Affinity Publisher: the basic tutorial

Welcome to the big Affinity Publisher basics training. In this intro, I introduce myself and the contents of this training course in a compact overview.

In this video training we start with getting started with Affinity Publisher. We get to know the user interface in broad strokes and set up a workstation.

The dialog for creating new documents has a few settings that we will go through very briefly. We then create a two-sided invitation card in DIN long portrait format.

There are several ways to import images into Affinity Publisher. I present some of them in this video. We will go into useful tips that make handling images easier.

In the following minutes I will explain how objects are used, which contour options and settings result from this and how text is integrated into the object boxes.

In this video we learn the basics of working with text and the difference between graphic text and frame text.

In this box of tricks, I'm going to put some shortcuts on the table: the two main points are: creating more precise selections and faster navigation.

The handling of colors, color palettes and gradients is explained in this video so that an efficient workflow can be achieved in the design process using the tips.

Affinity Publisher offers a number of visual effects via the FX engine. In this video, we take a closer look at the outward shadow, also known as the drop shadow, which increases the legibility of our text elements.

Now that we have learned the basic techniques, we can use them to design the back and finish the card.

Well-developed fonts often offer equally rich libraries of glyphs to obtain special characters. In this video, I explain where to find the glyph browser and how to insert alternative characters into texts.

Guide lines are absolutely essential if designs and layouts are to be aligned correctly. In this video, I explain a few tricks for correct handling.

Let's now set up a grid for our document, creating 12 columns that will make layouting much easier later on. We also create a baseline grid so that all text modules start at the same height.

In these minutes, we will divide the document into rough areas and define structural cornerstones. In addition, color fields are imported, text linking is addressed and headings are set.

Paragraph styles allow us to format texts quickly, which means that typesetting in your layout can be done in no time at all. However, these styles must first be defined - this is the first paragraph style.

Paragraph styles that build on each other are a powerful tool for setting large amounts of text even faster. In this training course, you will find out how styles can be played in sequence and how initials can be inserted at the start of text.

Whenever individual characters and words are assigned a style, the character styles are activated. Affinity Publisher has a number of setting options for automatically highlighting passages.

In this learning unit, I explain how enumerations can be set automatically, how the associated styles are defined and how this function helps us to set text quickly.

In Affinity Publisher, texts can also flow around objects, which can result in a nicer overall layout. In this video, I'll explain how you can easily guide text passages around overlapping images, image frames, text frames or tables.

The graphic text tool can also be used to set various text units on lines, curves or the outline of a shape.

Projects and publications can be searched for text and formatting and then replaced with other words, characters and even text styles - all in one go.

Multi-page layouts and designs with facing pages are not uncommon. In this video, we learn how to correctly lay out multiple pages with a center fold and also how the page arrangement can be influenced.

Working with master pages is a great advantage for large documents. Learn here how to do this and how to add consecutive page numbering.

Sections can be used to divide large documents into chapters in order to output the chapter name as a column title on the master page on all document pages.

Objects can be merged or subtracted to form new creative shapes as a vector path.

Affinity Publisher offers numerous on-board tools for editing photos using tonal value correction, exposure control or gradation curves.

You can find an overview of all the media contained in the resource management. In this lesson, you will find out what you can do with it and how this list supports us in different cases.

The tool can be used to draw transparency gradients on any object and text field by dragging. Linear, radial, elliptical and conical gradient types are supported.

In Affinity Publisher, artificial noise can be used as a stylistic device or to generate textured patterns. You can find out how this works here.

Asset libraries provide quick access to recurring objects such as logos, author boxes, etc. - but these must be created beforehand. Find out how to do this in Affinity Publisher.

In this video you will learn how you can influence the balancing act between file size and file quality in order to make your PDF available on the World Wide Web with a slim volume.

This Affinity Publisher tutorial is about the correct data export as PDF to create a reproducible file for printing. I will also show you where to obtain the required ICC profiles for the corresponding color space.

Spot colors can be used to highlight certain areas on the printed product. In this video, I explain to you how the data is created and what pitfalls there are during preparation.

In this video, we take a look at Affinity Publisher's options for editing PDF files that have already been created. What changes are possible and what is completely ignored during import?