Picture frame and pdf import options

[Grosvenor Imaging]

It would make the switch from InDesign to Publisher much more viable (for us as designers & printers) if the these features (see pdf) were available.

I know it is a bit late now as you are about to release the full version. Perhaps they might be considered for future updates (I am aware you are looking into the issue of embedded fonts within pdfs)

Jon

AP additions.pdf

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums, Jon.

A small forum usage hint for the future: you'd make it easier for the rest of us forum users/readers, and probably Serif, if you'd simply attach images as .png or .jpg files. They'll both display inline, rather than requiring download and opening of a PDF file.

[Grosvenor Imaging]

Thanks for the advice Walt, I did not realise the viewing issues with pdfs.

I will add as jpgs

Jon

[fde101]

The stepper controls on the dimension fields are not a bad idea...

 

The "scale of original" concept seems misleadingly named - the "original" size is always 100% of itself, and Publisher has no way of truly knowing what that is.  Presumably you are referring to the scale of the placed dpi vs. the dpi defined in the imported (or linked) image, which can be found on the context toolbar by selecting the image itself (not the frame) and can be manipulated from a semi-secret popup that appears when you click on that.

The selected page of a placed PDF is again found on the context toolbar.

Layers can be locked in the layers panel - no need for the duplication of that function taking up space on the transform panel.  Better to keep that small.

The "linked file" information can be found in the resource manager, and I think it is also displayed on the context toolbar when the image layer is selected?

[Grosvenor Imaging]

The pop-up ‘original size’ is what I meant by ‘scale of original’ (This was not available on the old
beta version when I first made the suggestion) so I am pleased it is there now. However I think it
would be better if it were visible in the toolbar, not as a pop-up.

We would also like to see the addition of the images position relative to the frame which (for us)
would be very useful.

I can also see the pdf info (page number & import options) is now available, but when the image is
a pdf the ‘original size’ scaling option is not there (nor of course position relative to the frame)

The reason we would like to see the option to lock the pdf in a more prominent position is to
ensure that a customer supplied ‘print ready pdf’ will not be ‘accidentally edited’
(Also ensuring embedded fonts are used, an issue which I know is being looked at)

[fde101]

2 hours ago, Grosvenor Imaging said:

I think it
would be better if it were visible in the toolbar, not as a pop-up.

I suspect this is because the context toolbar is too full already; they were probably trying to squeeze it into limited available space.  However, I do think that if it remains as a popup, it should be more obvious that there is a popup that can be accessed.  Right now it is kind of hidden if you don't know exactly where to look for it.

 

2 hours ago, Grosvenor Imaging said:

We would also like to see the addition of the images position relative to the frame which (for us)
would be very useful.

Agreed, that would be nice.  I could kind of see a set of four buttons that act like radio buttons being added to the transform panel: relative to page, relative to spread (mostly for Designer and documents brought in from Designer), relative to margin, and relative to parent layer (which would be the frame in the case of a framed image).

 

2 hours ago, Grosvenor Imaging said:

when the image is
a pdf the ‘original size’ scaling option is not there

This is most likely because the Affinity products treat a PDF as an embedded document rather than an image.  A "linked" embedded document is currently still embedded, for example - they are handled quite differently.

[Grosvenor Imaging]

Pop-up original size:

It may be possible for the context toolbar to be expanded in order to hold all the relevant info, While it would not want to be a direct copy of ID we feel sure Affinity are able to do something at least as good, if not better (see attached picture)

 

Relative position:

Radio buttons to give the various option sounds like a good plan

 

PDF import:

If the issue arises due to Affinity treating pdfs as an embedded document then perhaps the way to achieve what we need would be, rather than as our original suggestion of a ‘Locked-Unlocked’ option, the way forward may be to have the option to import the pdf as an ‘image’ (Retaining all the vector elements and embedded fonts) so it could be scaled as other linked pictures

[fde101]

1 hour ago, Grosvenor Imaging said:

It may be possible for the context toolbar to be expanded in order to hold all the relevant info

It kind of "expands" by showing the popup when you click at the right spot...  the ID approach (closer to the QXP one also) uses up more vertical screen space which can be at a premium for laptop users in particular, so there is a bit of a tradeoff to trying to implement something like that - it might seem nicer for some users, but it would make life a bit harder for others.

[Grosvenor Imaging]

Perhaps the answer is a ‘show details / hide details’ option, then it would be user dependent.