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

Recommended Posts

I make a LOT of use of InDesign's XML import capability. The granularity to which I can define character and paragraph styles that automatically get defined when importing has made my workflow faster than I ever thought possible (and I have XML records that can be scraped to build databases). If you could provide XML import in some fashion, I could fire Adobe and be perfectly happy with your product.
Barring an import capability, is there any information on the Affinity File Format that has been published, or is it all proprietary?

Thanks in advance for your replies

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
7 minutes ago, MikeW said:

No.

While you are absolutely right, it sounds too harsh.

Let's say not yet. :-)

2017 27” iMac 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 • Radeon Pr 580 8GB • 64GB • Ventura 13.6.4.

iPad Pro (10.5-inch) • 256GB • Version 16.4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Small "yes, maybe, I don't know" from me.

I currently copy and paste XML code into Publisher, then use GREP find and replace to assign paragraph and character styles -- works for me so far, but I only use it for small-ish projects because some other features in Publisher need more polishing and general enhancements before I'm going trust it with larger jobs.

It's also noteworthy that the find-replace commands cannot be saved as macro or script, so I keep them in a separate text file and copy-paste them into the find-replace fields one-by-one and also select the styles that I want to apply individually each time. Not ideal, but I want to use Publisher as much as possible and will appreciate it even more, when some automation features arrive at some later point.

No comparison to InDesigns XML capabilities, but a feasible workaround for the time being.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Seneca said:

While you are absolutely right, it sounds too harsh.

Let's say not yet. :-)

Reality is often harsh.

Not yet gives hope. The next question I suspected would be Do you know when? To which the answer, the fuller answer, would be No I do not know when and Serif has never, to the best of my knowledge, indicated XML will ever be added.

So the simple answer No is apt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Up until now I have been convinced that I would lay out my next book in Publisher instead of InDesign. But I can't imagine doing that without an XML import. After formatting an entire 60,000 word book in my word processing program, I'm supposed to go through it line by line to add the proper styles – essentially formatting the entire thing again? No way!

Damn, that's disappointing – I was looking forward to making the switch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, David Kadavy said:

After formatting an entire 60,000 word book in my word processing program, I'm supposed to go through it line by line to add the proper styles – essentially formatting the entire thing again? No way!

If you formatted your document using Paragraph Styles and Character Styles you don't need to do it again.

All styles are copied over to Publisher and you can continue editing your project from there.

2017 27” iMac 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 • Radeon Pr 580 8GB • 64GB • Ventura 13.6.4.

iPad Pro (10.5-inch) • 256GB • Version 16.4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, David Kadavy said:

Is there a way to import so that existing styles that I have designed within Publisher will automatically be applied to what I import?

Your best bet at the moment is to use Find and Replace facility from within Publisher to find styles you assigned in a Word processing app and replace it with styles you created in Publisher. Unless you have hundreds of styles this should not be that much of a problem.

Publisher is not smart enough to assign styles available in Publisher with the style names imported from external sources. I hope you are aware that Publisher can import .docx files as well.

2017 27” iMac 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 • Radeon Pr 580 8GB • 64GB • Ventura 13.6.4.

iPad Pro (10.5-inch) • 256GB • Version 16.4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, David Kadavy said:

Thanks. Is there a reason I might prefer .docx over .rtf?

When you import DOCX into Publisher it will maintain text style information better than when you import RTF. I'm not sure if that is due to the characteristics of RTF files, or something in Publisher's support of them.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
On 7/27/2019 at 4:05 AM, Samwise said:

I make a LOT of use of InDesign's XML import capability. The granularity to which I can define character and paragraph styles that automatically get defined when importing has made my workflow faster than I ever thought possible (and I have XML records that can be scraped to build databases). If you could provide XML import in some fashion, I could fire Adobe and be perfectly happy with your product.

Same here, thus bumping this thread.

MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

I just want to add my voice to this request. I chose the Affinity suite because you can own it outright; I've never used Adobe's products and I really don't want to. So far the Affinity suite has enabled me to do all the things I want to do. However, I am starting a small publishing house and would like to develop an XML-first workflow, which is standard now across the industry because it facilitates the production of different editions for diverse platforms from the same core text. Affinity Publisher's lack of an XML import function forces me to consider purchasing a subscription to Adobe InDesign, even though for the sake of simplicity and competition and out of preference for your non-subscription model, I'd much prefer a pure Affinity workflow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Dear Developers, Users & Fans of Affinity,

I'm newly in Affinity products since v.1.9 but have been working several years within the context of Adobe products and other (C1 etc.). Using the Affinity products, I became some kind of a fan of them.

Coming from the view of my work, I want to underline the need for syntactical XML import in Affinity Publisher, as in my company, we have established a Single Source Publishing Workflow based on Database and especially highly syntactical XML-Data, publishing into Web, other electronical Media up to Folders and Books since somewhat before 2010(!). There are many reasons for leaving the "Adobe Pathway" or proprietary other products like QuarkXPress.

So, in (semi)professional context, import of syntactical XML is very important.

Thanks and have a good day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/3/2020 at 6:17 PM, walt.farrell said:

When you import DOCX into Publisher it will maintain text style information better than when you import RTF. I'm not sure if that is due to the characteristics of RTF files, or something in Publisher's support of them.

That's promising, since DOCX is an XML file, only with its own schema. RTF is an older file format, loosely related to the old DOC format, that is much more difficult to read.

Paolo

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

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.