Stephen_H Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 I must confess, there are a few features I'm desperately missing when I design logos or infographics... - Arrow heads on paths (or any graphic at the start/end of a path) - Warp transformations (pre-set envelope distortions for vector objects) - Transform function (rotate multiple copies of an object around a point. Illustrator does it, but it's horrible – FreeHand had a tool that did it brilliantly) - Zig-zag filter (turn a line into a telephone cord or stylized ocean waves – it's a pain to do it manually) - Image trace If these are in Designer but I can't find them, please tell me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambiroa Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Still use CS6 InDesign, and Illustrator for making pattern backgrounds. Other thing that is simply easier in IL is using offsets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie555 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 On 7/15/2018 at 2:30 PM, SrPx said: . But a lot of professional software out there, I'd say the majority, is heavily based on shortcuts (and very rarely having an undo or delete button) Very rarely ? not true All these companies have Undo/redo button on the interface: Sketchup , Autodesk, Corel, ACD Systems, Xara, FlexiSign Cinema4D and even Serif's own earlier software IN fact the only professional software I have ever tried, NOT to have undo/redo (unless it was buried somewhere) is Quarkxpress, Perhaps that's where Adobe and now the Affinity lads got the bright idea from..., Maybe all those companies were wrong to offer the choice, and should have forced the user down the ctrl zee route. The fact you can map Undo to the side of a Wacom pen or sometimes a button on one of those fancy mice, shows it would be a trivial thing to add it to the interface. It shows the Serif staff are listening too much to the vocal fanboys. They made a similar error, only offering a deep black interface, on Designer beta. which they had to backtrack on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SrPx Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 39 minutes ago, eddie555 said: to the vocal fanboys. Nice choice of words... A crazy amount of other applications do not offer the undo button (neither the copy and paste ones, etc). A professional is usually capable to adapt. Is not just the Adobe CC suite (even if that means the main suite for everything 2D till date), and yes, the undo button is slower than a shortcut (like is also fastest to have at least a 30% of the tasks streamlined through shortcuts, I've heard this even from pros now getting into the iPad pro and using it. The few I respect more at it, are not getting ride of the keyboard mainly due to this, is not just my best/preferred professional usage...) or a pen side button. Reason why a lot of people don't even care. And about the "fanboy" calling, don't worry, I firmly believe they hear everyone just the same (I have not seen any of my desired fixes or features get any preference, if you were - surely the case, per context- including me in that group of the, so called by you, fanboys). Of course, like always with support, or any business area where you try to complain or improve something, good manners are allways better taken, no matter what... We are all humans, so, certain expressions and tone get you less farther, always. Arba 1 Quote 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k410 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 I just canceled my Photoshop subscription a few days ago, but I'm a hobbyist who wasn't really using it very often, and mostly just for cropping. While researching replacements the same evening, I found and bought Affinity Photo -- and within a day or two also bought Designer even though previously I wasn't very interested in vector-graphics apps. I'm suddenly more excited about making digital art than I have been in years, and have been researching source sites for fonts, brushes, textures and vectors. SrPx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tilltheendofeternity Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 17 minutes ago, k410 said: I just canceled my Photoshop subscription a few days ago, but I'm a hobbyist who wasn't really using it very often, and mostly just for cropping. While researching replacements the same evening, I found and bought Affinity Photo -- and within a day or two also bought Designer even though previously I wasn't very interested in vector-graphics apps. I'm suddenly more excited about making digital art than I have been in years, and have been researching source sites for fonts, brushes, textures and vectors. abr files (brushes) work fine so any you already have that you used with Photoshop will be ok, and the same with fonts (which are OS system specific and not just restricted to Photoshop). Most of the other file types associated with Photoshop presets such as pat and grd etc don't work with Affinity Photo as far as I am aware. k410 and SrPx 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giantlobsterprd Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 On 5/29/2018 at 10:49 AM, VectorVonDoom said: AD's not even close to AI in terms of functionality ... Yes and no. Illustrator does everything, but not particularly well. For example, the chart tools haven’t been updated in years, the perspective grid is a nightmare of awkwardness, 3D rotate/extrude creates overly complex objects, and those new-fangled shape-creation tools are next to impossible to get your head around. The only thing they’ve added recently that I thought was half-decent was the puppet warp function. And yet I still haven’t used it because I keep forgetting it’s there. For now, I have to keep on using AI purely because it works well with After Effects. But I live in hope that one day soon I’ll be able to give it the elbow for good. douglasrthomson and SrPx 2 Quote --- Dan Robinson | Giant Lobster Productions Ltd Web: giantlobster.uk Instagram: @giantlobsterprd "Art is never finished – only abandoned." - LdV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1664 kronenbourg Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 It's the way Adobe go about things that put me off Photoshop Elements. I paid for the licence but on the start up screen I was asked to download the free 30 day trial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k410 Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Well, I must confess I have resubbed to Photoshop only a few days after cancellation. I missed the ability to use TPL brushes plus some PS-specific plugins. It's only $10/month, so not a hardship. But I still prefer working in the Affinity apps and will spend most of my learning time on those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1664 kronenbourg Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 On 7/25/2018 at 3:23 PM, eddie555 said: Corel, Xara, and even Serif's own earlier software a Wacom pen That's what else I use. Serif're a British company and Xara're also British but now owned by a German company called MAGIX but they still do good music creation software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1664 kronenbourg Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 On 7/25/2018 at 7:02 PM, k410 said: I just canceled my Photoshop subscription a few days ago, but I'm a hobbyist who wasn't really using it very often, and mostly just for cropping. While researching replacements the same evening, I found and bought Affinity Photo -- and within a day or two also bought Designer even though previously I wasn't very interested in vector-graphics apps. I'm suddenly more excited about making digital art than I have been in years, and have been researching source sites for fonts, brushes, textures and vectors. You tried these:- WWW.Urbanfonts.com WWW.DAFONT.Com WWW.1001Fonts.com Good if you want to add Egyptian hieroglyphs (Nakht and Greywolf Gylphs're good), Aztec glyphs, runes or Lovecraftian text to your art work. k410 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 On 7/25/2018 at 7:02 PM, k410 said: I just canceled my Photoshop subscription a few days ago, but I'm a hobbyist who wasn't really using it very often, and mostly just for cropping. While researching replacements the same evening, I found and bought Affinity Photo -- and within a day or two also bought Designer even though previously I wasn't very interested in vector-graphics apps. I'm suddenly more excited about making digital art than I have been in years, and have been researching source sites for fonts, brushes, textures and vectors. 51 minutes ago, 1664 kronenbourg said: You tried these:- WWW.Urbanfonts.com WWW.DAFONT.Com WWW.1001Fonts.com Good if you want to add Egyptian hieroglyphs (Nakht and Greywolf Gylphs're good), Aztec glyphs, runes or Lovecraftian text to your art work. There’s also Fontfabric, FontFreak, FontSpace and Font Squirrel, to name but a few. And Google Fonts, of course. @Mithferion has compiled a nice curated list of the better offerings. Openclipart.org and Vecteezy.com are good sources of free vector clipart. This page on @MEB’s website has links to various brushes, including some of the huge collection offered by Stuart_R (now @StuartRc). You can find Stuart’s other brushes by searching these Affinity Forums. k410 1 Quote Alfred 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 More sharing options...
MikeW Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 20 hours ago, 1664 kronenbourg said: That's what else I use. Serif're a British company and Xara're also British but now owned by a German company called MAGIX but they still do good music creation software. Actually, Magix has no ownership in Xara. The marketing relationship is now exclusively Magix whereas in the past (before this year, certainly before late 2017) it was a mixed marketing effort. Neither company is very good at marketing. The main problem is that both Xara & Magix are masters of confusion and how this relationship has been stated in the past is just plain dumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k410 Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Thanks for the font and vector site recommendations above! @ 1664 kronenbourg and αℓƒяє∂ (not to derail the thread, especially as I am now a traitor or recidivist ;o) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SrPx Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Oh, c'mon....you are not a true traitor..... You are kind of a double agent k410 1 Quote 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SrPx Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Yup, like my cousin some months ago.... "Hey, I purchased a new computer !!! " [*really excited tone*] . Me: "Why didn't you call me?" (he doesn't really know a word about tech, in general)..."Oh, didn't want to disturb you, and wanted it fast....I just went there" (the most overpriced mall in my entire city and region, surely the country, also) "...and told the man : "Give the most expensive laptop you have here !! "". He spent in a blink 3k and + euros without really knowing what he was buying, no questions asked..... The machine was good, but am positive: 1.5 k that he wont ever notice, at least....(among other things, due to abusive overpricing, and due to the tasks he does....(mainly browsing, lol) ...if only I had his income, lol... ) Quote 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobNJ Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Hobbyist here.. I'd like to ditch PS, but I can't get all the results I want with AP. Although, I'm the first to admit, it's the operator, not the software. Hmm... let me rephrase.. "I can't get all the results I want with AP.. YET! Bwood 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourmaline Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 On 7/11/2018 at 8:56 AM, Wazitano said: FYI For All Looking To Jump the Adobe Mothership: It has taken me 2 years to unfold, but here is my current Adobe-free workflow.. (All do 90% of what each Adobe package does, and stunningly a WHOLE lot more that most of the Adobe packages DONT do) 1. Obviously Photoshop and Illustrator swapped for AP and AD (this is working surprisingly well, and is a dream once youve gotten used to Affinity's way of doing things) (a couple of things, like new image settings automatically sizing to what's in the clipboard, would be nice for some extra efficiency, but those are finer bells that will come with time) 2. Acrobat Pro?Foxit PhantomPDF is far and away the best of 6 software alternatives I have tried, and far cheaper than Adobe... and so far has done EVERYTHING that Acrobat Pro did for me and more - (including formula embedded form fields, signatures, etc. - and a couple of things I never got from Acrobat - can you say Remote File Security features!) 3. Premiere and After Effects? These have always been a wrestle in my opinion, and the need to move from one to the other has broken not only many a schedule, but sometimes a project or two. I have just reached video editing nirvana with the latest DaVinci Resolve 15 beta (which now incorporates Fusion etc. into the already integrated Audio and Color Grading elements in ONE software package) - which is faster, slicker and in my opinion far more powerful to use - and FREE (with pretty much all the basic features most prosumers would need) - it has a $250 purchase price if you have a specialist production requirement (in which case that price is certainly reasonable) 4. Dreamweaver? There has been a glut of Free/Cheap alternative HTML/Site/Script editors emerge in the last couple of years. I am currently still settling between two, so I wont name names yet, but I'm already finding both of them to be a much smoother dream to weave. I am finally feeling free of the Adobe tentacles! (and I have been a professional Graphic Designer, using both Mac and PC versions of most Adobe suites since Photoshop came on floppy disks) (I used to be an avid fan, but how big has the snow ball rolled.. that they now need far too hungry a vacuum-based business model to maintain their inefficient and archaic structure) This is the natural cycle of things - time to start getting in early on the next generations of software. Hope this helps someone else find freedom, choice and a heavier wallet once again. Hmm, found out that Acrobat pro is by far the best for converting pdf to docx format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourmaline Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 On 8/1/2018 at 12:29 PM, Johnywalter said: These things say more about the status of a person.Like headphones "Beats by Dre" or "Iphone".I myself adhere to the opinion that expensive does not always justify investing! Jon Some brands do however, like the expensive Sennheisers etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourmaline Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 On 7/29/2018 at 11:34 AM, αℓƒяє∂ said: There’s also Fontfabric, FontFreak, FontSpace and Font Squirrel, to name but a few. And Google Fonts, of course. @Mithferion has compiled a nice curated list of the better offerings. Openclipart.org and Vecteezy.com are good sources of free vector clipart. This page on @MEB’s website has links to various brushes, including some of the huge collection offered by Stuart_R (now @StuartRc). You can find Stuart’s other brushes by searching these Affinity Forums. If you want to buy fonts, have a look at this one: https://www.myfonts.com/home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourmaline Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 On 7/19/2018 at 11:09 AM, Stephen_H said: I must confess, there are a few features I'm desperately missing when I design logos or infographics... - Arrow heads on paths (or any graphic at the start/end of a path) - Warp transformations (pre-set envelope distortions for vector objects) - Transform function (rotate multiple copies of an object around a point. Illustrator does it, but it's horrible – FreeHand had a tool that did it brilliantly) - Zig-zag filter (turn a line into a telephone cord or stylized ocean waves – it's a pain to do it manually) - Image trace If these are in Designer but I can't find them, please tell me. No, image trace is planned for a 2.0 release for Designer, also arrows and such are on the roadmap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 22 minutes ago, Tourmaline said: If you want to buy fonts, have a look at this one: https://www.myfonts.com/home Or this one: https://www.fonts.com Or this one: https://www.fontspring.com Or this one: http://www.fontbros.com Or this one: https://www.fonthaus.com Or this one: https://fontbundles.net Shall I go on? Mithferion 1 Quote Alfred 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 More sharing options...
MikeW Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 1 hour ago, αℓƒяє∂ said: Or this Shall I go on? Sure... Most cost effective is...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 1 hour ago, MikeW said: Sure... Most cost effective is...? The most cost effective is, of course, to ‘buy’ the freebies from wherever. That aside, Fonts.com and MyFonts.com frequently have special offers on individual typefaces, as well as discounts on bundles that they put together. Quote Alfred 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 More sharing options...
Mithferion Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 2 hours ago, MikeW said: Sure... Most cost effective is...? Maybe the discounts they offer from time to time, like the one I linked to, in June? Many great typefaces had 85%+ discounts. Best regards! Quote AMD FX 8350 :: Radeon HD 5670 :: Windows 10 :: http://mithferion.deviantart.com/ Oxygen Icons :: GCP Icons :: iOS 11 Design Resources :: iOS App Icon Template :: Free Quality Fonts (Commercial Use) :: Public Domain Images How to do High Quality Art :: Mesh Warp / Distort Tool Considerations :: Select Same / Object - Suggestions :: Live Glassmorphism Effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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