Affinity - yay or nay?

[Mouse]

I have been warned that its going downhill nowadays. The forum is certainly a bit quiet, but that doesn't affect the functionality of the software. In my opinion it has no equal.

If you update I will give you the advice that I was given by another user - download all the library files so that you have them on your system, just in case it ever becomes abandonware!

[Aurynn]

Okay guys, I think that you are right there. Right now I am working on a map for my DnD campaign and I was all psyked for Vectors, because of scalability and blah blah... After some trial and errors I got to Gimp and the map is oh-so-much better... yet I use Inkscape to create and modify some stuff. On that note, can someone please point me to an app that will easily translate my Inkscape or GIMP stuff into a .pdf WITH printing marks, centering marks, bleed/crop in such a way that the printing companies with those fancy Adobe products won't have trouble using? Neither Inkscape nor Gimp does it properly.

As for my Affinity testing... the software is awesome. I wish that Inkscape or GIMP core was written as well as this one. It works with RAM and CPU effortlessly and does not suffer from the rendering problems Inkscape has. I had about 6 thousand (!) entities with about 100 nodes each moving about as if they were a single square. Zooming does not render each step but only zooms without redrawing, waits for half a second to let you settle at your desired zoom level and only then it redraws to full resolution, again effortlessly. It also has quite a few features that you wish Inkscape could borrow from GIMP. The controls are very modern, which is something I would have to get used to, being oldschool, but I can see how it can speed up work especially on touchscreen/tablet machines.
Unfortunately... I was not able to test that tablet, because I did accidentaly break the pen... I went to make a coffee, it rolled down from my desk to my chair, I came back with the coffee, didnt see it (being black on black chair) aaaand crrrrrunch... Then came that moment we all know... the moment that you want to rip the keyboard to pieces, smash the screen and kick the PC case so hard that the G-force protection of HDDs would be about as helpful as handkerchief in your airbag compartment during highway accident...
Back to topic... 10 days is a really short trial for someone who cannot just sit about and test, but I think that despite the base of the program being really awesome, it is still very very young and suffers from this kids/teenage overconfidence in some areas and it will take time until it can really call itself "done". Those who are used to fully customizable software will find it confining and lacking community support. However, that will change IMO in a year or two. So the price is awesome and the base is there and is solid. I do think I will be getting it even at this stage to support its development.

[Mouse]

Hey Aurynn

Sorry - don't know enough about all that printing stuff to be able to help you with that, since I never bother printing anything out myself, but I agree with your conclusion about Affinity. However I can't afford to support something that isn't immediately of use to me, and after spending quite a lot of time on the forum I'm not so convinced that the tablet problem is all that high on their list of priorities. Its a terrible shame, but there you go.

I know I shouldn't, but I couldn't help but chuckle at the pen incident. I recently shut the corner of my jacket in the car door, as you do, but the thing is it was the pocket where I kept my phone (please note the past tense there)! LOL!

[Aurynn]

Well I say that if my misfortune can make someone chuckle, then its worth something at least. :-) And that I say after a day that... well... just consider yourself... first my trip to Sweden (which I was really excited about) was canceled, then I went to a service shop with our car to replace brake pads, but found out that I have to replace brake disc too, which cost like 3 times more than I expected to pay, then my wife got a bit careless when loading the car and a passing tram literally destroyed our rear doors at that same car (she is luckily without a scratch) and when she took it to the service shop she managed to tear off front bumper because there was some stuff she did not see when she had to turn around to park (couldn't actually so not really her fault). Then as the shock from the tram accident settled and she started to actually feel nervous, she almost had an accident with a borrowed car... then I went to buy some wine (to use as a nerve tonic) just to find out that the shop is closed for refurbishing... you'd think that is enough, right? Naaah. Our dog got a new toy and got soooo excited about it that he peed massively on MY side of our luxury japanese futon (bed)... chuckle away... seriously... please do... otherwise it was all for naught... :-D

[Mouse]

Wow! The day from hell! That's better than the day I locked my keys in the car, and couldn't get into the house either - because the house key is (of course) on the car keys

EDIT: Maybe we should get together and write a few comedy sketches...

[Aurynn]

Eheh. I would't have to go far for inspiration. If I had a diary, I could probably just turn it into a script. :-D However my humour is very dark and dry. Most of my jokes are very socially and politically incorrect (think Monty Python's horror movie incorrect). :-D

[Mouse]

Nothing as innocent as the Knights that say 'Ni', then LOL!

[Aurynn]

Nah my knights do not say just "Ni"... :-D Do you remember the scene when Arthur comes into the village and there is that old hag bashing a cat against the wall? Let's just say that is very mild... And do you remember the scene from Meaning of life, where the "lady" gives birth at the kitchen sink? Let's just say thats more like it. :-D

[Mouse]

And you draw such pretty maps! LOL!

[William_Oak]

I've been having fun with affinity designer. Mind you, my maps aren't drawings, so I'm not using a tablet or anything. In my case it's pretty useful for mapping cities, as I can make a ton of objects (buildings/walls/roads) and the system can handle it. And, if I stick to objects, I can save it in vectorial format which allows an easy zoom in/out (as I use these maps for tabletop RPG games). Here's an example of a borough in a city I'm currently working on: Stylus Borough.