25 comments

  • Timothy McKennaTimothy McKenna, over 6 years ago

    I'm pumped for Affinity Publisher. For the little bit of print work I still do, I'm tied to InDesign. But once there is a viable production alternative, I'm leaving Adobe behind completely.

    16 points
    • Nathan HueningNathan Huening, 6 years ago

      I've been able to switch to Affinity Designer for all my print work (which is not substantial). So glad to leave adobe behind!

      3 points
      • Timothy McKennaTimothy McKenna, 6 years ago

        It's a good feeling, right? I personally like to own my software outright. The last bit of print work I mainly do is publishing layout for magazines and such, so InDesign has me locked with the printers...but I am excited to see what Affinity Publisher is going to do in that space.

        3 points
      • Geoff YuenGeoff Yuen, 6 years ago

        Have you had any problems when sending files to printshops?

        0 points
        • Weston VierreggerWeston Vierregger, 6 years ago

          AD can output a PDF. You generally wouldn't send AI, PSD or INDD files to print – at least, I wouldn't.

          Edit: I take this back... I'm pretty sure in the past I've definitely sent over INDD packages before. Brain melt... depends on the project tho.

          1 point
        • Nathan HueningNathan Huening, 6 years ago

          Not yet, but then again a) my print jobs are modest / limited and real pros likely have needs I don't, and b) I almost always set everything myself and use only finished, compressed files. Meaning, I'll outline the fonts and send a PDF or TIFF, never any proprietary formats... and those are universal!

          0 points
  • Jake ZienJake Zien, over 6 years ago

    Good to see Affinity getting some love on here. I switched years ago and haven't looked back. Has always felt like a much more legit app than Sketch to me.

    9 points
    • Rhys MerrittRhys Merritt, 6 years ago

      Just out of interest, what makes AD feel more legit than Sketch?

      I've not used AD - but am eagerly awaiting a publisher tool from Affinity.

      0 points
      • Nathan HueningNathan Huening, 6 years ago

        I can't speak for OP, but early Sketch was super buggy and lacking certain major features. In some respects, it still is... as a 1.0, AD felt much more polished and iterated more rapidly. The whole "pan and zoom 1,000,000%"business is just nuts. That sort of thing would bring Sketch to its knees and beachball for days.

        (I say this as a long-time user/fan of Sketch.)

        1 point
        • Trev MorrisTrev Morris, 6 years ago

          Honestly, I love Sketch—The Invision Craft plugin has really done some crazy stuff to extend that love. However, I'm not attached to it that I won't try something new.. just slightly hesitant after spending so much time utilising Sketch, designing shared symbol libraries for the UX and visual design teams to use, amongst other things.

          AD looks brill, in fact it looks like Photoshop.. which is something I still have nightmares about. It's great to hear they're coming out with a rival to InD, perhaps the only Adobe software I still use (and still enjoy).

          Sketch is far from buggy now, it's usually plugins that cause issues.. I do however miss the extra control on things like typography which I understand AD solves. Does it have a light UI by any chance?

          1 point
          • Alec LomasAlec Lomas, 6 years ago

            light UI is something they're bringing to the next versions of Design / Photo, iirc

            0 points
  • Mike A.Mike A., over 6 years ago

    Anyone on the Mac prefer this over Sketch?

    4 points
    • Weston VierreggerWeston Vierregger, over 6 years ago

      I do, personally.

      However, Sketch's big thing right now seems to be extensibility and has a great 3rd-part ecosystem related to that – AD does not have a plug-in system. So, if you're a Craft fan, I don't see AD luring you away.

      I moved from Adobe to Affinity and have loved it. Most of the keybindings are the same, a lot of similar tooling. Basically if you completely reconfigured PS from the ground up with a focus on UI design, and kept 80% of the features, while adding in the most relevant tools from AI, you'd have AD (that's over simplifying but basically it). I love it.

      I'd also recommend checking out the Bugs section on Affinity's forum to get a feel for the state of development. They move quick and have great support, but bugs do exist.

      8 points
      • Greg Warner, over 6 years ago

        Agreed, all the above. For branding/UI work, I use both apps constantly, and I'll likely go Affinity-only if third-party tools and plugins build in support for it in the future.

        2 points
      • Nathan HueningNathan Huening, 6 years ago

        Basically if you completely reconfigured PS from the ground up with a focus on UI design, and kept 80% of the features, while adding in the most relevant tools from AI, you'd have AD (that's over simplifying but basically it).

        ^ Exactly this!

        2 points
    • Andy LeverenzAndy Leverenz, over 6 years ago

      Hands down. It's fantastic software. Very fast. No bugs to speak of like Sketch. Coming from any Adobe software you should be able to get up and running extremely fast.

      2 points
    • Suleiman Leadbitter, 6 years ago

      I do, I use it exclusively now for my work. One of the main reasons is that some client agency work requires me to send over psd files which I save all my artboards as separate psd's this is something Sketch just can't do.

      1 point
  • Diego LafuenteDiego Lafuente, over 6 years ago

    I use Sketch because I started back ago and because from what I see, you can use Sketch on other programs like Principle, etc. Affinity Designer gives me that message of "we are the best" but the rest of the important thing I want to have, don't, so, I don't use it yet.

    3 points
  • Tom GantzerTom Gantzer, 6 years ago

    Holy hell, some of these features actually rival Photoshop for functionality! Sketch always felt very "light" to me, I tend to utilise Smart Objects, Layer Comps, Generator for auto-export etc and Sketch just doesn't do this for me. I hope they have a trial

    2 points
  • Ettore TortoraEttore Tortora, 6 years ago

    It's not perfect as it lacks a plug-in system like Sketch, but it's great. I'm a Windows user and I love using it. I just wish it were more acknowledged by the design community.

    2 points
  • Josiah TullisJosiah Tullis, 6 years ago

    The ability to open .ai and .psd files in Affinity's programs makes for a pretty simple transition. I'm a fan.

    1 point