I wish I could write that the design tools don’t matter. Sometimes I think they don’t. Then I get on Sketch. Or Affinity Designer. I use and . Sketch Pixelmator When I heard about , I thought, “Just another , a heavier Pixelmator with more features at best.” I was not interested. Affinity Designer Acorn My approach to Affinity Designer changed a bit when I saw a novice designer learning Sketch. I recalled how I was learning Sketch myself before it was popular. I recalled why I started to learn Sketch. I recalled how I negotiated an agreement under which I could work a few months using Sketch, without touching any Adobe tools. Software requires time to evaluate. It takes time to appreciate. Especially if we’re talking about programs that we are going to use often, such as every week or even every day. I bought an Affinity Designer license months ago. I spent some time with the application. I haven’t replaced Sketch with it — that would require convincing the two designers I work with of Affinity in a situation where I didn’t see anything good enough in Affinity to mention or recommend. The thing that changed my relationship with Affinity Designer was the book “Affinity Designer Workbook”, released by the application developers themselves. Actually, I don’t know why I bought it. It was an impulsive purchase, but I’m glad that I did it. The book doesn’t allow you to just pass by Affinity Designer indifferently. Three elements of Affinity Designer that draw attention to the Sketch user: 1. Text tools If you feel like you’re lacking authority over text in Sketch, check out the text tools in Affinity Designer. Baseline, tracking, leading override, advanced underline and strikethrough settings, shear, horizontal and vertical scale, standard ligatures, contextual alternatives, ordinals, fractions, superscript, subscript, all caps, small caps, indenting the first line of paragraphs, tab stops — you can manage all this from the panels in Affinity. 2. Unprecedented support for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator files If you want to use the .psd and .ai file formats without touching software from Adobe, try Affinity. I hadn’t ever seen such good support for the aforementioned file types outside of Adobe. 3. Resizing Affinity Designer can resize objects using AutoLayout–style constraints with a panel resembling the one I remember in Apple Xcode from when I used to program apps for iOS. I understand that this feature may not speak to you, but it spoke to me so strongly that I had to write about it. Take 25 minutes to get to know Affinity Designer. If it is not bad, give it another 25 minutes. Who knows, you may want to invest 20 hours of learning in it to make it your primary tool of work. Did I mention that Affinity Designer is also available on Windows? It needs your attention. It’s a perfect addition to Sketch and Pixelmator. & click 👏 . Download free trial now _For designers who can or want to code_blog.prototypr.io Design podcasts: Where to start? 2019 Edition _The fact that Microsoft is abandoning the engine of its web browser for Chromium and that we are threatened with a…_uxdesign.cc We are one Firefox away from a monopoly _A testimonial_uxdesign.cc The best holiday gift for a designer _615‑star repository and 50 survey responses in 20 days_uxdesign.cc User research in open-source design hackernoon.com How hackers buy design services uxdesign.cc Questions to ask yourself about design side projects uxdesign.cc What a short pro bono civic tech design project for a non–governmental organization looks like _Why it’s worth it for UX/UI/product/… designers to get interested in GitHub_medium.com Dribbble? GitHub! _You don’t want to miss this one._blog.prototypr.io Design podcasts: Where to start? 2018 Edition _No clickbaity descriptions here. :)_medium.com What won’t change in prototyping in 2018 _What to expect after writing on Medium for 12 months as a designer. See my numbers & what writing can look like after a…_blog.prototypr.io On writing as a designer _Offline states, notification channels, the icon framework, settings, guidance on the color system, the color tool, text…_medium.com What has changed in Material Design in 2017 _Five hundred open source projects in need of design help_medium.freecodecamp.org Open Source Design 500 _Conversation starters for UX designers_uxdesign.cc Small talk + UX Designers = ? _The tools I use to be and stay professional as a designer._medium.com Backup for every UX Designer (yes, you!) _Three reasons: Constraints, goals, and actions_medium.com Why you should talk to a designer earlier than you think _Money, prestige, the deciding vote. “Write something honest, uncomfortable, and unpopular.”_medium.com The Second Designer _…but what if Material Design does not suit some of your needs?_medium.com Don’t risk making a crappy UI, use Material Design _More than a year ago, I realized that “empathy” is one of those words that everyone seems to define in their own way …_blog.prototypr.io Empathy in design, practically _You may have heard that great design is transparent. But that’s not what I’m writing about here._medium.com Transparent Designers _Let’s talk about design. You & 2 other designers, online, audio + video, every 2 weeks, 1.5 hours._medium.com Design mastermind group _What does that mean to you in practice?_medium.com Dear designer, everything is a remix _Don’t look at this if you already know all podcasts about design._blog.prototypr.io Design Podcasts: Where to start?

Adobe

Apple

Google

Microsoft

Mozilla

Too Long; Didn't Read

Developers: Build Less. Deliver More. [Learn how]	

Sketch? I use it every week, but can’t pass indifferently by Affinity Designer

Too Long; Didn't Read

Companies Mentioned

Gregory Wolanski

About Author

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN...

Sketch? I use it every week, but can’t pass indifferently by Affinity Designer

Too Long; Didn't Read

Companies Mentioned

Gregory Wolanski

About Author

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN...

RELATED STORIES