If you’re familiar with InDesign, you know how useful it is to set up a Master Spread for a book’s body copy, then simply paste in text and let the pages-more or less-build themselves. The most obvious difference is linking text frames so the text flows. For example, here are a couple of ways Affinity Publisher is not a one-to-one analog of InDesign. These videos are exceedingly basic and high-level, so you’ll need to use the forums and possibly just some trial and error to figure out the more complex actions. They broadly cover the basics of using the interface, setting up a document, setting up styles, and using basic features. The first thing I did after downloading the software was to watch the 16 tutorial videos, which total about 45 minutes of viewing time. So what makes Affinity a different desktop publishing app? Getting to Know Affinity Publisher You’ll still be using Master Pages, adding text blocks, working with page spreads, and layering content on the page. If you’re interested in learning how to use desktop publishing software, I encourage you to check out our series on using InDesign to layout your book. And all three Affinity products are actively supported, so updates appear regularly to fix bugs and improve functionality. The software worked great for me while laying out a couple of book interiors (and one truly horrible cover design). They’ve got a great series of tutorials and an active Forum with users supporting each other. So I will not try to provide a deep dive into how to use Affinity Publisher. For any author who doesn’t want to pay an annual fee for InDesign just so you can lay out one or two books a year, Publisher is a great alternative. What really makes this software shine is how closely it matches InDesign’s functionality at a fraction of the cost. The same file is saved across all three tools!īut that’s possibly more than most authors would use Affinity Publisher for. You can layout a page in Publisher, then switch to Photo to touch up an image, then over to Designer to fix a chart. For users who own all three, they also make it easy to swap between programs.

Publisher focuses on offering a streamlined publishing experience. Affinity Publisher is the third program they’ve created, with Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer released in 20.

Affinity workbook