Assets are similar to libraries, but can’t be alphabetically sorted (yet), which is a definite deficiency. Libraries: There are no libraries in Publisher, which might or might not be a big deal for your designers.Tables: Publisher has the ability to create tables, and they work fine, but it requires more steps than tables in InDesign and QuarkXpress.With version 1.9, users have almost all the tools they are used to using in InDesign and QuarkXpress, and a few more.įor newspapers and magazine, there are a few areas I find Affinity Publisher lacking, compared to InDesign and QuarkXpress. It may very well be available by the time you read this column. Here’s the good news: My sources tell me the release of version 1.9 is eminent. Until Affinity updates Publisher from 1.8 to 1.9, it just isn’t ready to do some of the tasks necessary in newspaper and magazine design. It has many enhancements not available in the 1.8 version, which has been on the market over the past year. Affinity has been working on a beta (1.9) version of their product for months, which I’ve been testing. Taking my advice, no one reported leaving their current applications yet, but all seemed very enthusiastic about what they’ve seen in the Affinity products.

Spend $50 (which quickly became $25 when Affinity offered a discount on its applications in January that, as of this writing, is still available).

My advice was simple: Don’t jump off the InDesign or Quark ship right away. In response, I held two webinars, attended by more than 100 newspapers, which presented an overview of Affinity Publisher, as well as information about Affinity Photo – an app very similar to Adobe Photoshop – and Affinity Designer, which has a lot in common with Adobe Illustrator.įollowing those webinars, I heard back from several publishers and designers who took my advice and ordered the $50 Affinity Publisher application and took it for a test drive. As a reminder, Affinity Publisher is an application with many of the same features as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXpress, but without the monthly subscription fee.įollowing that November column, I was inundated with emails from publishers throughout the U.S., Canada and Asia to learn more about the new application. It’s been a while since a column has drawn as much response as my November review of Affinity Publisher, the layout application that has so many designers, editors and publishers talking.

Affinity publisher reviews