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

Affinity Publisher file import from PagePlus - PLEASE ?


Recommended Posts

Are we safe to assume that Affinity Publisher will be able to import an existing 100 page PagePlus file with ;

  • Left and right hand Master pages;
  • Auto table of contents generation.

Thats not too much to ask is it ? 

I really don't want to re-create it all manually !

 

regards

Paul Churchill

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

We have no plans to import any documents from any of the old Serif Plus range of applications. You can however use PDF files as a method of moving content to Affinity.

 

Many thanks,

TonyB.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Currently I maintain the 100 page stock list in PagePlus in Parallels on a MacBook and the customer could read it on a Windows PC

My aim is to go all native Mac Apps

If I do that the the customer gets a PDF and cannot edit it

So he can import it into PagePlus for Windows.

what will he get ?

Auto table of contents ? Not a chance

Left and right master pages - I very much doubt it.

 

This will be about as effective as trying to import a PDF into Excel as in you'll get the text but not any formulas etc

PDF is a print format not a format to go between Mac and Windows

Serif needs to consider this - manage the transition and exchange. This is vital to moving between Mac & Windows.

 

I have office for the Mac and it reads and writes to the same format as Office for the PC, it would be a joke if Microsoft suggested we both write to PDF and exchange files

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

Affinity applications are not Mac versions of Serif's Plus Applications. Affinity is a new range of applications that have their own file format, their own features and their own target audience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I agree with Paul C. Affinity are going to miss a big swathe of customers with this policy. Many users are quitting the Microsoft platform in favour of Mac - due MS's stubborn attitude in trying to manipulate its customers - and the customer is always right.

 

There is a vast market out there who want something: the winner will be the one who realises that, and meets the demand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Serif users have to say goodbye to a loved product, (when ditching Windows). Adobe users are saying good riddance to the industry standard, on a hated price plan, on a loved platform. The Affinity team MUST treat both camps with equality. This is where the loyalty comes from.

 

Serif and Affinity, you can do it!

 

Adobe should be bricking it. :ph34r:

 

PS if there are any coders out there; a .dpp to .pdf converter on the App store would be fantastic!

MacBook pro, 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB, OS X 10.11.6

 

http://www.pinterest.com/peter2111

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

This is really disappointing news. I've used PagePlus since version 2 and I'm really happy with it. However, I am really fed up with Microsoft Windows and have now bought a Mac. I only use my PC for PagePlus now and was quite hopeful when I was told  that Serif are developing a Mac publisher program. Whilst most of my publications could probably be imported via a PDF version this is not ideal. If there is another product out there for Mac that would read ppp files then I would buy it. As it is I will probably keep my Windows PC and see what the free upgrade to Windows 10 brings!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Question for the devs: would it be possible to develop a file format and/or filter that can import the baseline structure of a pageplus document without necessarily importing the entire file in order to give pageplus users a point to recreate their document from in APub as opposed to having to rebuild from scratch if/when they come over to APub from pageplus?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

Question for the devs: would it be possible to develop a file format and/or filter that can import the baseline structure of a pageplus document without necessarily importing the entire file in order to give pageplus users a point to recreate their document from in APub as opposed to having to rebuild from scratch if/when they come over to APub from pageplus?

 

 

PDF import will give you this structure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Use the APub when it comes out for new work and simple PP files that have been exported to PDF. Use PP for longer documents where text flow is important. If you need to redo a longer work in APub down the road (for whatever reason), then use them in conjunction via copy/paste text and relink to image files.

 

The above is what I do no matter what layout application I choose or need to use for any given work.

 

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I think that Serif could and should improve on importing only PDF files. For posters, menus, or greeting cards it would be fine. For books, the flow of text between pages is crucial.


 


I don't think it would be hard to provide an import filter for WritePlus files, which contain styles, footnotes, inline graphics, and index marks. The screen shot below is of a long WritePlus *.stt file exported from one of my books, and imported into a blank new document. Reflowing the text in a new Affinity Publisher document, then adding other content like master pages, tables, calendars, freely floating graphics, etc., would be relatively simple.


 


19140.png


AMD A10-6800K, with Radeon HD Graphics 4100 GHz

8 Gb on Windows 10 64-bit build 17763.316 •  My Free OpenType Fonts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Almost a year now since I posted the above, and we are still waiting for the first Beta. Here's hoping it has some way to import stories from PagePlus, or it will be useless to me. Rebuilding from PDF files is not viable for my publications, which are mostly for books with footnotes, contents, and indexes. The latter could soon be regenerated, but adding footnotes to a plain text stream is very time-consuming.

AMD A10-6800K, with Radeon HD Graphics 4100 GHz

8 Gb on Windows 10 64-bit build 17763.316 •  My Free OpenType Fonts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

We are still not sure if we will offer importing stories from PagePlus as the RTF format will give similar results for the features we will offer for version 1. 

 

Affinity Publisher V1 is unlikely to support footnotes, contents or indexes. Some of these features will be on the roadmap but not in the first release.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Sadly I'm with Bhikkhu Pesala there.  

 

I really can't understand why you can't just release the *.sst file format documentation to the Serif Community, as I'm sure that it's just a compressed XML-based file & there would be someone there who is smart enough write the translator for converting *.sst to an open file format.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
On 12/18/2017 at 9:56 AM, IFGW said:

I really can't understand why you can't just release the *.sst file format documentation to the Serif Community, as I'm sure that it's just a compressed XML-based file & there would be someone there who is smart enough write the translator for converting *.sst to an open file format.

 

It is indeed just a zip archive containing a few xml files and images. Although I am sure it would not be beyond the ability of any decent coder to create an import filter, this is best done by Serif as they are familiar with the file structure and know all of the different kinds of objects and styles it can contain. 

 

An imported *.stt file contains inline images, footnotes, index references, and TOC anchors.

AMD A10-6800K, with Radeon HD Graphics 4100 GHz

8 Gb on Windows 10 64-bit build 17763.316 •  My Free OpenType Fonts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

We are still not sure if we will offer importing stories from PagePlus as the RTF format will give similar results for the features we will offer for version 1. 

Affinity Publisher V1 is unlikely to support footnotes, contents or indexes. Some of these features will be on the roadmap but not in the first release.

Sadly, no crossover from PP to Affinity seems likely, so a lot of user support knowledge will evaporate, along with a loyal customer base from the Windows community.

 

I agree with Bhikkhu Pesala in that Serif should be the people best placed to write a translator for their PP.xml files, but presumably they failed to document its development internally, so are not actually any better placed than anyone else.

 

Even if Affinity is going to import *.rtf from PPX9, Serif failed to implement much of the last RTF spec in the PP>RTF export anyway.  By RFT v1.9 MS had built in to RTF support for  footnotes, contents and indexes, its just the PP>export that does not support later versions of the RFT-spec (although some of the information can sometimes be found in hidden characters in a pure text editor, or by a third party *.rtf importer).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, IFGW said:

I agree with Bhikkhu Pesala in that Serif should be the people best placed to write a translator for their PP.xml files, but presumably they failed to document its development internally, so are not actually any better placed than anyone else.

 

I'd be very surprised if the developers who are now working on Affinity Publisher don't all know PagePlus inside out.

 

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

  • 3 months later...
  • Staff

@gingflynn

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums :) 

This thread includes a reply from the Head of Software Development and Serifs answer to this request has not changed in the 4 years since, sorry to disappoint

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • 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.