Coming to an Adobe Subscription Near You

[ringocat22]

Will Affinity open Adobe Illustrator files? I'm considering ditching my Adobe subscription at home (especially with these price increases) but I'm wondering if I need to resave all of my files first.

Designer will open pdf files, but not ai files. I always hated Illustrator, and do all of my vector work in Flexi. I export everything into a pdf and open in affinity when I need to. From the Affinity forums: "The Affinity applications cannot read the native .ai data, so instead they read a PDF file that is embedded in the .ai file by Illustrator."

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Designer will open pdf files, but not ai files. I always hated Illustrator, and do all of my vector work in Flexi. I export everything into a pdf and open in affinity when I need to. From the Affinity forums: "The Affinity applications cannot read the native .ai data, so instead they read a PDF file that is embedded in the .ai file by Illustrator."

This is what I think most 3rd party do is read from the embedded PDF (while Adobe is behind that format, it is essentially an open spec now (I think since late aughts)). If it still holds true from the last time that I used an Adobe Product (CS6), the default is to embed that compatibility in there, odds are good as most people don't stray from the defaults. Which is what I think Adobe is hoping for by already having people on the premium tier, but that is just me speculating.

 

[Bobby H]

Affinity Designer can be hit or miss at opening PDF files saved by Illustrator. It all depends on what kinds of effects were baked into the artwork. The current version (2.6.3) of Affinity Designer does a better job at it than the version 1 builds. It still doesn't cover everything though.

Illustrator does default to saving .AI files with PDF data included, but that can be easily unchecked in Preferences to save on file sizes. If an .AI file doesn't have PDF data included Affinity Designer will just import a blank document.

Another problem: variable fonts. If the .AI file has any live text objects using variable fonts they'll cause a missing fonts dialog box to be displayed when importing the PDF data into Affinity Designer, even if those variable fonts are installed in the computer. Variable fonts still aren't supported in PDF files. The user at least has the opportunity to import the text as live objects rather than converted to outlines. But the correct numerical variable instances have to be re-applied to the text objects after the file is opened. The missing fonts dialog box only displays text-based styles in a drop down menu rather than numerical sliders. I suppose they could fix that with an update.

I'd rather import a PDF that was generated by Adobe Illustrator than PDF files exported by other applications (including Adobe InDesign). PDF files can be a really horrible mess when imported. Thank God for the Vector First Aid plugin. Illustrator-generated PDF files tend to be much more edit-friendly. If an Illustrator file has artwork properly organized across different named layers Affinity Designer will preserve the layer structure when importing the PDF data in the Illustrator file.

 

[GAC05]

The B61 has been updated to the B61-13 with lots of new features for 2025.
I wonder if we'll pay by monthly subscription or all at once for an unlimited license.

What is B61-13? US unveils new nuclear gravity bomb ahead of schedule

The weapon "will provide the President with additional nuclear options against certain harder and large-area military targets", the DOE said.

www.newsweek.com

 

[WildWestDesigns]

The B61 has been updated to the B61-13 with lots of new features for 2025.
I wonder if we'll pay by monthly subscription or all at once for an unlimited license.

What is B61-13? US unveils new nuclear gravity bomb ahead of schedule

The weapon "will provide the President with additional nuclear options against certain harder and large-area military targets", the DOE said.

www.newsweek.com

That would probably fall under what happens with medical and other hardware where right to repair is out the window, so they get you with the repair bill or make you buy a new one.

 

[DL Signs]

Will Affinity open Adobe Illustrator files? I'm considering ditching my Adobe subscription at home (especially with these price increases) but I'm wondering if I need to resave all of my files first.

I use Affinity all day, every day, it's been my main design software for several years now. It will open Adobe files, albeit some better than others, kind of depends on the version of Adobe they were created in (legacy created ones are usually bad), and effects. My workflow is done with mostly EPS files, they open good in each other, I keep all my master design files in the native Affinity format and just export whatever I need in whatever suits the purpose. I only have one basic license for Illustrator yet, just for any problematic situations, and for plugins for equipment (which Affinity doesn't offer yet), getting rid of multiple full suite Adobe subscriptions on multiple computers has saved thousands annually.

They're soooo close to being all you need. I'd say if Adobe goes too crazy, unless they get greedy and follow suit, Affinity could de-throne them pretty easily. I've had communication with them, and they're open to vendor plug-ins, but it's up to the equipment mfgrs if they want to add them to the list with Corel & Adobe. I'd love to see that.

Bottom line is, it's great software, but not quite enough to survive without a little support from greedy ol' Adobe. If you do like I did and dump everything except a single Illy liscense, it's a big money saver. As far as using Affinity for designing, it's smooth, efficient, has live previews of everything, no wasted resources.

 

[RandyDe]

Logged in to check out this corruption. Looks like you can modify your plan now (see screenshot), *these prices are CDN dollar. In my case if I change I'll receive a $552.98 refund. Interesting... I don't need AI

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I'd say if Adobe goes too crazy....

I would argue that Adobe has already gone there, quite a while ago, but that could just be me. That is just my thinking on it.

I've had communication with them, and they're open to vendor plug-ins, but it's up to the equipment mfgrs if they want to add them to the list with Corel & Adobe. I'd love to see that.

I doubt they would, but if the plugin API was was open and well documented most situations would be covered by plugins. Most all design programs are just general purpose, it's the plugins that help them find specific use cases. Sure there are manual work arounds for most situations, but most people won't do that unless highly motivated.

As to equipment, depending on the equipment, don't actually need a plugin. I think specifically of cutters. If the cutter can read RAW HPGL, that can usually be setup within the OS (Linux and Windows I know (at least up to Win 7, as that was the last that I ever had installed on bare metal) can do this with builtin programs) as a "printer" and just treat it like a print job from one's vector program of choice. Now nesting, overcut etc would have to manually be done (unless there is scripting functionality to automate it), but actually doing the cutting could be handle this way if the cutter in question can handle RAW HPGL and parse what it needs on the fly.

 

[RandyDe]

It's bold of Adobe to default current subscriptions to the more expensive Pro version. I just paid for my annual subscription in March. I wonder if they'll let me change my subscription to the Standard version & reimburse me for the difference.

Yes they do and you can do it online now. I just changed my account. You have to 'dig' for the options to see (All Plans)

 

[RandyDe]

If I recall, the article made it seem that one could go to the cheaper one, but you had to remember to do it.

Given what it appears that Adobe's practices are, it appears to be more pro forma for them.

You can change this and select the cheaper plan now.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

i only pay for illustrator and then the photography plan (photoshop and lightroom) and it comes out to like $43 a month. i have never received an indesign file in the past 3 years and maybe 2 in the past 20 years. I can get by with the basic free Adobe Acrobat. What other programs from the Adobe suite can others not live without?

 

[Boudica]

i only pay for illustrator and then the photography plan (photoshop and lightroom) and it comes out to like $43 a month. i have never received an indesign file in the past 3 years and maybe 2 in the past 20 years. I can get by with the basic free Adobe Acrobat. What other programs from the Adobe suite can others not live without?

At home for moonlighting I use Illustrator (occasionally InDesign) Photoshop, Lightroom, Bridge is so much better than file explorer for organizing and tagging and searching files... and when I'm bored I like to explore some of the other apps for fun. I'd really love to ditch Adobe because they are getting so greedy, but I kinda feel like they've got me by the short hairs. I don't freelance enough to really justify my personal subscription, but I hate to get rid of it when I do need it. That's why I want to consider something else, but ending my subscription might bite me in the butt. More so than Adobe already is.