First free beta of Affinity for windows expected before the end of June 2016

I have signed up for the beta of Affinity for windows and I received an email just now saying that it is expected before the end of June.
Looking forward to this very much.
Bob.

Yep, it'll be fun to finally see/experience what the application is/does for myself. Perusing the Affinity forum can only really reveal so much about the application.

Mike

'we confidently expect' they say :D

I am getting itchy fingers already....

Don't expect another Xara.

I'm not.. from the point of view of vector painting and drawing I am expecting something better

[what would be the point of having 'another xara'...??]

according to the forum out tomorrow [30.06.16].. if you don't see me for a while you will know 'tis so.... :)

Was wondering when it be available... Last thing I read was sometime this month

As handrawn said above ... tomorrow ... June 30, 2016

it's released....

Cool video here. Claims to be the fastest and most precise. Thanks for the heads up, Steve.
Bob.

:)

ok first impressions...for anyone interested here are just four reasons why I think this is a must-have app:

you can draw within an existing group, constrained by its boundaries whilst being able to see everything: https://vimeo.com/107563044

you can do non-destructive boolean - want to move that bite you just took out of a shape? just slide it to a new position https://vimeo.com/110131937

you can give nodes on the gradient fill transparency, no more uneccessary use of seperate fill/transparency tools https://vimeo.com/110157202

you can make your own stroke shape profiles and edit them [like in the original creature house expression 3] https://vimeo.com/111534016

:cool::-bd

Too bad only 64bit... Was hoping to use it on my windows tablet which happen to be 32bit

I had a problem with the initial beta download, whereby after installation the program would only load as far as the splash screen.
I was not alone in having this problem, and the good folks at Affinity have released an update, which has corrected the problem for me (and others).
My initial impressions are very favourable indeed - the 3D/Emboss effect give a vector result.
Ignore that last bit about 3D/Emboss, exporting to .pdf and .eps give a raster result. I'll investigate further.
Bob.

What application can produce vector 3d embossing?

I downloaded and am figuring out how it works. Am trying to do my part as a beta tester Will I jump ship from Xara, doubt it, gotta admit it is intreging.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mwenz

What application can produce vector 3d embossing?

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Hi Mike, none, as I pointed out in the addendum to my previous post. I thought all my Christmases had come at once. ;)
Still, it's a very fast program, and at the price will make a lot of Illustrator users think twice about Adobe's outrageously expensive subscription method.
Has anyone else given Affinity a test run yet?
Bob.

@Larry:
It has a similar look to Illustrator, but I think that anyone with experience of graphics programs such as Illy, Xara and Inkscape, etc will see that it is quite easy to get up to speed. It's very fast to use and has loads of options for shapes. I'm a bit behind the curve at the moment because of installation problems (now resolved with the updated setup 1.5.0.4). I admit I've only skimmed the surface so far but it is certainly as easy to use as the old Serif DrawPlus and has a lot of similarities to Xara. I don't much like having to get used to all new icons, but the shortcut keys seem to be very similar to Illustrator.
For me it's all pluses at the moment, not least the expected price of around €50 (Mac pricing) and a free trial and no subscription it's a compelling reason to buy. I shan't be jumping from the Xara ship any time soon, as I have invested a lot of time and effort into learning the program. For that matter, I shall retain my Illustrator CS6 too, as I have also invested a lot in Astute Graphics plugins.

@Mike: It was, with hindsight, expecting too much. I got caught up in the moment. Still, the beta of Affinity Designer is very impressive, I imagine you have the beta too?
Bob.

more from me on initial impressions:

ok from a vector point of view this is not a replacement for Xara Designer Pro

following from what bob said, as you would expect from it's origins on mac platform, it is pitched as an alternative to illustrator+photoshop

sensibly, and practically, it does not try to do everything that the adobe programs do, but what it does it does very well; it is fast; so far I have not had any isues other than a couple of glitches in the rendering

positives relative to xara designer:

the gradient fill tool stops can be given alpha [transparency] - I think I first asked for this in xara around 2007 and illy has had it at since the start of CS6 [if not before, I forget]

layers can be nested [this was asked for way back too] - in the pixel mode [persona] child layers are automatically clipped by the parent layer which reflects the intention of using the pixel layers to add hi/lo lights and texture to the drawing

its fast [worth repeating], without the UI 'compromises' necessary in xara because of it's function as a website designer

you can create, modify and apply custom stroke shapes; pretty sure this was asked for in xara before 2007; since the line-smoothing in affinity is basic, this is a good thing quite apart from the obvious flexibility

negatives relative to xara designer:

no bitmap tracer - although to be fair it would have to be on a par with inkscape/illy to be worthwhile
no soft groups
unless I missed it, no control over line smoothing in the brushes
different UI will take some getting used to

summary

I will keep on using xdp11, especiallly for making up the pages; but I will be using affinity for the colouring where the RGBA fill tool will be an advantage - line art I will still do in SAI because of the power smoothing/stabiliser and the ease in which it can be vectored afterwards in inkscape/illy - I am experimenting currently with the affinity layer effects

As I become more familiar with Affinity, it reminds me, not surprisingly, of Serif DrawPlus in its method of colouring strokes and also its stroke properties options, which allows drawing behind the fill.
Ligatures are easily applied to open type fonts in the Text menu, by choosing Default, All or None.
Rounded corners to rectangles can be applied to corners individually.
Of course it all takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you have onle been used to one graphics program, but overall I'd say it is a lot more intuitive that Illustrator, and possibly faster that Xara Designer.
Bob.

designer pro 365 is out as we speak - see kates thread of 30mins or so ago [no time to link]

Well, it's now over a month since release, I was wondering how people were getting on with Affinity Designer.
I have to say that I'm enjoying the ease of use and especially the open type font handling.
The attached uses Slim Tony font and I've figured out how to use a combination of font, stroke and outline along with the Add function,
to replicate what I do quite often in XDP.
If I could work out the clipping, I'd be a very happy bunny.
Bob.

I have used it quite a lot as well Bob. Can't make my mind up about it yet as it has too many tools missing. One thing that I don't like and I miss is an easy way to scale objects by a percentage. I don't like how you have to use a mathematical expression in the transform palette to scale I miss Xara way, even Illy's method is better.

It took me a few tries in "Help" to find out how to clip objects. Here's what they state how to do it:

"To clip objects: 1.On the page, position the object to be clipped so it overlaps the object which will perform the clipping.
2.In the Layers panel, drag the object to be clipped on top of the object which is to perform the clipping.

The clipped object is nested within the clipping object in the Layers panel. The clipped object has become a child of the clipping object.
Expand/Collapse To select clipped objects: 1.In the Layers panel, expand the clipping object's contents (if needed) by clicking the layer's arrow.
2.Click to select the clipped object.

The clipped object can now be moved and edited as needed."

Also it has a "clip to canvas" and if you haven't customised the toolbar it's on by default. To switch on or off use keyboard shortcut "\"

In your example Bob did you not wish for Xara's Contour Tool there? as that is another thing that I have missed. At least you have the opportunity to have the stroke behind the fill that would have worked in your case

Well, Peter I sussed out the clipping, it was staring me in the face on the top right corner of the toolbar "Insert Inside Selection"!!
I miss the transparency types-overlay, &etc. It's far less intuitive than XDP, but often more intuitive than Illustrator.
I don't think it will replace XDP, or for that matter, Illustrator, but it's a very useful set of tools to work with alongside them.
Bob.

I think you guys are exhibiting a bit of what we see with new users of Xara software - a focus on what's missing from their previous program, and feeling that something is unintuitive because the work pattern has changed from their previous software.

I now do most of my graphics work using a software that does a fraction of what Xara does, but does it very, very well. Consequently I use that reduced-feature software as my main graphics software because it fits my niche.

Focusing on what's missing isn't the best way to evaluate software (unless it's a complete deal-killer).

I have a small array of graphics tools now that cost less collectively than I would have paid for Xara upgrades.

I have given Affinity Designer a try and there are some good features there that Xara doesn't have. I'm still deciding whether or not I'm going to add AD to my toolbox but currently for what I need Xara will remain my main go to tool.

I do think that TPTB at Magix need to loosen the purse strings and focus some serious development on the vector side of things.

I do not think that Xara has much to be concerned about for a couple years if features, functionality/usability mean anything to the customer for a couple years. However, the pricing is still going to move people to Affinity Designer. The work-flow (usability) is kind of funky. There are truly a couple missing features for a basic print work-flow. Some features simply do not work as intended (but I suspect will by release). The three applications share the file format (very smart planning) and so are truly interchangeable and can make appropriate changes in one application that are then available in the originating application.

As a test over this past weekend I rebuilt a dozen client pieces in AD. It takes considerably more time to do so in AD than XDP. Part of that is due to familiarity with XDP versus AD. But these dozen designs are also not the first test projects, and I have done many little runs with the application. In looking at my time records with XDP version 6, which was my first version, I could not approach those records in time spent versus my test over the weekend with AD. This was the most fair test between the two I did I believe.

I will be able to buy all three Affinity products when available for not much more than my upgrade for XDP. After that initial purchase, the Affinity line will be less to upgrade than upgrading XDP yearly. That is what should concern Xara. I have long held that XDP's pricing is out of line with its capabilities, and now more so if one considers the competition.