Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Recommendations concerning notation and publishing software in a non-partisan environment.
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OCTO
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by OCTO »

benwiggy, what software do you use for outlining? I feel this as the most problematic AND important chain in music publishing.
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benwiggy
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by benwiggy »

If you have Acrobat DC, there's a Preflight profile to outline all fonts. Earlier versions don't have it. (Though I'll swear that much earlier versions did.)

However, because I don't subscribe to Creative Cloud, I use GhostScript. GS definitively adheres to PDF standards -- more so than Apple's CoreGraphics. But of course people don't like the command line. I've create Automator Quick Actions and Droplet apps to process PDFs in various ways.
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by benwiggy »

UPDATE!

If you want to edit output from Dorico in Affinity Designer/Publisher, export as SVG files. Affinity imports these files perfectly as outlined vector graphics.
EPS files also work perfectly, though there's no direct path for creating EPS from Dorico. PostScript files of individual pages may work, though multiple pages in the same document get splatted together on one page.

You can easily combine separate SVG files into one PDF using a variety of tools, (such as my MacOS PDFSuite of Quick Actions :oops: )
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OCTO
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by OCTO »

benwiggy wrote: 25 Jun 2019, 14:22 However, because I don't subscribe to Creative Cloud, I use GhostScript. GS definitively adheres to PDF standards -- more so than Apple's CoreGraphics. But of course people don't like the command line. I've create Automator Quick Actions and Droplet apps to process PDFs in various ways.
benwiggy, I use 10.11 and I am not sure if your script would work. But I don't know for the command to outline all fonts in a PDF. That would be very helpful to have.

SVG from Finale is just terrible. AP doesn't import it properly, not sure if it is Finale's or AP's problem.
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benwiggy
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by benwiggy »

OCTO wrote: 29 Jun 2019, 20:32benwiggy, I use 10.11 and I am not sure if your script would work. But I don't know for the command to outline all fonts in a PDF. That would be very helpful to have.
See my posts in this Dorico forum thread. https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewto ... 6&t=162789
I provide instructions for making an Automator Service, a bit further down, as well as the bare command line. There should be no difference for 10.11, except for Apple's slight change of Services to "Quick Actions".

OCTO wrote: 29 Jun 2019, 20:32 SVG from Finale is just terrible. AP doesn't import it properly, not sure if it is Finale's or AP's problem.
Probably a little of both.
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OCTO
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by OCTO »

Thank you, benwiggy! I will try this soon when back on Mac. I hope it will work, since outlining PDF is very crucial to me.
Last edited by OCTO on 23 Aug 2019, 09:03, edited 1 time in total.
Freelance Composer. Self-Publisher.
Finale 27.3 • Sibelius 2023.5• MuseScore 4+ • Logic Pro X+ • Ableton Live 11+ • Digital Performer 10+ /// MacOS Monterey (secondary in use systems: Fedora 35, Windows 10)
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OCTO
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by OCTO »

Wonderful. It works as a charm!

Edit 1:
Here is the automator file that has to be placed in the Library: ~/Library/Services
To use it, just select a PDF file in the Finder and select it in Menu/Services/Outline...

Edit 2: Now is Affinity Publisher released. I have got a copy and I am very happy with this combination of PDF outline proposed by benwiggy. Thanks.
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Freelance Composer. Self-Publisher.
Finale 27.3 • Sibelius 2023.5• MuseScore 4+ • Logic Pro X+ • Ableton Live 11+ • Digital Performer 10+ /// MacOS Monterey (secondary in use systems: Fedora 35, Windows 10)
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OCTO
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by OCTO »

I just want to confirm my admiration for Affinity Publisher. Not only that it does what I need with InDesign but also it has ability to edit vector graphics as Illustrator. Thank you benwiggy for initially sharing this info!
Freelance Composer. Self-Publisher.
Finale 27.3 • Sibelius 2023.5• MuseScore 4+ • Logic Pro X+ • Ableton Live 11+ • Digital Performer 10+ /// MacOS Monterey (secondary in use systems: Fedora 35, Windows 10)
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John Ruggero
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by John Ruggero »

You convinced me, OCTO. I am going to buy AP.
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OCTO
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Re: Affinity Publisher Public Beta

Post by OCTO »

John Ruggero wrote: 19 Sep 2019, 14:16 You convinced me, OCTO. I am going to buy AP.
benwiggy convinced me first! ;)
Freelance Composer. Self-Publisher.
Finale 27.3 • Sibelius 2023.5• MuseScore 4+ • Logic Pro X+ • Ableton Live 11+ • Digital Performer 10+ /// MacOS Monterey (secondary in use systems: Fedora 35, Windows 10)
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