Affinity Publisher feature requests

[TonHaarmans]

Hi
I would like to be able to convert a pdf (made form InDesign or Scribus) into a Afiinity Publisher file. That would be awesome! Also interesting: converting or importing Scribus files into Affinity Publisher. Both features would release me from InDesign and Scribus completely!

Ton
 

[Hokusai]

Ton,

 

This post might be a useful read. Especially towards the end where they talk about PDF import. 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/572-affinity-publisher-file-import-from-page-plus-please/

 

 

Hokusai

[Quarian]

Since the title alone of ths discussion is sure to draw attention, I might as well put in my bid...

 

1. An .idml importer (scribus developmental edition 1.5 claims to already have one)

2. A function wherein you can import a multipage pdf and designate if you want to import certain pages as master pages.

3. A PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, PDF/X-4 and PDF/A exporter. You also may want to consider PDF/UA as well, nobody else except Adobe and Microsoft can do accessible PDF. If Affinity could do it, it would guarantee you market share.

4. An ePub 2.01 and 3.0 exporter.

5. An HTML 5 exporter. Recently, at a class I was attending, the instructor showed us that a certain product with a subscription model that you're competing with is going to have html5 export so that, in the same way one could author swf interactivity, widgets can be created for ePubs and web sites.

[Quarian]

By the way, I know the html5 exporter is a stretch, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[TonHaarmans]

The IDML importer works pretty good in Scribus 1.5.0. I just did the import in the Windows version and subsequently opened it on the Mac. Of course I had to change the path to all the images, but that can be easily done with a text-editor by opening the .sla file as xml.
Point is, as soon as Affinity Publisher is out I want to use that. It shouldn't be too difficult to convert from .sla to Affinity...

[Quarian]

Thank You for pointing this out, TonHaarmans. I went onto www.scribus.net today and saw that version 1.5.0 of Scribus has finally been released as...well, while not a stable release...a "preview" or maybe a "transitional" release might be a better description. While I can't describe all of the benefits of 1.5.0 in this space, please look at the "readme" file at this link:  http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus_1.5.0_Readme

 

Here are some highlights from the import functions:

 

• Adobe Illustrator: The Adobe Illustrator importer has been compelety rewritten. In hybrid AI files it’s now possible to select either the PDF or the AI part of the file.
• PDF: The PDF importer has been completely rewritten and now opens most PDF files with the layout 100 % intact. PDF forms elements are being recognized as such and can be edited in Scribus.
• PostScript: The PostScript importer has been completely rewritten and now opens most PS files with the layout 100 % intact.
• Adobe PageMaker: Scribus 1.5.0 includes an early version of a filter for files created in versions 6.5 and 7.0 of the once popular DTP program. 
• CorelDraw (CDR, CDT, CMX): Thanks to the tireless work on libcdr, Scribus can now import files created by CorelDraw from version 1 to the present. Moreover, adding support for libcdr not only allows for importing CDR files, but also CorelDraw Templates (CDT) and CorelDraw Presentations Exchange (CMX) files.
• Enhanced Metafile (EMF): EMF files are 32-bit versions of the 16-bit Windows Metafile Format (WMF), which has already been supported by Scribus 1.4.x.
• InDesign/InCopy: While the reverse-engineering efforts regarding InDesign’s binary format (INDD) by third-party developers haven’t reached the stage of producing anything useful yet, Adobe has released a complete specification of the XML version of that format (IDML). Scribus 1.5.0 is being shipped with a basic import filter for this format, which will be improved and refined over time. It will also import InDesign XML Snippets (IDMS) and some InCopy XML files (ICML).
• iWorks Pages (PAGES): Pages is Apple’s word processing software, which also provides many DTP features. A native importfilter has been developed to import files created with Pages ’08 and later versions.
• Microsoft Publisher (PUB): An importer for PUB files has been made, which is also used for Publisher import into LibreOffice. It is supposed to import all Publisher versions.
• Microsoft Visio (VSD, VXD): An importer for Visio files has been made possible by the creation of libvisio, which is also used for Visio import into LibreOffice. It is supposed to import at least Visio versions from 2000–2013.
• Open Raster File (ORA): Open Raster is an open standard for complex bitmap files. It’s supported by all major Free image editors, including GIMP and Krita.
• Xara Designer (XAR): Xara Designer (formerly known as Xara Xtreme) is known as one of the most powerful vector drawing programs. Its file format (XAR) is well-documented, and thanks to many contributions from professional Xara users, the Scribus Team has been able to create an excellent XAR filter, whose implementation resulted in the addition of many new features in Scribus.
• XML Paper Specification (XPS, OXPS): XML is an alternative to PDF originally developed by Microsoft and now maintained and updated by ECMA International. Scribus 1.5.0 can import both the original Microsoft version (XPS) and the modified versions as standardized by ECMA (OXPS).

 

Scribus 1.5.0 also exports to PDF/X-4.

 

Hope this helps...I'll be using Scribus until Affinity Publisher arrives.

[jasonhuck]

+1 for .idml support (import AND export), especially if a spec has been published.

 

I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseum already, but very few users of this suite will have the luxury of operating in a vaccuum where they do not have to share files with other agencies, service bureaus, and clients. In order to gain traction as an alternative in an Adobe-dominated world, it has to be easy for new users to pick right up where they left off with existing files, and collaborate with other people using Adobe software. It can't be a hassle or a special request for different formats every time files need to be exchanged. It's bad enough if you're on an older version of Creative Suite and have to ask someone to save back from Creative Cloud to an older format just so you can open their files.

 

- jason

[Talabardio]

I'm very eager to start working with the beta of Publisher. My background: for years I made my living using InDesign, Photoshop, and also some Quark and Illustrator. I've been looking to replace the Creative Suite for the typical reasons. I purchased Quark 2015 recently but I must admit it's still pretty clunky compared to InDesign.

 

I would want Publisher to have a very intuitive capability to Zoom view in and out and also rapidly shift between tools and back and forth to the zoom and pan functions. You want to be able to quickly move in, out, all over a document, change tools rapidly and shift through all these functions very quickly. It should be able to control character, paragraph etc styles very easily. It should be able to deal with image opacity, resizing, editing, and masking very easily. Create, assign and modify master pages. Obviously it would need to be able to export to finely controlled PDF types for different print output. I would guess at a basic level I would want to see it import and export Quark and InDesign files, although as long as it basically works well this is not a deal breaker... It sure would be nice though! Quark 2015 does have the ability to assign keyboard shortcuts to a broad variety of functions, that is pretty nice. It can also create static layout ebooks, although the workflow seems particularly awkward even for an advanced InDesign user. Those would be nice features to see in Publisher. As you would guess since I keep referring to it, a fast workflow is key.

[chehab]

Also I'm very eager to start working with the beta of Publisher.

 

As for a features Arabic/RTL the whole MINA region relies on it, FIY it's a pretty big market.

[Peter Werner]

Just for reference, I believe the Adobe XMP SDK contains an example that reads metadata from an .indd file and might give some indication as to the basic structure of the file format.

[Bill Downie]

Whilst I must agree with the basic request for .PPP files to be imported into Affinity Publisher, after all, they are both Serif Programs, and Serif should be looking after their ever growing, faithful users that want to migrate full over to Mac, I have saved a complex PagePlus document as a .PDF file and then opened the file in PagePlus. It did indeed open in a very manageable format. Everything was there and editable. Tables however are broken down into a text frame with a separate grid behind it. The text though was fully editable, using the Tab key to move between what previously were cells. Not a major problem in my humble view. But have I have said, Serif should be looking at Publisher being able to import native .PPP files. It can only require a small amount of extra coding.

[TonyB]

Whilst I must agree with the basic request for .PPP files to be imported into Affinity Publisher, after all, they are both Serif Programs, and Serif should be looking after their ever growing, faithful users that want to migrate full over to Mac, I have saved a complex PagePlus document as a .PDF file and then opened the file in PagePlus. It did indeed open in a very manageable format. Everything was there and editable. Tables however are broken down into a text frame with a separate grid behind it. The text though was fully editable, using the Tab key to move between what previously were cells. Not a major problem in my humble view. But have I have said, Serif should be looking at Publisher being able to import native .PPP files. It can only require a small amount of extra coding.

 

 

Unfortunately it would take at least 6 months development to import .PPP files and the result still wouldn't be 100% correct.

 

We will look at this nearer the time but please don't underestimate the size of the task. Affinity and PagePlus share exactly zero lines of code.

[Mike W077]

Thousands of people world-wide STILL use Corel Ventura Publisher, last updated in 2002! Awesome program, but now dated by advances in interfaces, formats, fonts, etc. And, it is not Mac compatible. 

 

However, check it out as a reference for possible Publisher features and UI.

[Sonofwitz]

+1 for .idml import

[Bespoke]

I am standing at the crossroads and I am not alone . . . stay with CS6 and wait for Affinity Publisher to complete the trinity that will replace InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop or commit to Adobe whilst the subscription offer is low and keep an eye on how the 'Affinity Trinity' develop in the next few years?

 

Either way please make it your priority to incorporate the ability to open or import InDesign to Publisher, Illustrator to Designer and Photoshop to Photo. Then and only then I will I have the faith to switch.

 

I have used InDesign since it was conceived and left the embryo sac of Aldus Pagemaker and it only really started to out grow QuarkXpress when designers could open, import and export files, but as it required an additional plugin the transition was slow. If it had been free and incorporated into the software then it would have been much faster and less problematic.

 

Please learn from the past.

[Hokusai]

Bespoke,

 

Hello and welcome to the forums (as I see it is your first post). Designer can import most Illustrator files now (with some exceptions like Illustrator files that have a gradient mesh or other special effects like the warp tools, ect). In my experience I was able to import almost all of Illustrator files into Designer. I did have to do a little tweaking here and there but a little is to be expected. You can also import Photoshop files into Photo now as well. I doubt that you will be able to import native InDesign files directly into Publisher, as TonyB has explained in the earlier posts of this thread, they will support the importing of PDF files which will allow you to get your work from InDesign into Publisher. I'm sure that you will have to do some adjusting but that too is to be expected. When Quark Xpress could open Pagemaker files (I prefer to call it RageMaker  :D) you still had to make many adjustments to the files. They didn't import perfectly but you were able to move your files from Pagemaker to Quark Xpress. The same was true if you tried to move Quark Xpress files to InDesign (and as well vice versa). Some adjusting was necessary. I would imagine that importing PDF files into Publisher will be smoother but I think you will have to do a little manual adjusting here and there. It will allow you to get your content over to Publisher without too much effort. Of course we don't know for sure yet, we will have to wait and see but that is my guess. Affinity's programs are shaping up very nicely and I'm very excited to see what they can offer with Publisher. I would try Designer and Photo now as a beta if you haven't already downloaded them and tried them. I think you will be impressed. 

 

Hokusai

[hardini]

+1 for .idml support (import AND export), especially if a spec has been published.

 

I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseum already, but very few users of this suite will have the luxury of operating in a vaccuum where they do not have to share files with other agencies, service bureaus, and clients. In order to gain traction as an alternative in an Adobe-dominated world, it has to be easy for new users to pick right up where they left off with existing files, and collaborate with other people using Adobe software. It can't be a hassle or a special request for different formats every time files need to be exchanged. It's bad enough if you're on an older version of Creative Suite and have to ask someone to save back from Creative Cloud to an older format just so you can open their files.

 

- jason

 

Quoting because Jason perfectly summed up the #1 thing I'll need from Publisher.  I've gotta be able to pick up and hand off files with my InDesign-using clients or Publisher can't be a part of my workflow.

 

As long as Publisher will be able to open and export .idml , everything will be rosy!

[Hokusai]

hardini,

 

If the most important thing for you is to have full compatibility with others who are using Adobe products then your best bet is to use the exact same software as they are, same software and the same version. Even people who use only use Adobe's own software can't always exchange files between users (between versions), so you can imagine the enormous difficulty that it would be for an outside company to do this. If the .idml is an open format then great, if not, forget it. The best bet would be an open format like PDF, sure it might require a little tweeting of files but that is to be expected when moving from one software package to another. If you have to be able to pickup and hand things off to other users who are only using Indesign, then the sad reality is you're stuck paying Adobe for the rest of your life. Your other option is to get the other people who you work with to start using Affinity Publisher once it is released. 

 

Hokusai

[Saint Louis Moe]

Being able to specify leading (line spacing) in multiple ways is convenient. I think  Quark Xpress allowed leading specifications such as +2, +12, -1, etc.  That was nice.

 

Allowing percentages to be entered could also be handy: 100%, 110%, etc.   Many programs permit percentages in certain situations (such as setting the amount of "auto" leading), but why not make it a standard option in the Character and Paragraph setting boxes?

 

[Dave Harris]

Saint Louis Moe, you can already type expressions into most text fields. For example, if the text height is 12pt you can edit it to += 2 and it will set the height to 14pt, or += 10% and it will set the height to 13.2pt.

 

For leading it doesn't allow += syntax but does allow other expressions that don't depend on the old value.. For example, if it shows as 12pt, you can edit to 12pt + 10% and leading will be set to 13.2pt, or 12pt + 1 and it will set to 13pt.

 

Specific to leading, you can also set it to be a percentage of the text size, and you can set this in text styles. We have a lot of ways you can set leading.

 

Specific to text height, you can use variables x, c and a for the x-height, cap-height and ascent of the current font. For example, 12pt / c will set the text's cap-height to 12pt. (Edit: just tried this on Windows and it didn't work. That's a bug; I'll look into it.)

 

See the section Expressions for field input in the Help for more.