

You might be interested in this thread which points out that the standard TIFF format does not support layers.

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1 hour ago, Tourmaline said:

PSD is an anhanced TIFF. Unfortunately TIFF is also owned by Adobe but now in the public domain. But technically they could make TIFF the same as psd, since they are one and the same. Tiff versus psd won't lose you much. TIFF can have layers etc. Only spot and duotone is not supported by TIFF, if I am correct. Modern TIFF supports layers and transparency....

TIFF (as it's name "Tagged Image File Format" implies) is a raster/bitmap formats and no vector formats, above I talked more about relations to vector formats which once originated from the past postscript area times until today.

However ...

In TIFF the coding of numbers (byte order) can be done either as Big Endian or Little Endian. Multiple images can be stored in one file (multipage TIFF). For example, there may be different versions of the same image, such as thumbnail and original image. TIFF knows different color spaces and algorithms for data compression. Most of them are lossless (eg LZW, run-length encoding), but TIFF can also serve as a container format for JPEG images, which may be lossy (DCT) compressed. It is also possible to embed IPTC metadata in the TIFF file.

Individual pixels in TIFF can consist of any number of individual values (samples). In addition to the standard case "one byte equals one sample", samples can also take parts of a byte (eg 1, 2 or 4 bits) or consist of several bytes. In addition to integers, floating-point numbers can also be stored as image data. The ability to store transparency information (alpha channel) also exists.

Image data is stored in groups of pixel lines, called stripes, or as rectangular tiles. The storage takes place for each strip or for each tile independently of the others, so that image parts, depending on the choice of the size of the strips or tiles, can be loaded relatively quickly. Other formats require the loading of all image data before the desired section. The aim of the subdivision in the design was, above all, that individual parts can be kept completely in the memory. The 1992 specification recommends eight kilobytes maximum size.

Programs like Photoshop offer to create TIFF files with separate layers. There is also the possibility to save TIFFs with a picture pyramid. This will result in multiple resolutions of the image within a file. This allows, for example, layout programs or image viewer to display a small preview of the image faster because they do not need to load the image in full resolution.

In the area of grid-based geoinformation, a TIFF variant with additional tags, the so-called GeoTIFF, is becoming more and more established. It allows, for example in map pictures, aerial photographs and similar information, to indicate where on earth the situation depicted in the picture is exactly coordinate-related. TIFF is also used for archiving monochrome graphics (such as technical drawings), since in conjunction with "Fax Group 4" compression, very compact files are created.

Further the biggest disadvantage of TIFF is its complexity. The variety of possible valid TIFF files is difficult to support by individual programs. The file format specification therefore defines a subset of valid TIFF files that any TIFF-enabled program should be able to handle, called Baseline TIFF. - As you can see from this little foray above the whole format is pretty complex, as is Adobe PSD too, though TIFF here is closer to RAW formats and thus has also often been used as the origin/base for certain cam vendors own specific RAW formats.

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TIFF can hold a vector clipping path. But that is the only vector element that I know of...other than if a company registers tags with Adobe to include a copy of the original file which itself could be vector, raster or vector & raster mix.

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The first eight bytes of a TIFF file contain a signature containing the bytes order and the magic number 42, as well as an offset to the first image file directory (IFD).

Such an IFD provides information about an image in the TIFF file and consists of a list of tags, individual pieces of information. Such a marker may describe, for example, the width of the image in pixels or the name of the software used to create the TIFF file. Each tag has its own tag number (eg, 256 for image width) and a type (eg, 16-bit integers, 32-bit floating-point numbers, strings, and more). Some of these tags must be present (eg the image width), others are optional (eg the name of the software). A number of applications use proprietary tags. The structure of the data stored or referenced in such a tag is then usually not documented. A number for your own, proprietary tags can be requested from Adobe.

At the end of the IFD there is an offset value that references the next IFD in the file, or 0 if the current IFD was the last one. In this way, any number of images can be stored in the file, as long as the total amount of data does not exceed four gigabytes.

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Why so much talking about TIF? We have now a APhoto file format and when the trio will be completed (soon), we can forget TIF, PSD and other bitmap and vector formats. There are online converters which can help to convert files to the best file format that Affinity trio can accept.

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Other graphics related applications don't import/export the Affinity file formats, they don't have any clues about this file format. And most online converters are of limited use and don't support every aspect of some complexer file formats, further these are also often limited to specific max file sizes usage only etc. - There are people who have to handle out other file formats to their customers and print services in order to exchange data in a reusable manner.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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22 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

Why so much talking about TIF? We have now a APhoto file format and when the trio will be completed (soon), we can forget TIF, PSD and other bitmap and vector formats. There are online converters which can help to convert files to the best file format that Affinity trio can accept.

 

Because TIFF will always be around and is a universal storage format that image editing, layout, vector applications will always be able to open faithfully.

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Affinity will be always around and the other will have to adopt to new file formats. Goodbye, Adobe. :)

All the latest releases of Designer, Photo and Publisher (retail and beta) on MacOS and Windows.
15” Dell Inspiron 7559 i7 Windows 10 x64 Pro Intel Core i7-6700HQ (3.50 GHz, 6M) 16 GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600 MHz (8GBx2) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4 GB GDDR5 500 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD UHD (3840 x 2160) Truelife LED - Backlit Touch Display
32” LG 32UN650-W display 3840 x 2160 UHD, IPS, HDR10 Color Gamut: DCI-P3 95%, Color Calibrated 2 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort
13.3” MacBook Pro (2017) Ventura 13.6 Intel Core i7 (3.50 GHz Dual Core) 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 1536 MB 500 GB SSD Retina Display (3360 x 2100)

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9 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

Affinity will be always around and the other will have to adopt to new file formats. Goodbye, Adobe. :)

Nice wish thinking LOL! - However, there were and still are other Serif Win apps quite much longer time around and so far or AFAIK nothing adopted to their used proprietary file format. Even here the Affinity line of products doesn't offer to read or import these former Serif formats. - So generally how should some other software adopt to any proprietary, officially unspecified and undocumented file format at all?

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17 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

Affinity will be always around and the other will have to adopt to new file formats. Goodbye, Adobe. :)

 

Just like the Plus products will always be around—and viable without having to have an older OS installed?

 

Nothing else will ever be able to open Affinity products' files unless Serif publishes the specs or someone hacks it (which will not be like true native support).

 

Like v_kyr writes (just showed up as I was writing), it's wishful thinking that any application made by anyone will ever be viable down the road.

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Tiffs are very useful as are requested by a bunch of print companies as the format to use, also in contests, in the public admin, in many places. Also, as you tend to have that sweet tiff import option in almost every app out there. And despite its issues and huge limitations, for print, you can have a flattened version in CMYK or RGB, with your profile embedded, and at a certain resolution.  Is not linked to a particular native file version of a specific CC or whatever the brand version. It compress well when you zip it (I tend to do this , dunno why), though. And yes, is very universal, I like that. Even most OSes have a system utility that can open them.  To be fair to Affinity, my loved Clip Studio Paint (using it for now as my painting tool) can't either save tiffs with layers, it flattens all like with a PNG or TGA.

 

Anyway, it seems now a bunch of applications save a basic, simplified layers, version of PSD, which opens perfect in any PS version. You can perfectly open and save PSDs in Gimp, Krita, CSP, and I have seen no changes introduced among the saved versions from and to these applications. Of course, possibly they don't support a ton of layer features from PS, still is nice that it can load very simplified layers (no layer effects, etc). In some occasions I had issues, and just had to tell a client to flatten the layer effects, and/or text layers. But once done that, no issues, at least the layers would get through.

 

And yeah, in the old days you did not need a new pc with every creative suite version. By any stretch. Today... ouch. I'm reading more and more testimonies, specially with PS and AE. Some people doing certain (not over complex) projects, having needed to upgrade to 64 RAM, yes or yes.. .they're getting to be RAM hogs... They are great applications, the industry standard and very powerful, no doubt... but...hmmm...RAM price being quite crazy (not as much as video cards for the freaking bitcoin mining thing, but not a good moment to upgrade RAM!) lately, is not a good feeling to see that kind of huge memory needs (and video card) in any application... And at company level, is an issue, too... of course, the high end machines of the pros will have no issues... but what about when you need to work with same software in the marketing person's machine (or in the coder's PC, etc) ....I mean, it's reducing the number of machines where it can run, in the whole company. Not good. Just try CC 2018, you'll know what I mean... (and probably wont ever complain for Affinity's performance, then... ;)

 

 

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
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Adobe starts to raise the price of single applications and complete suites ... of course they offer more, but is it really useful to have all these new applications?

 

For Serif it is the right time to show that many people need solid and practical tools that are able to do basic things well.

 

We cheer for your projects that will be our tools of work! ;)

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6 hours ago, SrPx said:

And yeah, in the old days you did not need a new pc with every creative suite version. By any stretch. Today... ouch. I'm reading more and more testimonies, specially with PS and AE. Some people doing certain (not over complex) projects, having needed to upgrade to 64 RAM, yes or yes.. .they're getting to be RAM hogs... They are great applications, the industry standard and very powerful, no doubt... but...hmmm...RAM price being quite crazy (not as much as video cards for the freaking bitcoin mining thing, but not a good moment to upgrade RAM!) lately, is not a good feeling to see that kind of huge memory needs (and video card) in any application... And at company level, is an issue, too... of course, the high end machines of the pros will have no issues... but what about when you need to work with same software in the marketing person's machine (or in the coder's PC, etc) ....I mean, it's reducing the number of machines where it can run, in the whole company. Not good. Just try CC 2018, you'll know what I mean... (and probably wont ever complain for Affinity's performance, then... ;) )

Maybe I'll give it a try... but later. :P

Best regards!

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Well... I wasn't really asking anyone to try it.... ;). Definitely not among my wishes.... :D

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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