Has anyone tried ou the beta of Affinity Designer? You can sign up for free at https://affinity.serif.com/.
I just did that and will post feedback as soon as I get the chance to try it out
Affinity Designer
Re: Affinity Designer
Yes, please let us know how it compares to FreeHand. I'm most interested in the draw and selection/delete tools and whether they follow Illustrators method or FreeHands. Also text handling. Overall ease of use.
Right now, only GRAVIT follows FreeHand's draw tool and selection.
Right now, only GRAVIT follows FreeHand's draw tool and selection.
Re: Affinity Designer
I installed the application yesterday and so far it seems to become a very, very promising migration path for FreeHand users. They are working on a FreeHand importer, too.
Yesterday I sent the affinity guys a few of my FreeHand files, partially rather complex ones (together with PDFs for double checking) and today I got a mail claiming that the documents were successfully imported!
At the moment I am busy suggesting to build in FreeHand behavior, e.g. how the pencil tool works, how selection works etc. The developers respond typically within minutes and are very keen of looking into the FreeHand legacy. I also sent them the FreeHand-vs-Illustrator-PDF from the Adobe case and they are very interested.
Plus they are building a layout- and a photo application, all based on one file format. Looks like there is finally a serious competitor …
Yesterday I sent the affinity guys a few of my FreeHand files, partially rather complex ones (together with PDFs for double checking) and today I got a mail claiming that the documents were successfully imported!
At the moment I am busy suggesting to build in FreeHand behavior, e.g. how the pencil tool works, how selection works etc. The developers respond typically within minutes and are very keen of looking into the FreeHand legacy. I also sent them the FreeHand-vs-Illustrator-PDF from the Adobe case and they are very interested.
Plus they are building a layout- and a photo application, all based on one file format. Looks like there is finally a serious competitor …
Re: Affinity Designer
Here is a today’s quote of a developer from the affinity forum:
“We were going to deliver import of Freehand files after the initial release but after learning more about the situation FH users are in on the Mac, I decided to prioritise it and deliver it with the initial launch.“
https://affinity.serif.com/forum/index. ... le-format/
“We were going to deliver import of Freehand files after the initial release but after learning more about the situation FH users are in on the Mac, I decided to prioritise it and deliver it with the initial launch.“
https://affinity.serif.com/forum/index. ... le-format/
Re: Affinity Designer
This...is...incredible!
These guys at Affinity need to be supported. If they are this dedicated to FreeHand users then we may have a good future ahead of us. Along with Gravit, FreeHand's future in a modern application(s) looks promising after Adobe.
Thanks for sharing this latest news, Matthias.
These guys at Affinity need to be supported. If they are this dedicated to FreeHand users then we may have a good future ahead of us. Along with Gravit, FreeHand's future in a modern application(s) looks promising after Adobe.
Thanks for sharing this latest news, Matthias.
Re: Affinity Designer
You’re welcome, Mark!
I suggest that as many FreeHanders as possible join the Affinity Designer Beta forum to provide the developers with input (and with the experience that there in fact is an widespread urge). I myself will now head over to affinity to suggest more FreeHand-like text and wrapping features.
Yesterday evening I learned that the application will in fact support multipage layouts and - this is incredible - one will be able to open and edit any Affinity document in any of the three Affinity applications (Designer, Photo, Publisher).
I suggest that as many FreeHanders as possible join the Affinity Designer Beta forum to provide the developers with input (and with the experience that there in fact is an widespread urge). I myself will now head over to affinity to suggest more FreeHand-like text and wrapping features.
Yesterday evening I learned that the application will in fact support multipage layouts and - this is incredible - one will be able to open and edit any Affinity document in any of the three Affinity applications (Designer, Photo, Publisher).
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Re: Affinity Designer
Matthias, Mark
thanks for these positive interactions and report-back.
As I've struggled with Illustrator for a couple of years I'm looking for a FH replacement that specifically has comparable one-click tracing (Illustrator's drives me nuts) and path tools (punch, union etc).
On a quick initial review Affinity didn't seem to offer either right now. But I was impressed by the choice of colour models etc; it looks like it can produce work for all media.
As soon as I get some time (hopefully mid next week) I'll start it up with some current work and see how I get on. Will report back then.
thanks again
Gareth
thanks for these positive interactions and report-back.
As I've struggled with Illustrator for a couple of years I'm looking for a FH replacement that specifically has comparable one-click tracing (Illustrator's drives me nuts) and path tools (punch, union etc).
On a quick initial review Affinity didn't seem to offer either right now. But I was impressed by the choice of colour models etc; it looks like it can produce work for all media.
As soon as I get some time (hopefully mid next week) I'll start it up with some current work and see how I get on. Will report back then.
thanks again
Gareth
Re: Affinity Designer
Hey Gareth,
Affinity Designer’s got path tools. Tracing will come a bit later, though.
Affinity Designer’s got path tools. Tracing will come a bit later, though.
Re: Affinity Designer
Sadly it's a no go in Snow Leopard (10.7+ only) so I can't try it out. Nevertheless, this is most interesting seeing Serif go down this new Mac path catering for a more professional market and can't help route for a company taking on Adobe and wish them all the best
I design quite a bit for print so colour consistency is vital. Does this application support spot colours and include a Pantone library?
Also, Freehand's typographic control was pretty expansive. Will Affinity designer offer the same level of control?
I design quite a bit for print so colour consistency is vital. Does this application support spot colours and include a Pantone library?
Also, Freehand's typographic control was pretty expansive. Will Affinity designer offer the same level of control?
Re: Affinity Designer
Same here, I am still on Snow Leopard because of FreeHand—although I have begun setup of a virtual space for 10.6.8/FHMX so I can install Mavericks.Bertrude wrote:Sadly it's a no go in Snow Leopard (10.7+ only) so I can't try it out. Nevertheless, this is most interesting seeing Serif go down this new Mac path catering for a more professional market and can't help route for a company taking on Adobe and wish them all the best
I looked at Serif years ago to determine the competition and thought they were pretty good but had no Mac products. When I saw this recent news that they were moving their Windows products to Mac, I was very curious. Other vector apps have been pushing forward these days and even Gravit is evolving again which give FreeHanders hope that we may have some choices.
Coming from FreeHand, I want a new drawing app that thinks like I do. If I select a point with a single tool and hit Delete, then it deletes that point...not destroy the entire path. If I marquee a few objects in a group, I expect only those objects to be selected and not everything. But I also would like the effects that Illustrator offers like mesh blends, true transparency, gradient strokes, etc.
So if Affinity Designer or Gravit or iDraw or Eazydraw, or even Inkscape can achieve what a future version of FreeHand would have looked like, I am all for it.