Thank you, Elaine. As always, an excellent introduction to the features of the software, with great detailed examples to drive home the understanding. You are amazing. I bought the Universal Licence on the day because I think all the Affinity products are great and well supported by Serif. All this and the return of After Hours on the 18th! Happy days. Thank you.
Fantastic as always Elaine. Hoping you do a tutorial for Publisher on IPad soon…I will try to use some of your older tutorials and make them work for me in the meantime. Thank you for everything you do!!
I have learnt a lot from you. I appreciate. Can you touch on 'Print Booklet' functionality in Affinity Publisher? Especially on Saddle Stitch and how to get the final output as PDF for print. Thanks 🙏
Export/Save your file as cmyk colours, 300dpi, and simply save a complete pdf with 3mm bleeds all sides. Do not save as pairs, just singles, but all pages into 1 pdf is fine. Ensure you have saved all fonts and links either as Embedded, or saved in folders so print shop has all necessary files and links. So for a 24 page booklet, save 24 single pages into one complete pdf. Pre-press print shops all have software that imposes for their final output so really no point you doing it. But its easy to work out anyway, just fold a piece of paper in half (fold down so long side is now short when folded or portrait sheet folds to landscape)) next, fold again the landscape to portrait, this gives you 8 pages for an 8 page booklet. Simply create more and insert them into each middle when opened as a pair of pages,and then number them in order when all in place. This way you will have the correct imposed sections, showing pages in correct pairs, head to head etc.
Thank you for answering my question- about vectorizing hand-drawn motifs. I will look into super vectorizer pro. Someone else said they use Inkscape to vectorize. Have you any experience with Inkscape?
My only issues with Affinity software is too many steps to add images inside text and removing background from photos. During the time Affinity was Serif and providing software such as DrawPlus, PagePlus, PhotoPlus, and WebPlus, were the best softwares in my in opinion. All of the Serif Plus software was user friendly and less tasks to accomplish any projects. After the switch from Serif To Affinity products, I feel its less user friendly and too many steps to accomplish anything, it feels more like Adobe softwares. I wished Affinity kept Serif Products and just continued updates, it was the best friendly products made.
Before the subscription model, Adobe charged you for every update. You bought version 1, you had to pay for version 1.5, and then for 2.0 and so on. what are you talking about?
I always miss these live events as I work nights (Doh!). I would like to ask if I may, Would I be able to sell version one to somebody else or is that not possible? I have PC Publisher. (didn't have this for the Ipad). PC Designer - Ipad Dewigner. PC Photo - Ipad Photo. Thank you in advance, and sorry if it has already been asked?
Hi there, does anybody know a free or at least cheap pdf-software, that works with layers? All I found so far were really expensive. In hindsight: I found the answer by myself. Foxit-Reader (PDF-freeware) e.g. shows layers perfectly!
Questions regarding Endnotes Hi Elaine. Thank you for being so quick off the mark with this tutorial. If you wanted to write a document for journal publishing they require it to have citations etc in a set format eg The Harvard system or whatever journal you are submitting to. Can these be added in or created as a preset? Secondly, in a document is there any way to refer again to an endnote that you have already used without adding it as a new endnote...again I am thinking of how it would be used in a journal or academic article format where you may often refer to the same citation more than once and wouldn't want it duplicated in the references. Thanks
Scrivener is a writing tool. Affinity Publisher is a formatting tool. I wouldn't do the actual writing of a book in Affinity Publisher. I'd write the text in Word or Google Docs - or Scrivener. I confess, I tried Scrivener some years ago, and it didn't work for me and my particular process. But you are looking at different tools for different stages of writing. One is for pre-writing and writing (Scrivener) and the other (Affinity Publisher) is for taking your manuscript and turning it into a beautiful publication. Hope that helps!
They are two different animals… Publisher is for layout and design while Schribner is for writing it’s like the difference between Word and Photoshop. There are other companies that are looking at providing a true and end solution for authors and maybe that something that affinity could look into the idea that you would have a word processor/authoring program as well as a Layout program like publisher (with some basic image processing tools). The new software ‘Atticus’ put up by the folks to bring you ‘publisher rocket’, is trying to do that.
I find the grid clunky and not practical. I wouldn't necessarily like to do it all by hand (as it was commented), but the flow is completely impractical. I'd definitely want a set of controls to let me input my dimensioning priorities. Sometimes it will be number of rows or columns, sometimes element dimensions. I might want to first draw an area, specify constraints, right and bottom edge alignment, etc. It would be helpful to look into css grid specs. For consistency across books/documents, a grid style could be considered. For now, this feature does not tease me into v2 update
While I greatly appreciate their price structure, I would much rather they create a genuine blend function instead of "quick grid" which is imprecise and clunky. Also they STILL HAVEN'T FIXED how it applies dashed borders to rectangles and creates a totally wonky corner. Seriously, Serif, fix the bugs before adding additional features which are of limited use.
I Am Submitting a Protest When I originally purchased the full Affinity Suite, you sold it as a one time purchase that gave me access to all future updates. However, now you are billing Affinity 2 as a separate product - a new version, which it IS NOT a separate or new product, it’s just an upgrade, something you should NOT be charging for, something you originally said you would NOT charge for. That's the whole concept of a "one time purchase." You are now selling an entire new Affinity Suite. This is not fair and NOT what I paid for. So let me ask, will there be upgrades to the Original Affinity Suite? Is it still supported? Are you now phasing out the Original Affinity Suite, and does that mean that I’ll be FORCED to buy the new suite if I want to continue using your products? This looks and feels like you’re slowly moving to the Adobe model. Just like them, it used to be a TRUE onetime purchase, then they moved to the subscription model. It sure looks like you decided to choose larger profits over customer satisfaction, like so many companies these days, squeezing every penny out of their customers. You can still make good profits with one time purchases, add-ons and extra features without trying to bleed your customers dry. I am VERY Disappointed and VERY surprised that you came out strong as a viable alternative to Adobe, only to follow them down the same profits over customers path, and that you did it so quickly. I can't wait to see what happens next year. I will continue to use the Original Affinity Suite for the moment because I like your product and for the moment, you’re still cheaper than Adobe. But I want it noted that I am aware of what you’re doing, and I think it’s not fair and it’s not what I originally purchased. You changed the deal. And, FYI, I’m going to post this as comments on public forms and create a video about it (not that you care, I’m just small potatoes to you), but I want people to at least be aware of this and to keep an eye on you and to keep an eye out for another replacement product. And, these are not huge upgrades/updates. I and other users submitted several requests for new features, and I don’t see any of them in the new version. I think this is going to hurt your business more than the extra profits you’ll make. This will not be worth it for you. I think most people would have been happy to have the upgrades for V1 and support your company by purchasing extra features like fonts, photos, graphics, maybe even an online store for overlays, scripts and actions etc. Did you get a new CEO or something? This was not a good decision. Signed, Disheartened and Disappointed Customer
I read on Affinity website that they'd NOT be updating V1 any more. They say they've totally re-written all the apps. I too bought V1 but when I looked at V2 with the iPad apps included, I just went for it. I appreciate what you've said as I too am a 'small potato', but then compare the suite with any Adobe app, let alone ALL of them, it's outstanding value. Just my thoughts . . . as a punter.
Well, the good news is, the upgrade to Affinity 2.0 is not compulsory. By the look of it, at this point in time, I do not need Affinity V2.0; for what I am doing, Affinity suite V1.0 is sufficient. For reference, I am still using the last version of Microsoft Excel sold without a subscription. I still don't see any reason to upgrade.
Serif can't work for free. Free software forever is not a sustainable model. The reason you aren't getting all the new features you want is because they don't have enough cash flow to scale up development. If you want more development, you are going to have to pay something.
really need affinity to support the right to left in text and PDF ordering Why don't they care about eastern and Arab users 🥲🥲🥲? I'm using the first version and we've been asking for this a lot
Thanks for your time and efforts Elaine, much appreciated, cheers.
Elaine - you are fantastic! Thank you so much for this wonderful walkthrough.
Thank you, Elaine. As always, an excellent introduction to the features of the software, with great detailed examples to drive home the understanding. You are amazing. I bought the Universal Licence on the day because I think all the Affinity products are great and well supported by Serif. All this and the return of After Hours on the 18th! Happy days. Thank you.
Fantastic as always Elaine. Hoping you do a tutorial for Publisher on IPad soon…I will try to use some of your older tutorials and make them work for me in the meantime. Thank you for everything you do!!
I have learnt a lot from you. I appreciate.
Can you touch on 'Print Booklet' functionality in Affinity Publisher? Especially on Saddle Stitch and how to get the final output as PDF for print.
Thanks 🙏
Export/Save your file as cmyk colours, 300dpi, and simply save a complete pdf with 3mm bleeds all sides. Do not save as pairs, just singles, but all pages into 1 pdf is fine. Ensure you have saved all fonts and links either as Embedded, or saved in folders so print shop has all necessary files and links. So for a 24 page booklet, save 24 single pages into one complete pdf. Pre-press print shops all have software that imposes for their final output so really no point you doing it. But its easy to work out anyway, just fold a piece of paper in half (fold down so long side is now short when folded or portrait sheet folds to landscape)) next, fold again the landscape to portrait, this gives you 8 pages for an 8 page booklet. Simply create more and insert them into each middle when opened as a pair of pages,and then number them in order when all in place. This way you will have the correct imposed sections, showing pages in correct pairs, head to head etc.
Please do a tutorial for the iPad. I like your tutorials so much😊
Thank you for answering my question- about vectorizing hand-drawn motifs. I will look into super vectorizer pro. Someone else said they use Inkscape to vectorize. Have you any experience with Inkscape?
My only issues with Affinity software is too many steps to add images inside text and removing background from photos. During the time Affinity was Serif and providing software such as DrawPlus, PagePlus, PhotoPlus, and WebPlus, were the best softwares in my in opinion. All of the Serif Plus software was user friendly and less tasks to accomplish any projects. After the switch from Serif To Affinity products, I feel its less user friendly and too many steps to accomplish anything, it feels more like Adobe softwares. I wished Affinity kept Serif Products and just continued updates, it was the best friendly products made.
Before the subscription model, Adobe charged you for every update. You bought version 1, you had to pay for version 1.5, and then for 2.0 and so on. what are you talking about?
I always miss these live events as I work nights (Doh!).
I would like to ask if I may, Would I be able to sell version one to somebody else or is that not possible?
I have PC Publisher. (didn't have this for the Ipad).
PC Designer - Ipad Dewigner.
PC Photo - Ipad Photo.
Thank you in advance, and sorry if it has already been asked?
Hi there, does anybody know a free or at least cheap pdf-software, that works with layers? All I found so far were really expensive.
In hindsight:
I found the answer by myself. Foxit-Reader (PDF-freeware) e.g. shows layers perfectly!
Questions regarding Endnotes
Hi Elaine. Thank you for being so quick off the mark with this tutorial. If you wanted to write a document for journal publishing they require it to have citations etc in a set format eg The Harvard system or whatever journal you are submitting to. Can these be added in or created as a preset? Secondly, in a document is there any way to refer again to an endnote that you have already used without adding it as a new endnote...again I am thinking of how it would be used in a journal or academic article format where you may often refer to the same citation more than once and wouldn't want it duplicated in the references. Thanks
Can anybody tell me if Scrivener is better to write a book? or is Affinity Publisher sufficient?
I think scrivener to write. Publisher to create.
Scrivener is a writing tool. Affinity Publisher is a formatting tool. I wouldn't do the actual writing of a book in Affinity Publisher. I'd write the text in Word or Google Docs - or Scrivener. I confess, I tried Scrivener some years ago, and it didn't work for me and my particular process.
But you are looking at different tools for different stages of writing. One is for pre-writing and writing (Scrivener) and the other (Affinity Publisher) is for taking your manuscript and turning it into a beautiful publication.
Hope that helps!
They are two different animals… Publisher is for layout and design while Schribner is for writing it’s like the difference between Word and Photoshop. There are other companies that are looking at providing a true and end solution for authors and maybe that something that affinity could look into the idea that you would have a word processor/authoring program as well as a Layout program like publisher (with some basic image processing tools). The new software ‘Atticus’ put up by the folks to bring you ‘publisher rocket’, is trying to do that.
@@susangable6735 a better more in-depth answer.
Another good writing-tool is "Textmaker" from "Softmaker". Compatible with Word and Affinity Publisher.
I find the grid clunky and not practical. I wouldn't necessarily like to do it all by hand (as it was commented), but the flow is completely impractical. I'd definitely want a set of controls to let me input my dimensioning priorities. Sometimes it will be number of rows or columns, sometimes element dimensions. I might want to first draw an area, specify constraints, right and bottom edge alignment, etc. It would be helpful to look into css grid specs.
For consistency across books/documents, a grid style could be considered.
For now, this feature does not tease me into v2 update
While I greatly appreciate their price structure, I would much rather they create a genuine blend function instead of "quick grid" which is imprecise and clunky. Also they STILL HAVEN'T FIXED how it applies dashed borders to rectangles and creates a totally wonky corner. Seriously, Serif, fix the bugs before adding additional features which are of limited use.
I Am Submitting a Protest
When I originally purchased the full Affinity Suite, you sold it as a one time purchase that gave me access to all future updates. However, now you are billing Affinity 2 as a separate product - a new version, which it IS NOT a separate or new product, it’s just an upgrade, something you should NOT be charging for, something you originally said you would NOT charge for. That's the whole concept of a "one time purchase."
You are now selling an entire new Affinity Suite. This is not fair and NOT what I paid for.
So let me ask, will there be upgrades to the Original Affinity Suite? Is it still supported? Are you now phasing out the Original Affinity Suite, and does that mean that I’ll be FORCED to buy the new suite if I want to continue using your products?
This looks and feels like you’re slowly moving to the Adobe model. Just like them, it used to be a TRUE onetime purchase, then they moved to the subscription model.
It sure looks like you decided to choose larger profits over customer satisfaction, like so many companies these days, squeezing every penny out of their customers. You can still make good profits with one time purchases, add-ons and extra features without trying to bleed your customers dry.
I am VERY Disappointed and VERY surprised that you came out strong as a viable alternative to Adobe, only to follow them down the same profits over customers path, and that you did it so quickly. I can't wait to see what happens next year.
I will continue to use the Original Affinity Suite for the moment because I like your product and for the moment, you’re still cheaper than Adobe. But I want it noted that I am aware of what you’re doing, and I think it’s not fair and it’s not what I originally purchased. You changed the deal.
And, FYI, I’m going to post this as comments on public forms and create a video about it (not that you care, I’m just small potatoes to you), but I want people to at least be aware of this and to keep an eye on you and to keep an eye out for another replacement product.
And, these are not huge upgrades/updates. I and other users submitted several requests for new features, and I don’t see any of them in the new version. I think this is going to hurt your business more than the extra profits you’ll make. This will not be worth it for you.
I think most people would have been happy to have the upgrades for V1 and support your company by purchasing extra features like fonts, photos, graphics, maybe even an online store for overlays, scripts and actions etc. Did you get a new CEO or something? This was not a good decision.
Signed,
Disheartened and Disappointed Customer
I read on Affinity website that they'd NOT be updating V1 any more. They say they've totally re-written all the apps. I too bought V1 but when I looked at V2 with the iPad apps included, I just went for it.
I appreciate what you've said as I too am a 'small potato', but then compare the suite with any Adobe app, let alone ALL of them, it's outstanding value.
Just my thoughts . . . as a punter.
Well, the good news is, the upgrade to Affinity 2.0 is not compulsory. By the look of it, at this point in time, I do not need Affinity V2.0; for what I am doing, Affinity suite V1.0 is sufficient. For reference, I am still using the last version of Microsoft Excel sold without a subscription. I still don't see any reason to upgrade.
Serif can't work for free. Free software forever is not a sustainable model. The reason you aren't getting all the new features you want is because they don't have enough cash flow to scale up development. If you want more development, you are going to have to pay something.
I am all for supporting Affinity, I got this new version and didn’t think it twice. at 40% off right now it’s a steal
That makes one….
really need affinity to support the right to left in text and PDF ordering Why don't they care about eastern and Arab users 🥲🥲🥲?
I'm using the first version and we've been asking for this a lot