Get it here: (FOR FREE)
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/publisher/
Downloading Beta now!
Downloaded. It is definitely a beta. :evil:
I'll be trying that out at home if it'll work on my outfit.
[attach width=400]18961[/attach]
I knew my hopes would be dashed. Oh well.
Downloading....
Curious to see what they have come up with, though my hopes are not even close to high.
ok opened it up for the first time and made a new 8 page document with facing pages. Right off the bat no option for bleed margins??? Really?? I am pretty anal about bleeds and keeping things neat and tidy in my documents, this alone would make this frustrating to use and not be 100% sure I have the amount of bleed I want for a specific job.
You can set it after you create the document by clicking on "Document Setup" here:
[attach width=400]18966[/attach]
And then clicking the "Bleed" tab.
[attach width=400]18968[/attach]
The downside is there is no visual for where the bleed is on the layout like InDesign has...un less I just haven't found how to turn it on.
Also if you want to precise with a guid I see no way of entering in a dimension via the keyboard. Looks like the only way to place a guid is with the mouse.
Maybe it is just me but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to crop a photo. Dragging the handles scales the whole image.
And it is a PITA to not see the bleed lines. You can't even add guides to show your bleed because guides only show up on the pages.
Quote from: Joe on August 30, 2018, 06:40:59 PMMaybe it is just me but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to crop a photo. Dragging the handles scales the whole image.
And it is a PITA to not see the bleed lines. You can't even add guides to show your bleed because guides only show up on the pages.
Soooooo, it's a Beta? :rotf:
Agreed about the cropping/sizing manipulation though. I tried every combo of keys to proportionally scale a photo before I realized the default of just grabbing a corner handle IS the proportional scale!
For all of our Adobe gripes, it's weird trying to use a totally different app for things we do every damned day.
Quote from: Joe on August 30, 2018, 06:40:59 PMMaybe it is just me but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to crop a photo. Dragging the handles scales the whole image.
And it is a PITA to not see the bleed lines. You can't even add guides to show your bleed because guides only show up on the pages.
There is a crop button on the left side toolbar that lets you crop a picture. Looks just like the photoshop button.
I do love how quick Affinity software is, seems much faster then anything Adobe has out.
One thing I hate about the Affinity software is how they handle colour and swatches. Not sure if I am just so ingrained with the way Adobe does it or what, it just seems counter intuitive. I love how if I bring a PDF into Indesign and the PDF has spot colours or pantones I immediately have them in my swatch panel. Not so with Publisher, did a test with a spot and pantone and I just do not see them there. Also hate how they just show blocks of colour for pantones, I only see the name when I leave the mouse hovering over it. Unless I have missed it there is no option to do a list view that has the colour name beside the colour.
Yeah I had seen the crop tool previously but they named it vector crop tool for some oddball reason so I didn't associate it in my mind with cropping a photo.
I was reading at their forum last night and they are planning on making the bleed lines appear in a future release. All in all it isn't horrible for an early beta. Needs a lot of work. I just can't wait until it gets released so Adobe will buy it and kill it off.
Not sure if I am doing something wrong but if I am not I hate the way it handles text. If I resize a text box it actually resizes and stretches the text itself. My words did not reflow to fit the text box. This alone would keep me from using it unless they have done something different to accomplish such an easy task.
**edit** guess I am finding all the things I do not know about Affinity. There are 2 text options, one "artistic text tool" and "frame text tool" I was using the wrong one, if I use "frame text tool" it works as it should.
Yeah you can't say they copied the way other page layout apps work. They have their own groove going...
:rotf:
Quote from: Joe on August 31, 2018, 09:10:58 AMYeah you can't say they copied the way other page layout apps work. They have their own groove going...
:rotf:
For me that is one of the biggest hurdle. I am not spending my evenings trying to learn a new bit of software and it is not as straightforward or something I want to commit any live jobs to. I guess my real hope is that Affinity does take some significant marketshare to make Adobe notice and bring back standard software licenses that never expire and have no monthly payments.
Buy a lottery ticket. You have better odds of winning that then Adobe going back to the old way of selling software.
Quote from: wonderings on August 31, 2018, 08:40:19 AMNot sure if I am doing something wrong but if I am not I hate the way it handles text. If I resize a text box it actually resizes and stretches the text itself. My words did not reflow to fit the text box. This alone would keep me from using it unless they have done something different to accomplish such an easy task.
**edit** guess I am finding all the things I do not know about Affinity. There are 2 text options, one "artistic text tool" and "frame text tool" I was using the wrong one, if I use "frame text tool" it works as it should.
When I made a Frame Text box, I'd already added some random pics and for some reason it locked that text frame to a Layer with one of the photos & I couldn't get back to the text! It's an odd way of operating, but I'll try to get some feedback going for the Beta forum, it's a hot mess in there already with people taking it out for a spin.
I did notice issues with placing PDF's. I tried a manual for a high school we are printing, I think the PDF's were originally created from Word. No issues imposing, viewing or even placing in Indesign (only done as a test). Tried to open a multipage PDF in Publisher and do not see any options to select what pages, or anything, it simply just opens the first page. The PDF also did not impose well, all sorts of weird $ signs all over it. It obviously does not handle PDF's well as this was a basic cover of a manual all black with the pie symbol and black text.
Once you place the PDF you can select which page is displayed here:
[attach width=400]18970[/attach]
One thing I can't find is a way to bring in the PDF via its media, crop, bleed or trim box. It appears to just use the Media box all the time.
Once I imported a couple of PDF's and generated a new PDF it looked like the new PDF had some kind of lines of corruption but when you zoom in it appears they really aren't there.
Quote from: Joe on September 01, 2018, 07:23:53 AMOnce you place the PDF you can select which page is displayed here:
[attach width=400]18970[/attach]
One thing I can't find is a way to bring in the PDF via its media, crop, bleed or trim box. It appears to just use the Media box all the time.
Once I imported a couple of PDF's and generated a new PDF it looked like the new PDF had some kind of lines of corruption but when you zoom in it appears they really aren't there.
I guess this is all just their attempt to show they are different then Indesign, though it is not the best approach with some of these things. This should all be done from the getgo when you place a PDF. This is probably personal preference though so I doubt there will be any change with this. My PDF's are certainly messed up, zoomed in or not they are a complete mess
This is one I tested right now. Views perfectly in Indesign, complete mess in Publisher. Still beta so they have time to work this stuff out, but if I cannot trust it with PDF's it will remain in my applications folder collecting dust
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1855/44354478642_513c35601d_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2azsido)Screen Shot 2018-09-01 at 9.44.22 AM (https://flic.kr/p/2azsido) by B P (https://www.flickr.com/photos/150260324@N03/), on Flickr
I would try a PDF not created in Word. The PDF I practiced with looked OK when placed. It had been created in InDesign but yeah if that PDF looks fine in InDesign that isn't a good sign. It took them 3 years to get this far with it so it is going to take some time to get everything fixed. It is a long, long way from being an InDesign replacement at this stage.
Quote from: Joe on September 01, 2018, 08:03:34 AMI would try a PDF not created in Word. The PDF I practiced with looked OK when placed. It had been created in InDesign but yeah if that PDF looks fine in InDesign that isn't a good sign. It took them 3 years to get this far with it so it is going to take some time to get everything fixed. It is a long, long way from being an InDesign replacement at this stage.
Well I am sure a properly created PDF will be fine but I want the garbage stuff to work. I cannot remember the last time I had an issue with any PDF placed in Indesign. I am sure it has happened but it is so rare I cannot remember an instance of it.
Any other bit of software I have that could run or rip this handles it fine, only Publisher has an issue with the file at the moment. I am sure that will be fixed with new updates, or well it better be. If you cannot trust it to handle simple PDF's who is going to use it?
Quote from: wonderings on September 04, 2018, 06:24:43 AMIf you cannot trust it to handle simple PDF's who is going to use it?
Quark users do it all the time. :rotf:
Seriously though I do agree with you. It certainly isn't ready for prime time yet.
Quote from: Joe on September 04, 2018, 11:41:56 AMQuote from: wonderings on September 04, 2018, 06:24:43 AMIf you cannot trust it to handle simple PDF's who is going to use it?
Quark users do it all the time. :rotf:
Seriously though I do agree with you. It certainly isn't ready for prime time yet.
It is a start at least, I think I would still use it over Quark even in its beta stage. Another thing I noticed missing is no way to package a file. This is a big one for me as I package everything. I like having all assets and fonts in each folder, makes life so much simpler.
UPDATE RELEASED
Affinity Publisher Public Beta: 1.7.0.128 now available (https://affinityspotlight.com/article/affinity-publisher-public-beta-170128-now-available/?utm_source=SpotlightEmail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter)
So to sum up;
- its not ready for release
- when it is (and if they fix everything) it might be as good as Quark :vomit:
- it's cheaper than InDesign but not as good
- it doesn't handle fonts, text boxes, picture boxes or PDFs particularly well
- it's never going to be industry standard
- I'll still need PhotoShop and Illustrator
What exactly is my motivation here? I mean, I'm just not feeling it. Maybe if I hated Adobe more for making a great piece of software then holding us to ransom for using it . . .
Quote from: StudioMonkey on September 24, 2018, 04:22:52 AMSo to sum up;
- its not ready for release
- when it is (and if they fix everything) it might be as good as Quark :vomit:
- it's cheaper than InDesign but not as good
- it doesn't handle fonts, text boxes, picture boxes or PDFs particularly well
- it's never going to be industry standard
- I'll still need PhotoShop and Illustrator
- I'll still need Acrobat/Pitstop
What exactly is my motivation here? I mean, I'm just not feeling it. Maybe if I hated Adobe more for making a great piece of software then holding us to ransom for using it . . .
Added to your list.
Quote from: StudioMonkey on September 24, 2018, 04:22:52 AMSo to sum up;
- its not ready for release
- when it is (and if they fix everything) it might be as good as Quark :vomit:
- it's cheaper than InDesign but not as good
- it doesn't handle fonts, text boxes, picture boxes or PDFs particularly well
- it's never going to be industry standard
- I'll still need PhotoShop and Illustrator
What exactly is my motivation here? I mean, I'm just not feeling it. Maybe if I hated Adobe more for making a great piece of software then holding us to ransom for using it . . .
It is missing a lot of stuff to make it a viable alternative to Indesign. PDF support is one of them, they are focused on making the software able to edit PDF's rather then importing a PDF properly without the need to edit. PDF editing is trick as it is already, I think this is a wrong focus for them.
Missing things like preflight and variable data merging are big ones as well. Ultimately if it cannot match Indesign feature for feature it will never be a viable alternative. The software is snappy I will give them that. I think their real market is someone who is somewhat capable at design for themselves but not doing it for a living as a pro. I have recommended the Affinity software to some people as I do believe it is the best bang for your buck if you are not a pro. I think Affinity is also stuck trying to bring about powerful software at a cheap price point which means they will never get the pro features or if they do it will be a long time coming.
I did notice there was another new update released
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/68378-affinity-publisher-public-beta-170133-mac/
It's a Beta release and still very early in development, so I wouldn't be insanely critical. It's probably never going to be geared towards the "power" users but I'd even like something lightweight to use at home for small projects, free of the Adobe Tax. If it turns out to a heavy hitter down the road, even better.
Not to mention we have plenty of customers that are NOT, I REPEAT, NOT power users and if they can get his thing going decently maybe we could convince these people that for $50 they could have a real page layout app instead of using Word, Excel, Pages, Numbers, Power Point, Quark, etc... and send us a decent PDF. Wait...who am I kidding. Nevermind.
Compadre here just opened up a (thankfully only 12pp) job. Regardless of colour in it, we need to run the OFC in colour, the rest has to be mono.
I suggest a Cmd+D, to have a look. Out of Excel. :strangle:
Into Indy to place etc....Export.
Pages were of random size. :rolleyes:
The worst prepress job I've had in my life was done in Excel. I still have nightmares about it 15+ years later.
Did they have pitstop then? What would you have done 15 years ago?
Yes. Pitstop 4! A lifesaver then and now!
Quote from: AaronH on September 27, 2018, 01:39:40 PMDid they have pitstop then? What would you have done 15 years ago?
Open it in Illustrator, of course!! :rotf: