FREE Affinity Publisher BETA available

[rjbull]

email from Serif, received 30th August 2018:

** Download the FREE Affinity Publisher beta!
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From the earliest days of visualising the Affinity range, we planned an unrivalled trio of sleek, super-modern apps created to work with the latest technology – ultra-fast, with stunning power and completely stripped of bloat.

Today that vision comes a step closer to completion, with the launch of our desktop publishing app Affinity Publisher in a free public beta.

We are still a few months away from the polished retail release, but we’d love for you to try it out and let us know what you think.
Download the FREE beta (https://affinity.ser...;mc=PUBBETALAUNCHE01)

The public beta is free and open to absolutely anyone – you just need a Mac or PC that meets the minimum system requirements (https://affinity.ser...;mc=PUBBETALAUNCHE01) .

What does Affinity Publisher do?

Affinity Publisher is an all-new app which we believe will revolutionise desktop publishing in the same way Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer have shaken up professional photo editing and vector graphic design.

It will have everything you would expect from a pro-end desktop publishing app including advanced typography controls, linked text frames, master pages, facing page spreads, dynamic photo frames, tables, baseline grids, linked resources and end-to-end CMYK.

And uniquely, Affinity Publisher will boast full integration with Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer. You will see buttons to switch to Photo and Designer within the app, though these won’t be activated until later in the beta period.

We’ve also produced some handy tutorial videos to get you started – you’ll find these on our website here (https://affinity.ser...;mc=PUBBETALAUNCHE01) .

What if I spot an issue?

An important thing to remember is this is a beta, so there will still be bugs and areas of the app which are not yet fully polished. We definitely don’t recommend you use it for any important production work just yet.

We’re relying on beta users to let us know what works and what doesn’t, so we’d really appreciate you reporting any issues that you find. Also if there are any features you would like adding, please let us know. Even if we don’t get them in before we release version 1, you can expect plenty of free updates to come, just like with our other apps.

We have set up a dedicated forum for beta users to report issues, give feedback and make suggestions which can be found here (https://affin.co/publisherbetaforum) .
Download the FREE beta (https://affinity.ser...;mc=PUBBETALAUNCHE01)

We totally understand that not everyone wants to take part in a beta, and many more of you are excited for the full app.

Rest assured we’ll bring you more information about the launch of Affinity Publisher as we get closer. We’re making good progress on the iPad version too, which is set to follow at a later date.

You can keep up to date with our progress, plus everything else we are working on by following us on our socials - Twitter (https://affin.co/TW) , Facebook (https://affin.co/FB) and Instagram (https://affin.co/inst) .

The Affinity Team

The latest news from Affinity!
https://affinity.ser...;mc=PUBBETALAUNCHE01 https://affin.co/FB https://affin.co/TW https://affin.co/inst

©2018 Serif, Nottingham, United Kingdom

[Deozaan]

This looks nice. I've been casually following the release of Publisher for some time now.

Just keep in mind that if it's anything like their Designer and Photo products, this beta will have a 30-60 day kill-switch built in.

[wraith808]

I downloaded it.  It wasn't too large... 270.67MB.  I figured it's my last resort before getting a sub to indesign as I've reached the point that I need it. 

[Deozaan]

I thought it was funny that the program is ~250 MB and the demo/example project is ~500 MB.

[cranioscopical]

I hope that it's going to read InDesign files, it can't right now.

[wraith808]

I hope that it's going to read InDesign files, it can't right now.

-cranioscopical (August 30, 2018, 08:22 PM)

I don't think that the old ones did.  It's also one of the reasons that I think that I'm going to end up just going with a subscription.  It doesn't even support PagePlus files right now.  They suggest exporting to PDF and then importing.  It's been reported to work fine, but I'm skeptical.

UPDATE: Looking on the forums, Chris_K from Affinity affirms "It's not possible yet, plans to be able to in the future".  Now, what comes of that is to be seen.

He also says when asked about a timeline, "I can't give any timelines for this. It's being worked and will be in an update when it is considered working and relatively stable. But I would be talking more than a few weeks in not months, It's not a simple thing to just implement."

But, reading on, more troubling is this response from him to someone else, "We will not be able to import indesign files on initial release but it is something we are looking to do in the future. For the print optoins my best advice is to go and explore what options we have available already and see if they suit your needs, they are all contained within our print dialog"

What does on release mean? On commercial release?  Or is he just talking about the beta?  Hmmm....

[Deozaan]

I hope that it's going to read InDesign files, it can't right now.

-cranioscopical (August 30, 2018, 08:22 PM)

It's a planned feature: https://forum.affini...t&comment=337084

[cranioscopical]

They suggest exporting to PDF and then importing

-wraith808 (August 30, 2018, 08:44 PM)

I see that. I'll play around with some files and see how that flies. A three-cornered process is quite a stumbling block for me though.

The trouble with subscription services is that when the subscription ends you have no software. Adobe Creative Suites were expensive but the software lasts until advances in the field become 'must haves' and overwhelm the lack of updates. Having subscribed to Photoshop I've now dropped it and returned to my CS6 version - no problem for me, so far.

[cranioscopical]

FWIW
I tried the InDesign to PDF to Publisher method. It went quite well. I tried a document with 41 layers. That was perfectly usable. I had expected to lose some otf font attributes but they remained intact.

[wraith808]

They suggest exporting to PDF and then importing

-wraith808 (August 30, 2018, 08:44 PM)

I see that. I'll play around with some files and see how that flies. A three-cornered process is quite a stumbling block for me though.

The trouble with subscription services is that when the subscription ends you have no software. Adobe Creative Suites were expensive but the software lasts until advances in the field become 'must haves' and overwhelm the lack of updates. Having subscribed to Photoshop I've now dropped it and returned to my CS6 version - no problem for me, so far.

-cranioscopical (August 31, 2018, 10:56 AM)

I've come to view it differently with things that are used for professional work.  That's an accepted expense for me for work.  Paying monthly, even if it's more expensive in the long run helps with the idea of a large expense coming when you don't expect it.  I just budget for it.  I'd prefer something like Jetbrains where after a certain amount of time subbing you get a perpetual license for whatever version of the software you're running if you have to quit your subscription.  But it's worked out for me so far.

[tomos]

This hzas been released and is on offer @ 20% off:
https://affinity.ser...com/en-us/publisher/

spiel

Affinity Publisher is finally here!

After completing our biggest public beta ever, we officially launched this next-generation publishing software last night during our latest Affinity Live event.
[email protected]

Engineered with the same no-compromise vision as our award-winning photo editing and graphic design apps, thousands of global professionals have contributed to the development of Affinity Publisher to meet the demands of the 21st century designer.

From magazines, books, brochures, posters, reports and stationery to other creations, this incredibly smooth, intuitive app gives you the power to combine your images, graphics and text to make beautiful layouts ready for publication.

What can I look forward to?

With essentials like master pages, facing page spreads, grids, tables, advanced typography, text flow, full professional print output, dynamic photo frames and other amazing features, the app comes fully loaded with everything you need to create the perfect layout – whatever your project.

Its blistering performance is another thing that really sets it apart. As you move, align and adjust your layouts, everything happens in real-time, so you always see an instant preview of the result. The refreshing lack of unnecessary or obsolete features also means it runs like a dream, even on the most content-heavy documents.

Visit our website to learn even more.

Complete integration with other Affinity apps

One of the most exciting things we announced last night was Affinity Publisher’s unique StudioLink feature, which gives you the ability to directly link to your other Affinity apps.

The first technology of its kind, StudioLink takes the pain out of publishing by allowing you to instantly switch to the advanced photo editing features of Affinity Photo and precise vector tools of Affinity Designer without ever leaving the app. It’s the most fluid workflow ever conceived in a creative suite of applications and something that could completely revolutionise the way you work.

Watch our MD Ash Hewson explain more about StudioLink in last night’s keynote here. (https://serif.us8.li...e89&e=f9717544bb)

To celebrate the launch, we are running a 20% off limited time discount, meaning you can buy Affinity Publisher for a one-off payment of 43,99 € (SRP 54,99 €).

Just like our other apps, there is no subscription required. Pay the one-time fee and enjoy creating on the app with free updates until version 2!

And that’s not all…

As part of the launch deal, we’re also including a bonus font collection containing five stylish fonts created by RetroSupply Co., worth 75 €.

This special offer ends soon so don’t miss out.