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Affinity Publisher is not a copy of InDesign - no massive fail!


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8 minutes ago, Ania said:

Lindblad, think of Affinity Publisher as a replacement for Affinity Designer. Designer with pages. That’s not being unfair, but rather to underscore the utility of Designer, now extended over pages. Designer and Publisher compete with each other, not with QXP or InDesign.

Absolutelly wrong. It is like you say "ID is replacement for AI". Every app has it purpose for being created.

  • Publisher is layout app.
  • Designer is vector based drawing app.
  • Photo is bitmap oriented drawing and photo app.

All the latest releases of Designer, Photo and Publisher (retail and beta) on MacOS and Windows.
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35 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

Absolutelly wrong. It is like you say "ID is replacement for AI". Every app has it purpose for being created.

You are right... except I try to replace AI when ever it is possible with ID, as ID is so much friendlier to use... :-D

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22 minutes ago, Fixx said:

You are right... except I try to replace AI when ever it is possible with ID, as ID is so much friendlier to use... :-D

I am not. I use vector app for vectors, bitmap for photo and layout to gather everything into one. So, I'd like every Affinity app to do strictly what is aimed to do, or to have one "swiss knife" app. But, it is much more real, dinosauruses to appear again than this to happen. :)

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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The functions of the apps inevitably overlap. This is not different with Adobe and can not be avoided synonymous. But the core features are already well recognizable in Affinity products. I have not yet used Designer and Photo for professional work. For my workflow, this is only when the entire suite is complete.

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On 9/2/2018 at 12:05 PM, Patrick Connor said:

Still 1.2K views is not to be sneezed at...  I may go and make a trash talk video myself ;)

Actually, because of this thread I looked for that video. This video made me try it for myself. I was drawing a strange shape, converting it to a picture frame, rotate it, scale it en could place an image inside it easily within 2 minutes. I was suprised this works and is so intuitive. So in the end what this video did to me was showing what Publisher already can do and surprise me by that. According to the comments on youtube I'm not the only one taking this time and being positive about Publisher, so perhaps it's not such a bad thing to have this video there and it could actually help Affinity.

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I think part of the issue some see is at this stage in tech development, things should be faster. Not saying I agree with this, but to be honest, that's how we have seen development happening, faster and faster. I think I heard about publisher 2 years or more ago, looked promising from discussions, but if you cannot even open an indesign file to test it or test export for digital content like ebooks, it is tough to say it looks promising. I believe those features should have been there for the beta, they make sense in that people will be comparing that way. How does this handle this indesign file I have, what breaks, what needs to change, etc. For ebooks, to not have even say just reflowable epub export seems odd not too mention they said they aren't even sure when that feature will be added or if it will, you'd think they have a roadmap to have an idea on features. 

Maybe it has potential or maybe it doesn't, but if key components aren't there for people to test, then they are less likely to say great things about something they cannot even test, it's not as relevant for them then.

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I'm new to the Affinity products. And only played some hours with APUB. When I saw the title and the first video of this thread, I thought "APub can't do this? Even "PageStream" in the late 80s was capable of doing this! Any picture could be put into any shape and transparency. Which itself could be converted to a text box again with the picture in the shaped background" Then I remembered in PageStream was a shortcut / menu to convert any shape into picture and / or text box. (Wasn't possible with Pagemaker nor Xpress at that time! The Print bureau where impressed by the features and speed of the app.)

So I checked the menus in APub and found and tried the "Convert picture to frame". It works easily.

Yes I see myself as an experienced amateur with DTP, though I use it everyday for my work. Already now APub has more features I need for my purposes. I used and learned  PageStream in 80/90s and used it until 2005. Later I used MS Publisher, Scribus and till now Pages on my Mac, because Pagestream isn't developed anymore, but had features Xpress and ID only got decades later or never like the datatypes concept: datatypes were used by the OS and made any fileformat available to any application. No need to reprogramm import or export filters. Just install the right Datatype and all apps could use it.

As for APub I like the speed of APub. As a beta version it is rather stable. I'm sure we will see more professional features for many pages documents. Be patient.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/5/2018 at 2:05 PM, Fixx said:

I would propose children master pages, which inherit the content from master1 (parent master) and have their own added content... using two master pages on one content page would be confusing.

A combination of both would be even better, that is, standalone MPs and Hierarchical MPs.

Being able to base your pages on a master mage and then on additional pages as per now would be a big win in my books.

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On 9/5/2018 at 3:05 PM, Fixx said:

APub would be very usable even without global layers. Proper layers would just make some tasks much easier for some people.

While master pages do not relate to layers discussion, I would propose children master pages, which inherit the content from master1 (parent master) and have their own added content... using two master pages on one content page would be confusing.

 

Hi Fixx,

I can't image what is the purpose of parent/children master pages. Can you give me an example how they could be used?

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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On 9/4/2018 at 9:22 AM, musiberti said:

From a "professional" point of view, I must agree to the the statement of the video. Even for a beta, the publisher is currently a bad publication, which unfortunately is likely to damage the previously impeccable reputation of Affinity. It's, at best, an early alpha version that better would not have been made public yet. Here in the forum some moderators try to turn the bugs into features. In my opinion, Affinity has just taken over the concept of AD and AP simply without any significant changes for DTP and layout purposes. But that does not even work. My main criticisms:

- Layers only affect the corresponding single page. Real layouters can not do without global layers.

- Master pages can not contain editable text frames or images. What is it good for?

- Bleed is neither visible nor exported properly. (I still have hope for this bug).

Unfortunately this list can be extended indefinitely.
Without adding tons of features, the publisher becomes just another gimmick for hobbyists and occasional users.

Working with workarounds is no alternative. A publisher must be one thing above all else: fast and effective.

As a professional, I can't necessarily agree that it is not production-ready. It depends on your workflow and if you are willing break out of your comfort zone. Many of the issues that the video complained about were non-issues as they were just presented differently than he was accustomed. When I first started using Affinity Products I sat down and went through the tools as I accepted that it was not going to replicate Adobe. I used InDesign from 1.0 and it had it flaws and quark "die-hards" had made many of the complaints that are being made about publisher. In my not so humble opinion,  Once you accept that alternative does not mean the product does not match adobe feature-for-feature.

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43 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

I can't image what is the purpose of parent/children master pages. Can you give me an example how they could be used?

This would be useful.

Think of a simple example with a parent master page with some details (running head, page number, other design elements), and then three child master pages: each for different common types of layout in your document: say one with a passepartout image, another with a full-page text frame, another with a chapter start page.  Then if you want to change the running head you can change the parent master page just once rather than all three (or more) master pages.

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^ This. Someone proposed that it would be useful to be able to apply several master pages to a content page to apply different master items to pages – I feel that would be confusing. Hierarchical parent/children master pages would be easier to use.

Still, I do not know if would be more trouble than worth... I have managed just fine with bunch of single master pages in my productions.

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2 minutes ago, Fixx said:

Someone proposed that it would be useful to be able to apply several master pages to a content page to apply different master items to pages

I just checked, and you can actually do this in the current beta. So in my earlier example you could have one master for the head, one and one for each of the layout options, and a content page would have the head master plus one of the layout options.  In a way this could be more flexible than pure parent/child; you could have two different header style masters and two different body layout masters, and can mix and match to get 4 overall options, rather than having the child masters duplicated (if you see what I mean).

Neither way seems to cover all the bases but having played around a bit I actually think the way it works in the current beta is the best way imho.

Now if only they enabled placeholder content frames to master pages... :35_thinking:

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11 minutes ago, cai said:

I just checked, and you can actually do this in the current beta. So in my earlier example you could have one master for the head, one and one for each of the layout options, and a content page would have the head master plus one of the layout options.  In a way this could be more flexible than pure parent/child; you could have two different header style masters and two different body layout masters, and can mix and match to get 4 overall options, rather than having the child masters duplicated (if you see what I mean).

Neither way seems to cover all the bases but having played around a bit I actually think the way it works in the current beta is the best way imho.

Now if only they enabled placeholder content frames to master pages... :35_thinking:

Yes, they will. :)

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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1 hour ago, Petar Petrenko said:

Now if only they enabled placeholder content frames to master pages... :35_thinking:

Already possible…

117554736_AffinityDesyncMaster.gif.e5fc5017bda562e423cdab1634be5746.gif

  • 3 Pages.
  • Apply one Master.
  • Inset different image and text in to each page.
  • Rearrange text and image frames on Master.
  • All pages update to new layout.

How?

  • Unlock the Master layer on each page.
  • Toggle sync in the Symbols panel.
    • Sync off when working on Pages.
    • Sync on when working on the Master.

Alphabet.afpub

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This is merely something I discovered myself.

I assume it is where the app will go in future development.

For now it works, but is neither very user friendly, nor stable, as there are a fair few bugs connected with symbols.

Still, I find it of interest that the functionality that many are asking for is essentially all there under the hood.

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2 hours ago, Aammppaa said:

Already possible…

 

  • 3 Pages.
  • Apply one Master.
  • Inset different image and text in to each page.
  • Rearrange text and image frames on Master.
  • All pages update to new layout.

How?

  • Unlock the Master layer on each page.
  • Toggle sync in the Symbols panel.
    • Sync off when working on Pages.  <------ WOW!
    • Sync on when working on the Master.

 

Um, wow.

Thanks. Thanks a bunch.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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2 hours ago, Aammppaa said:

Still, I find it of interest that the functionality that many are asking for is essentially all there under the hood.

Functionality void of efficient work-flows is of little use.

Aside from bug fixes to present functionality, my biggest hope is that work-flow procedures are reassessed and made to be efficient, streamlined. 

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5 hours ago, Aammppaa said:

Already possible…

117554736_AffinityDesyncMaster.gif.e5fc5017bda562e423cdab1634be5746.gif

  • 3 Pages.
  • Apply one Master.
  • Inset different image and text in to each page.
  • Rearrange text and image frames on Master.
  • All pages update to new layout.

How?

  • Unlock the Master layer on each page.
  • Toggle sync in the Symbols panel.
    • Sync off when working on Pages.
    • Sync on when working on the Master.

Alphabet.afpub

It's very complicated. It must be as simple as in ID or Quark.

The same with "Save Defaults". Publisher must save all changes in the document to be prepared for any new document -- by default, not with extra command.

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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On 9/5/2018 at 7:25 AM, musiberti said:

No, I know that it's a beta. But the lack of global layers seems to be wanted. That let me believe various statements by moderators (in other threads) . I think that's a very big mistake, because ultimately it means that the publisher will never prevail in a professional environment.

I am by no means an novice I used page layout programs from Page-maker days. Magazines, Catalogues, Annual Reports, booklets I have worked on many multi-page publications. While I understand what you're describing. I think you're over-reaching when you say it won't prevail in a professional environment. It depends on the individual's workflow, Affinity is not Adobe and vise-versa. Two things, 1. Are you trying to force your expectations on the product? 2. When you compare apples to oranges you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Adobe is $600 US per year Affinity products are $50.00 each some level of expectation management is required.

 

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13 hours ago, kirknurse said:

I am by no means an novice I used page layout programs from Page-maker days. Magazines, Catalogues, Annual Reports, booklets I have worked on many multi-page publications. While I understand what you're describing. I think you're over-reaching when you say it won't prevail in a professional environment. It depends on the individual's workflow, Affinity is not Adobe and vise-versa. Two things, 1. Are you trying to force your expectations on the product? 2. When you compare apples to oranges you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Adobe is $600 US per year Affinity products are $50.00 each some level of expectation management is required.

 

TonyB from Affinity has already announced that they are working on global layers. So I hope that everything will be fine - someday.

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  • 6 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Disclaimer: I'm a 15+ InDesign "power user" (and before that, a QXP "power user"), but also a former Illustrator/PhotoShop "power user" 

I have bought all 5 Affinity apps (APub, AD, AP, all on OSX; AND the ipad versions)

By "power user" I mean…

  1. Creating professional, print-ready work
  2. Working on repetitive, large or challenging projects (which necessitates a decent productivity workflow)
  3. Automating/simplifying/scripting as much of the workflow as possible

I have seen many "pro" guys (not just "fanboys on a pirated version of PS") work in "dumb" ways, esp. in InDesign.

Abusing/Ignoring Master Pages, Text Styles, not using built-in tools or scripts, using the wrong app for the wrong type of job (AI for lay-out, PS for text, ID for logo design,…)

I have had issues with colleagues who *refused* to use ID's built-in feature for multiple page sizes, because it messed up their decade-long habit of seperate files for seperate formats (thus ending up with 15 (!) open docs, copypasting from one doc to the other)

IMHO we are all still learning a possible perfect workflow that uses the built-in features of APub's document concept. "Global layers"-based logic may not be the best way to go about working in APub. Best practices will gradually emerge from pro users.

I hope the guys (and gal!) from InDesignSecrets will jump on the Affinity bandwagon (although they are particularly emmeshed with Adob€, so it's not a given) and apply their way of thinking about workflow and productivity to the Affinity Document Concept.

Maybe all we're waiting for is just another Studio Panel that offers a new (better? faster? stronger?) way of working with the structure of page content.

To those familiar with the Scripting DOM in Adob€ apps: You can drill down to each item on an ID page through its layers, through its pages, through its groups or through its properties… So "Global Layers" can be just another way of viewing the same content.

In the meantime I'm just discovering new insights in how these apps (can) work, so I'm waiting for *new* ways of approaching my workflow, rather than just a copy of how Adob€ handled these challenges. Adob€ just brainwashed us for over 2 decades in how to think about lay-outing.

Affinity is imho the FIRST company, to not only challenge Adob€'s position & monopoly in a decent, professional way, it is also the FIRST company to challenge how we think about the *idea* of designing a lay-out digitally.

I know it isn't even on the table at the moment, but I hope once they "finish" the core functionalities of their trifecta, (having an answer to all important functionalities of the Adob€ suite), they are able to look at digital/online or motion/animation/video workflows. Not because I need them, but because their way of thinking *beyond* the box is so thoroughly refreshing.

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