Expert Guide to

Affinity Publisher
Learn how to create books, magazines, newspapers,
reports and more with Affinity Publisher 2.5

By Mike Loader
Expert
• Guide to Affinity® Publisher

© 2023–2024 by Mike Loader. All Rights Reserved.

Cover photo by Michael Leland, 2012

This guide was created with Affinity Publisher 2. Screenshots are from the Macintosh version.
Typefaces are from the Adobe Myriad Pro and Minion Pro families.

Notice of liability

The content of this guide is provided for informational use only and is supplied without warranty.
The writer of this guide does not accept any liability to any person or entity with respect to any
loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused by the instructions in this guide.

Trademarks

“Serif” and “Affinity” are registered trademarks of Serif (Europe) Ltd.

Apple, macOS, and Macintosh are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple Inc.,
registered in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trade-
marks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation registered in the U.S. and other countries. Adobe,
Acrobat, and InDesign are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc.
QuarkXPress is a trademark of Quark Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.

Amazon and all related Marks are Trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

ii
INTRODUCTION • vii Headers, page numbers, and sections ........................... 33
Sections ...............................................................................33
1 GETTING STARTED 1
Page numbering ...............................................................34
Setting up Publisher .................................................................2 Using sections for chapters ..........................................38
Installing dictionaries ....................................................... 2 Running headers ..............................................................39
Setting the interface language ..................................... 2 Baseline grid ............................................................................. 42
Setting the default spelling language ........................ 2 Rulers and measurements .................................................. 45
Set the default hyphenation language ...................... 3
3 BASIC TEXT 47
Set the default text style language .............................. 3
Visual interface guide ..............................................................5 Text objects .............................................................................. 48
Application window .......................................................... 5 Text tools .............................................................................49
Studio panels ....................................................................... 5 Stories ...................................................................................49
Toolbar ................................................................................... 6 The Esc key..........................................................................49
Context toolbar ................................................................... 6 Text frames ............................................................................... 50
Tools ........................................................................................ 6 Shape text frames .................................................................. 52
Art text ....................................................................................... 53
2 DOCUMENT SETUP 9
Path text..................................................................................... 55
Creating a new document .................................................. 10 Flowing text.............................................................................. 57
Saving a document ..........................................................13 AutoFlow text ....................................................................62
Saving a package..............................................................13 Interrupting text flow .....................................................63
Opening a document......................................................14 Setting text frame properties ............................................ 64
Opening a PDF document ............................................14 Using the Text Frame panel ..........................................64
Closing documents..........................................................15 Word processing ..................................................................... 69
Changing layout options ..................................................... 16 Positioning the text cursor............................................69
Pages and master pages ...................................................... 18 Typing text ..........................................................................70
Master pages......................................................................18 Selecting text .....................................................................72
Spreads ................................................................................18 Copying and deleting text ............................................73
Using the Pages panel ....................................................19 Copying text formatting ................................................75
Working with pages ........................................................21 Finding and replacing text ............................................77
Working with spreads .....................................................24 Using regular expressions (GREP) ...............................79
Creating master pages ...................................................24 Spell checking ...................................................................80
Changing master page layouts ...................................25 AutoCorrect ........................................................................82
Applying master pages to document pages ..........26 Word count .........................................................................83
Editing master page objects ........................................30 Importing (placing) text ...................................................... 84
Overriding master page objects on document Formatting characters .......................................................... 86
pages ....................................................................................30
Fonts .....................................................................................86
Changing the stacking order of master page
Using the Character panel ............................................87
objects ..................................................................................32
Variable fonts .....................................................................90

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher iii

 Decorations ........................................................................93 Placing documents ....................................................... 163
Position and Transform ..................................................94 Modifying images ................................................................166
Typography ........................................................................97 Selecting images ........................................................... 166
Language ......................................................................... 103 Moving images............................................................... 167
Optical Alignment ......................................................... 105 Scaling and rotating images ..................................... 168
Formatting paragraphs ......................................................106 Cropping unframed images ...................................... 171
Alignment (justification)............................................. 107 Using multiple images in a picture frame ............ 172
Spacing ............................................................................. 108 Linking and embedding ....................................................173
Tab Stops .......................................................................... 111 Filling and stroking images ..............................................176
Justification Options .................................................... 113 Image captions......................................................................177
Flow .................................................................................... 114
6 BOOKS 179
Bullets and Numbering ............................................... 116
Hyphenation ................................................................... 121 Parts of a book .......................................................................180

Drop Caps......................................................................... 123 Static layouts vs. automatic text flow............................180

Initial Words ..................................................................... 125 Using static layouts with automatic text flow ..... 181

Decorations (background and borders) ................ 126 Sections and stories in books ..........................................182

Setting default text formatting .......................................128 Single vs. multiple stories ........................................... 182

Default font ..................................................................... 130 Single vs. multiple sections ....................................... 183

Text wrap .................................................................................131 Books: splitting a book into chapter documents......184

Pinning (anchoring) objects .............................................133 Undo and Books ............................................................ 184

Using the Pinning panel ............................................. 135 Using the Books panel ................................................. 185
Managing stray pages ................................................. 186
4 TEXT STYLES 139
Creating a Book .............................................................. 188
Using text styles ....................................................................140 Syncing styles, formats, and masters in a Book .. 191
Text style and formatting precedence:.................. 140 Number pages, notes, and lists in a Book ............. 193
How text styles affect formatting ............................ 141 Positioning endnotes at the end of a Book.......... 195
Using the Text Styles panel ........................................ 142 Adding references to a Book ..................................... 196
Applying text styles .............................................................144 Printing and exporting a Book ................................. 197
Creating text styles ..............................................................147
7 REFERENCES 199
Changing text styles............................................................151
Importing and setting default text styles ....................152 Creating cross-references ..................................................200
Using the Cross-References panel ........................... 201
5 IMAGES 155
Adding a cross-reference ............................................ 202
Types of images ....................................................................156 Updating cross-references ......................................... 207
Image resolution ........................................................... 156 Creating a table of contents .............................................208
Picture frames ........................................................................157 Parts of a table of contents ........................................ 208
Shape picture frames ................................................... 158 Using the Table of Contents panel .......................... 209
Placing images ......................................................................160 Generating a table of contents................................. 210

iv
 Formatting a table of contents ................................. 212 Using the Preflight panel ............................................ 268
Working with multiple tables of contents ............ 220 Changing Preflight settings ....................................... 269
Creating a pictorial table of contents .................... 222 Viewing and resolving Preflight issues .................. 273
Creating an index .................................................................224 Printing directly to a printer .............................................274
Parts of an index ............................................................ 224 N-Up printing .................................................................. 276
Using the Index panel.................................................. 225 Book and booklet printing ......................................... 277
Adding index topics ..................................................... 226 Printing on a commercial press .......................................278
Adding index entries .................................................... 228 Creating an accessible PDF ...............................................282
Adding index cross-references (See or See Also)230 Tagging images and objects ..................................... 282
Generating an index..................................................... 231 Exporting to PDF for digital distribution .....................284
Formatting an index ..................................................... 232 Exporting to PDF for print-on-demand........................288
Creating multiple indices ........................................... 235
9 CUSTOMIZING 291
Creating notes .......................................................................237
Using the Notes panel ................................................. 238 Customizing the interface .................................................292

Adding notes .................................................................. 239 Customizing the Toolbar............................................. 292

Separating multiple note references...................... 240 Showing the Context Toolbar ................................... 293

Adding multiple references to the same note .... 240 Customizing Tools ......................................................... 293

Converting one type of note to another .............. 242 Customizing the panels .............................................. 295

Note settings ................................................................... 243 Using Studio presets .................................................... 298

Numbering notes .......................................................... 245 Changing settings or preferences ..................................299

Formatting notes ........................................................... 246 General .............................................................................. 299

Positioning notes........................................................... 247 Colour ................................................................................ 302

Importing notes from Microsoft® Word ................ 250 Keyboard shortcuts ...................................................... 307

Using fields .............................................................................251 AutoCorrect, Abbreviations, and Title

exceptions ........................................................................ 310
Using the Fields panel ................................................. 251
Filler text ........................................................................... 315
Inserting fields ................................................................ 252
Installing additional dictionaries ....................................317
Field types ........................................................................ 253
Included and available dictionaries........................ 318
Formatting fields ........................................................... 254
Creating custom variables ......................................... 257 APPENDICES 321
Using anchors ........................................................................259
Appendix A – Special characters ....................................321
Using the Anchors panel ............................................ 259
Appendix B – Clearing user data ....................................324
Inserting anchors .......................................................... 260
Appendix C – Keyboard shortcuts .................................325
Using hyperlinks ...................................................................263
Appendix D – Terminology dictionary..........................330
Using the Hyperlinks panel........................................ 263
Inserting hyperlinks ...................................................... 263

8 PUBLISHING 267

Preflighting documents .....................................................268

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher v

•

vi
•
Introduction
This manual is a guide to creating long publications such as books, newspapers,
magazines, reports, and papers with Affinity Publisher. It does not describe all
the features of Publisher so you will have to know how to use format text and
create graphics.
Creating a book or other long document in Publisher for the first time can be
daunting because there are so many ways to approach a project that you might
not know where to start. This manual will help you master some of Publisher’s
most complex features and get started more quickly.
This manual is laid out for print although it’s distributed electronically because it
is intended to be a demonstration of what you can accomplish with Affinity
Publisher. The tips and recommendations found in this guide will help you lay
out similar publications.
Conventions used
The instructions provided here are for both Macintosh and Windows which
share a similar user interface. The steps may be somewhat different for iPad and
are not described in this guide.
Menu commands are abbreviated to make this guide more readable. For
example, instead of writing choose Copy from the Edit menu this guide uses
choose Edit > Copy. Keyboard modifiers are shown as:
Macintosh Windows

⌘ (Command) Ctrl

⌥ (Option) Alt

⇧ (Shift) Shift
⌃ (Ctrl)

Return Enter

Many users of the Affinity suite prefer the dark UI Style, more commonly
referred to as dark mode. This guide uses light mode screenshots with mono
icons because they’re easier to read on screen and will save ink or toner for those
who print this manual on their own printer. You’re welcome to print a copy for
your own use.
Thank you
Thank you to Serif for providing us with an amazing suite of tools without a
subscription and for patiently listening to our suggestions. And thank you to all
the users on the Affinity forum who have put up with my rambling.
Good luck!
Mike

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher vii

viii
Getting started 1
Affinity Publisher has many features, some of which you might
never use, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the inter-
face and customize it to suit your workflows.
You can show and position the panels and tools you need the
most and hide panels and tools that you will use less frequently.
English users outside the United Kingdom and United States
may wish to set their spelling and hyphenation dictionaries, and
other international users may need to set up Publisher to avoid
having all text flagged as misspelled.

In this chapter
Setting up Publisher ...................................................................................... 2
Visual interface guide ................................................................................... 5

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 1

 Setting up Publisher
You can use the Affinity applications without any additional setup if you live in
the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal,
Brazil, China, or Japan. American users should consider changing their default
hyphenation dictionary but everything else is set up for you.
If you live in any other country, you should take set up Affinity before creating or
importing text.

Installing dictionaries
Affinity uses the spelling and hyphenation dictionaries included with macOS and
an equivalent set of dictionaries is installed with Affinity for Windows. Refer to
the list of spelling and hyphenation dictionaries in Installing additional dictio-
naries on page 317 to determine if you need to install your own dictionaries, and
then follow the instructions in that section.

Setting the interface language

The Affinity user interface can be displayed in English (UK and US), French,
German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. Each Affinity
application will default to your operating system’s language, and if it is not sup-
ported, to one of your operating system’s other preferred languages. If none of
your operating system’s languages are supported then Affinity will default to
English.
To set the interface language:
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click General in the left pane.
2. Select Default to use your operating system’s language if it matches one of the
options, or select another of the options manually.

Setting the default spelling language

If you use Affinity in English but write in a different language, Affinity will
automatically set the spelling language to English but with a region matching the
region of your computer. For example, if you are in the Netherlands, your text
will be formatted as en-NL which is the code for English (Netherlands). You
must set your default spelling language to avoid this issue.
To set the default spelling language:
1. Create a temporary new document; its settings are unimportant because it
will be deleted when you’re done.
2. Choose the Frame Text tool.

2 Getting started
3. Using the Character panel, set Language > Spelling to the language you wish
to use. If the language is not listed, refer to Installing additional dictionaries
on page 317.
4. If you want to set the hyphenation language at the same time, set Language >
Hyphenation to the language you want to use. Refer to Set the default
hyphenation language below before changing this option.
5. Choose the Artistic Text tool.
6. The language you selected with the Frame Text tool will still be selected but
select it from the list a second time. If you do not select it a second time the
selection will not be saved.
7. Choose Edit > Defaults > Save to save the session defaults as Publisher’s new
defaults. You can now close the temporary document.

Set the default hyphenation language

Most Affinity users can leave hyphenation set to Auto which allows Publisher to
select the most appropriate hyphenation dictionary. For most languages, this will
exactly match the spelling language but some languages such as English (Canada)
don’t have their own hyphenation dictionary so Auto uses English (US).
• English users outside the US and UK: It is recommended that you select
English (United Kingdom) instead of Auto. Even though the patterns in the
UK hyphenation dictionary were created based on a UK spelling dictionary,
they work better for Canadian and Australian English than the US English
hyphenation dictionary.
• US users: The Hunspell hyphenation dictionary for the United States is
significantly weaker than the UK dictionary. American users should consider
setting Hyphenation Language to English (United Kingdom) because it will
usually result in better hyphenation. Doing this will not impact spell check-
ing, only hyphenation. Before making this change, you may wish to try both
hyphenation dictionaries with your own documents.

Set the default text style language

The spelling language for the Base style group in Publisher’s default text styles
defaults to the current interface language. If you use Affinity in English but write
in a different language, you will need to change the Base style group on which all
of the default styles are based.
To set the default spelling language:
1. Create a temporary new document; its settings are unimportant because it
will be deleted when you’re done.
2. Using the Text Styles panel, choose Edit “<style name>” from the style
options menu to the right of the Base style group name, or simply double-
click Base.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 3

 3. The Text Style Editor window will be displayed. Click Language in the left
pane.
4. Set Spelling to the language you wish to use. If you want to set the hyphen-
ation language at the same time, set Hyphenation to the language you want to
use. Refer to Set the default hyphenation language above before changing this
option.
5. Click OK to update the style.
6. Choose Save Styles as Default from the Text Styles panel menu.

drag tabs

4 Getting started
 Visual interface guide
Application window
When you start Affinity Publisher, the main application window will appear as
shown below. You can choose between light and dark mode and colour and
monochrome icons icons so your screen may appear somewhat different. The
Toolbar, Context Toolbar, and Tools can also be hidden if desired.
Status
document name and zoom

Toolbar
Context Toolbar
Tools

Panel menu
click to change
settings
Panel section
click to expand or collapse

Left studio Right studio

click tabs to switch panels
to dock, undock, and reorganize
dock panels in group rows
scale height of panel groups

Navigation controls
Word count Tips Panel group
click for more double-click a tab to collapse group,
click a tab to expand group
Studio panels
Most of Affinity’s features can be accessed from the panels that appear on the left Definition: Panels are
and right sides of the screen. You can open additional panels with the Window windows that remain
menu, and close panels by choosing Close from the panel menus. open while you work

Panels can be docked in the Left or Right Studio which you can show and hide Definition: Studios are
independently. You can group panels within a studio, switch between grouped containers for panels
panels, adjust the height of panel groups, and collapse groups so that you can see on either side of the
document window
other panels better. Panels can also be undocked as floating windows that you
can position on the screen. Once you have the panels positioned to match your Tip: Publisher for
workflow, you can save your the panel setup as a Studio Preset so that you can Windows can display
restore it at any time. two columns of panels
in each studio while
Refer to Customizing the panels on page 295 for more information on studio Publisher for macOS
panels. can display only one
column in each

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 5

 Toolbar
The Toolbar provides quick access to several commonly-used features. You can
choose which controls are shown in it and you can hide it entirely but note the
Status control provides the main indication of the current magnification level so
it’s recommended that you keep it open.
On macOS, the Close, Minimize, and Maximize buttons (red, yellow, and green
controls) are located in the Toolbar so closing it will also leave you without
access to these standard controls. The background of the Toolbar also provides
the easiest way to drag the document window but if you close it you can drag
from an empty part of the Tools panel or the Status Bar at the bottom of the
screen to move the window.
Refer to Customizing the Toolbar on page 292 for information on hiding the
Toolbar and changing its controls.

Context toolbar
Below the main toolbar is a second toolbar named the Context Toolbar, com-
monly referred to as the Context Bar. You can only show and hide this toolbar,
you cannot choose which controls are shown in it because they change dynami-
cally based on the current tool and selected text or objects.
It is recommended that you keep the Context Toolbar open because it provides
quick access to the most frequently-used features.
Refer to Showing the Context Toolbar on page 293 for information on hiding this
toolbar.

Tools
The Tools panel is different from the panels shown in the Left and Right Studios
because it shown on its own outside of the studios. It can be shown docked on
the left side of the document window or undocked as a floating panel that you
can position on the screen.
To choose a tool:
1. Click a tool in the Tools panel or press its associated keyboard shortcut.
2. To see a tool’s name and keyboard shortcut, hover the mouse pointer over a
tool. A tooltip will show the shortcut in brackets if it exists. Refer to Keyboard
shortcuts on page 307 for information on customizing the shortcuts.

6 Getting started
To choose a stacked (fly-out) tool:
1. Click the fly-out triangle at the bottom right of the stacked tool and then
select the tool from the fly-out menu. The selected tool will be shown in the
panel.
Like the Toolbar, you can customize the Tools panel by adding and removing
tool icons.
Refer to Customizing Tools on page 293 for information on hiding Tools and
changing its controls.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 7

8 Getting started
Document setup 2
Publisher makes it easy to create a new document but under-
standing layout options and master pages is important for creat-
ing a publication that is easy to update in the future.
Master pages can be used to insert headers and footers that are
repeated throughout a publication with automatic page num-
bering and chapter titles.
Using a baseline grid can improve the design of a publication
with multiple text frames and columns to align the baselines of
text and objects.

In this chapter
Creating a new document ........................................................................10
Changing layout options ...........................................................................16
Pages and master pages ............................................................................18
Headers, page numbers, and sections .................................................33
Baseline grid ...................................................................................................42
Rulers and measurements ........................................................................45

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 9

 Creating a new document
Before you create a new document you should plan its size and margins and
decide whether it will have facing pages. You can change anything about your
document after creating it, but some changes may require additional effort so it’s
best to decide on the layout in advance.
If you’re creating a book or magazine you should create the cover as a separate
document—most book documents start with an interior title page.
To create a new document:
Tip: There are two 1. Choose File > New…
groups of paper size
presets but the only
differences are colour
format (space), colour
profile, and bleed;
choose a Press Ready
preset if the document
will be printed on a
commercial press or a
Print preset if you will
print it on a desktop
printer

Tip: You can simplify 2. Choose from one of the preset sizes on the left. By default, they are all portrait
the list of preset sizes so to change the orientation click the Landscape icon above the presets.
by deleting the ones
you will never use; if 3. Click the Layout tab to change the page size, measurement units, resolution,
you live in Europe you image placement policy, and if a master page should be created.
could delete Letter,
Legal, and Ledger, and
if you live in North
America you could
delete the A and B
sizes

• Enter the Width and Height and choose the Units if you want to custom-
Tip: Don’t select pixels ize a preset’s size.
for the units if the
document will be • For projects with large images, choose Prefer Linked from Image place-
printed ment to avoid embedding them and increasing the file size.

10 Document setup
 • Select Default master so that all pages will be based on a master page
unless you’re creating a short document such as a brochure or poster.
• DPI impacts only the default dimensions of placed images so it’s not that
important; you will choose the resolution when printing or exporting.
4. Click the Pages tab to change whether a document is made up of single pages
or facing pages and if you want to change how they’re arranged. Tip: Publisher doesn’t
offer a starting page
number option in New
Document but you
can change it after
creating the docu-
ment by choosing
Window > Section
Manager

• Deselect Facing pages to create a single-pages document. All of the Print

and Press Ready presets default to facing pages which is commonly used
for books and magazines.
• Choose Vertically from Arrange for a book bound at its top like a calen-
dar instead of on its side. Choose Left from Start on to start a document
on the left side (top side for vertical books) but most books start on the
right because the inside cover is typically blank.
• Use the Number of pages option only for short documents because Pub- Tip: Publisher doesn’t
lisher doesn’t create text frames for the pages created with a document. offer a feature similar
New documents will be based on a default master page if Default master to the Primary Text
Frame option of
is selected on the Layout tab, but they won’t have any text frames. If you InDesign® or Auto-
create many pages when creating a document and later add text frames to matic Text Box option
their master page, the frames won’t be linked from page to page so it’s best of QuarkXPress™ so
to create just a single page. you must create text
frames after creating a
5. Click the Colour tab to change the Colour format and Colour profile. document

• The default Colour format (space) for the Press Ready presets is CMYK/8
and is RGB/8 for the Print presets. In general, select CMYK/8 when Tip: Refer to Colour on
printing in colour on a commercial press or Grey/8 for a publication that page 302 for a descrip-
will be printed in black and white. Select RGB/8 for a digital publication. tion of colour formats
(spaces) and profiles
• The default Colour profile for CMYK documents is U.S. Web Coated
(SWOP) v2. Always speak with your print partner before selecting a colour
profile. Leave this option if you’re unsure because you can change it later
Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 11
 by choosing Document > Document Setup, but your colours may be
adjusted for the new profile.
• If you don’t want an exported document to have a white background then
choose Transparent background.
Tip: You can choose to 6. Click the Margins tab to customize the margins. Almost every document
show or hide margin should have margins, even those with images that bleed off the page, but you
guides later by choos- can choose not to include them if you wish. The margins have no impact on
ing View > Show
Margins the finished document but serve as guides for you to frame the body content
of the page.
Tip: Click the icon to
the right of text fields
to Link the fields
and set all the fields
the same when you
enter changes, or to
Unlink the fields to
set them separately

Definition: Bleed refers 7. Click the Bleed tab and enter the dimensions if the document will have
to the area beyond the images that bleed off the page. This option applies only to documents that will
edge of the page in be professionally printed and trimmed after printing.
which text and objects
will still be printed

Tip: Select View >

Show Bleed to show
the bleed guides and
the objects in the
bleed zone

Tip: Publisher doesn’t

offer a separate slug Objects must extend to the edge of the Bleed
option so create a Zone when Bleed is set in Document Setup
larger bleed and place The Trim Box is enclosed by the page edges
your slug information and approximates where trimming will occur
there and ensure View
> View Mode > Clip to 8. To save this customized document setup as a preset to use in the future, click
Canvas is not selected the Save Preset As icon or click the Save and Overwrite Current Preset
icon to update an existing preset.
Tip: The two preset
icons are difficult to 9. Click Create and the new document will be displayed in the window.
see in Light Mode;
mouse over the area To create a new document similar to the last document you created:
to the right of the 1. Press ⌥ (macOS) or Alt (Windows) while choosing File > New from Last
preset name and a
tooltip will appear Preset. Publisher will create a new document using the same options as the
when you are over last document you created.
them

12 Document setup
Saving a document
Publisher saves documents in its own AFPUB format which cannot be opened by
other applications. It saves incrementally to save time so a file may grow some-
what larger with each additional save until it reaches a threshold and then Pub-
lisher will do a full save which will compress the file to its minimum size. You can
choose Save As… at any time to do a full save rather than an incremental save.
To save a document:
1. Choose File > Save. If the document has not been previously saved, a file save Tip: Avoid using File >
window will appear to select where to save the document and enter a file Save History with
name. If the document has been previously saved then Publisher will save it Document, which
saves the undo history
without further prompting. with the document,
Or choose File > Save As… to save a document with a new name or location. because it will dramat-
ically increase the size
You will be prompted to choose the save location and enter a filename. of the file

Saving a package
Packaging a document bundles a copy of the document and all of its linked
images with the fonts used into one folder to make it easy to share a document
with a print partner or colleague. The original document and images are not
affected when you save a package. The package could then be transferred to a
cloud or external drive, or compressed for sending.
To save a package:
1. Choose File > Save As Package… The Package Document window will
display a document summary.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 13

 2. Deselect Include Fonts or Include Images if you don’t want to include one of
them in the package. Deselecting both will effectively save a copy of the
document because nothing would be packaged with it. Click OK.
3. A file save window will appear to select where to save the package. Click New
Folder to create and name a folder for the package—Publisher will save the
files into this folder.
4. Click Package.

Opening a document
You can open image files in addition to opening documents created with Pub-
lisher, Designer, and Photo.
To open a document:
1. Choose File > Open… A file open window will appear to select the file to
open.
Or choose File > Open Recent and select a recent document from the list.
Or if no documents are open, double-click the empty area between the left
and right studios.
Or drag a file’s icon from your computer onto Publisher.
2. Select the file(s) and click Open.

Opening a PDF document

Tip: You can also place The PDF file format is not intended for converting files from one application to
a PDF file into a another but you can open and edit a PDF document in Publisher. Text styles,
Publisher document; linked frames, and other options chosen in the original application are not
refer to Placing images
on page 160 included in a PDF file and will be lost.
After opening a PDF document, you can save it as a Publisher document and
export it as PDF if you choose.
To open a PDF document:
1. Open the PDF document as you would a Publisher document.
2. A window will open to specify how the PDF should be opened.
• Load pages: Select Load All Pages to open every page of the PDF docu-
ment or Load Pages to enter specific page numbers or a page range to
open. You can specify multiple pages by entering numbers separated by
commas or a page range with the numbers separated by a hyphen.
• DPI: Sets the Publisher document’s resolution. Leave this set to Estimate to
use the resolution of the PDF file.
• Colour space: Select the document’s colour space: Gray, CMYK, or RGB,
or Estimate to use the colour space of the PDF file.

14 Document setup
 • Favour editable text over fidelity: Select this option if you plan to edit the
document’s text to avoid spacing issues.
• Group lines of text into text frames: Select this option if you plan to edit
the document’s text to join separate lines of text into paragraphs in a text
frame.
• Replace missing fonts: Select to enable specifying the font family and font
style for fonts used in the PDF file that aren’t available in Publisher. You
can also deselect this option and choose Window > Font Manager… to
replace the fonts at a later time.

3. Click Open.

Closing documents
To close a document:
1. Choose File > Close to close the current document or Close All to close all
open documents. If a file has been modified since it was last saved you will be
prompted to save the file or close it without saving.
Or if the document window is floating, click the Close button in the upper-
left corner (macOS) or upper-right corner (Windows).

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 15

 Changing layout options
A document doesn’t have an intrinsic page size, orientation, or margins—these
are properties of the master pages in the document; however, the Document
Setup window allows you to change the properties of all or selected master pages
and spreads (pages) in the document.
To change the options for a document after creating it:
Tip: The list of master 1. Choose File > Document Setup.
pages and spreads is
clickable only when
Selected Masters or
Selected Spreads is
selected

Tip: If you change

master pages or
spreads with different
page sizes or other
options, the options
shown will be for the
first master or spread
you selected; to
change all selected
masters or spreads to
the option of the first
one, select a different
option and then
change it back

2. To change the entire document, leave the setting in the top left of the Docu-
ment Setup window as Whole Document. You can also change one or more
master pages or spreads (pages) at once by choosing Selected Masters or
Selected Spreads and then selecting masters or spreads from the list on the
right.
Tip: A few of the 3. Most of the options in this window are the same as for creating a new docu-
options such as Facing ment so refer to Creating a new document on page 10.
Pages are under
different tabs than in 4. While you can turn facing pages on and off with the Model tab, it can have a
the New Document serious impact to your document. Changing a facing-pages document to
window single pages will separate its facing-page master pages into two single-page
master pages, as well as separating all of the document’s spreads. Changing a
single-page document to facing-pages will convert the document’s pages to
spreads but the masters will remain single pages.

16 Document setup
5. If you change the page size, you must choose whether to keep the objects and
text the same size or to scale them to fit. Click the Scaling tab and choose
Rescale for projects such as posters and brochures. If you choose not to
rescale the objects, you can choose Anchor to Page for facing-page docu- Tip: Anchor to Spread
ments to maintain the position of objects on the right-side pages, or Anchor is not available for
to Spread to maintain their position relative to the left-side pages. When you non-facing pages
documents
anchor the objects, you can also choose the anchor position by clicking one of
the anchor handles.

When you rescale the objects, you can select how images are resampled: Tip: If you’re unsure
which Resampling
Nearest Neighbour Fast but lower quality; use for hard-edge images option to use, select
Lanczos 3 (separable)
Bilinear Use when scaling pages smaller for best results
Bicubic Use when scaling pages larger

Lanczos 3 (separable) Very high quality but slower than the above options
(recommended)

Lanczos 3 (non-separable) Marginally-higher quality than Lanczos 3 (separable)

but slightly slower

6. If you change the Colour format (space) or Colour profile, choose Assign to
keep colours unchanged, including 100% Black, although the appearance may
change. Choose Convert to modify colours to match the new format or
profile while maintaining the appearance.

7. Click OK to change the layout options.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 17

 Pages and master pages
Definition: Spread A document in Publisher can include as many pages or spreads as you need. You
refers to a pair of left can specify the number of pages to add when creating a new document but it is
and right pages in a recommended to do that only for short documents. Refer to Creating a new
facing-pages
document document on page 10 for more information. Pages are referred to as document
pages in this manual to distinguish them from the master pages on which they
Tip: You can add tens can be based.
of thousands of pages
to a Publisher docu- Master pages
ment but most
computers can’t Document pages are usually based on master pages to create consistency between
handle that many pages. Objects placed on a master page will be visible on all document pages
pages so if you run based on that master and later changes made to the master will be replicated on
into performance all the pages.
issues you should
divide your document The document page
into chapter docu- (top) is based on the
ments; refer to Books background master page
on page 179 (bottom)

Definition: A master
page is a background Objects can’t be moved or modified on document pages unless you break the link
or parent page that between them and the master. However, the content of text and picture frames
defines the layout and on a master page can be modified on a document page. Master pages are fre-
some of the text and
objects of the regular quently used to contain the text frames for a long publication.
document pages When you create a new document with the Default master option selected,
based on it; master
pages are frequently Publisher automatically creates a master page named Master A and applies it to
referred to simply as the page(s) created for the document. You might not need to use a master page
masters for a short document such as a brochure, but they should always be used for long
publications such as books, magazines, and newspapers.
Tip: Use Edit
Detached to modify a Spreads
master page’s objects
on a document page; A facing-pages document is made up of spreads, pairs of left (verso) and right
refer to Overriding (recto) pages of the same size and orientation joined together at the spine of the
master page objects publication and displayed together. Spreads are used for books, magazines, and
on document pages
on page 30 any document where the left and right page layouts are mirrored.

2 single pages Spread of left and right pages

Objects and text positioned on the left page of a spread also can extend onto the
right page, an approach commonly used in magazines.
Publisher does not support spreads made up of more than two pages. If you need
to use a multi-page spread, create a single page and divide it into sections using
guides.
18 Document setup
Using the Pages panel
The Pages panel is an important panel to keep open when working on a multi-
page document because it allows you to add, move, modify, and delete pages, as
well as select which page to view. A thumbnail for each page is displayed and
spread thumbnails are shown for facing pages. Tip: The blue highlight
colour can be custom-
To display and customize the Pages panel: ized on macOS with
System Settings >
1. Choose Window > Pages to display the Pages panel if it is not already open. Appearance
Panel menu
Master page area Add, Duplicate, and Delete
master page

Document page area Section Manager, and Add,

Duplicate, and Delete page

Current spread

Selected spread

The page or spread that you’re currently viewing will be indicated with a grey
rectangle.
Publisher will show both absolute and relative page numbers if you have Definition: Absolute
restarted page numbering in the document. Refer to Page numbering on page page number refers to
34 for more information. the number of the
page within the
2. Change the width of the panel to set how many columns of thumbnails can be document; the relative
shown at once. page number is what
is displayed on a page
3. Collapse or expand the Master Pages or Pages areas by clicking the caret by restarting page
icons to the left of their titles. numbering

4. Choose Small Icons, Medium Icons, or Large icons from the panel menu Tip: You can’t move
to change the size of the page thumbnails. the Master Pages area
to the bottom or set
5. Choose Scroll with View from the panel menu so that the page(s) visible its thumbnail size
in the document window are visible in the panel. independently, but
you can collapse it to
save space when you
don’t need it

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 19

 To select pages to manipulate:
• Single-click a page, spread, or master page thumbnail to select it so you can
perform actions to it. For a spread, click its left or right side to select just one
side of it or click its centre or label to select the entire spread. The selected
page, spread, or master is indicated by a blue rectangle.
• To select a range of pages or spreads, select one by single clicking it and then
press Shift and click the last one in the range of pages or spreads. Alterna-
tively, you can drag select a range of pages just as you would drag select file
icons on your computer.
• To select multiple pages that aren’t in a continuous range, press ⌘ (macOS) or
Ctrl (Windows) and click each page thumbnail.

To go to the start of a section:

The Pages panel doesn’t show sections which makes it difficult to find the first
page of a section. You can work around this limitation with hidden text frames or
anchors.
1. On the first page of each section, draw a text frame and enter easy-to-remem-
ber text such as s1 for section 1, s2 for section 2, etc.
2. Hide these frames so they won’t be visible or print.
3. To jump to a section, choose Edit > Find, type the section identifier you
typed into the hidden frame, and click Find. With keyboard shortcuts, press
⌘+F (macOS) or Ctrl+F (Windows), type the section identifier, and press
Return.

Another way to do this is with anchors. Create an anchor at the start of each
section and use the Anchors panel to navigate to the anchor. This approach can
be used without hidden text frames but it doesn’t work as well for those who
prefer to use keyboard shortcuts.

20 Document setup
Working with pages
To add multiple pages:
1. Select the page or spread in the Pages panel before or after which you want to
add pages.
2. Click the Add Pages icon in the panel or choose Document > Add
Pages…

3. Enter the number of pages to add in the Add Pages window.

4. Choose whether to insert them before or after the page you specify.
5. Choose which master page, if any, on which to base them.
6. Click OK.
To add a single page or spread:
1. Drag a master page thumbnail before or after another page or spread thumb- Tip: Adding a single
nail in the Pages area in the Pages panel, or choose Document > Add Page. page to a facing-pages
document may lead to
To view a page or master page: confusing results; refer
to Working with
1. Double-click a page or master page thumbnail in the Pages panel, or the page spreads on page 24
number below the thumbnail. For a spread, double-click its left or right side
to centre that side in the document window or double-click its centre or label Tip: If you don’t like
to centre the entire spread in the window. The page will always be zoomed to the view magnifica-
fit the window. tion changing when
switching pages, use
2. Or choose Document > First Page, Previous Page, Next Page, Last Page or one of the other
the equivalent navigation icons at the bottom left of the document window. methods for switching
pages
First Page Page Number Last Page Previously Viewed Page

Previous Page Next Page Toggle Master View

3. Or choose Go to Page… or click in the Page number of the page navigation

controls in the Status Bar at the bottom of the document window and enter a
page number.
4. Or use the document window’s vertical scrollbar to scroll until the page you
want is visible in the document window and then click anywhere on the page.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 21

 5. Or to view the master page for the current document page, choose Document
> View Masters or click the Toggle Master View icon. Choose or click it
again to view the document page again. If a page has more than one master
page applied to it, this command and icon will display the top master page in
the layer stack.
To reorder pages:
You must use the Pages panel to reorder pages in Publisher; there is no Move
Pages command as in some other applications.
Tip: If you recorder 1. Select one or more page thumbnails in the Pages panel and drag them before
master pages with or after another page thumbnail. A blue line will appear to indicate where the
automatic names pages(s) will be moved. You can also drag a single master page thumbnail if
(Master A, Master B…),
the masters will be you want to change their sort order.
reordered but their To duplicate pages:
names will be updated
to maintain the A, B, 1. Select one or more page thumbnails in the Pages panel.
C… sequence
2. Right-click any of the selected thumbnails and choose Duplicate # Pages
Tip: Adding, moving, from the context menu, where # is the number of pages selected. The dupli-
or deleting a single cate pages will be added after the last selected page.
page in a facing-pages
document may lead to To delete pages:
confusing results; refer
to Working with 1. Select the page thumbnail(s) to delete in the Pages panel and click the Delete
spreads on page 24 Selected Pages icon. You can also right-click the thumbnail and choose
Delete from the context menu.
• If the deleted page includes a text frame linked to or from another page,
the text in the frame will not be deleted. The frame will be removed from
the series of linked frames without any impact to the text in its story. The
story may overflow the last text frame in the series.
To copy pages from one document to another:
You can’t drag page thumbnails from one document to another as you can in
some other applications but you can add pages to another document.
1. Open the document you wish to add page(s) to.
2. Choose Document > Add Pages from File and then select the other docu-
ment from the Open window. You can also right-click the thumbnail of the
page after which the page(s) should be added and choose Add Pages from
File… from the context menu.

22 Document setup
3. Select the pages or spreads you want to copy.
4. Click OK. The pages or spreads will be imported and added to the current
document.
5. Delete the page that you imported which will leave just the imported mas-
ter(s) ready for use.
To change the size of a page (without using a master page):
1. Right-click the page or spread thumbnail in the Pages panel and choose
Spread Properties… from the context menu.

2. All of the other options in the Spread Properties window are the same as for
creating a new document and changing its setup, so refer to Creating a new
document on page 10 and Changing layout options on page 16.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 23

 Working with spreads
Adding, moving, or deleting a single page in a facing-pages document can lead to
confusing results. When you insert a single page before a facing-pages spread,
the resulting spread will have a master page applied separately to each side of the
spread, even if they’re both based on the same master. Objects directly on a
document page will remain on the page in the same location as you would expect
but objects on a master page layer will be doubled up. If you’ve modified those
objects, for example, by adding text or a picture to a master layer frame, you will
see overlapping content.
The best way to resolve this outcome is to re-apply the master page to the entire
spread so that it’s not applied separately to each side. However, even if you do this
the last page in the document may have the same issue.
It is best to avoid adding, moving, and deleting single pages in a facing-pages
document if at all possible.

Creating master pages

You can create additional master pages if you want some pages to have a different
layout than others; for example, mixing one- and two-column layouts in the
same book.
Although a document has an inherent size, orientation, colour profile, margins,
bleed, and more, you can change any of these options for each master page. This
is useful if you want to mix page sizes in a document, or insert a landscape page
for a large table in an otherwise portrait document.
To create a master page:
1. If the Pages panel is not already open, choose Window > Pages.
2. Click the Add Master icon.

3. You can name the master page in the Add Master window for clarity but if
you don’t enter a name then it will be given an automatic name such as

24 Document setup
 Master B. All of the other options in this window are the same as for creating
a new document, so refer to Creating a new document on page 10.
4. Click OK to add the master page.
To delete a master page:
1. Select the master page thumbnail in the Pages panel and click the Delete
Selected Master icon. You can also right-click the thumbnail and choose
Delete from the context menu. If the master page is applied to any pages then
you will be prompted to confirm deleting the master’s content from those
pages.

Changing master page layouts

To change the layout of a master page after creating it:
1. If the Master Pages section of the Pages panel is collapsed, click the > icon to
the left of the Master Pages section title to expand it.
2. Right-click the master page thumbnail in the Pages panel and choose Spread
Properties… from the context menu.

Tip: Click a page

thumbnail once to
3. All of the other options in the Spread Properties window are the same as for select it so you can
creating a new document and changing its setup, so refer to Creating a new perform actions to it;
document on page 10 and Changing layout options on page 16. double-click it to
display that page in
the document window

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 25

 Applying master pages to document pages
You can apply a master page to document page(s) when creating a document or
adding pages. After creating a document or adding pages, you can apply a differ-
ent master page or remove the master applied to the document pages.
If your document requires many similar master pages, you can base a page on
two or more master pages to avoid duplicating objects on more than one master
and having to update each of them separately if changes are later required.
Tip: You can apply There are two ways to use multiple master pages. You can apply multiple masters
only one master page to a document page or you can base one master page on another and apply the
to a page at once so it combined master to a document page. The examples below illustrate combining
is generally easier to
base one master page two masters but you can apply many masters to the same page.
on another
Apply multiple masters: The document
page (top) is based on the contents of
Tip: A popular both background master pages applied
approach is to create a to it (middle and bottom)
main master for the
guides and header
and footer text such as
page numbers and Base one master page on another: The
running headers, and document page (top) is based on a
other masters based background master page (middle) which
on that for the text is based on the background master page
and picture frames (bottom)
needed for the various
page layouts

While a non-facing-pages document can include only single-page document

pages and master pages, a facing-pages document can include single-page and
facing-page document pages and master pages. If you apply a single-page master
to a facing-pages spread then it will be applied to both sides of the spread.
Adding a single-page master page to a facing-pages book or magazine might
seem unusual but some publications have special pages that appear identically on
the left or right side and it’s easier to use just a single-page master.
You can also apply different master pages to the left and right pages of a spread
and apply masters of different sizes to the same page(s). If you apply different-
sized masters to a page you will be prompted whether to retain the existing page
size or resize it to match the new master.

26 Document setup
To apply a master page to document page(s) or another master:
1. Right-click a page or master page thumbnail in the Pages panel and choose
Apply Master… from the context menu. Tip: You can apply
only one master page
at once so to apply
multiple masters,
repeat these steps but
ensure you deselect
Replace Existing each
time

2. Choose which master page to apply in the Apply Master window and which
page(s) to apply it to. Tip: Objects other
than frames will be
3. Choose Replace Existing to remove the current master page(s) from the removed regardless of
selected pages before applying the new master page or deselect it to layer the whether Clear or
new master page over the existing one(s). Migrate is chosen

If you choose Replace Existing, choose Clear to delete the current master’s Tip: To migrate some
object(s) or Migrate to preserve content in master page text and picture text and images but
frames. Using migrate will move content from the old master’s frames to the not all, lock the
most similar frames on the new master. If there isn’t a matching object then objects on the new
master page that you
the objects will be detached from the old master and promoted to regular don’t want content
objects on the document page. migrated into with
Layer > Lock
4. If the new master page is a different size than the page(s) to which it is being
applied, you will be prompted whether the page(s) should be resized. If you
choose No then Publisher will scale the master page’s objects and text uni-
formly from the centre.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 27

 5. You can change how master page objects and text are scaled to fit a different
page size with the Layers panel. If the panel is not already visible, choose
Window > Layers. Right-click the master page layer (i.e., Master A or the
name you have chosen for it) and choose Properties from the context menu.

6. The Master Properties window allows you to choose which sides of a spread
the master is applied to (facing pages only) and how the content should be
scaled. Note that text may not fit in its frame after scaling and may need to be
adjusted.
• None: Applies the master without scaling, even though the content may be
too small or too large for the page size.
• Stretch (not recommended): Stretches the master content in both direc-
tions to fill the page.
• Uniform to Fit (default, recommended): Scales the master content uni-
formly so that the content in the larger direction fits the page, ensuring
that no content is cropped. This option will leave white space gaps for the
smaller direction.
• Uniform to Fill: Scales the master content uniformly so that the smaller
direction fits the page, cropping the content in the larger direction.
To apply a master page by dragging its thumbnail:
1. If the Master Pages section of the Pages panel is collapsed, click the caret
icon to the left of the Master Pages section title to expand it.
2. Drag the master page thumbnail onto the thumbnail for a single page, a page
Tip: Hold down ⌥ spread, or one side of a spread. If multiple page thumbnails are selected. the
(macOS) or Alt (Win- master will be applied to all of them. The Apply Master window will not be
dows) while dragging displayed, the existing master page(s) will be replaced, edited objects will be
the master page icon
to apply the new migrated, and if the page sizes of the old and new masters do not match you
master without will not be prompted whether to change the page size.
replacing the existing
one(s) To convert a document page to a master page:
You can’t directly convert a document page to a master page but there is a way to
accomplish this task.

28 Document setup
1. Choose the Move tool and then choose Edit > Select All.
2. Create a blank master page of the same size and layout. Refer to Creating a
new document on page 10.
3. Choose Edit > Paste to duplicate the objects onto the new master page.
To unassign a master page from a document page:
1. Right-click a page thumbnail in the Pages panel and choose Clear Master
from the context menu. You can also choose Apply Master and then choose
None from the list of master pages.
To import masters from one document into another:
You can’t directly import a master page from another document but there is a
way to do this.
1. If you want to import multiple master pages from a document, open that
document and using the Pages panel, add a new page or spread at the end of
the document. Select the first master page you want to import when adding
the page.
Right-click the thumbnail of the new page in the Pages panel and choose
Apply Master… Select the name of the second master page you want to
import and deselect Replace Existing. Repeat this step for each additional
master page and then save the document under a temporary filename.
2. Open the document into which you want to import master page(s). Choose
Document > Add Pages from File and then select the other document from
the Open window.

3. Select the a page or spread based on the master page(s) you want to import.
4. Click OK. The page and its master(s) will be imported and added to the
current document.
5. Delete the page that you imported which will leave the imported master(s)
ready for use.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 29

 Editing master page objects
You can add, transform, and delete master page objects by viewing the master
page and making changes there. Changes made to a master page will be repli-
cated on all the pages. But you can also edit master page objects while viewing a
document page so that you can see the impact of the changes in the context of a
document page.
To edit master page objects while viewing a document page:
1. Choose Layer > Master Page > Edit Linked. A green bar will appear at the
top of the document window to inform you that you’re editing the master
page linked. Note: If there is more than one master page applied to the docu-
ment page then this will edit the top master in the layer stack. It is advisable
to instead right-click the master page layer in the Layers panel and choose
Edit Linked from the context menu.
2. Transform the master page’s objects as desired. Expand the master page layer
by clicking its caret icon in the Layers panel if you want to drag objects
into and out of the master page layer.
3. Click Finish in the green bar or choose Layer > Master Page > Edit Frame
Content. The master page will be updated along with all other document
pages based on that master.

Overriding master page objects on document pages

Tip: Art text and path The content of text and picture frames on a master page can be modified on a
text objects work like document page but the frames themselves can’t be transformed, nor can other
text frames when objects such as shapes be changed on a document page.
placed on a master
page; their contents When editing a document page, you can select a text or picture frame on a
can be changed on a master page layer so that you can modify its content but you can’t select other
document page
master objects such as shapes because they don’t have content that can be
changed on a document page.
Publisher displays master page frames on document pages with different handles
to indicate that they can’t be transformed on the document page.

Text and picture frames on

a document page: Round
size handles can be used to
modify the frame

Text and picture frames on

a master page: X handles
indicate that the frame
cannot be modified

30 Document setup
Sometimes you may want to change a master page’s objects for just one page
without creating another master. While you can’t transform master objects on
document pages, you can detach the master page to override it. This allows you
to make changes to the master page’s objects for the current page.
Objects that are overridden by detaching the master page will still be updated if Tip: Publisher’s Edit
you change them later on the master page, as long as the updates are different Detached feature is
from those you made while editing detached. For example, if you change a similar to the Override
feature in Adobe®
master page object’s colour from red to green on page 3 but later change it from InDesign® and
red to blue on the master page, the object on page 3 will not change. But if you shouldn’t be confused
move the object on the master page, the object on page 3 will move. with its Detach feature
that completely breaks
To override a master page: the link to the master
page; to fully detach a
1. Choose Layer > Master Page > Edit Detached. A green bar will appear at the master object in
top of the document window to inform you that you’re editing the master Publisher, drag the
page detached. Note: If there is more than one master page applied to the object’s layer out of
document page then this will edit the top master in the layer stack. It is the master page layer
advisable to instead right-click the master page layer in the Layers panel and while using Edit
Detached
choose Edit Detached from the context menu.
2. Transform the master page’s objects as desired and then click Finish in the
green bar or choose Layer > Master Page > Edit Frame Content.
To prevent a master page object from being overridden:
1. Select the object on the master page.
2. Choose Window > Layers to open the Layers panel if it is not already open.
3. Right-click the object in the Layers panel and choose Lock from the context
menu, or click the Toggle Lock icon for the layer. You will be unable to
unlock the object while using Edit Detached on a document page.
To hide master page objects on a document page:
1. Choose Window > Layers to open the Layers panel if it is not already open.
2. Click the Toggle Visibility icon for the master page layer.
To remove master page overrides from a document page:
1. Re-apply the master page to the page.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 31

 Changing the stacking order of master page objects
Master page objects are on a master page layer which is positioned below docu-
ment page objects because a master page is the background of a document page.
If you have multiple masters applied to the same document page you might want
to change the order of the master page layers, and in rare cases you might want
the master page layer to be above objects on the document page.
You cannot set master page layers to be permanently shown above document
page layers but you can change the order for existing pages and objects.
To change the stacking order of master page layers for a single page:
Tip: You can’t lock a 1. Choose Window > Layers to open the Layers panel if it is not already open.
master page layer to
remain at the top of 2. All of the objects on each master page applied to the current page will be
the layer stack—new grouped together on a master page layer. Click that layer in the panel to select
objects drawn on the it and choose Layer > Arrange > Move to Front drag it to a different position
document page will in the panel’s layer stack.
be created above of
the master layer To change the stacking order of master page layers for all existing pages:

Tip: You can reorder 1. Choose Layer > Master Page > Edit Linked. A green bar will appear at the
the master page layers top of the document window to inform you that you’re editing the master
relative to layers on page linked. Note: If there is more than one master page applied to the docu-
the document page, ment page then this will edit the top master in the layer stack. It is advisable
but to reorder the
layers within a master to instead right-click the master page layer in the Layers panel and choose
page layer you must Edit Linked from the context menu.
use Edit Detached or
Edit Linked 2. All of the objects on the master page will be grouped together on a master
page layer. Click that layer in the panel to select it and choose Layer >
Arrange > Move to Front drag it to a different position in the panel’s layer
stack.
3. Click Finish in the green bar or choose Layer > Master Page > Edit Frame
Content. The master page will be updated along with all other document
pages based on that master.

32 Document setup
Headers, page numbers, and sections
Most books and magazines have headers or footers at the top or bottom of each
page to convey information about the document, chapter, and page. Headers and
footers should be created on master pages so that they will appear on each docu-
ment page without duplicating text frames.
If you want some pages to have a different version of the header or footer or none
at all, create an additional master page for those pages.

Master page layout: This is the master page for this page of this book. Note the mirrored text frames in
the footer at the bottom for page numbers, and mirrored text frames which are linked from left to the
right. The other lines are guides.

Sections
Publisher uses sections to customize page numbering, to name or number chap- Definition: A section is
ters, and to exclude a range of pages from being exported. a range of pages
starting on a specific
While it is a best practice to link text frames from page to page in a document, page and continuing
you should break the link at the end of each section because the start pages of until the start of the
sections are fixed and can’t float with the heading at the start of your next chapter next section or the
end of the document
as they do in word processors such as Microsoft® Word.
Most books created as a single document in Publisher will have at least two
sections, one for front matter and one for body pages. This book has two sec-
tions. Using a section for every chapter is useful if you need to insert chapter
names or numbers into a header or footer.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 33

 Page numbering
Publisher can number your document’s pages automatically. If you want to
change the numbering format for different parts of your document, you can
divide your document into sections and use a different numbering format for
each section.
To create a header or footer:
1. Using the Pages panel, double-click a master page thumbnail or its name
below the thumbnail. If the master is facing pages then you need to add text
frames to both sides.
Tip: You can also use 2. Using the Frame Text tool, draw a text frame to include the header or
the Artistic Text footer information. While formatting a header or footer, it is best to type a
tool to create a header placeholder page number or section name even if that information will be
or footer but it is
easier to draw a text updated automatically. Once you have the formatting the way you want it, you
frame aligned to the can delete the placeholder information.
left and right margins
and then to align the 3. Apply the master page to document page(s). Refer to Applying master pages
text within the frame, to document pages on page 26.
especially if you insert
fields which have long To add automatic page numbers:
names when viewed 1. View the master page and click in the header or footer where you want the
on a master
page number to appear.
2. Choose Text > Insert > Fields > Page Number, or double-click the Docu-
ment Sections > Page Number field name in the Fields panel. The # sign will
be shown for the page number on a master page.

Tip: To right align a

page number as
3. Choose Text > Highlight Fields to add shading behind fields such as page
shown in this example,
choose Text > Insert > numbers to make them easier to see while editing your document. This
Spaces and Tabs >> shading will not be printed.
Right Indent tab or use
a standard tab and
create a right-aligned
A footer with a page number field on a A footer with a page number field on a
tab stop set to 0 from
master page document page
right

34 Document setup
To change the page number format:
Sections are used to customize the page numbering format.
1. Choose Window > Section Manager or click the Section Manager icon in
the Pages panel.

2. Choose the Number style for the default first section. You can also enter a
Section Name if desired.
3. If you want to change the numbering style for the entire document, click
Close. Many books use Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv…) for the front matter
pages and Arabic Numbers (1, 2, 3, 4…) for the body pages. To do this, you
will need at least two sections in your document. Change the first section’s
Number style to i, ii, iii, iv…
4. Keep the Section Manager window open and in the document window,
switch to the page on which the page numbering should change.
5. Using the Section Manager, create a second section for the body pages start-
ing on the current page by clicking the Add Section icon. You can also
right-click the page’s thumbnail in the Pages panel and choose Start New
Section… from the context menu.
6. Enter a name for the new section (optional) and enter the absolute page Definition: Absolute
number for its first page in Start on page. Set Restart page numbering at to 1, page number refers to
and change its Number style to 1, 2, 3, 4… the number of the
page within the
document; the relative
page number is what
is displayed on a page
by restarting page
numbering

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 35

 Pages panel showing absolute page
numbers (left) and relative page numbers
(in parentheses) for a facing-pages
document

To number pages separately in each chapter (section):

Some books number pages in each chapter separately, such as 1.1, 1.2… and 2.1,
2.2… Publisher can’t automatically add a section’s name as a prefix to the page
number like some other applications but you can do this easily by combining two
fields.
1. Choose Window > Section Manager or click the Section Manager icon in
the Pages panel.
Tip: Publisher does 2. Create a section for each chapter of your document by navigating to its first
not offer automatic page and clicking the Add Section icon. You can also right-click the page’s
section numbering so thumbnail in the Pages panel and choose Start New Section… from the
you must enter a
number for each context menu. Enter the chapter number as the Section name, and set Restart
chapter as its Section page numbering at to 1 for each section.
name

Tip: Be careful num-

bering your chapters;
section 1 for most
books will be for front
matter so section 2
will be for chapter 1
and so on, as shown in
this screenshot

3. View the master page and click in the header or footer where you want the
page number to appear.
4. Choose Text > Insert > Fields > Section Name, type a period, and then
choose Text > Insert > Fields > Page Number. You can also double-click the
Document Sections > Name field name in the Fields panel, type a period,
and then double-click the Document Sections > Page Number field name.

36 Document setup
 This will be shown as <Section Name>.# on a master page but will appear as
1.1 on the first page of chapter 1.
A footer with section name
and page number fields on a
master page

A footer with section name

and page number fields on a
document page

To change or delete a section after creating it:

1. Choose Window > Section Manager or click the Section Manager icon in
the Pages panel. You can also right-click the thumbnail of any page in the
section and choose Edit Section… from the context menu.
2. Make the desired changes to the section or with the section selected in the list
on the left, click the Remove Section icon.
To add last and continued page numbers:
Some books need to display page numbers as # of # (for example, 17 or 98) or
continued to/from page numbers (for example, continued on page 17).
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor where you want the
page numbers to be inserted.
2. Insert the desired fields by double-clicking their names in the Fields panel or Tip: All of these fields
by choosing it from Text > Insert > Fields: are shown as # on a
master page but they
• Page # of # for an entire document: Insert the Page Number field fol- will display correctly
lowed by “ of ” and then insert the Total Pages field. The Page Number on a document page
field will use the page numbering style defined for the section but the
Total Pages field will always be displayed in Arabic numerals.
• Page # of # for a section: Insert the Page Number field followed by “ of ”
and then insert the Last Page in Section field. Both numbers will use the
page numbering style defined for the section. You can also choose the Last
Page in Section Run field which refers to the last page before page num-
bering is restarted, whether that is in the next section or several sections
later.
• Continued on page #: Enter text such as “continued on page ” (or from
page) and then insert the Next or Previous Frame Page Number field into
a text frame on a document page (not a master page) that is part of a series
of linked frames. These fields display the page number of the previous or
next frame.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 37

 Using sections for chapters
Tip: You cannot use Many books display the chapter name in the header or footer. If you use the
the Section Name Books feature and create each chapter as a separate document you can add the
field for both the chapter name as static text in a master page’s header or footer but if the book is a
chapter name and as a
chapter prefix to single document then you would need a separate master page for each chapter.
number pages sepa- The Section Manager provides an easier way to add the chapter name to a header
rately in each chapter, or footer.
you must choose one
or the other To create sections for a book’s chapters:
1. Choose Window > Section Manager or click the Section Manager icon in
the Pages panel.
2. Create a section for each chapter of your document by navigating to its first
page and clicking the Add Section icon. You can also right-click the page’s
thumbnail in the Pages panel and choose Start New Section… from the
context menu. Enter the chapter name as the Section name.

Tip: You can drag the

Section Manager
window wider so you To display the chapter (section) name in a header or footer:
can see your full
chapter names on the 1. Using the Pages panel, double-click a master page thumbnail or its name
left side below the thumbnail.
2. Click in the header or footer where you want the chapter name to appear.
3. Choose Text > Insert > Fields > Section Name. You can also double-click the
Document Sections > Page Number field name in the Fields panel. This will
be shown as <Section Name> on a master page but the name of your chapter
will appear on each page based on this master.

38 Document setup
Running headers
Publisher can repeat heading text in the header or footer automatically. A run- Tip: Publisher uses the
ning header helps the reader by describing what information will be found on term running header
the page. Many books display the current topic within a chapter in the header or even if it’s inserted
into a footer
footer while dictionaries and similar books might display the first and last head-
words on each page. If you format your topics or headwords consistently with a Definition: A run is the
specific heading style then Publisher can display them automatically in a running range of text until the
header. next instance of the
same level of heading
To create a running header:
1. View the master page and click in the header or footer where you want the
page number to appear.
2. Choose Text > Insert > Fields > Running Header. You can also double-click
the Document Sections > Running Header field name in the Fields panel.
This will be shown as <Running Header> on a master page but the header text
will appear on each page based on this master.

3. If you moved the text cursor since inserting the running header field, select it Tip: If you click the
or position the cursor immediately after the field. Then click the Edit icon icon when a field is
to the right of the field in the Fields panel. You can also right-click the field in not selected or the
cursor is not beside it
the text frame and choose Edit Field from the context menu. you can set the
4. Select which headings to display as a running header and how to format it. defaults for all running
headers you subse-
quently create, but
formatting a running
header will also set the
defaults so this is
unnecessary

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 39

 • Style: Choose the text style you used for the headings you want to be
displayed in the running header. For most publications you would choose
Heading 1 (default), Heading 2, or Heading 3, but you can choose any
paragraph or character text style.
• Use: Choose whether the first or last instance of the selected style should
be displayed. The default First on page option is recommended for most
publications—it will even use the header text from a previous page if there
isn’t an instance of the text style on the current page. Use Last on Page only
for the last headword on a page for dictionary-style formats because the
running header will be blank if there isn’t an instance of the text style on
the current page.
• Include paragraph numbering: Choose if the heading is a numbered list
and you want the number displayed in the running header.
• Apply limits: Choose to control the running header’s length. Specify
which character(s) to end on, whether to include the end character, the
maximum number of words, and whether a truncated header should be
displayed with an ellipsis.
• Case change: Choose whether the header should be displayed in its origi-
nal case or changed to upper, lower, title (default), or sentence case.
5. Choose Text > Highlight Fields to add shading behind fields such as page
numbers to make them easier to see while editing your document. This
shading will not be printed.

40 Document setup
Sample dictionary-format running header
This example uses three text frames on the master page for the running headers
and page number. Both running headers are set to a character style used to bold
the dictionary terms but one is set to First on Page and the other to Last on
Page.
Running header set to First on Page Page number Running header set to Last on Page

First instance of
character style on page

Last instance of
character style on page

To format a Running Header:

1. Using the Frame Text tool, right-click the running header field in the Tip: Do not format a
document text and choose Edit Field… from the context menu. You can also running header on a
select the field or position the text cursor before or after it and then click the master page layer
while on a document
Format icon to the right of the field in the Fields panel. page or you will
override the field on
the master page and
impact only the
current document
page

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 41

 Baseline grid
Definition: The A document’s baseline grid will align the baseline of each line of text to horizon-
baseline is the invisi- tal guides spaced equally from the top to the bottom of the page, regardless of the
ble line on which the paragraph’s leading and paragraph before/after spacing. The baseline grid is like
bases of characters
without descenders writing on ruled paper and is separate from the drawing grid which is used to
are aligned snap objects to uniform grid.
The baseline grid is used to align text vertically across text frames and columns
Tip: The baselines of
text in art text and on a page and is essential for professional page layout. It is a best practice to set
path text objects are the baseline grid’s spacing to the paragraph leading value defined for your body
not aligned to the text and to define leading as an exact value rather than using the default auto-
baseline grid matic setting. Headings are typically spaced by a multiple of the baseline grid and
leading values.
For example, for 12 pt body text, you might set paragraph leading to exactly 14 pt
and your baseline grid to 14 pt. Because headings would likely be larger than 14
pt they would have leading of 28 pt, double the baseline grid. You would nor-
mally set space before and after the paragraph to 0 or an increment of the base-
line grid because they would be ignored if they were less than the baseline grid.

Baseline grid on: The

text in this 2-column text
frame is aligned to the
baseline grid; the text
frame is also aligned to
the top margin which
itself is a multiple of the
baseline grid

Baseline grid off: The

text in this 2-column text
frame is not aligned to
the baseline grid so the
baselines of the text in
the two columns are not
aligned

Tip: To snap text

frames to the baseline While you don’t have to align text frames to the baseline grid—their text base-
grid when drawing, lines will be aligned regardless—it is a best practice to align everything on the
moving, or scaling page to a multiple of the baseline grid so position and size frames after setting up
them, ensure that
the baseline grid.
Snap to Baseline Grid
is selected in View > The baseline grid normally starts at the top of the page or spread but you can
Snapping…

42 Document setup
customize the starting position or align the grid to the top margin; however,
most designers start the baseline grid at the top of the page spread and set the top
margin to a multiple of the baseline grid.
A document has only one baseline grid but you might choose to ignore or over-
ride the grid for specific text frames used for captions, quotations, or margin
notes, or for data tables. Refer to Baseline grid on page 68 for more information
on customizing the baseline grid for text frames. You can even ignore the base-
line grid for specific paragraphs within a text frame.
To set and show the baseline grid:
1. Choose View > Baseline Grid…

2. Select Use Baseline Grid and set the Grid Spacing to match the body text’s
paragraph leading value. You can also set:
• Start Position: Enter a value to offset the baseline grid, the default of 0 is
recommended for most documents.
• Relative to: Select Top of Spread (default) if the margins are set to an even
multiple of the Grid Spacing value. If you prefer to set the top margin to a
value that is not an even multiple of Grid Spacing then select Top Margin.
For example, if Grid Spacing is set to 12 pt and the top margin is set to 1 in
(6p or 72 pt), the top margin would be an even 6 times the grid spacing.
But if you set the top margin to 1.25 in (7p6 or 90 pt), the top margin
would be an odd 7.5 times the grid spacing. This is important because the
main text frame is normally aligned to the top margin and you would not
want it to be offset from the baseline grid.
For most documents, Top of Spread (default) and Top of Page are identical;
the latter is relevant only for facing-page documents arranged vertically
which will restart the grid at the top of the spread’s bottom page.
• Grid spacing: Enter the amount that each baseline of text should be
spaced from the line above it.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 43

 • Colour: Click the colour sample to set the colour of the baseline grid’s
lines and drag the slider to change their opacity.
3. Select Show Baseline Grid. You can also change the Display Threshold value
below which the baseline grid will be hidden.
4. Click Close.
5. Click the Show Baseline Grid Manager icon in the Toolbar or choose
View > Show Baseline Grid to see the grid’s lines when you zoom in to above
the chosen display threshold.

44 Document setup
Rulers and measurements
The measurement system used for a document is defined when you create the Tip: You cannot set the
document but it can be changed at any time. Stroke thickness and text font size default measurement
are normally measured in points, regardless of the document’s measurement system for future
documents; the
system, but you can override that in Settings. measurement system
Rulers can be displayed in the document window to assist in laying out pages. is defined when
creating a new
The rulers are numbered using the document’s measurement units. document
You can change the ruler’s origin (zero point) which will result in objects being
measured in negative number to the left and top of the origin. Tip: A separate Text
Ruler can be displayed
Ruler origin above text frames and
objects to assist with
formatting; refer to
Tab Stops on page 111

Tip: The rulers cannot

be displayed in
different measure-
Rulers with origin set to top-left Rulers with origin set to bottom- ment units than the
corner (default) right corner
document itself
To change a document’s measurement system:
If the rulers are visible, the abbreviation for the document’s measurement system
will be displayed at the ruler origin—where the horizontal and vertical rulers
meet.
1. If the rulers are visible, right-click the ruler origin—where the horizontal and
vertical rulers meet— and select the desired measurement system from the
context menu.
Or choose File > Document Setup, click the Document tab, and select the
desired measurement system from Document Units.
Or choose the View tool or Zoom tool and select the desired measure-
ment system from the Context Toolbar.
To change how stroke thickness and text font size are measured:
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click User Interface in the left pane.
2. Select Show Lines in Points to always measure the thickness of strokes in
points, regardless of the document’s measurement system.
Select Show Text in Points to always measure the font size of text in points,
regardless of the document’s measurement system.
3. Click Close.
To show and hide the document rulers:
1. Choose View > Show Rulers to show or hide the rulers.
Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 45
 To change the ruler’s origin (zero point):
A document is normally measured from its top-left corner but you can change
the origin or zero point.
1. Drag from the ruler origin—where the horizontal and vertical rulers meet.
Publisher will display crosshair lines to assist with positioning. Release the
mouse button to set the ruler origin.
2. Or, choose View > Guides… and enter the position of the zero point in
Spread Origin.

To reset the ruler’s origin (zero point) to the top-left corner:

1. Double-click the ruler origin—where the horizontal and vertical rulers meet.

46 Document setup
Basic text 3
Entering and editing text in Publisher is similar to most applica-
tions but unlike a word processor, Publisher allows you to create
and link your own text frames. You can also create text without
using text frames.
Formatting text is somewhat more complex than in most appli-
cations due to the range of formatting options available. Text
styles, which are explained in the next chapter, can be used to
combine formatting options to ensure consistent formatting
throughout a long document.
This chapter also details text frame properties which will allow
you to style a text frame and control how text is displayed in it.

In this chapter
Text objects ....................................................................................................48
Text frames .....................................................................................................50
Shape text frames ........................................................................................52
Art text .............................................................................................................53
Path text...........................................................................................................55
Flowing text....................................................................................................57
Setting text frame properties ..................................................................64
Word processing ...........................................................................................69
Importing (placing) text ............................................................................84
Formatting characters ................................................................................86
Formatting paragraphs ............................................................................106
Setting default text formatting .............................................................128
Text wrap .......................................................................................................131
Pinning (anchoring) objects ...................................................................133

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 47

 Text objects
All text entered in Publisher is contained within a text object. Publisher offers
five types of text objects for different purposes:
• Text frame: Use text frames for the main text of your documents. Text frames
can be linked together so that text flows from one frame to the next. Text
frames can be divided into multiple columns so there is no need to draw
separate frames for each column. Scaling a text frame scales the frame with-
out scaling the text size unless you use the content-scaling handle. Refer to
Text frames on page 50 for more information on text frames.
• Shape text frames: Use shape text frames for special effects. Shape text objects
are text frames that you have converted from a shape or closed path to a text
frame. They function identically to text frames and can be divided into multi-
ple columns and linked to another text frame. Refer to Shape text frames on
page 52 for more information on shape text frames.
Tip: Art text is short for • Art text: Use art text for short lines or blocks of text such as display type and
artistic text and is labels. Art text objects are rectangular like standard text frames but they don’t
referred to as point have a constraining frame with a right edge to wrap lines of text so they are
text or frameless text in
other applications; frameless and scaling them will scale the text size. Typing into an art text
you can use them for object will not wrap and will continue until you press Return to start a new
any purpose, they paragraph or insert a line break. Art text objects can’t be linked together
don’t have to be because they have no bottom edge. Refer to Art text on page 53 for more
artistic information on art text objects.
• Path text: Use path text to align the baseline of text to a curved or angled path
for design effects. Typing into a path text object will continue until the end of
the path is reached or until you press Return and then will continue on the
other side of the path. Pressing Return multiple times will enter spaces. Scal-
ing path text will scale the path without scaling the text size. Path text objects
can’t be linked together, but because the length of the path is finite, it is possi-
ble to overflow path text in the same manner as a text frame. Refer to Path
text on page 55 for more information on path text objects.
• Tables: Use tables to organize information in rows and columns. Typing into
a table cell will wrap at the cell’s right edge just as in a text frame. Press Tab to
move the text cursor to the next cell. Tables are not described in this manual.

48 Basic text
Text tools
Publisher provides three text tools to create text objects but once a text object is
created you can edit text with any of the text tools.
Publisher works somewhat differently than other applications when it comes to
creating point text or frameless text. Instead of clicking with an application’s
single text tool to create point text, Publisher has separate tools for creating text
frames and art text objects.
• Frame Text tool: Select to create text frames and to edit the text in any type
of text object.
• Artistic Text tool: Select to create art text objects and to edit the text in any
type of text object.
• Table tool: Select to create tables and to edit the text in any type of text
object.
Publisher doesn’t provide specific tools to create shape text frames and path text
objects because those are created by converting shapes and paths to contain text
using the commands in the Layer menu.

Stories
The text in a text object is referred to as a story so when you create a text object Definition: The term
you are also creating a story, even though the text object will be blank until you story refers to all the
enter text into it. The text in a series of linked text frames is a single story. Refer text in a text object or
in a series of linked
to Single vs. multiple stories on page 182 and Flowing text on page 57 for more text frames
information on stories.
All of the text in a table is a single story with tabs separating the text in each cell.

The Esc key

When text is selected, press Esc to deselect the selected text. The text cursor will Tip: To switch to the
appear at the end of the selected text range. Move tool without
having to consider
When text is not selected but the text cursor is in text, press Esc to remove the whether or not text is
text cursor from the text. The text frame or object will be selected so that you can selected, press Esc
modify it instead of the text or press V to switch to the Move tool. twice before
pressing V;
When a text frame or object is selected and the text cursor is not in its text, press
Esc to deselect the object.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 49

 Text frames
Definition: A text Text frames are used to contain the main text of a document but can be used for
frame is a rectangular any purpose. Unlike word processors such as Microsoft® Word that have a fixed
text container and can text frame on each page linked to the next page, Publisher allows you to create as
be linked to other text
frames to flow text many frames on each page as you like and link them in any direction. This flexi-
between and pages bility is what allows the laying out of newspapers, magazines, and newsletters
that have articles continued elsewhere in the same publication.
When you create a new document with Publisher, its page(s) will be based on a
default master page if Default master is selected on the Layout tab, but they
won’t have any text frames. Text frames can be created on master pages or docu-
ment pages. You can edit the text in a master page’s text frame on a document
Tip: You can override a page but not otherwise transform the frame, such as by moving or scaling it.
master page on a
document page to For a short document, you would likely create the text frames directly on the
transform a text frame; document page. For a long publication, it is best to create the document with a
refer to Overriding single page and to create the text frames on master pages to ensure layout consis-
master page objects tency and simplify later changes to the layout.
on document pages
on page 30 To create a text frame:
1. From Tools, choose the Frame Text tool. The mouse pointer will change to
a crosshair with the tool icon appended to it:
2. Drag diagonally on a blank area of the page. While dragging:
• Hold ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) to draw outward from the centre.
• Hold Shift to constrain drawing to a square.
• Hold Spacebar to move the frame instead of continuing to change its size.
Tip: Do not drag the Release the mouse button to finish creating the text frame. Publisher will
content-scaling display the frame with handles to indicate it is selected and can be modified.
handle below and to If you have drawn a text frame on a master page, the frame’s handles will be
the right of the
bottom-right size non-editable when viewed on a document page that is based on the master to
handle because it indicate that it can’t be transformed on the document page.
scales the text in the
frame and is difficult
to undo

Content-scaling handle

A text frame on a document Text frame on a master page:

page: Round size handles can X handles indicate that the
be used to modify the frame frame cannot be transformed

3. If you want more than one column on the same page you can adjust the
number of columns and the gutter (space) between them with the Context

50 Basic text
 Toolbar at the top of the screen. This feature will divide the frame into multi-
ple columns that are permanently linked together and is simpler than draw-
ing multiple frames and then linking them together.

For asymmetrical column layouts, choose Document > Text Frame to display
the Text Frame panel and expand the Columns section.
4. If you are creating a facing-pages publication then you should create text
frames on both the left and right sides. You must link the two frames together
on the master page so that document pages based on this master will have
linked frames; otherwise, you’ll have to link them together on each page
spread. Refer to To link a text frame on page 58 below for more information.
5. Optional: If the text frame is on a master page you can fill it with placeholder
text to aid in visualizing your layout. Choose Text > Insert Filler Text.
If you added linked frames to a facing-pages master page and were to add more
pages based on that master to the document now, the text frame on page 1 would
not be linked to the text frame on page 2 although the frames on all of the newly-
created pages will would be linked. It is best to AutoFlow text or you’ll have to
manually link the frame from page 1. Refer to AutoFlow text on page 62 for more
information.
To move or scale text frames:
1. To move the text frame, position the mouse pointer over its outline and drag.
2. To scale the text frame, drag the size handles at its corners and midpoints.
The corner handles will scale the frame symmetrically and the midpoint
handles will scale it asymmetrically unless you hold Shift while scaling. The
font size will not change unless you drag the content-scaling handle at the
bottom-right corner.
To scale the text object from its centre rather than the corner handle, hold ⌘
(macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while dragging.
3. To rotate the text frame, drag the rotation handle above the frame. You can
also press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while dragging to rotate the frame
around the opposite corner handle at the same time.
4. For more precise changes, enter new values for position, width, height, rota-
tion, and shear with the Transform panel.
To convert a text frame to art text:
1. Select the text frame with the Move tool or any text tool. Tip: If the frame is
linked to another
2. Choose Layer > Convert to Art Text. frame you must unlink
it first

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 51

 Shape text frames
Definition: A shape In addition to creating standard text frames, Publisher allows you to convert any
text frame, commonly shape such as an ellipse, triangle, or path to a text frame. You can link these shape
referred to as shape text frames just as you would any standard text frame.
text, is a text container
that functions identi- You can manipulate both the text frame and shape properties for a shape text
cally to standard text frame. When a shape frame is selected with the Move tool, the Context Tool-
frames but retains the
properties of its bar will show a combination of options for text and the original shape; for shape
original shape frames converted from paths, the Context Toolbar will show the standard text
options. When a shape frame is selected with the Node tool, the Context
Tip: The Context Toolbar will show the options for the original shape or path.
Toolbar shows differ-
ent options for All other features of shape text frames are the same as standard text frames.
selected text frames
and shapes and there To convert a shape to a text frame:
isn’t room to show Once converted to a text frame, there is no way to convert shape text back to a
both sets of options at
the same time so you standard shape. It’s not important because you can format the shape text frame
may need to use other just as you would a standard shape but the Context Toolbar will show several
panels to access text attributes instead of all the object attributes.
options that you
would normally find in 1. Draw a shape using the appropriate shape tool or draw a path with the Pen
the toolbar tool.

Tip: If you do not close 2. Convert the shape to a text frame by doing one of:
a path before convert- • Select the shape and using the Frame Text tool, click inside the shape to
ing it to a shape frame,
an invisible line will position the text cursor. When over the shape, the mouse pointer will
between the start and change to a crosshair with a T inside of a shape:
end points will act as
the frame’s edge • Or with the shape selected, choose Layer > Convert to Text Frame.
• Or right-click the frame and choose Convert to Text Frame.

52 Basic text
Art text
Art text objects are used for short lines or blocks of text such as display type and Definition: Art text is
labels. Art text objects are rectangular like standard text frames but they don’t a frameless text object
have a constraining frame with a right edge to wrap lines of text so they are commonly used for
display type and is
frameless. Scaling art text will scale the text size. known as point text or
Art text is frequently used in short, design-intensive documents such as frameless text in other
applications
brochures and posters. It’s sometimes better to use a text frame even for short
blocks of text such as a caption because a frame provides a right edge to which
text can be aligned. For example, all of the captions in this manual are text
frames and not art text.
Typing into an art text object will not wrap and will continue until you press
Return to start a new paragraph or insert a line break. Most art text objects are a
single line but you can type an almost unlimited number of lines and paragraphs
of text.
Art text objects can’t be linked together because they have no bottom edge that
would cause text to overflow.
To create art text:
1. From Tools, choose the Art Text tool. The mouse pointer will change to a
crosshair with the tool icon appended to it:
2. Click on a blank area of the page to create a new art text object with the
current font size.
Or drag diagonally on a blank area of the page to define a custom text size.
Publisher will display an empty text object with handles to indicate it is
selected and can be modified. If you have created an art text object on a
master page, the frame’s handles will be non-editable when viewed on a
document page that is based on the master to indicate that it can’t be trans-
formed on the document page.

Art text object when first created: Art text object after Art text object on a
Round size handles can be used to typing text: The bounding master page: X handles
modify the font size; the bounding box is box changes to match the indicate that the object
wide enough to enclose the End of Story size of the characters cannot be transformed
symbol even if Text > Show Special typed
Characters is not selected

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 53

 To move or scale art text:
1. To move the text object, position the mouse pointer over its outline and drag.
2. To scale the text object, drag the size handles at its corners and midpoints.
The corner handles will scale the text symmetrically and the midpoint han-
dles will scale it asymmetrically unless you hold Shift while scaling.
To scale the text object from its centre rather than the corner handle, hold ⌘
(macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while dragging.
3. To rotate the text object, drag the rotation handle above the text object. You
can also press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while dragging to rotate the
object around the opposite corner handle at the same time.
4. For more precise changes, enter new values for position, width, height, rota-
tion, and shear with the Transform panel.
To convert art text to frame text:
1. Select the art text object with the Move tool or any text tool.
2. Choose Layer > Convert to Text Frame. You can also right-click the text
object and choose Convert to Text Frame from the context menu but only
with the Move tool selected.

54 Basic text
Path text
Path text objects are used to achieve special design effects by aligning the base- Definition: Path text,
line of their text to a curved or angled path. sometimes referred to
as a text path, is a text
Typing into a path text object will continue until the end of the path is reached or object that curves the
until you press Return and then will continue on the other side of the path. baseline to align to the
Pressing Return multiple times will enter spaces. path

Any path can be converted to a path text object, including closed paths. Path text
objects can’t be linked together, but because the length of the path is finite, it is
possible to overflow path text in the same manner as a text frame.
Overflow control meaning

The selected path text has hidden overflowing text: click the Eye to view it

The selected path text has visible overflowing text: click the Eye to hide it

Ellipse converted to a path and After pressing Return and After adjusting the baseline
text centred on its first side typing text for the second side offset for the second side

To create path text:

1. Draw a path using the Pen tool.
Or draw a shape and convert it to a path by selecting it and choosing Layer >
Convert to Curves.
2. Using the Context Toolbar, set the path’s stroke to solid to make it easier to Tip: After conversion
work with, even if it will eventually be turned off. to a path, you can set
the path’s stroke and
3. Convert the path to a text path by doing one of: fill with the Text
Frame panel
• Select the path using the Move tool, and then using the Art Text tool,
click on the path. When over the path, the mouse pointer will change to a
crosshair with a T on a path:
• Or with the shape selected, choose Layer > Convert to Text Path.
4. Select the path text object with a text tool and type onto the path. Green and
orange triangles will indicate the start and end of the path. Optional: Drag the
triangles to limit the amount of the path used for text.
5. Set the paragraph alignment to centred if appropriate or scale the text to fill
the path.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 55

 6. Press Return to start a new paragraph on the other side of the path. Dark
green and red triangles will indicate the start and end of the second side.
Drag these triangles to limit the amount of the second side used for text.
Publisher can snap the triangles to the 25%, 50%, and 75% points along the
path to help you align the triangles with logical points. This is especially
useful with ellipses and other regular shapes.
If you type more text than will fit on the first side, the text will flow to the
second side automatically without pressing Return.
7. Set the paragraph alignment and baseline offset to position the text on the
path and adjust tracking to avoid character collisions. Fonts are designed so
that characters are positioned on a straight baseline so you may need to adjust
tracking to avoid characters colliding if the path includes sharp turns.
To convert a path text object back to a path:
There isn’t a direct way to convert a path text object back to a path and delete its
text but it’s easy to do.
1. Select the path text object with any tool and choose Layer > Convert to
Curves.
2. Using the Layers panel, click the caret icon to the left of the group to
expand it. Drag the original path (curve) layer out of the group; it will be the
bottom object in the group.
3. Delete the group. If there was text in the path text object, the characters
would have been converted to individual curve layers which can be deleted
with the group.
To move or scale a path text object:
1. To move the path text object, position the mouse pointer over its outline and
drag.
2. To scale the path but not the text, drag the size handles at its corners and
midpoints. The corner handles will scale the text symmetrically and the
midpoint handles will scale it asymmetrically unless you hold Shift while
scaling.
To scale the path and text together, drag the content-scaling handle at the
bottom-right corner. Hold Shift to scale it asymmetrically.
To scale from its centre rather than the corner handle, hold ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl
(Windows) while dragging.
3. To rotate the path text object, drag the rotation handle above the text object.
You can also press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while dragging to rotate the
object around the opposite corner handle at the same time.
4. For more precise changes, enter new values for position, width, height, rota-
tion, and shear with the Transform panel.

56 Basic text
Flowing text
You can link and unlink text frames at any time to flow text from one frame to
the next. When you link two frames together their stories are joined into a single
story. If the text frames were empty this won’t make any difference but if they
both contained text then the first character of the second frame’s story will
immediately follow the last character of the first frame. Ensure that there is a
paragraph return at the end of the first story before linking two filled text frames.
When you unlink two frames, all of the text from the story will be in the frame
before the broken link while the frame(s) after the broken link will be empty—
they will have a new blank story.
The end of a story is marked by the End of Story symbol, a special character
you can see by selecting Text > Show Special Characters. The symbol will be
shown at the end of the story text, or if the frames are empty, at the top-left of the
story’s first text frame.
Every text frame has two controls that define the flow of text in and out of the Definition: The Text
frame. The Text Flow In control near the top-left corner is used to link to a Flow In and Out
previous frame while the Text Flow Out control near the bottom-right corner is controls will be hidden
if you zoom out too far
used to link to the next frame. These controls will have a hollow icon if the frame due to lack of space
is not linked in that direction or a solid icon if it is linked.

End of story

Text Flow In

Text Flow Out

The Text Flow In and Out controls will change from blue to red if the story text
for the text frame or frames is overflowing.
Text Flow control meaning

The selected frame is not linked in this direction

The selected frame is linked in this direction

The selected frame has overflowing text or is linked to an overflowing frame

The selected frame is linked to a frame with overflowing text

The selected frame has hidden overflowing text: click the Eye to view it

The selected frame has visible overflowing text: click the Eye to hide it

The selected frame has hidden overflowing whitespace; ignore this

The selected frame has visible overflowing whitespace; ignore this * Shown only when
View > Show Text
The deselected frame has overflowing text or is linked to an overflowing frame* Flow is enabled

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 57

 To link a text frame to an existing unlinked frame:
1. Choose View > Show Text Flow if it is not already selected so that you can see
the outlines of text frames and their connecting lines.
2. From Tools, choose the Frame Text tool or the Move tool.
Tip: If you find the 3. Click the first text frame’s triangular Text Flow Out control near its bot-
Text Flow In and Out tom-right corner; the mouse pointer will change to a link arrow when you
controls are too small, are within range to click it. The frame will turn blue after you click it.
you can increase their
size; open Settings 4. Move the mouse pointer over the second text frame. It will turn blue when
…(Preferences), select you are within range to click it.
Tools in the left pane,
and select a different
Tool Handle Size

5. Click anywhere on the second text frame. A non-printing text flow line will
be shown between the frames.

Content-scaling handle

If the text in the frame you linked to is scaled larger or smaller than it should
be compared to the first frame, you likely scaled that frame’s contents with the
content-scaling handle. This handle is below and to the right of the bottom-
right size handle and scales the frame and the text in it together. Than handle
will be solid blue when text in the frame is scaled and a blue circle when the
frame is unscaled. Double-click the solid blue handle to restore a frame to
unscaled text.

Content-scaling handle

Unscaled content Scaled content

58 Basic text
To create a new frame linked to an existing one:
1. Choose View > Show Text Flow if it is not already selected so that you can see
the outlines of text frames and their connecting lines.
2. From Tools, choose the Frame Text tool or the Move tool.
3. Instead of creating the second text frame before linking the first to it, click the
first frame’s triangular Text Flow Out control near its bottom-right corner.
The mouse pointer will change to a link arrow when you are within range
to click it and the frame will turn blue after you click the control.
4. Now draw a new text frame on the desired page and Publisher will link the
first frame to the new one.
To add a text frame between two linked frames:
1. Choose View > Show Text Flow if it is not already selected so that you can see
the outlines of text frames and their connecting lines.
2. From Tools, choose the Frame Text tool or the Move tool.
3. If you have already created the new text frame:
• Click the first frame’s triangular Text Flow Out control near its bottom-
right corner. The mouse pointer will change to a link arrow when you
are within range to click it and the frame will turn blue after you click the
control.
• Move the mouse pointer over the new text frame. It will turn blue when
you are within range and then click anywhere on it. Publisher will link the
first frame to the new one, and link the new frame to the frame which the
first had been linked to.
4. If you haven’t already created the new text frame:
• Click the first frame’s triangular Text Flow Out control near its bottom-
right corner. The mouse pointer will change to a link arrow when you
are within range to click it and the frame will turn blue after you click the
control.
• Draw a new text frame and Publisher will link the first frame to the new
one, and link the new frame to the frame which the first had been linked
to.
To remove a text frame from the middle of a series of linked frames:
1. From Tools, choose the Move tool.
2. Select the text frame to remove.
3. Choose Edit > Delete or press Backspace—the frame will be deleted and the
previous text frame will be linked to the next frame in the series.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 59

 To unlink text frames:
1. Choose View > Show Text Flow if it is not already selected so that you can see
the outlines of text frames and their connecting lines.
2. From Tools, choose the Frame Text tool or the Move tool.
3. Select the text frame that you want to unlink. To unlink it from the next
frame, click its triangular Text Flow Out control near its bottom-right
corner or to unlink it from the previous frame click the matching Text Flow
In control near the top-left corner. The mouse pointer will change to a link
arrow when you are within range to click it. The frame will turn blue after
you click it.
4. Mouse anywhere over the text frame. The mouse pointer will change to a link
arrow .

5. Click anywhere on the text frame to unlink it. The story for the linked frames
will now be entirely in the frame(s) before the one you unlinked from and any
text that does not fit will be overset (overflowing). The frame after the point at
which you unlinked will have a new blank story.
To split a story when unlinking frames:
Publisher doesn’t provide an automatic way to split a story between frames but
it’s not hard to copy and paste the text. Follow the instructions above to unlink
text frames and then follow these steps.
1. Ensure you have a keyboard shortcut for Select Story End. Unless you have
changed it, the shortcut will be Shift + ⌘ + End (macOS) or Shift + Ctrl + End
(Windows).
If you use a keyboard without an End key you will need to modify the default
shortcut first because you’ll be unable to type it. Go to Settings… (Prefer-
ences), select Shortcuts in the left pane, and choose Text Input from the list
under the persona list set to Publisher. Scroll down the list of shortcuts until
you find the one for Select Story End and change it to something that works
for your keyboard. The arrow pointing down to the right in this macOS
screenshot is for a Mac’s End key.

60 Basic text
2. From Tools, choose the Frame Text tool.
3. Position the text cursor at the end of the text in the last frame before you
unlinked.
4. Press the keyboard shortcut for Select Story End to select all of the text from
the text cursor to the end of the story. All of the text that is overset (overflow-
ing) from the text frame will now be selected even though you can’t see it.
5. Choose Edit > Cut to cut the text to the pasteboard (clipboard).
6. Click in the empty text frame where you want the text to appear and then
choose Edit > Paste to paste the text into the frame.
If you split a story that has anchors generated by the Table of Contents feature,
the links between the table of contents and the anchors will be broken and Pub-
lisher will insert duplicate anchors when you next update the table. If you don’t
want the duplicate anchors, delete them before updating the table of contents.
If you split a story that includes the targets for cross-references the cross-refer- Tip: If the missing
ences will be broken because their target will be missing. To fix these, double- targets were to
click each cross-reference that has a Target Missing icon in the Cross-Refer- anchors generated by
the Table of Contents
ences panel and reselect the target. feature, fix the table of
contents first

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 61

 AutoFlow text
Tip: AutoFlow is not Publisher doesn’t create additional pages automatically if there’s too much text to
fully automatic, you fit in a text frame or in the last text frame of a series of linked frames. The excess
must direct Publisher text, known as overset text, will be hidden by default.
to automatically flow
text each time a text When there is overflowed text Publisher will change the Text Flow controls from
frame is overset blue to red and the last text frame will have an eye icon to indicate if the over-
flowing text is hidden or visible below the frame. Refer to the list of text
flow control shapes and colours in Flowing text on page 57 for more information.

Overflowing
text

Tip: Text frames You could create additional text frames to contain the overflowed text but Pub-
created by AutoFlow lisher can do this for you. AutoFlow will create as many additional pages of text
will match the settings frames as required to contain all the text in a story, all linked together automati-
and even shape of the
last frame in the story cally. AutoFlow will first create a text frame on the next blank page in the current
section and will create a page if there isn’t a blank one. Publisher does not have
Tip: In a document an option to AutoFlow text only at the end of the current story.
with just the single
default section, To AutoFlow text to as many new text frames as required:
AutoFlow will create 1. From Tools, choose the Frame Text tool or the Move tool.
new pages at the end
of the document 2. Press Shift and click the red Text Flow Out control near the overflowing
text frame’s bottom-right corner; the mouse pointer will change to a link
Tip: AutoFlow will arrow when you are within range to click it. Publisher will create as many
create text frames on
pages with master pages of text frames as required.
page text frames that To AutoFlow text to a single new text frame:
aren’t actually blank
1. From Tools, choose the Frame Text tool or the Move tool.
2. Press ⌥ (macOS) or Alt (Windows) and click the red Text Flow Out control
near the overflowing text frame’s bottom-right corner; the mouse pointer
will change to a link arrow when you are within range to click it. If the new
frame is not large enough to contain all the overflowing text, it will also have
a red Text Flow Out control.

62 Basic text
Interrupting text flow
You can interrupt the text flow of story text to force it to start at the top of a new
column, frame, or page by inserting a break. Using breaks is preferable to adding
blank lines because if you add or remove text earlier in the story you can be
assured that the text after the break will remain at the top of the column, frame,
or page. Tip: Choose Text >
Show Special Charac-
To insert a break: ters when working
with breaks to see
1. Position the text cursor before the text you want to shift to the new column, their invisible symbols
frame, or page. and avoid accidentally
deleting them
2. Choose Text > Insert > Breaks and select one of the following:
Break type Description Symbol

Column break Forces text to the next column, regardless of

whether that column is in the same frame or in the
next linked frame

Frame break Forces text to the next text frame

Page break Forces text to the next page, even if there are other
linked frames before it

Odd page break Forces text to the next odd page, even if there are
other linked frames before it

Even page break Forces text to the next even page, even if there are
other linked frames before it

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 63

 Setting text frame properties
Text frames and other text objects have properties to control their appearance
and change how text within them is displayed. New text objects will be created
with the properties you last used. Some properties can be changed directly from
the Context Toolbar but most require use of the Text Frame panel.

Using the Text Frame panel

Tip: The Text Frame To display the Text Frame panel:
panel is misleadingly
named because it is 1. Click the Show Text Frame panel icon in the Context Toolbar or choose
used to change the Window > Text > Text Frame to display the Text Frame panel.
properties of all text
objects, including art Panel menu
text and path text;
Expand/collapse section
controls that don’t
Set frame background colour
apply to art text or
path text will be Set frame stroke and colour
disabled Indent text from the frame

Show/hide overflowing
text below frame Ignore objects with text wrap
Ignore document’s baseline grid

Add/remove columns
Customize column widths and
gutters

Balance columns without

inserting a column break

Add a rule between

columns

Align text vertically

Use a different baseline

grid than the document

64 Basic text
2. Collapse and expand the panel’s sections by clicking the caret icons to the
left of their titles.
General
The General section of the panel allows you to change the text object’s fill and
stroke and the inset of the text from a frame’s edges. Tip: Although art text
and path text are
frameless text objects,
the Text Frame panel
allows you to set their
fill colour and stroke

• Fill: Click the colour sample to set the colour of the text object’s fill.
• Stroke: Click the colour sample to set the colour of the text object’s stroke
(outline) and click the stroke control on its right to set its thickness, dash
pattern, and other properties.
• Insets: Enter values for how much text should be inset from a text frame’s Tip: Specify Insets
borders. Click the Link icon to their right so that they all change together. when you assign a fill
or stroke to a text
• Hide Overflow: Select to hide overflowing text for a text frame or path text or frame to avoid having
deselect to show the overflowing text below the frame or after the end of the the text immediately
path. You can also click the Text Flow Out control to toggle this setting adjacent to the frame’s
borders
on and off.
• Ignore Text Wraps: Select so that text in the frame will not wrap around Tip: Disable Hide
objects with text wrap set. Overflow if you want
to edit the overflow-
• Ignore Baseline Grid: Select so that text in the frame will not be aligned to ing text to make it fit
the document’s baseline grid. Selecting this option will disable Independent in the frame
Baseline Grid at the bottom of the panel.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 65

 Columns
The Columns section of the panel allows you to set the number of columns, the
gutter (space) between them, and whether text should be balanced across the
columns.

• Columns: Enter the number of columns to create within the text frame. You
can also choose this from the Context Toolbar.
• Width: Specify the width of each column. Select Preserve Width to maintain
the width of the frame when changing a column’s width or deselect it to
preserve the width of the adjacent column.
• Gutter: Specify the space between columns. By default, the gutters are linked
so changing one value will change them all. Click the Link icon to the right of
the Gutter label to change the gutter values separately. You can also specify
gutter from the Context Toolbar but not separately for each pair of columns.
• Balance text in columns: Select to distribute text evenly across the columns
in a text frame. This will have no effect if the story is longer than the text
frame.

Balanced columns off Balanced columns on

66 Basic text
Column rules
The Column Rules section of the panel allows you to specify if a rule should be
drawn between multiple columns and how the rule should appear.

• Stroke: Click the colour sample to set the colour of the vertical rule (line)
between columns and click the stroke control on its right to set its thickness,
dash pattern, and other properties.
• Gap: Enter how much the rule should be inset from the top or bottom of the
frame—you cannot enter negative values to extend the rule outside of the
frame.
Vertical position
The Vertical Position section of the panel allows you to set how the text should
be vertically aligned within the frame and the baseline of the first line of text.

• Alignment: Choose whether to align text to the top, centre, or bottom of the
text frame, or whether it should be vertically justified (distributed). You can
also choose this from the Context Toolbar.
• Maximum Paragraph Space: When text is vertically justified, enter the Tip: Set the maximum
maximum space between the baseline of the last line in one paragraph and to the height of the
the first baseline of the next. text frame to add
space only between
• Initial Advance: Choose how the baseline of the first line of text in the frame paragraphs and not
is positioned relative to the top inset of the frame: lines

• Default: For a standalone text frame, this is the same as Cap Height, it
uses the largest cap height of all the characters on the first line as the
baseline value. For a text frame pinned in another frame or for a footnote
or sidenote, it defaults to the Initial Advance value of the parent frame.
• Leading: Uses the first paragraph’s leading as the baseline value.
• Pointsize: Uses the largest point size of all the characters on the first line as
the baseline value.
• Ascent: Uses the largest ascent of all the characters on the first line as the
baseline value to ensure that the top of a lowercase “d” fits inside the top
inset of the frame; for most fonts there will be space between the top of the
frame and the top of the “d”.
Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 67
 • Cap Height: Uses the largest cap height of any character on the first line as
the baseline value to align the flat tops of uppercase letters with the top
inset of the frame; rounded or pointed tops may appear above.
• X Height: Uses the largest x height of any character on the first line as the
baseline value.
• Fixed: Specify the baseline value in Minimum; a value of 0 will set the
baseline to the top inset of the frame.
• Minimum: Enter a minimum value for the baseline; will have no effect unless
you enter a value greater than it would otherwise be
Baseline grid
Tip: To see the base- The Baseline Grid section of the panel allows you to override the document’s
line grid, choose View baseline grid for a text frame. These options are disabled if you select Ignore
> Baseline Grid and Baseline Grid near the top of the panel.
select Show Baseline
Grids; note that the
grid will not be shown
if you zoom out below
the threshold set in
that window

• Use Independent Baseline Grid: Select to override the document’s baseline

grid; refer to Baseline grid on page 42 for more information.
• Start Position and Relative to: Enter an offset from the top of the page, top
margin, top of the frame, or its top inset. You can also set the start position
relative to the artboard but that feature is less relevant in Publisher.
• Colour: Click the colour sample to set the colour of this baseline grid to
differentiate it from the document’s baseline grid.

Independent baseline grid off Independent baseline grid on

68 Basic text
Word processing
Positioning the text cursor
To position the text cursor with the mouse
1. Choose the Frame Text , Artistic Text , or Table tool.
2. Position the mouse pointer between the characters where you want to make
changes and click the mouse. You can click anywhere on an empty text frame.
A blinking vertical bar will appear to represent the text cursor position, also
known as the insertion point.

Text cursor

To change the position of the text cursor with the keyboard:

1. Press one of the following keyboard shortcuts. You can press all of the keys at
the same time, or the modifier keys first (⌘, Shift, Ctrl) followed by the action
key (such as an arrow key).
Action macOS Windows Tip: If you’ve changed
your shortcuts by
Move one character left or right � or � � or � choosing Apple
Defaults (macOS only)
Move one line up or down ↑ or ↓ ↑ or ↓
or creating custom
Move to the start or end of the current word and then to ⌘ + � or � Ctrl + � or � shortcuts, your actual
modifiers may vary
subsequent words

Move to the start or end of the current paragraph and then to ⌘ + ↑ or ↓ Ctrl + ↑ or ↓
subsequent paragraphs

Move to the start or end of the current line fn + � or � Home / End

Move to the start or end of the story fn + ⌘ + � or � Ctrl + Home / End

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 69

 Typing text
To type basic characters:
1. Position the text cursor in a text frame or other text object.
2. Enter text as you would in any text editor or word processor. Publisher will
automatically wrap text to a new line when it reaches the right edge of the text
frame or table cell. For an art text object, you must press Return to start a new
paragraph.
3. Press Return to start a new paragraph or Shift + Return to start a new line
within a paragraph.
4. Press Delete (macOS) or Backspace (Widows) to erase characters, including
erasing a paragraph or line break.
To type special characters:
1. Position the text cursor in a text frame, art text object, or table.
2. Type the character’s Unicode value and choose Text > Toggle Unicode, or
Tip: A list of the most choose Text > Insert and select from the list.
common special
characters is provided 3. Choose Text > View Special Characters to show the invisible symbols for
in Appendix A on page special characters.
321
To choose characters from a list of those available in the selected font:
Publisher allows you to select characters to insert from a visual browser.
1. Position the text cursor in a text frame or other text object.
2. Choose Window > Text > Glyph Browser to display the Glyph Browser
panel.

Panel menu
Font Family and Lock Font Family and Font Style (Traits)
Font Style (traits) Subset (Unicode block)

Search
Recently used

3. Publisher will select the Font Family and Font Style automatically based on
the text cursor position but you can change these options. Publisher will
display a list of all of the characters (glyphs) for the selected font. If the glyphs
are too small, choose Large Size or Largest Size from the panel menu .
70 Basic text
4. Select the Subset (Unicode block) to reduce the number of characters shown Tip: Many Unicode
and find one more easily. You can search for glyphs by name; for example, character names are
type “a” into Search to filter the list to glyphs that include “a” in their Unicode descriptive so typing
names, including all of the variations with accents, or type “acute” to see “a” will display unex-
pected results
glyphs that include an acute accent.
5. Double-click a glyph symbol to insert it at the text cursor position. The glyph, Tip: You can change
including the font family and font style (traits) selected will be added to the sort order from
Unicode ID to Glyph ID
Recently used in case you need to insert it again this session. Choose Clear but this is not recom-
Recently Used from the panel menu to clear the list of recently-used mended as the same
characters. Glyph ID may be used
for a different charac-
6. Select the Lock Font Family and Font Style (Traits) icon to prevent the ter in another font
font family and style from changing automatically when you position the text
cursor in text with different formatting.
macOS users can also use the system-wide Emoji & Symbols feature but while
it’s the best choice for inserting the wide range of emojis, it’s not as useful for
inserting standard characters and typographic symbols because it’s harder to
know what characters are available in certain fonts.
To insert filler text, also known as placeholder text or lorem ipsum:
1. Position the text cursor in a text frame; filler text cannot be inserted in other
types of text objects.
2. Choose Text > Insert Filler Text. Publisher will fill the text frame (and any
linked frames) with enough filler text to fill all of the frames. There will never
be overflowing text even if you reduce the size of a frame because Publisher
will add and remove filler text automatically.
The filler text is actually a text field so it will not be directly editable unless
you right-click it and choose Expand Field from the context menu.
3. To modify the Insert Filler Text command to always insert filler text as
regular, editable text, choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings…, click General
in the left pane, and then select Text > Insert filler text as text.
4. To modify the filler text that is inserted, choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Set-
tings…, click Filler Text in the left pane, select the language you wish to
customize, enter the new filler text, and click Save as Default. Refer to Filler
text on page 315 for more information.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 71

 Selecting text
Before you can modify text and applying formatting, you need to select the text
Tip: You don’t have to using the Frame Text , Artistic Text , or Table tool.
use the Frame Text
tool to edit text in a • Select any range of text: Click the mouse pointer at the start or end of the
text frame, the Frame text you want to select and then drag to the other end. Publisher will indicate
Text, Art Text, and the selected text by highlighting it. If you drag past an edge of the document
Table are interchange- window then Publisher will scroll the page in the window automatically.
able when editing text
in a text frame, art text Or click the mouse pointer at the start or end of the text and Shift + click at
object, path text the other end.
object, or table
• Extend or shorten the selected text range: Hold Shift and click again to select
the text from the start of the text selection range to where you clicked.
• Select an additional range of text without deselecting the selected text: Hold
⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) and click. This modifier key enables you to
select multiple disconnected ranges of text in the same story.
• Select a word, line, or paragraph: Double-click to select a word, triple-click
to select a line of text, or quadruple-click to select an entire paragraph.
To select an entire story, quintuple-click, choose Edit > Select All, or press
⌘ + A (macOS) or Ctrl + A (Windows).

• Select a word, line, or paragraph without deselecting the selected text: Hold
⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while double-, triple-, or quadruple-clicking to
add disconnected words, lines, and paragraphs to the selected text.
To select text with the keyboard:
1. Position the text cursor at the start or end of the text to select.
2. Press one of the following keyboard shortcuts. You can press all of the keys at
the same time, or the modifier keys first (⌘, Shift, Ctrl) followed by the action
key (such as an arrow key).
Tip: If you’ve changed Action macOS Windows
your shortcuts by
choosing Apple Extend selection one character left or right Shift + � or � Shift + � or �
Defaults (macOS only)
or creating custom Extend selection one line up or down Shift + ↑ or ↓ Shift + ↑ or ↓
shortcuts, your actual Extend selection to the start or end of the current word Shift + ⌘ + � or � Shift + Ctrl + � or �
modifiers may vary
and then to subsequent words

Extend selection to the start or end of the current Shift + ⌘ + ↑ or ↓ Shift + Ctrl + ↑ or ↓
paragraph and then to subsequent paragraphs

Extend selection to the start or end of the current line Shift + fn + � or � Shift + Home or End

Extend selection to the start or end of the story Shift + fn + ⌘ + � or � Shift + Ctrl + Home or End

72 Basic text
To deselect text:
1. Press Esc to deselect text without moving the text cursor.
2. Or press any of the arrow keys or click the mouse to reposition the text cursor
which will deselect the text.

Copying and deleting text

You can move and duplicate text from one location to another with copy and
paste or by dragging selected text. Both methods will move or duplicate pinned Tip: Text can be
objects, note and index mark, and anchors. dragged within the
same document or
Publisher uses the shared macOS and Windows pasteboard (clipboard) so copy- from another applica-
ing text or objects in Publisher or any other application will overwrite whatever tions into a Publisher
was previously copied. document, but not
between documents
To move or duplicate text with menu commands: or from Publisher to
another application
You can also use the equivalent keyboard shortcuts or right-click to access the
same commands in the context menu.
1. Select the text to move or duplicate.
2. Choose Edit > Cut to move it or Edit > Copy to duplicate ti.
3. Position the text cursor at the location where the text should appear, or select
a range of text to replace with the pasted text.
4. Choose Edit > Paste.
To move or duplicate text with the mouse:
1. Select the text to move or duplicate.
2. Drag the selected text to move it or press ⌥ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) and
drag it to duplicate it.
To paste text without formatting:
You can paste the contents of the pasteboard (clipboard) without its formatting Tip: Paste Without
so that you’re pasting just plain text. This is known on macOS as Paste and Match Format will not
Style and on Windows as Paste Plain Text or Keep Text Only. This feature is remove anchors, note
and index marks, or
especially useful when pasting text from another document or application to pinned objects; to
avoid importing its text styles. remove them, paste
the text into a text
1. Cut or copy the text. editor and then copy it
2. Position the text cursor at the location where the text should appear, or select from there back to
Publisher
a range of text to replace with the pasted text.
3. Choose Edit > Paste Without Format.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 73

 To create a new text frame or object when pasting text:
You can also replace all of the text in a new frame or object when pasting text.
1. Copy text as you normally would.
2. Do one of the following:
• Select the Move tool and without selecting a text frame or object,
choose Paste. This will normally create a text frame half the size of the
page in the centre of the page and paste the text into it, but if you copy
from Microsoft® Word and some other applications on macOS, this will
result in separate art text objects for each line of text. Note that if you
select a text frame or text object before choosing Paste, all of its text will
be replaced when you paste.
• Select the Frame Text tool, click once outside of the current text frame
or object if the cursor is in text, and choose Paste. This will create a text
frame half the size of the page in the centre of the page and paste the text
into it.
• Select the Art Text tool, click once outside of the current text frame or
object if the cursor is in text, and choose Paste. This will create an art text
frame in the centre of the page and paste the text into it.
To delete selected text:
1. Press Delete or Choose Edit > Delete. Pressing any character key will also
delete selected text while typing that character.
To delete unselected text:
1. Position the text cursor at the start or end of the text to select.
2. Press one of the following keyboard shortcuts. You can press all of the keys at
the same time, or the modifier keys first (⌘, Shift, Ctrl) followed by the action
key (such as an arrow key).
Tip: If you’ve changed Action macOS Windows
your shortcuts by
choosing Apple Delete the previous character Delete Backspace
Defaults (macOS only)
or creating custom Delete the next character fn + Delete or ⌦ Delete Delete
shortcuts, your actual Delete to the start of the current word and ⌥ + Delete Ctrl + Backspace
modifiers may vary
then to subsequent words

Delete to the end of the current word and ⌥ + fn + Delete or ⌥ + ⌦ Delete Ctrl + Delete
then to subsequent words

Delete to start of line fn + ⌘ + Delete n/a

74 Basic text
Copying text formatting
Publisher allows you to copy and paste text character and paragraph styles and
attributes between blocks of text. You can also copy stroke and fill attributes from Tip: Unlike Microsoft®
objects to apply to text. Word’s Format Painter
tool which loads (picks
To copy text formatting to unselected text: up) formatting when
the tool is chosen,
1. Ensure that the text cursor is not positioned in text or Publisher will treat the Publisher’s Style
word containing it as selected. To remove the text cursor from a text frame, Picker tool does not
click once on a blank area of the page—pressing Esc is not sufficient to cause load formatting until
Publisher to forget the cursor’s last position. you first click with it

2. Choose the Style Picker tool. The mouse pointer should change to an Tip: You cannot copy
unfilled pointer to indicate that formatting has not been loaded. If it and paste formatting
changes to a filled pointer, press Esc or click the Unload button in the between documents
with the Style Picker
Context Toolbar to unload the formatting. tool
3. Click on the text with the formatting you want to copy or on an object whose
line or fill attributes you want to copy. The mouse pointer will change direc- Tip: The filled pointer
tion to a filled pointer to indicate that formatting has been loaded. will include a T next to
the eyedropper when
4. Do one of: it is positioned over
text to indicate that
• Click a word to apply the loaded character formatting to a single word. clicking will now apply
formatting to text
• Drag select a range of text to apply the loaded character formatting to it.
• Drag select past the last character of a paragraph to apply the loaded Tip: It is difficult to
character and paragraph formatting to the paragraph. For an art text know where to stop
object, press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) and click on the object to dragging so it is
recommended that
easily apply the loaded formatting to the entire object you apply copied
paragraph formatting
A paragraph, including the paragraph with Text > Show
break marker at the end, is selected Special Characters
with the filled pointer to apply enabled which will
character and paragraph formatting
reveal the hidden
paragraph break
5. Continue applying the loaded formatting to additional text if desired. To load marker
formatting from different text, press ⌥ (macOS) or Alt (Windows) and click
on that text. The mouse pointer will change to an unfilled pointer while Tip: To apply loaded
paragraph formatting
you hold down the key to indicate that formatting can be loaded. If you to the last paragraph
release the key without clicking then the loaded formatting will not be in a text frame, you
changed. must press Return
after it to create a
6. When you are done, press Esc or click Unload in the Context toolbar before blank paragraph
changing tools to unload the formatting to avoid a future mistake.
Tip: The Style Picker
tool does not unload
formatting automati-
cally when you change
tools

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 75

 To copy text formatting to selected text:
1. Using the Frame Text , Artistic Text , or Table tool, select the text to
which you want to copy formatting. If you want to apply formatting
attributes, ensure you select the paragraph break marker at the end of the
paragraph as shown above.
2. Choose the Style Picker tool. The mouse pointer should change to an
unfilled pointer to indicate that formatting has not been loaded. If it
changes to a filled pointer, press Esc or click the Unload button in the
Context Toolbar to unload the formatting.
3. Click on the text with the formatting you want to copy or on an object whose
line or fill attributes you want to copy. The loaded formatting will be applied
Tip: The filled pointer to the selected text and the mouse pointer will change direction to a filled
will include a T next to pointer to indicate that formatting has been loaded.
the eyedropper when
it is positioned over 4. Continue applying the loaded formatting to additional text if desired. To load
text to indicate that formatting from different text, press ⌥ (macOS) or Alt (Windows) and click
clicking will now apply on that text. The mouse pointer will change to an unfilled pointer while
formatting to text
you hold down the key to indicate that formatting can be loaded. If you
release the key without clicking then the loaded formatting will not be
changed.
Tip: The Style Picker 5. When you are done, press Esc or click Unload in the Context toolbar before
tool does not unload changing tools to unload the formatting to avoid a future mistake.
formatting automati-
cally when you change To change which text formatting is loaded:
tools
When you choose the Style Picker tool, the Context Toolbar will change to
show options to control its behaviour when applying formatting, not when
loading formatting. It is recommended not to change these options when copy-
ing and pasting formatting for text but you must select both Character Settings
and Paragraph Settings to properly copy paragraph styles.

1. Choose a combination of options from the Context Toolbar before applying

loaded formatting to text. Click the All button to select all of the checkboxes
or None to deselect all of them. Layer Opacity, Layer Effects, and Object
Settings are not applicable to text and can be ignored.
• Stroke: Apply the loaded stroke attributes to the text’s stroke.
• Fill: Apply the loaded fill attributes to the text’s stroke.
• Character Settings: Apply the loaded character attributes, including
character style and stroke and fill.
• Paragraph Settings: Apply the loaded paragraph attributes, including
paragraph style but not the character attributes of the paragraph style.

76 Basic text
Finding and replacing text
You can use the Find and Replace panel to search for and replace plain text,
formatted text, and text formatting in the current document. Tip: You can search
only the current
While find and replace text is a basic feature, you can also search for text format- document and not all
ted with a text style and change its text style. Publisher also allows you to search open documents
for text with specific formatting attributes and replace those attributes with a text
style, or to search for fields and change their formatting or replace them with
other fields.
To find or replace text and/or text formatting:
1. Choose Text > Find… to display the Find and Replace panel. You can also
choose Window > Find and Replace if the panel isn’t visible but the first
option also makes the Find field active so you can immediately type the text
to find, so it’s always better to use the Find… command.
Panel menu
Find formatting
Find what Clear Find
Replace formatting
Replace with Clear Replace with

Scope
Find (search) Replace and Replace All
Search results

2. Enter the text to find in the Find field and if you want to replace it with
different text, enter the replacement text in the Replace with field. Leave these
fields blank if you want to search for or replace text formatting only. Tip: Click the Clear
icon to quickly delete
To enter special characters, click the magnifying glass icon on the left side entered text
of the Find or Replace with fields and select one from the Special Characters
list. For other special characters, copy and paste them from the main docu- Tip: Finding a straight
ment text. apostrophe (') will not
find a typographic (‘)
To enter a field, click the magnifying glass icon on the left side of the Find apostrophe or vice
or Replace with fields and select one from the Fields list. Replacing with a versa so finding
field creates a new one with the current formatting defaults for that field. contractions such as
isn’t requires typing
3. To find text formatting on its own or in combination with the text you the apostrophe
entered into the Find or Replace with fields, click the Formatting icon to exactly as it appears in
the document
the right of Find or Replace with. From the popup menu, choose:
• Format: Select individual text formatting; this window is identical to the
options for creating and editing text styles and is described in Creating
text styles on page 147.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 77

 • Character Style: Select a character style from the list.
• Paragraph Style: Select a paragraph style from the list.
• Reset Format: Select to clear the above three formatting options.
Tip: Choose Reset The selected formatting will be shown below the Find or Replace with fields.
Format from the
Formatting icon’s
popup menu to clear
the selected
formatting

4. To limit the search results by case and whole words, click the Formatting
Tip: Match Case and icon to the right of Find. From the popup menu, choose:
Match Whole Word
Only are sticky options • Match Case: select to find only text that exactly matches the case of the
that will persist for the text in the Find field; for example, Analog won’t find analog.
rest of the session,
including when you • Match Whole Word Only: select to find only text that isn’t part of a longer
switch documents word; for example, log won’t find analog.
5. Select from the Scope popup menu to set the search scope to the current
Tip: With Scope set to Document, Section, Spread, Page, Story (all the text in the text object or a
Selection and a text series of linked text frames), or Selection. The latter refers to either selected
frame in a linked series text or to the story in a selected text object. If you select multiple text objects
of frames selected,
Publisher will search with different stories, all of their stories will be searched.
the entire story and 6. Click Find to search and display the page containing the first result forward
not just the text in the
selected frame in the document from the current position. Click Find again or choose Text >
Find Next to move to the next search result or choose Text > Find Previous
to move the previous search result. Click a search result in the list to jump to
that result.
7. If you are replacing text or formatting, click Replace to replace the selected
search result and move to the next result.
8. Click Replace All to replace all remaining search results.
To reuse previous search strings:
Publisher automatically keeps remembers the last 20 search and replacement
Tip: Although Pub- strings so you can reuse them to save time. It does not save the formatting or
lisher stores recent options that you used with that search.
searches, you cannot
save search strings for 1. To select a recently-used search or replacement string, click the magnifying
future use glass icon on the left side of the Find field or the caret icon on the left of
the Replace with field, and select from the list.
2. Select Clear Recent Finds or Clear Recent Replaces to clear the list.

78 Basic text
Using regular expressions (GREP)
You can use regular expressions to find and replace text patterns. For example,
you could search for all of the numbers in your document and change their
numeric formatting.
Learning how to use regular expressions is beyond the scope of this manual but
some examples are provided further below.
Regular expressions normally use the ANSI C or POSIX locale and ignore the
text’s language setting so they are limited to the 7-bit ASCII character set. For
example, entering [a-z] will match any lower- or uppercase letter but not
accented characters such as åéîøü. With Locale Aware Regular Expression
selected, entering [a-z] will also match the accented characters because they will
use the full Unicode character set.
To find and replace using regular expressions: Tip: Regular Expres-
sion is sticky and will
1. Choose Text > Find… to display the Find and Replace panel. persist for the rest of
the session, including
2. Click the Formatting icon to the right of Find. From the popup menu, when you switch
choose Regular Expression or Locale Aware Regular Expression. documents; ensure
you switch back to
3. Enter the regular expression to search for in the Find field and if applicable, Normal when you are
its replacement in the Replace with field. done or it will appear
that Find and Replace
4. Click Find, Replace, and Replace All to find and replace as you normally doesn’t work
would.
Examples
Find Replace with Description

\s+$ blank Removes a space at the end of a paragraph

\b(\w+)\b \1 $1 Removes duplicate words

([\.\!\?])\s\s+ $1 and a space Replaces two spaces after periods, exclamation points, and
question marks with a single space

^\d+\. ?(.) $1 and a style Changes paragraphs starting with “1. “, “2. “, etc. to a numbered
list if you also set a replacement paragraph style that is
numbered, such as the default Numbered 1 style

\b(one|two|three) any text Replaces any of a list of words separated by a vertical bar | (the
words in this example are one, two, three) with any text

(?<=\d)[., ](?=\d\d\d) a space Replaces the comma separator in numbers with a space

(?<!\d)\d{4}(?!\d) Bold Makes 4-digit numbers such as years that aren’t part of longer
numbers bold, if you set replacement formatting to Bold

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 79

 Find Description

colou?r Finds color and colour

[\x7f-\xff] Finds non-ASCII characters

[[=e=]] Finds any e character, including uppercase and accented

(?<=\d)(st|nd|rd|th) Finds ordinals (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th…), regardless of superscripting

\d+/\d+ Finds fractions, but will also find dates written as 10/21/2023

[-\u\l\d._]+@[-\u\l\d_]+\.[\u\l]{2,4} Finds most email addresses

\b(\w+)\s+\1\b Finds repeated words

Spell checking
Publisher can check spelling as you type or on demand. Spell checking requires
that you specify the language for text. Refer to Language on page 103 for more
information and to ensure you have the appropriate dictionaries installed.
Words you add to your custom dictionary will be available to all applications
(macOS) or to all three Affinity applications (Windows). Affinity does not use
the macOS Automatic by Language spelling option which mixes learned words
of all languages together in one dictionary, so words you learn in other applica-
tions may not be available to Affinity and vice versa.
To enable or disable spelling as you type:
1. Choose Text > Spelling > Check Spelling While Typing. Misspelled words
will be underlined in red.
To spell check manually:
Tip: Assign keyboard 1. Choose Text > Spelling > Check Spelling to highlight the next misspelled
shortcuts to the Check word and then right-click the misspelled word to see a list of spelling
Spelling (more suggestions.
commonly known as
Check Document • Spelling suggestion: Select a suggestion to correct the word.
Now on macOS) and
Ignore Misspelled • Ignore Spelling: Select to ignore all instances of the word in this docu-
Word to make it easy ment only. You can also choose Text > Spelling > Ignore Misspelled
to navigate between Word.
misspelled words
• Learn Spelling: Select to add this word to your custom spelling dictionary.
Tip: Ignored words are To later remove the word from the dictionary, right-click the word again
saved in the docu- and choose Unlearn Spelling.
ment so do not use
the Ignore Spelling 2. For a longer document, choose Text > Spelling > Spelling Options… to
feature with the Books display the Spelling Options window.
feature because
ignored words are not
synced between
chapters

80 Basic text
 • Change: Click to change the word highlighted in the document to the first
word in the list below, or to the one you have selected in the list.
• Find next: Click to skip this word and move to the next misspelled word.
• Ignore: Click to ignore all instances of the word in this document only.
• Learn: Click to add this word to your custom spelling dictionary. To later
remove the word from the dictionary, right-click the word and choose
Unlearn Spelling.
• Define: Click to see definitions for the selected word. (macOS only)
• Guess: Shows a list of suggestions for the word highlighted in the
document.
To use the same custom dictionary on two computers:
If you use macOS, the learned words will be synced between your devices,
including iPad and iPhone, because spell checking is a service provided by
macOS.
Windows users can copy their custom spelling dictionary between machines but
there is no way to merge two dictionaries together. The file is named
dictionary.propcol but its location depends on how you installed Publisher:

• Affinity Store MSIX installer or Windows Store:

%USERPROFILE%\.affinity\Common\2.0\user\dictionary.propcol

• Affinity Store EXE installer:

%appdata%\Affinity\Common\2.0\user\dictionary.propcol

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 81

 AutoCorrect
Publisher can convert straight quotation marks to typographic ones, convert
paragraphs to lists, change capitalization, set superscripts, and correct common
errors as you type. For example, you can replace teh with the. AutoCorrect can
also automatically capitalize the first word of a sentence and you can define
exceptions to automatic capitalization to avoid capitalizing the word after an
abbreviation, such as the word following vs.
Publisher uses its own lists for each type of text replacement for every language it
supports and doesn’t rely on the similar text replacement features built into
macOS and Windows. This is important because while you might want the same
corrections for basic text some of the corrections you use in Publisher may be
more typographic and not suitable for your other applications. macOS also lacks
separate text replacement lists for each language so Affinity’s custom feature is
important for those who work in multiple languages.
You can customize how AutoCorrect works by setting its options, defining the
text to correct, and defining the abbreviation exceptions. Refer to AutoCorrect,
Abbreviations, and Title exceptions on page 310 for information.

82 Basic text
Word count
Publisher can display the count of the words, characters, lines, and paragraphs
for the selected text, current story, or entire document. The current count is
displayed in the Status Bar at the bottom of the document window to the right of
the Preflight status indicator but can be hidden if you find it distracting. The
count is updated when you pause during typing.
You can customize the count feature to display the count of words, characters,
characters including spaces, lines, or paragraphs and you can view the other
counts by clicking the count number.
If there is overset (overflowing) text, the count of overset text will be shown in
parentheses after the count of visible text.
To show the count:
1. Choose View > Show Word Count to display the count if it’s not currently
displayed. Word count Overset text

2. Choose what you want to count:

• To display the count for the entire document: deselect all text and text
objects.
• To display the count for a single story: select a text object or position the
text cursor in a text object.
• To display the count for a range of text: select the text range.
3. Click the count number to display a popup menu with the other statistics.
Select a different statistic to change the default count to be displayed. Or press
Esc or click outside of the popup to close it without selecting a statistic.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 83

 Importing (placing) text
Tip: If a word proces- Publisher can place (import) text from word processors and text editors into text
sor document uses frames and other text objects. It supports the most common file formats but not
revision tracking, you the .odf (OpenDocument) format used by Google Docs™ and LibreOffice or the
must accept all
changes and re-save .pages format used by Apple® Pages®. It is recommended that you export from
the document from those applications to the .docx format used by Microsoft® Word for best results.
the word processor
before importing it Format Description Notes
into Publisher .docx Microsoft® Word Supported by most word processors

.rtf Rich Text Format Supported by most word processors and some text
editors

.txt Plain text format Supported by most word processors and text editors

Tip: Refer to Importing Imported text retain all of its text styles, formatting attributes, footnotes, and
notes from Microsoft® endnotes. Embedded images and tables will be imported although shapes are
Word on page 250 for limited to rectangles and ellipses.
more information on
importing documents When you import text, it will be placed into a text frame or other text object in
that include footnotes an existing document; you are not opening a document or adding its pages to the
or endnotes
Publisher document. The layout of the placed text and images will differ from the
original document, especially if the size of the text frame does not match the
original document’s main text area.
You can also copy and paste text from a word processor or text editor, but unless
you’re pasting a small block of text, you will lose so much formatting that it’s
better to place text.
Copy from Results when pasting
Microsoft® Word Will lose images and shapes; tables will be converted to text

Apple® Pages® Will lose text styles, notes, images, and shapes; tables will be
converted to text

LibreOffice Will lose text styles, images, and shapes; tables will be converted to
text

Google Docs™ Will import as plain text; everything else will be lost

To place text into an empty text frame or text object, or at the cursor
position in a range of text:
1. Using the Frame Text , Artistic Text , or Table tool, position the text
cursor where the imported text should be placed.
2. Choose File > Place…
3. Select a file from the window and click Open.

84 Basic text
To append text to the end of the text in a text frame or text object:
1. Deselect any selected object(s) by clicking on a blank area of the page.
2. Choose File > Place…
3. Select a file from the window and click Open. The mouse pointer will change
to a Place .pointer.
4. Click the text frame or text object in which to append the text. As you move
the mouse pointer over the frame or object, the text will appear to show you a
preview of how it will be placed.
To replace all the text (the story) in a text frame or text object:
1. Using the Move tool, select the text frame or text object. Do not double-
click it or Publisher will position the text cursor in it.
2. Choose File > Place…
3. Select a file from the window and click Open.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 85

 Formatting characters
Tip: Refer to Setting Character attributes are those that can be applied to one or more characters and
default text formatting include font family, size, kerning, tracking, and spelling language. While you can
on page 128 for apply these attributes to an entire paragraph, they are applied to a range of text
information on
changing Publisher’s and not to the paragraph. For formatting attributes that can be applied only to
default character entire paragraphs, refer to Formatting paragraphs on page 106.
attributes
If you regularly use the same combination of character attributes, consider
creating a character text style to ensure consistency and save time. Refer to
Creating text styles on page 147 for more information. Character attributes are
applied over the attributes defined in paragraph and character styles and are
sometimes referred to as character overrides.
To apply character attributes:
All character attributes can be selected from the Character panel. Some of the
most common ones are also available from the Context Toolbar and those you
might want to use with a keyboard shortcut are also available in the Text menu.
Tip: If you select an 1. Using the Frame Text , Artistic Text , or Table tool, select the text to
entire text object which you want to apply formatting or place the cursor in a word to apply the
instead of selecting formatting to that word.
text or placing the text
cursor, the attributes 2. Select the character attributes as described in the following sections.
will be applied to all
the text in the object Fonts
A font is a set of character glyphs that share a font family (typeface), font size,
and font style (traits). For example, 12-pt Myriad Pro Semibold Italic is a font.

Panel menu
Font collection Font family
Font size, Font style, and Font colour and Background colour
Font variations
Character style

Tip: Publisher does Publisher supports fonts in the OpenType, TrueType, and Affinity Font formats.
not support colour Static digital fonts have one font file per font family and font style combination.
fonts or the older For example, each of the six styles below is a separate static font file.
Multiple Master
format Myriad Pro Regular Myriad Pro Italic
Myriad Pro Semibold Myriad Pro Semibold Italic
Myriad Pro Bold Myriad Pro Bold Italic

Publisher also supports the newer OpenType Variable font format which requires
just one font file for an entire font family. Refer to Variable fonts on page 90 for
more information.

86 Basic text
Using the Character panel
To display the Character panel:
1. Click the Character panel button in the Context Toolbar or choose
Window > Text > Character.

Panel menu

Font: Font family, size, style, colour, and

background colour, plus character style

Expand/collapse section Decorations: Underline, strikethrough, outline

stroke, and outline colour

Positioning and Transform: Kerning, tracking,

baseline offset, leading override, no break…

Typography: Ligatures, alternates, variants,

Language: Spelling and figures, and capitals…
hyphenation… Optical Alignment: positioned relative to frame
edges

The top section of the Character panel allows you to set the font and character
style.
• Font Collection: Select a collection to narrow the number of font families
listed. macOS: You can create and modify the font collections using the
FontBook application included with macOS. The list includes some auto-
matic categories as well as:
• Recents: Lists the 10 most recently-used font families.
• Missing Fonts: Lists the fonts used in the document that are not installed
on this computer.
• Favourites: Lists the font families you have marked as a favourite.
• Font Family: Select a font family (typeface) from the popup menu of those Tip: You can also select
installed on your computer, for example, Myriad Pro. Expand a font family to Font Family from the
see the available font styles and select one without having to select font style Context Toolbar
separately.
Click the Favourite icon to add the selected font family to your Favourites
collection. Tip: Click the
Favourite icon to
add the font family to
your Favourites
collection

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 87

 Filter by collection* Filter by type*

Expand/collapse font Not favourited

family Favourited

Selected font style

Sample text

Number of font styles

* Shown only when the font menu is opened from the Context Toolbar

Tip: You can also select • Font Size: Select a preset font size or enter a custom size. By default, Publisher
Font Size from the measures text in points (abbreviated as pt). Points are a traditional measure-
Context Toolbar ment system for type but there wasn’t a universal standard for its size until the
advent of desktop publishing. A point is defined now as 1⁄72 of an inch. You
can use the document’s measurement system instead of points by choosing
Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings…, clicking User Interface in the left pane, and
then deselecting Show Text in points.
Instead of specifying a size you can also choose to make the text larger or
smaller by a set increment. Choose Text > Size > Bigger, Smaller, Precise
Bigger, or Precise Smaller or their keyboard shortcuts:
Tip: If you don’t need Command macOS Windows Increment
these shortcuts,
remove them to avoid Bigger ⌘+> Ctrl + > 1 pt, 0.01 in, 0.1 mm
accidentally changing
font size; refer to Smaller ⌘+< Ctrl + > 1 pt, 0.01 in, 0.1 mm
Keyboard shortcuts on Precise Bigger ⌘+⌥+> Ctrl + Alt + > 0.1 pt, 0.001 in, 0.01 mm
page 307
Precise Smaller ⌘+⌥+< Ctrl + Alt + < 0.1 pt, 0.001 in, 0.01 mm

Tip: You can also select • Font Style (traits): Select a font style for the selected font family, for example,
Font Style from the Semibold Italic. Font style is a combination of traits, including weight (thin,
Context Toolbar medium, bold, black…), width (condensed, regular, expanded…) and slope
(roman, also referred to as regular or plain, and italics). The name of a font
style may not include all of its traits, for example, a font style named Italic
implies that it is for the roman (regular or plain) weight and is not condensed.
For an OpenType Variable font, Font Style lists its preset style variations.
Many users refer to font style as the font weight. Font style should not be
confused with Character Style which is a combination of character attributes
you create to format text.

88 Basic text
 Faux bold and italic Tip: You can also
choose the faux Bold
Some display fonts used for large headings, titles, and other non-body text and Italic traits from
purposes are available in just one or two font styles. For example, macOS and the Text > Character
Windows include just the Regular style of the font Impact because it is already Traits menu or click
bold and there is no italic version. The Bold and Italic buttons in the Context from the equivalent
Toolbar and the equivalent commands in the Text > Character Traits menu buttons in the Context
Toolbar
will be disabled when a bold or italic font style is not available. Some applica-
tions, including Microsoft® Word, will allow you to make it bold and italic
even if there isn’t a bold or italic font style, a technique known as faux bold
and faux italic. These applications smear the font to make it appear bold and Tip: You can create
slant the characters to make them appear italic. Publisher does not support your own faux italic by
faux bold and italic as they shouldn’t be used in professional typesetting. setting Shear to
approximately 14°

Tip: Be careful when using the Bold button or menu command. If you’re using a profes-
sional body font with several weights, such as Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, and Black,
the Bold button will not make the text the next bolder weight but make it Bold. If it’s
already Bold or Black, the Bold button will make it Regular.

• Font Colour and Background Colour: Click the colour samples to set the Tip: You can also select
text fill colour and background or highlight colours. Font Colour, but not
Background Colour,
from the Context
Font colour Colour Background colour
Toolbar

• Font Variations: Click to specify the font variations. Refer to Variable fonts Tip: Use the Outline
on page 90. Colour control in the
Decorations section
• Character Style: Select the character text style. Any other attributes you select to set the text outline
in the Character panel will override the character style. Refer to Creating text colour
styles on page 147 for more information.
Tip: You can also select
the character style
from the Text Styles
panel and Context
Toolbar

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 89

 Variable fonts
Tip: Variable fonts Publisher supports the OpenType Variable font format which requires just one
allow users to create font file for an entire font family. Variable fonts include preset style variations so
the exact font style that you can still choose Regular or Semibold as easily as with a static font but
required for a design
and require less space they also allow you to define your own instances, a combination of style varia-
when multiple styles tions (axes) for finer control than static fonts can offer.
are used
For example, a font with five weights and five widths would have previously
required 25 font style files but now all of them can be accessed with a single
variable font file, an if you want a weight or width somewhere between these
preset variations, you could define your own instance.

M M M M M
M M M M M
M M M M M
Weight axis

M M M M M
M M M M M
Width axis

To select a preset style variation, select it from the Font Style list. To define your
own instance, click the Font Variations button in the Character Panel or
Context Toolbar to display a popup window in which you can set the values for
Tip: Press ⌥ (macOS) each available axis.
or Alt (Windows) while
dragging an axis’ slider
to set a position
between the preset Axis slider Axis value
notches

The available axes vary between fonts but the most common are listed below. You
may see a four-character code instead of the name for some axes. Some fonts
may also have more axes than the font designer chose to offer because they are
controlled by the offered axes. However, you can see the hidden axes by clicking
Tip: The Show Hidden Show Hidden Axes.
Axes checkbox will be
visible only if there are • Weight: Set the font style from lighter to bolder. Adjusting the weight will
hidden axes to reveal also adjust spacing and kerning and will affect the width of characters.

MMM MMMMM
Preset weights: Roboto Flex Thin (100), Light Custom weights of 200 and 350 between the presets
(300), and Regular (400)

90 Basic text
• Width: Set the font style from narrower to wider. The range of available
widths varies between fonts and some fonts that offer Width may only offer
narrowing or widening.

MM MMMM
Preset widths: Roboto Condensed and Flex Custom widths of 50 and 150 on other side of Roboto Flex (100)

• Slant: Set the font style from regular (upright) to oblique (slanted). Some
fonts may also offer a reverse oblique (backslant) option. This option is simi-
lar to using the Shear option in the Position and Transform section of the
Character panel and for some fonts may produce identical results, but Slant is
preferred if available because it may control hidden axes and thus slant the
characters in the manner intended by the font designer.

Wag Wag Wag

Roboto Flex Regular Slant=-10 Publisher’s Shear=+10

• Italic: Set the font style from roman to italic. Some variable fonts, including
most fonts from Google Fonts, may offer italic as a separate font file rather
than as an axis in a single file. For those that offer italic as an axis, Publisher
will display a slider and allow you to set any value but most fonts offer only on
and off so setting a value in between the two extremes is unnecessary. The
Slant axis, if available, and Publisher’s Shear option, slant the characters
without changing their shapes but the Italic axis is a true italic and will
change the shape of certain characters, such as “a” and “g” in this example.

Wag Wag Wag

Archivo Regular Italic Regular with Shear=+10

• Optical size: Set the font style from optically sized for body text to display
type. Optical sizing often adjusts stroke contrast or serif size to improve
readability at different sizes. Lower values are better for body text and higher
values for display text.

Title Title Title

Roboto Flex (12) 30 50

• Lowercase height (YTLC): Set the x-height of lowercase characters.

Wa g Wag Wag
Nunito Sans (500) 440 540

• Ascender height (YTAS): Set the height of the ascenders of lowercase

characters.

look look look

Regular lowered ascenders raised ascenders

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 91

 • Uppercase height (YTUC): Set the height of uppercase characters. In some
fonts, this option can allow you to make uppercase characters as short as the
x-height so that the ascenders of lowercase characters are taller.

ePUB ePUB ePUB

Regular Height lowered Height raised

• Descender depth (YTDE): Set the height of lowercase descenders.

quip quip quip

Regular Depth lowered Depth raised

• Figure height (YTFI): Set the height of figures (numbers) to help them stand
out or blend in with other text.

a500 a500 a500

Regular Height lowered Height raised

92 Basic text
Decorations
The Decorations section of the Character panel allows you to specify underline, Tip: You cannot adjust
strikethrough, and the text outline, modifications (decorations) to the character Underline and
appearance. Strikethrough thick-
ness or positioning in
Underline thickness and positioning are defined in the font and are scaled auto- Publisher
matically based on font size. If you format text of varying sizes with underline,
Publisher will use the thickness and positioning of the larger text for a seamless
underline.
Continuous underline is based on
largest font size in the selected range
Interrupted underline is based on
individual font sizes

Underline off, single, Strikethrough off, single, double, and colour

double, and colour Outline stroke and colour
Tip: You can also
choose single Under-
• Underline and Colour: Select Single Underline or Double Underline line and Strike-
to enable one of these or No Underline to disable underline. Click the through from the Text
colour sample to set the underline colour. Setting to None will use the Font > Character Traits
Colour and will not make it invisible. menu or click the
equivalent buttons in
• Strikethrough and Colour: Select Single Strikethrough or Double the Context Toolbar
Strikethrough to enable one of these or No Strikethrough to disable
strikethrough. Click the colour sample to set the strikethrough colour. Setting Tip: You can also set
to None will use the Font Colour and will not make it invisible. Outline Stroke with
the Stroke panel and
• Outline Stroke and Colour: Click the stroke control to set the text outline’s Outline Colour with
thickness, dash pattern, and other properties. Click the colour sample to set the Colour panel
the text outline colour. Setting to None will cause the text will appear un-
stroked (default). Tip: Use the Font
Colour control in the
top section of the
panel to set the text fill
colour

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 93

 Position and Transform
The Position and Transform section of the Character panel allows you to change
how the characters are positioned relative to neighbouring characters and lines of
text and how they are scaled.

Kerning Shear
Tracking Horizontal Scale
Baseline Offset Vertical Scale
Leading Override Super/Subscript
No Break

Tip: Publisher does • Kerning: Kerning adds and removes space between specific pairs of charac-
not offer an Optical ters to correct visual gaps caused by adjacent characters with overhanging
Kerning feature to shapes. Most quality fonts have kerning values defined for character pairs that
automatically kern
characters based on would produce a gap but at large display sizes you may wish to override the
their shapes value set by the font designer.

To Av We To Av We
Auto 0‰

Tip: Choose Text > • Auto: Select to use the font’s defined kerning values. This field will show
Spacing > Use Default Auto only when a range of text set to Auto is selected; it will show the
to set kerning and font’s kerning value in parentheses when the text cursor is between two
tracking back to Auto,
the font’s default characters. If there is not a kerning pair value defined for the two charac-
ters then (0‰) will be shown.
Tip: Choose Text > • 0‰: Select to disable kerning for a pair of characters or range of text. The
Spacing > Use None field will show 0‰ if you have set it to zero or (0‰) if you have set it to
to set both kerning Auto.
and tracking to 0‰
• Preset or custom value: When the text cursor is between two characters,
Tip: You can’t change select a preset value or enter a custom value in permilles (thousandths of
kerning when a range an em space). Positive values will loosen spacing and negative values will
of text is selected,
except to Auto or 0‰ tighten spacing.
You can also tighten or loosen kerning by a set increment instead of specify-
Tip: Tighten and ing a kerning value. Choose Text > Spacing > Tighten, Loosen, Tighten
Loosen change
kerning when the text More, or Loosen More or their keyboard shortcuts:
cursor is between two Command macOS Windows Increment
characters, or tracking
when text is selected Loosen ⌥+� Ctrl+ � 10‰

Tip: If you don’t need Tighten ⌥+� Ctrl+ � 10‰

these shortcuts,
remove them to avoid Loosen More ⌘+⌥+� Shift + Alt + � 50‰
accidentally changing Tighten More ⌘+⌥+� Shift + Alt + � 50‰
kerning or tracking;
refer to Keyboard
shortcuts on page 307

94 Basic text
• Tracking: While kerning is used to add and remove space between specific Tip: Choose Text >
character pairs, tracking adds and removes space between all characters. Spacing > Use Default
Tracking can be used in conjunction with kerning. For example, you could to set kerning and
increase tracking to loosen the overall spacing but keep Auto kerning enabled tracking back to Auto,
the font’s default
to avoid unsightly gaps with overhanging character shapes. Select a preset
value or enter a custom value in permilles (thousandths of an em space). Tip: Choose Text >
Positive values will loosen spacing and negative values will tighten spacing. Spacing > Use None
to set both kerning
In general, display type should be tracked tightly with a negative value while and tracking to 0‰
you may not need to adjust tracking at all for body text. White text on a solid
background may need to be loosened to avoid having the characters seem
closer than they are.
Instead of specifying a tracking value you can also tighten or loosen tracking Tip: Tighten and
by a set increment. Choose Text > Spacing > Tighten, Loosen, Tighten More, Loosen change
or Loosen More or their keyboard shortcuts: kerning when the text
cursor is between two
Command macOS Windows Increment characters or tracking
when text is selected
Loosen ⌥+� Ctrl+ � 10‰
Tip: If you don’t need
Tighten ⌥+� Ctrl+ � 10‰ these shortcuts, you
Loosen More ⌘+⌥+� Shift + Alt + � 50‰ can remove them to
avoid accidentally
Tighten More ⌘+⌥+� Shift + Alt + � 50‰ changing kerning or
tracking; refer to

Tightened Normal Loosened Keyboard shortcuts on

page 307
-50‰ 0‰ 50‰ loose

• Baseline Offset: Select a preset baseline offset or enter a custom value. Posi- Definition: The
tive values will raise the character above the baseline and negative values will baseline is the invisi-
lower the character below the baseline. ble line on which the
bases of characters
Instead of specifying an offset you can also choose to raise and lower the without descenders
baseline by a set increment. Choose Text > Size > Raise Baseline, Lower are aligned
Baseline, Precise Raise Baseline, or Precise Lower Baseline or their keyboard
Tip: Use Baseline
shortcuts. You can also choose Use Default to reset the baseline to normal. Offset to adjust the
Command macOS Windows Increment vertical position of an
inline image to align it
Raise Baseline Shift + ⌥ + ↑ Shift + Alt + ↑ 1 pt, 0.01 in, 0.1 mm with neighbouring
characters
Lower Baseline Shift + ⌥ + ↓ Shift + Alt + ↓ 1 pt, 0.01 in, 0.1 mm
Tip: If you don’t need
Precise Raise ⌘ + Shift + ⌥ + ↑ Ctrl + Shift + Alt + ↑ 0.1 pt, 0.001 in, 0.01 mm these shortcuts,
Precise Lower ⌘ + Shift + ⌥ + ↓ Ctrl + Shift + Alt + ↓ 0.1 pt, 0.001 in, 0.01 mm remove them to avoid
accidentally changing
the baseline; refer to
Keyboard shortcuts on
page 307

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 95

 • Leading Override: Leading (line spacing) is normally set for an entire para-
Tip: Setting Leading graph but you can override it for specific characters. The paragraph leading
Override to less than value will be shown in parentheses if you have not overridden it.
the paragraph leading
value will have no • Shear: Enter a value to slant the characters to create the appearance of an
effect italicized font. Positive values will slant the characters to the right and nega-
tive values to the left. A faux italic can be created with a shear of approxi-
mately 14% and while it is not a replacement for a true italic font style, it can
be useful for display type.

Shear Shear Shear

-14° 0‰ 14°

• Horizontal Scale: Enter a value to horizontally scale the characters and the
Tip: Scaling art text space between them. Positive values will stretch the text and negative values
with the Move tool will condense it. Scaling is not a replacement for a true condensed or
will adjust its horizon- expanded font style, but it can be useful for display type.
tal scale
• Vertical Scale: Enter a value to scale the characters vertically. Positive values
will increase the height while negative values will decrease it.
Tip: Refer to Typogra- • Super/Subscript: Select Superscript or Subscript to automatically decrease the
phy on page 97 for font size and increase or decrease the baseline offset. You cannot adjust the
more information on changes applied and the changed values are not shown in the Font Size and
true superscript and
subscript Baseline Offset fields. It is better to use a font’s true superscript or subscript
characters than this automatic option because it results in thinner strokes
than normal characters, but some fonts don’t include true super- and sub-
script characters. Refer to Super/Subscript: on page 99 for more information.

Super¹ Sub₂ Super1 Sub2

True super- and subscript Automatic super- and subscript

Tip: No Break has no • No Break: Select to disable automatic word wrapping inside of a text frame.
impact on art text or This feature is useful to prevent automatic hyphenation of proper nouns (for
path text because example, Southampton), breaking at manual hyphens (for example,
there is no right frame
edge to wrap the text 90-degree), or to keep certain words together (for example, 4K TV).

Tip: There is no visual

indication when text is
formatted with No
Break but you can
search for it with Find
and Replace

Tip: Do not use No

Break with Justified
Left, Centre, Right, or
All because it will
cause characters to
overlap

96 Basic text
Typography
The Typography section of the Character panel allows you to access the Tip: The typography
extended characters of some fonts including ligatures, ordinals, super- and options change the
subscripts, and small caps. appearance of charac-
ters but do not change
the characters you
have entered; for
Option buttons example, lowercase
Option menus More letters will still be
lowercase when
Only the most common typography options are listed in the Character panel. applying All Caps
You can access the full set of options and view samples with the Typography
panel which you can open by clicking the More icon, by choosing Window > Tip: The Typography
Text > Show Typography, or by clicking the Show Typography icon in the options in the Charac-
Context Toolbar. OpenType fonts provide many typographic options so only the ter panel are listed as
radio buttons but as
most common are listed here. checkboxes in the
The typography options that are enabled in the Character panel or listed in the Typography panel;
the options available
Typography panel are dependent on the selected font and in some cases are depend on the
impacted by the Typography script and Typography language you have set as selected font
described in the section on Language on page 103. If an option such as Histori-
cal Ligatures isn’t listed in the Typography panel, it’s because the font doesn’t Tip: Typography
offer that option. Publisher will list all of the features of the font but you can hide options may be
the ones not relevant to the text cursor position or selected text by selecting Hide disabled or hidden for
some fonts if Spelling
irrelevant features at the top of the panel. Language is set to
None
Panel menu
Hide irrelevant features

Expand/collapse section

Two views of the

Typography panel for
different fonts

The most confusing aspect of these font features is that the OpenType font format
offers font designers multiple ways to accomplish the same thing, so fonts may
use different font features to offer the same options to users. For example, to use
slashed zero digits, one font may require you to select Character Variants while
another might require you to select a separate Slashed Zero option. Or to access
swash capitals, one font may require you to select the Swash option while
another might require you to select Historical Forms.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 97

Definition: A ligature • Ligatures: Select Standard Ligatures to substitute ligature glyphs in place
is a single character of the standard character glyphs for the most common character pairs such as
glyph that replaces the characters fi. This feature is on by default because it is almost always
two or more single
glyphs to improve
better to use these ligatures in place of separate character glyphs.
readability and
aesthetics fi ff fl ffi ffl fi ff fl ffi ffl
Standard ligatures on Standard ligatures off

Select Discretionary Ligatures to use less common glyphs that aren’t suitable
for all uses or Historical Ligatures to use glyphs that are no longer in
common use but which may be useful for setting. If a font includes either of
these ligature sets, they will be off by default.The choice of which ligatures to
include in which set is up to the font designer so you may find that a ligature
included in Discretionary Ligatures in one font is in Historical Ligatures in a
different font as shown below.

ct st sp ct st sp
Discretionary ligatures on (Minion Pro) Discretionary ligatures off

ct st ct st
Historical ligatures on (EB Garamond 12) Historical ligatures off

Select Contextual Ligatures to use ligature glyphs in the appropriate context,

such as when preceded by a specific character or followed by a space. This
feature is on by default because it is almost always better to use these ligatures
in place of separate character glyphs. The example below shows Contextual
Ligatures in the context of the following character which the font designer
could also have achieved by using the Final Forms option.

es est us use es est us use

Contextual ligatures on (EB Garamond 12) Contextual ligatures off

• Contextual Alternates: Select to use the alternate or variant form of a

character glyph depending on the context. They are commonly used to
improve the joining of specific characters but in this example, the alternate
form of the colon is raised above its normal position when used with digits to
express a time. The Contextual Alternates option is on by default if supported
by a font. Refer to the font’s documentation for a list of the supported
alternates.

9:15 Time: 9:15 Time:

Contextual Alternates on Contextual Alternates off

98 Basic text
• Ordinals: Select to format ordinal numbers such as 1st as superscripted
with characters scaled relative to adjoining characters of the same size. While
it may be more convenient to use the Superscript ordinals as they are typed
feature in Settings…, it is better to disable it and use ordinals as intended by
the font designer if they are available. This option is off by default because it
should be applied only to the ordinal number or else you will inadvertently
superscripting body text.

1st 2o 3re 1st 2o 3re

Ordinals on Ordinals off and superscript on

• Fractions and Figure Position: Select to use formatted fractions for Tip: Always precede a
numbers separated by a forward slash with digits scaled relative to adjoining fraction with a space
characters of the same size. This option is off by default because it should be or it will not be
properly formatted
applied only to the fraction itself. Some fonts support only basic fractions
such as ½ while others allow you to compose your own complex fractions
such as 1¼76. For the latter, format the Numerator and Denominator with the
options of the same names in the Figure Position section of the Typography
panel, and format the forward slash with Fraction.

½ ⅜ 1¼76
Basic fractions Composed fraction

Some fonts may also offer an Alternate Fraction option to change how the
fraction is displayed, but this may work only with single-digit fractions.

�⁄� � 3/8
Fraction Alternate fraction Standard characters

• Super/Subscript: Select to raise or lower characters from the baseline

and scale them relative to adjoining characters of the same size. While it may
be more convenient to use the similar Supers/Subscript feature in the Posi-
tioning and Transform section, it is better to use superscripts as intended by
the font designer if they are available. Some fonts may also offer Superior and
Inferior options for scientific notation which can be found in the Figure
Position section of the Typography panel.

Super¹ Sub₂ Super1 Sub2

True super- and subscript Automatic super- and subscript

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 99

 • All/Small Caps/Petite Caps and Case-Sensitive Forms: Select All Caps
or Small Caps to use a font’s style for true all uppercase or small capital
letters. You can also use the Text > Capitalization > All Caps and Small Caps
commands to access these features. Some fonts with a small x-height may also
support Petite Caps and All Petite Caps which are shorter than standard
Small Caps and work better with neighbouring lowercase text.

(CAPS 12) (Caps 12)

All Caps Standard characters

(Caps 12) (Caps 12)

Small Caps Standard characters

C��� text C��� text

Small Caps beside lowercase text Petite Caps beside lowercase text

If the font supports it, selecting All Caps from the Character panel will
automatically select the Case-Sensitive Forms and Capital Spacing options.
These options can be accessed individually in the Capitals section of the
Typography panel. Case-Sensitive Forms shifts characters such as parenthe-
ses up to align better with All Caps characters and lining figures while Capi-
tal Spacing improves the spacing of All Caps characters.

(CAPS 12) (CAPS 12)

Case-Sensitive Forms+Capital Spacing on Case-Sensitive Forms+ Capital Spacing off

Select Titling to use alternate characters designed specifically for uppercase

titles. The character glyphs are designed for titling instead of body text, but
unlike All Caps you must format the characters as uppercase yourself. This
feature is always available in Typography even for fonts that don’t support it
but it is off by default and is supported by few fonts.

Titling on (Missaali by Tommi Syrjänen) Titling off

Select Unicase to use single-case characters designed in which upper- and

lowercase characters are of uniform height. This feature is always available in
Typography even for fonts that don’t support it but it is off by default and is
supported by few fonts.

Unicase on (Emigre Filosofia Unicode) Unicase off

100 Basic text

• Character Variants: Click to select from a menu of the variants available
for the font. Applying these options to characters other than those in the
menu will have no effect so if you want to use certain variants throughout a
document you can enable them in a text style. Each of the characters in the
example below is a variant form of the standard character. For example, this
example has different glyphs for each of these letters and digits.

ɑll 4069 all 4069

Character variants Standard characters

Some fonts don’t group their variant or alternate characters so that you can
enable them with the Character Variants option and instead you must select
the individually from the Alternates section of Typography panel. A font may
offer a separate option for a Slashed Zero as shown above to distinguish
between a zero and capital O. Two other alternates are Historical Forms for
glyphs that are no longer in common use but which may be useful for a
period effect, such as the italicized long s which was used to replace one or
both of the letters s in a double s, and a Contextual Swash which will replace
the standard characters at the start or end of a word for a flourish. Tip: Some fonts may
offer swash characters
Congreſs Congress through a Swash Style
Set available from the
Historical Forms Standard characters Character panel

Queen Queen
Contextual Swash Standard characters

• Stylistic Sets: Click to select from a menu of the stylistic sets available for
the font. A stylistic set is a group of character variants or alternates that can
be applied together. For example, the font used in the example above allows
selecting the straight-sided six and nine separately as variants to combined as a
set. Not all of the characters in a set are available separately as character
variants so refer to the font’s documentation for a list, especially since sets are
not always clearly named.

Galf Galf
Stylistic set on Stylistic set off (standard characters)

• Swash: Click to select from a menu of the swash style sets available for Tip: Some fonts may
the font in place of the standard characters. Swash characters are often used at offer swash characters
the start or end of a word for a flourish. Be careful when using them in the through the Contex-
tual Swash option in
middle of a word because the swash may collide with another character. the Typography panel

Kick Kick
Swash characters Standard characters

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 101

 • Figure Style: Select Old Style from the Figure Style section of the Typogra-
phy panel for non-lining figures, also known as lowercase or hanging figures,
which have varying heights and baseline positions.

1234567890 1234567890
Old Style figures Lining figures

• Figure Width: Select Tabular from the Figure Width section of the Typogra-
Tip: Use Tabular phy panel when numbers in columns should align.
figures in conjunction
with Lining (non-Old
Style) figures for 12345 12345
columns of numbers
67890 67890
Tabular Proportional

• Word Position Forms: Select Isolated Forms to use a special version of a

character outside a word; this is on by default and useful for Arabic but must
be deselected for some script fonts. Select Initial Forms or Final Forms to use
a special version of a character at the start or end of a word; these are on by
default and there is little reason to deselect them.

Isolated Forms on Isolated Forms off

vane vane
Initial Forms and Final Forms on Initial Forms and Final Forms off

102 Basic text

Language
The Language section of the Character panel allows you to specify the language
for spelling and hyphenation, as well as the typography script and language.
You can add words to the included spelling dictionaries or the ones you install
(refer to Installing additional dictionaries on page 317) by right-clicking a mis-
spelled word and choosing Learn from the context menu, but you cannot add
words to the hyphenation exception dictionary.

Spelling language
Hyphenation language
Typography script
Typography language

• Spelling language: Select the language for the text. Select None to turn off Tip: You cannot
automatic spell checking. automatically disable
spell checking for
• Hyphenation language: Select Auto to allow Publisher to select the most capitalized words
appropriate hyphenation dictionary. For most languages, this will exactly
match the spelling language but some languages such as English (Canada) Tip: There is no reason
don’t have their own hyphenation dictionary so Auto uses English (US). It is to use the None option
for Hyphenation;
recommended that you select English (United Kingdom) instead of Auto for insert a soft hyphen
Canadian and Australian English and even Americans may wish to use UK before a word to
hyphenation. See Improving Hyphenation below for details. disable automatic
hyphenation for a
• Typography script and language: The typography script and language deter- word; you can also
mine how OpenType rules are applied and thus which alternate characters are format it with No
available. You can ignore these controls and leave them set to Auto if you Break
don’t need to access certain alternate characters. Typography script specifies
the way text is written, for example, Arabic, while Typography language Tip: You cannot
automatically disable
specifies the actual language, for example, Persian. Select Auto to allow Pub- hyphenation for
lisher to select the most appropriate option or Default to use the font’s default capitalized words
option. The typography scripts and languages available will depend on the
selected font.
Improving hyphenation
Publisher uses the widely-available Hunspell dictionary format used by many
other applications including LibreOffice and Apple’s operating systems. Unfortu-
nately, Hunspell’s English dictionaries are not equal in strength.
The Hunspell US, Canadian, and Australian English spelling dictionaries are
equivalent to a pocket dictionary while the UK English dictionary has twice as
many words and is equivalent to a standard dictionary. The result is that valid
words can be flagged as incorrect when formatted as US, Canadian, or Australian
English.
Hunspell offers hyphenation dictionaries only for US and UK English so

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 103

 Canadian and Australian English text with Hyphenation Language set to Auto
will be hyphenated with the US dictionary.
A hyphenation dictionary is not a list of words but a list of hyphenation patterns
(rules). Because the US English patterns were created based on a smaller set of
words, Hunspell has difficulty hyphenating some very common words. While
there are differences in hyphenation between countries, the differences are
primarily for the hyphens you type, such as pre-trial (UK) vs. pretrial (US). The
rules for automatic hyphenation are largely identical between the UK and US.
Even though the patterns in the UK hyphenation dictionary were created based
on a UK spelling dictionary, they work better for Canadian and Australian
English than the US English hyphenation dictionary. Therefore, Canadian and
Australian users should set Hyphenation Language to Auto for best results.
American users should also compare results with Hyphenation Language to
English (United Kingdom) because it will usually result in better hyphenation.
Doing this will not impact spell checking, only hyphenation.

104 Basic text

Optical Alignment
The Optical Alignment section of the Character panel allows you to specify how
punctuation and certain characters are positioned relative to the left and right
edges of the text frame. Optical alignment is off by default but is commonly used Tip: Optical Alignment
in magazines, brochures, and books to ensure that a page of text is visually is not recommended
aligned. It is generally used for body text and not for headings or tables. for use with art text or
path text because they
Optical alignment makes the left and right edges of a column of text look more lack a frame
uniform to the eye by slightly shifting certain characters and by hanging punctua-
tion (positioning it) outside of the text frame. With a bit of manual adjustment to
find the right value, you can even hang entire words outside of the text frame.
Punctuation hung “Hanging Product 1
outside of column
Normal Word hung New! Product 2
Curved side of character Optical outside of column
Product 3
outside of column

Type (on/off) Add Rule

Set Rule values Remove Rule

• Type: Select Font to enable optical alignment and use the font’s values or
Manual to use custom values. Select None to disable optical alignment. Few
fonts offer optical alignment values so selecting Font will almost always use
Publisher’s default values.
• Add: Click to add an optical alignment rule to the table below. Click the
Remove Rule icon to delete a rule from the table.
• Left/Right: Set how far the character should extend outside of the text frame’s
left or right edge. This value is specified as a percentage of the character
width.
• Characters: List the characters (without separators) to which the rule applies.
For example, CGOQ() characters extend 10% of their width out of the text
frame because they have curved sides.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 105

 Formatting paragraphs
Tip: Refer to Setting Paragraph attributes are those that can be applied only to entire paragraphs and
default text formatting include justification, indents, paragraph leading, tab stops, hyphenation, and
on page 128 for much more. For formatting attributes that can be applied only to any range of
information on
changing Publisher’s characters, refer to Formatting characters on page 86.
default paragraph If you regularly use the same combination of character attributes, consider
attributes
creating a character text style to ensure consistency and save time. Refer to
Creating text styles on page 147 for more information. Character attributes are
applied over the attributes defined in paragraph and character styles and are
sometimes referred to as character overrides.
To apply paragraph attributes:
All paragraph attributes can be selected from the Paragraph panel. Some of the
most common ones are also available from the Context Toolbar and those you
might want to use with a keyboard shortcut are also available in the Text menu.
Tip: If you select a 1. Using the Frame Text , Artistic Text , or Table tool, position the text
range of paragraphs it cursor in the paragraph to which you want to apply the formatting, or select a
is not important to range of paragraphs.
select all of the
paragraphs’ characters 2. Select the paragraph attributes. These are described in the following sections.
because Publisher will
apply the formatting To display the Paragraph panel:
to the entire
paragraphs 1. Click the Paragraph panel button in the Context Toolbar or choose
Window > Text > Paragraph.

Panel menu

Justification plus paragraph style

Expand/collapse section Spacing: Leading, left/right indents, first line

indent, space before/after,

Tab Stops
Justification: minimum, desired, and
Flow: Start, keep, maximum word and letter spacing
widow, and orphan Bullets and Numbering: list options
Hyphenation: auto
hyphenation rules Drop Caps
Initial Words: format a
paragraph’s first words Decorations: borders and fill

106 Basic text

Alignment (justification)
The top section of the Paragraph panel allows you to set the alignment of the
paragraph to the left or right edges of the text frame or text object and the para- Tip: You can also
graph style. choose all of these
options from the Text
Panel menu > Alignment menu or
click from the equiva-
Justification (from left): Left, Centre, and Right lent buttons in the
Paragraph style Align; Justified Left, Centre, Right, and All; Align Context Toolbar
towards spine, Align away from spine

• Left Align (default): Select to left align all lines of text; also known as rag
right.
• Centre Align: Select to centre align all lines of text.
• Right Align: Select to right align all lines of text; also known as rag left.
• Justified Left: Select to align text to both the left and right edges and to Tip: Do not use
left align the last line of the paragraph (recommended for justified text). Justified Left, Centre,
Right, or All with No
• Justified Centre: Select to align text to both the left and right edges and to Break because it will
centre align the last line of the paragraph. cause characters to
overlap
• Justified Right: Select to align text to both the left and right edges and to
right align the last line of the paragraph (not recommended for languages
written left-to-right).
• Justified All: Select to align text to both the left and right edges and to Tip: Publisher does
force justify the last line of the paragraph, even if it’s a single word (not not offer a Flush
recommended). Space (variable space)
character which is
• Align Towards Spine: Select to left align text on right pages and right sometimes used with
align text on left pages. Justified All text

• Align Away from Spine: Select to right align text on right pages and left
align text on left pages.
• Paragraph Style: Select the paragraph text style. Any other attributes you Tip: You can also select
select in the Paragraph panel will override the paragraph style. Refer to the paragraph style
Creating text styles on page 147 for more information. from the Text Styles
panel and Context
Toolbar

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 107

 Spacing
The Spacing section of the Paragraph panel allows you to set the space between
paragraphs and lines of text as well as how much text is indented from the left or
right edges.

Leading
Left and Right indent Space before
First Line indent and Space after
Last Line outdent Space between same styles
Sum space before and
after Use space before
Align to Baseline Grid
(override)

Tip: Leading is pro- • Leading: Leading controls the space between lines of text and is measured
nounced ledding from the baseline of a line of text to the line above it. Word processors usually
because it refers to the refer to leading as line spacing. To override leading for a range of characters
metal lead which was
previously used to set in a paragraph, refer to Leading Override on page 96.
type
Using a larger font size for
some text on a line will
Definition: The increase its leading when
baseline is the invisi- using Default or % Height
ble line on which the
Leading is measured
bases of characters
between baselines
without descenders
are aligned
• Default (not recommended): Select to use the font’s defined leading. The
Tip: You can also select calculated leading value for the font size will be shown as [value] in square
Leading options from brackets when you have selected Default. For example, if the font’s default
the Context Toolbar leading is 120% and the font size is 12 pt, then Publisher will show
[14.4 pt].
Tip: The Default leading option works very differently than the Auto leading option
in Adobe® InDesign® which uses leading of 120% (a value you can customize) while
Publisher uses the value the font designer intended. Unfortunately, many fonts,
including those from major type foundries, lack a default leading value or have a
poorly defined one which results in very tight leading in Publisher. Unless you’re
using a font that has properly-defined default leading such as fonts from Adobe, it is
recommended to avoid the Default option and to instead use Exactly or % Height.

A font with default leading of A font without default leading which

120% results in text that is too tight

• Exactly (recommended): Select to specify an exact leading value and then

enter the value into the field. You can also choose from a list of preset

108 Basic text

 leading values. If the font size is greater than the leading then characters in
the lines of text may overlap.
• % Height (recommended): Select to specify a percentage of the font size.
The calculated leading value will be shown as (value) in parentheses when
you have selected % Height. For example, if you enter 120% for a font size
of 12 pt then Publisher will show (14.4 pt). If you click in the Leading field
again, the percentage you entered will be shown.
• At Least: Select to specify the minimum leading for the font size. This
option is similar to Exactly and will generally result in a fixed leading
amount but if you increase the font size then leading may increase. The
value you enter will be shown as (value) in parentheses when you have
selected At Least to differentiate it from an exact value. For example, if you
enter 14 pt then Publisher will show (14 pt).
• Multiple (not recommended): Select to specify leading as a multiple of the
font’s default leading. Selecting Multiple will initially set leading to 1.5
times the font’s default leading. If you click in the Leading field, the multi-
ple will be shown but otherwise the field will show the calculated leading
value for the font size will be shown as [value] in square brackets. For
example, if the font’s default leading is 120%, the font size is 12 pt, and the
multiple is set to 1.5, then Publisher will show [21.6 pt].
Instead of specifying a leading value you can also increase or decrease leading
by a set increment. Choose Text > Paragraph Leading > Increase, Decrease,
Precise Increase, or Precise Decrease or their keyboard shortcuts:
Command macOS Windows Increment Tip: If you don’t need
these shortcuts,
Increase ⌥+↓ Alt + ↓ 2 pt, 0.02 in, 0.2 mm, 21%, 0.21x remove them to avoid
accidentally changing
Decrease ⌥+↑ Alt + ↑ 2 pt, 0.02 in, 0.2 mm, 21%, 0.21x leading; refer to
Precise Increase ⌘ + ⌥ + ↓ Ctrl + Alt + ↓ 0.2 pt, 0.001 in, 0.01 mm, 3.6%, 0.03x Keyboard shortcuts on
page 307
Precise Decrease ⌘ + ⌥ + ↑ Ctrl + Alt + ↑ 0.2 pt, 0.001 in, 0.01 mm, 3.6%, 0.03x

• Left/Right Indent: Enter the amount that the paragraph should be

indented from the left and right edges of the text frame or object. Entering a Tip: You can set Left,
value for Left Indent will automatically change First Line Indent by the same Right, and First Line
amount, and entering a value for Right Indent will change Last Line Outdent Indent visually with
the Text Ruler; refer to
by the same amount. Tab Stops in the
First Line Indent: Enter the amount that the first line should be indented following section for
• an example
from the left edge of the text frame or object. A typical value for a book is one
or two times the font size. To creating a hanging indent, enter the indent Tip: Instead of using
value into Left Indent and then set First Line Indent to zero. Left and Right Indent,
You can inset all text in
Publisher uses the macOS approach to first line indent and doesn’t work the a text frame with the
same way as Adobe® and Microsoft® applications. To create an indented first Insets fields in the
line, set Left Indent to 0 and First Line Indent to a positive value. To create a Text Frame panel

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 109

 hanging indent, set Left Indent to a positive value and set First Line Indent
to 0.
• Last Line Outdent: Enter the amount that the last line should be indented
from the right edge of the text frame or object. This feature is often used with
tables of contents and menus to hang their page numbers and prices outside
of the text by setting Right Indent to the value that the paragraph text should
be indented from the right edge of the text frame and setting Last Line Out-
dent to 0.
Misir Wot: Lentil stew in berbere
sauce ............................................................. 5 With Right Indent = 0 and Last Line Outdent = 0, the
Yekik Alicha: Yellow split peas in mild page numbers will be aligned with the menu items
turmeric sauce .........................................12
Misir Wot: Lentil stew in berbere
sauce ............................................................. 5 With Right Indent = 1p6 (18 pt) and Last Line Outdent
= 0, the page numbers will hang to the right of the
Yekik Alicha: Yellow split peas in menu items
mild turmeric sauce ...............................12

Tip: Always use Space • Space Before/After: Enter the amount of space that should be added
Before or Space After between paragraphs. You can add space before or after the paragraph, or add
to add space between both. The behaviour of these controls is modified by Space Between Same
paragraphs instead of
pressing Return a Styles, Sum Space Before and After, and Use Space Before which are
second time so that described below.
you can control the
amount of space • Space Between Same Styles: Select to override the defined Space Before and
Space After values and enter the amount of space to add between two para-
Tip: Use Space graphs of the same paragraph style.
Between Same Styles
to reduce the space • Sum Space Before and After: Select to add both Space Before and Space
between items in a After. When deselected, Publisher will use only the larger value.
bulleted or numbered
list while continuing • Use Space Before: Select Only Between Paragraphs to avoid adding Space
to add more space Before the first line of text in a column or text frame or select Always to allow
before and after the space to be added at the top of a column or frame. You can also select Only at
first and last list Column Top but there is no reason to use that option.
paragraphs
• Align to Baseline Grid: Select to ignore the baseline grid(s) of the document
or text frame allowing the paragraph to be positioned according to the text
formatting. This setting overrides the baseline grid for the paragraph. Refer to
Baseline grid on page 42 for information on using a baseline grid.

110 Basic text

Tab Stops
The Tab Stops section of the Paragraph panel allows you to indent text with tab
characters to specific positions relative to the left edge of a text frame or object. Tip: For text frames or
You can also specify that the tab’s space be filled with a visible character to form a objects with curved or
dot leader or other type of leader. irregular left edges,
tab stops are relative
to the leftmost point;
Panel menu
for Path Text, the tab
Default tab stops Add tab stop stops are positioned
Tab stop list along the path and
Tab stop value Delete tab stop not necessarily in a
straight line

Tab stop alignment Tab stop leader More

Click the More icon for a tab stop or click a tab stop in the Text Ruler to
display a popup window and edit additional tab stop settings:

Alignment Decimal Character

Leader Type Leader Character
Tab Stop Position Measure from right edge
Delete Tab Stop

When working with tab stops you may wish to choose View > Show Text Ruler Tip: The Text Ruler is
so that you can visually set and modify tab stops. The Text Ruler will appear not available for path
above the active text frame or object. You can move the ruler closer to the text text objects
you are formatting by dragging the handle on the left side of the ruler.
Left Indent First Line Indent Right Indent
Tab Stop

Drag to move

Drag an indent or tab stop marker in the Text Ruler to change its position. Click
a tab stop marker to edit its values in the same popup window above that is
opened from the Tab Stops section of the Paragraph panel.
• Default tab stops: Set the default spacing for tab stops. Adding tab stops will
override the default spacing until the last added tab stop at which point the
default spacing will resume.
• Add tab stop: Click to create a new tab stop. Its default position will be the
sum of the last tab stop and the default tab stop spacing. You can also add a
tab stop by clicking on the Text Ruler.
• Tab stop position: Set the position for the tab stop. You can also change a tab
stop’s position by dragging its marker in the Text Ruler.
Click the More icon and select From Right to measure the position from
the right edge of the ruler. You can also change where a tab stop is

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 111

 measured from by dragging the tab stop between the top and bottom of the
text ruler. Drag it from the bottom to the top of the text ruler to measure it
from the right or to the bottom to measure it from the left. Measuring from
the right is commonly used in conjunction with a leader.
• Tab stop alignment: Select the alignment for the tab stop. You can also
change a tab stop’s alignment by clicking its marker in the Text Ruler and
selecting an alignment from the popup window.
• Left: Select to left align text to the tab stop.

• Centre: Select to centre align text to the tab stop.

• Right: Select to right align text to the tab stop.

• Decimal: Select to align the next decimal in the text to the tab stop.
The default decimal character is a period but you can change it by click-
ing the More icon and entering a different character into the Decimal
field.

• Leader type (dot leader): Click the More icon for a tab stop or click a
Tip: You can also tab stop in the Text Ruler and select a dot leader type:
double-click a tab stop
in the Text Ruler to • None: Select to use a normal blank tab.
cycle through the
types of tabs until you • Character: Select to fill the tab space with a leader. The default
reach the one you period character will create a dot leader but you can enter a custom
want leader Character.
• Underline: Select to fill the tab space with underline characters
which is useful for creating printed forms.
• Strikethrough: Select to fill the tab space with strikethrough
characters.
• Delete tab stop: Click the Delete icon to delete the corresponding tab
stop. You can also delete a tab stop by dragging it off of the Text Ruler and
then releasing the mouse button.

112 Basic text

Justification Options
Justifying text, aligning it to both the left and right edges of the text frame or Tip: If you don’t want
object, requires adding and removing space between words and letters to balance to change the Justifi-
lines of text. The Justification section of the Paragraph panel allows you to set cation options, review
your text for incorrect
the minimum, desired, and maximum word- and letter-spacing options for the hyphenation and
justification options in the top section of the panel. insert soft hyphens
where possible
The minimum and maximum options will have no impact on left-, centre-, or
right-aligned text. For word spacing, you can enter values from 0 to 250% while
for letter spacing you can enter values from -100 to 250%. However, for both
word and letter spacing, the Minimum value must be less than the Desired value
which must be less than the Maximum value.
Publisher will do its best to honour the values you set and will never use less than
the minimum spacing, but if it is impossible to fit or break a word, Publisher will
exceed the maximum as required.

Minimum, Desired, and

Maximum word spacing Minimum, Desired, and Maximum letter spacing

• Minimum, Desired, and Maximum word spacing: Set the desired Tip: Using two spaces
space between words and sentences. Change the desired word spacing to between sentences
reduce or increase the width of the space character. Change the minimum will interfere with the
word spacing settings
and maximum word spacing to avoid unsightly rivers of white space in justi-
fied text; minimum and maximum will have no effect on non-justified text. Tip: Publisher does
The default values of 80, 100, and 133% will work well for most text. not also offer Glyph
Scaling (horizontal
• Minimum, Desired, and Maximum letter spacing: Set the desired scaling) for automatic
space between characters, before the application of kerning and tracking. justification
These values will be set to zero by default so that space will be added and
removed only between words. You would not normally set desired spacing to
more than zero but if your text has unsightly rivers of white space, you might
consider increasing the maximum; minimum and maximum will have no
effect on non-justified text. Changing the desired spacing is similar to chang-
ing tracking for a paragraph.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 113

 Flow
Tip: Publisher does The Flow section of the Paragraph panel allows you to direct Publisher to avoid
not offer an option to creating widows and orphans and to set where a paragraph should start.
avoid runts; one way
to fix a runt is to select Incorrect use of these options can lead to unusual text flow with entire para-
the runt and the graphs moved to the next page.
preceding word and
set No Break so that Widow Widow
the last two words will
be on a new line

Runt
Orphan

A widow occurs when the last line of a paragraph can’t fit at the bottom of the
previous text frame or column and is positioned on its own at the top of a
column. An orphan occurs when the first line of a paragraph is all that can fit at
the bottom of a text frame or column. A runt occurs when the last line of a
paragraph has only a single word.

Start paragraph
Keep with previous
Prevent orphans
Keep together
Prevent widows
Keep with next

• Start anywhere: Set where the paragraph will start. This option is often used
to start certain levels of headings at the top of the next page, text frame, or
column as an alternative to manually inserting a page, column, or frame
break.
• Anywhere: Select to allow the paragraph to start anywhere after the previ-
ous paragraph.
• In Next Column: Select to force the paragraph to start in the next column.
• In Next Frame: Select to force the paragraph to start in the next text
frame.
• On Next Page, Next Odd Page, Next Even Page: Select to force the para-
graph to start on the next page or next odd or even numbered page. Next
page refers not to the next sequential page but to the next text frame in the
linked series that is not on the current page.
Tip: Don’t set both • Keep with previous paragraph: Select to keep at least the first line of the
Keep with Previous paragraph with the last line of the previous paragraph. Setting this option for
Paragraph and Keep a paragraph following a heading will avoid the heading being positioned at
Paragraph Together
for all body text the bottom of a text frame or column without text beneath it.

114 Basic text

• Prevent orphaned first lines: Select to keep the first two lines of a paragraph
together to avoid an orphan at the bottom of a text frame or column.
• Keep paragraph together: Select to keep the entire paragraph together. If the
next text frame or column isn’t large enough to fit the entire paragraph then
Publisher will be forced to break it.
• Prevent widowed last lines: Select to keep the last two lines of a paragraph
together to avoid a widow at the top of a text frame or column.
• Keep with next: Enter the number of lines of the next paragraph that the last
line of a paragraph should be kept with. Always use this option together with
Prevent widowed last lines to avoid creating widows.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 115

 Bullets and Numbering
Tip: Bullets and The Bullets and Numbering section of the Paragraph panel allows you to create
Numbers are not plain and set the formatting of bulleted and numbered lists. Publisher allows you to
text so their characters create multi-level (hierarchical) lists as well as those spanning an entire
cannot be found with
Find and Replace and document.
are not counted by Each item in a list must be a separate paragraph; entering a line break will not
Word Count
create a new item in the list.
To create a bulleted or numbered list:
Tip: It is recom- 1. Position the text cursor in a paragraph or select a range of paragraphs.
mended to use
paragraph styles to 2. Select the Bulleted List or Numbered List icons in the Context Tool-
format bulleted and bar or choose Text > List > Bullet or Number.
numbered lists to
ensure consistent 3. Set the list formatting options as described below.
formatting
4. To add another item to the list, position the text cursor at the end of a list
paragraph and press Return.
5. To end the list, press Return to start a new paragraph and set List Type to No
List.
To change a bulleted or numbered list to regular paragraphs:
1. To remove the bullets or numbers entirely, select the paragraph(s) and dese-
lect the Bulleted List or Numbered List icon in the Context Toolbar.
You can also deselect the Text > List > Bullet or Number command or set
Type to No List in the Bullets and Numbering section of the Paragraph
panel.
2. To convert the bullets or numbers from a list to editable text, select the para-
graph(s) and choose Text > Expand > Expand List. The visual appearance of
the paragraphs will be unchanged but you will now be able to format or delete
the bullets and numbers.
To create a multi-level (hierarchical) list:
1. Create a bulleted or numbered list.
2. Position the text cursor at the start of a list paragraph that should be a child of
the item before it, or select a range of paragraphs.
3. Press Tab to increase the list level or press Shift + Tab to decrease the list level.
This will change the List Level and Left Indent values without entering a tab
character.
4. To include the parent’s number in the list number (for example, 1.1, 1.2…),
insert the parent’s level number into the Text field by clicking the caret
icon at its left and selecting from the popup menu. For example, the Text field
should contain the following for these number formats:

116 Basic text

 Format Text value Notes

7.1, 7.2, 7.3… . refers to the parent level

7.2.1, 7.2.2, 7.2.3… . . refers to the first parent level and

refers to the second parent level

7a, 7b, 7c… This is the same as the first level but with a
different number format and without the
decimal

To format list markers (bullets and numbers):

If you apply character formatting to the first character in a bulleted or numbered
paragraph, the formatting will also be applied to the list marker, the bullet or
number. Tip: An alternative to
using a character style
1. Create a character style for the list marker that specifically defines the to avoid the format-
attribute you do not want changed by the following paragraph text’s format- ting of the first charac-
ting. For example, if you apply Bold to the following text, define this style as ter changing the list
Regular. marker is to insert a
Zero-Width Space
2. Select the list paragraphs and select the character style from the Character between the marker
Style option in the Bullets and Numbering section of the Paragraph panel. and first character

To create a running list (a named list for global numbering):

In addition to creating a list of consecutively numbered paragraphs, you can
create a running list and add new items to it anywhere in your document or Definition: The term
Book. Named lists are especially useful for numbering figures and illustrations. running list refers to a
list that is interrupted
If you add paragraphs to the same list in multiple text frames on the same page, by other paragraphs
they could be numbered incorrectly depending on the position of the text frames or even the end of a
in the layer stack. The text frame that should be numbered before another should story or Book chapter
be lower in the layer stack than the other frame.
1. Select a numbering style from the Type field.
2. Enter the text to define the list marker in the Text field. You can include
Figure or a similar word as a prefix.
Format Text value

Figure 1: some text… Figure :

3. Set Tab Stop to 0 if the list marker (Text) includes or will be followed by a
space and set Marker Alignment to Left.
4. Set Start Numbering At to 1.
5. Select Restart Numbering to Manual Only and deselect Restart Numbering
Now.
6. Enter a unique list Name and select Global.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 117

 7. Optional: Select a character style to apply to the list marker (Text).
Tip: Test with the 8. Optional: To right-align the numbers, set Marker Alignment to Right. Using
largest number to the Spacing section of the panel, set First Line Indent to greater than zero.
determine the appro-
priate First Line 9. Create a paragraph style for this list. For all subsequent items in this noncon-
Indent value secutive list, you must set every item in the Bullets and Numbering panel
exactly for the list to continue and be formatted consistently so it is easier to
do this using a paragraph style. Refer to Creating text styles on page 147 for
more information.
Using the Bullets and Numbering panel:

List type List level

List marker Bullet glyph browser
Marker tab stop Marker alignment
Start numbering at
Restart numbering where
Restart numbering now (override)
List name Global list
List character style

• List type: Select Bullet for a bulleted list or select one of the number formats
for a numbered list to change a regular paragraph to a list. Select No List to
change a list paragraph back to a regular paragraph.
It is recommended to use this setting only when editing paragraph styles and
formatting lists and to instead select the Bulleted List or Numbered List
icons in the Context Toolbar or choose Text > List > Bullet or Number.
Tip: If a paragraph was These options don’t provide the means to select the bullet character or
previously formatted number format but they will automatically indent the list paragraph, saving
as a list, using the you from having to manually format a standard list.
menu commands or
Context Toolbar icons • List level: Set the list level to a value between 1 and 9 for a multi-level (hierar-
will restore its prior chical) list or choose Text > List > Increase Level or Decrease Level or their
format
keyboard shortcuts:
Tip: If you don’t need Command Shortcut
these shortcuts,
remove them to avoid Increase Level Ctrl + Shift + ] (Alt + Shift + ])
accidentally changing
leading; refer to Decrease Level Ctrl + Shift + [ (Alt + Shift + [)
Keyboard shortcuts on
page 307 Changing this number will not automatically change the list paragraph’s left
indent. It is recommended to use this setting only when editing paragraph

118 Basic text

 styles and to instead position the text cursor at the start of a paragraph or Tip: When using Tab
select the paragraphs and press Tab or Shift + Tab to change the Left Indent to indent selected
value at the same as the list level is changed. paragraphs, you must
start the selected text
• Text (list marker): Enter the text to define the list marker: range at the begin-
ning of a paragraph or
Bulleted list: Enter a bullet character followed by a tab . Click the caret a tab character will be
icon at the left of the field to select from a list of common bullet characters or entered, deleting the
click the more icon to select a bullet from the Glyph Browser. A bulleted selected text
list will normally have the same bullet character(s) for each list paragraph but
it is possible to use a different bullet for each item. Tip: Refer to Glyph
Browser on page 70
Numbered list: Click the caret icon at the left of the field to select from a
list of options including list number levels. The default value of the current
number level followed by a tab is suitable for basic lists. To format a
number such as 1.2.3, use the parent number levels for the first two levels
separated by periods, for example, . .
• Tab stop: Enter the amount of space from the list marker (text) to the start of
the paragraph text because lists don’t use the default or set tab stops but have
their own tab stop value. Choose a value that is wide enough to fit the largest
number and the white space before the paragraph text.

Example of a multi-level numbered list with Marker

Alignment set to Left
• for level 1, Tab Stop and Left Indent are set to 2p (24
pt) and First Line Indent is set to 0
• For level 2, Tab Stop is set to 4p (48 pt) and Left
Indent and First Line Indent are set to 2p (24 pt)

• Marker alignment: Select the alignment of the bullet or number Text Tip: First Line Indent
(marker). This is normally used only with numbered lists so that the numbers must be set to greater
can be right aligned, but it can also be used with bulleted lists that have than zero with centre-
and right-aligned
glyphs of varying widths. markers
To right align the numbers,
set Marker Alignment to Tip: Test with the
Right and First Line Indent to largest number to
a value that is greater than determine the appro-
zero, less than Left Indent priate First Line
and Tab Stop, but wide Indent value
enough to fit the numbers

• Start numbering at: To start numbering at a value other than 1, enter a

different starting number.
• Restart numbering: Set when numbered should be restarted.
• Any Non List (default): Select to restart numbering after any paragraph
that isn’t numbered and at the next paragraph with a higher List Level.
• Manual Only: Select to allow numbering to continue throughout a story
even if there are intervening paragraphs that aren’t numbered.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 119

 • Below Current Level: Select to allow numbering to continue throughout a
story as with Manual Only but to restart numbering at the next paragraph
with a higher List Level.
• Below Level #: Same as above but below a specified level number. This
option is available only when there is already at least a second level.
• Restart numbering now: Select to restart numbering at 1 with the current list
paragraph and override the Restart numbering setting.
• Name and Global: Enter a name for a list to be continued throughout multi-
ple stories in a document or in a Book’s chapters. For each list in each story,
set Restart numbering to Manual Only, enter a list name, and select Global.
The names you enter must exactly match for list numbering to be continued.
• Style: Select a character style to apply to the list marker (Text). Use this option
if you want the bullets to be a different colour than the text or the numbers to
be bold.

120 Basic text

Hyphenation
The Hyphenation section of the Paragraph panel allows you to enable automatic
hyphenation and configure how it functions.
Using hyphenation with the default settings, especially in narrow columns, can
lead to hyphenation issues.
2-character prefix

4 consecutive hyphens

Hyphenated name Hyphenated name

Example of hyphenation Setting Max Consecutive Hyphens, Minimum

issues using default settings Prefix, and Maximum Prefix to 3 corrects the issues
except for the hyphenated name which can be
fixed by inserting a soft hyphen before the name

Customizing the default settings will correct most issues but the ideal settings Tip: Choose Text >
depend on the font, column width, language, and content type. Words containing Insert > Dashes and
a soft hyphen (discretionary hyphen) will never be hyphenated at any other Hyphens > Soft
Hyphen to insert a
position. You can prevent a word such as a name from being hyphenated by soft hyphen
inserting a soft hyphen before the word; it will never be visible.

Enable hyphenation
Minimum score (0 to 10, whole numbers)
Minimum word length (shortest word to hyphenate)
Minimum prefix (characters before hyphen)
Minimum suffix (characters after hyphen)
Maximum consecutive hyphens
Hyphenation zone
Capital zone
Paragraph end zone
Column end zone

• Use auto-hyphenation: Select to enable hyphenation or deselect to disable it.

It is recommended that hyphenation be disabled for heading styles.
• Minimum score (not recommended): Enter a whole number between 0
(default) and 10 to control how aggressively text is hyphenated. Publisher will
hyphenate at any point with a score of 0 but only at the most preferable points
with a score of 10. In practice, scores higher than 5 will lead to no hyphen-
ation. Scores of 0 or 1 are recommended for strong hyphenation or 2 or 3 for
less hyphenation.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 121

 • Minimum word length: Enter the minimum number of characters a word
must have for it to be hyphenated. The default value of 5 is recommended for
English text.
• Minimum prefix and suffix: Enter the minimum number of characters before
the first hyphen in a word and after its last hyphen. For example, changing
these options from their default of 2 to 3 would cause automatic to be
hyphenated only as auto-matic instead of as au-tomatic in addition to
auto-matic. It is recommended changing these options to 3 for English text.
• Max consecutive hyphens: Enter the maximum number of consecutive
hyphens that should be allowed. The default of 0 will allow unlimited consec-
utive hyphens. Values of 2 or 3 are recommended.
• Hyphenation zone: Enter the amount of space from the right edge allowed at
the end of a line before hyphenating the next word. The default of 0 will allow
any hyphenation while increasing the value will result in less hyphenation.
Commonly-used values are 2–3p, 24–36 pt, 0.3–0.5 in, or 8–12 mm.
• Capital zone: Enter a separate hyphenation zone value for words that are in
Tip: Publisher does all uppercase. Set a value larger than the width of most uppercase words to
not offer an option to prevent them from being hyphenated.
prevent capitalized
words, including • Paragraph end zone: Enter a value to override the paragraph’s Hyphenation
proper names, from Zone value for the last full line of the paragraph. Many users set this value to
being hyphenated; it is about 150% of Hyphenation Zone to avoid hyphenating short words at the
recommended that
you review your text end of a paragraph. To prevent the last word in a paragraph from being
and address issues by hyphenated regardless of length, set this value to the width of the column.
inserting a soft
hyphen before a • Column end zone: Enter a value to override the paragraph’s Hyphenation
hyphenated name to Zone value for the last line of a column that is continued in another column.
disable automatic To avoid hyphenating the last word in a column, set this value to the width of
hyphenation; you can the column. To allow longer words to be hyphenated at the end of a column,
also format it with No set this value to about 150% of Hyphenation Zone.
Break

122 Basic text

Drop Caps
The Drop Caps section of the Paragraph panel allows you to scale and position
the first character or characters of a paragraph so they occupy the space of multi-
ple lines of text. Drop caps are commonly used in books at the start of a chapter.

Example of a 3-line drop cap Example of a 5-character wide drop cap

To create a basic drop cap:

1. Position the text cursor in a paragraph or select a paragraph.
2. Select Enabled in the Drop Caps section of the Paragraph panel.
3. Increase the Distance to text value to add white space to the right of the drop
cap character to avoid a drop cap with a vertical right stroke encroaching on
the neighbouring characters.
4. Select Align left edge so that the enlarged drop cap character is better aligned
with the text below it.
5. To create a drop cap of more than one character, deselect Auto and enter the
number of characters.

Enable drop caps

Drop cap height
Number of characters to format as a drop cap
Gap between
Align drop cap to frame
Scale if descender present
Drop cap character style

• Enabled: Select to create a drop cap at the start of the paragraph or deselect to
remove the drop cap.
• Height in lines: Enter the height of the drop cap in lines of text. You may
enter values of 1 to 20 and the default is 3. A value of 1 will appear as normal
text.
• Characters: When Auto is deselected, enter the number of characters that
should be formatted as a drop cap. You can enter any number of characters
but this is normally limited to the first word.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 123

 • Auto: Select to convert the first alphanumeric character and any preceding
punctuation to a drop cap. Deselect to specify the number of characters to
include in the drop cap.
The Auto setting is better than specifying one character manually because if
the first letter is preceded by a quotation mark, they will be converted
together into a drop cap together. To hang the quotation mark outside the left
edge of the text frame, select the quotation mark and set Type to Font in the
Optical Alignment section of the Character panel.

Example of a drop cap using Auto Example of a drop cap using Auto with
Optical Alignment enabled

• Distance to text: Enter a value to add white space to the right of the drop cap
character to avoid a drop cap with a vertical right stroke encroaching on the
neighbouring characters.
• Align left edge: Select so that the enlarged drop cap character is better
aligned with the text below it.
• Scale for descenders: Select if you are converting a lowercase letter with a
descender to a drop cap to avoid the descender overlapping the text below.
Publisher will automatically scale the drop cap so that the entire glyph is
inside the specified number of lines.
Tip: You cannot • Style: Select a character style to apply to the drop cap. Use this option to
override an attribute change the font or colour for the drop cap rather than directly applying
of the Drop Caps Style formatting attributes.
if it’s defined as part of
that style; for example,
if Style is defined as
Garamond, you cannot
select the text and
format it as Times

124 Basic text

Initial Words
The Initial Words section of the Paragraph panel allows you to apply different
formatting to the first few words of a paragraph. This option is used with some
books that apply formatting such as uppercase letters to the first few words but it
can also be used to apply formatting such as bold to the text in a bulleted list
until a punctuation character is encountered.
Example of initial words using
default settings with a bold
character style

Example of initial words using

default settings with a bold
character style and Optical
Alignment enabled

Enable initial words

Number of words to format as Initial Words
End characters for early termination
Initial words character style

• Enabled: Select to format the first words with different formatting at the start
of a paragraph or deselect to remove the Initial Words. There is no default
formatting for initial words so this setting will have no apparent impact until
you select a Style.
• Max word count: Enter the number of words to format as Initial Words.
• End characters: To end the Initial Words formatting before the Max Word
Count limit is reached, enter one or more characters at which to automati-
cally end the formatting. The most common end characters are included in
the field by default but you can enter any character. Click the caret icon at
the left of the field to select from a list of common special characters.
• Style: Select a character style to apply to the initial words. Tip: You cannot
override an attribute
of the Initial Words
Style if it’s defined as
part of that style; for
example, if Style is
defined as Garamond,
you cannot select the
text and format it as
Times

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 125

 Decorations (background and borders)
Tip: Publisher does The Decorations section of the Paragraph panel allows you to set the stroke and
not offer separate Rule background fill for paragraphs. Strokes on all four sides can be combined to
Above/Below and create a box around a paragraph while strokes on the top and bottom can be used
Border features but
instead offers the for rules above or below a paragraph.
more flexible Decora- The background fill for a paragraph extends to its left and right edges and fills the
tions feature that
allows you to create space between lines of text while the similar Background Colour option in the
any combination of Character panel only fills behind the individual characters.
rules and borders
This text has a This text has a
Tip: To add a fill character paragraph
behind the entire text background background
frame instead of just Example of character Example of paragraph
the paragraph or background colour background colour
characters, use the
Text Frame panel A decoration is made up of one or more stroked sides and the background fill.
You can create multiple decorations for a paragraph which will be automatically
named Decoration 1, 2, 3… Strokes will be applied in numerical order so if you
set Decoration 1 to have a 10 pt black stroke and Decoration 2 to have a blue fill,
the blue fill of Decoration 2 will obscure the inner half of Decoration 1’s stroke.
Use paragraph decorations Example using a background
to create callouts fill and left stroke

Selected decoration Add/Delete decoration

Stroke side and Fill

Indent from Indent relative to

Stroke colour Stroke

Fill colour Transparency
Combine identical decorations

• Selected decoration: When using more than one decoration, select the deco-
ration to edit or delete.
Tip: There is no limit • Add/Delete decoration: Click Add to create an additional decoration or
on the number of Delete to delete the selected decoration. New decorations will be created
decorations you can with the same settings as the selected decoration.
add
• Stroke side and fill: Select the left , top , right , or bottom side(s) to
which to add a stroke (border or rule) or fill .
• Indent from: Enter a positive value to indent the stroke and fill or a negative
value to outdent the stroke and fill.

126 Basic text

• Indent relative to: Select how the stroke and fill are aligned. The left and right
sides can be aligned to:
• Column: Select to align to the left or right edge of the column.
• Indents: Select to align to the Left Indent and Right Indent values speci-
fied in the Spacing section of the panel.
• Text (default): Select to align to the left or right edge of the longest line of
text in the paragraph. For text that is left-aligned, setting the left side to
Text will have the same result as selecting Column while setting the right
side to Text will usually result in a stroke and fill that are inset from the
column’s edge.
The top and bottom sides can be aligned to:
• Ascent: Select to align to the highest ascent of all the characters on the first
(top) or last (bottom) line of text. This option is not recommended for
bottom because the stroke and fill would be above the line of text.
• Baseline: Select to align to the baseline of the first (top) or last (bottom)
line of text. This option is not recommended for Top because the stroke
and fill would be below the line of text, overlapping only the descenders.
• Cap Height (default for Top): Select to align to the highest cap height of
any character on the first (top) or last (bottom) line of text. This option is
not recommended for bottom because the stroke and fill would be above
the line of text.
• Descent (default for Bottom): Select to align to the lowest descent of all
the characters on the first (top) or last (bottom) line of text. This option is
not recommended for top because the stroke and fill would be below the
line of text.
• X Height (not recommended): Select to align to the largest x height of any
character on the first (top) or last (bottom) line of text.
• Stroke: Click the colour sample to set the colour of the border stroke and
click the stroke control on its right to set its thickness, dash pattern, and other
properties.
• Fill colour: Click the colour sample to set the colour of the fill.
• Transparency: Click to set the transparency of the stroke and fill.
• Combine identical decorations: Click to combine overlapping decorations
from multiple paragraphs. The horizontal strokes will be removed and the fill
extended to include the space between the paragraph.
Two paragraphs Two paragraphs
of text of text
Two paragraphs Two paragraphs
of text of text
Combine identical off Combine identical on

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 127

 Setting default text formatting
Publisher allows you to change the default values for all character and paragraph
formatting. You can customize the defaults by setting all of the formatting
options to what you would like them to be and then saving that group of settings
as the new defaults. You can also revert to Publisher’s original defaults at any
time.
In addition to the default formatting used for new documents, Publisher also has
session defaults, the formatting that is currently in use. For example, Publisher’s
factory default formatting is Arial 12 pt and if you choose Garamond 14 pt that
will be the current session default. Setting the default formatting saves the cur-
rent session defaults.
Publisher has separate default formatting for text frames (standard text
frames, shape text frames, and tables) and for text objects (art text and path
text). When you save the current formatting as the default, you are saving
changes to both text frame and text object defaults at the same time.
Setting the default formatting will save character, paragraph, and the names of
the default character and paragraph text styles, but it will not save the text style
definitions. If you set the defaults while a paragraph or character style is in use,
the text style name will be saved in your defaults, but for that to be effective you
would also need to save that text style as a default style for new documents. Refer
to Importing and setting default text styles on page 152.
To set the default formatting based on formatted text:
1. To set the defaults for text frames (including shape text frames and tables) to
Tip: The tool you use match existing formatted text, choose the Frame Text or Table tool.
doesn’t have to match
the formatted text’s To set the defaults for text objects (including art text and path text) to match
object type; for existing formatted text, choose any other tool such as the Artistic Text or
example, you could Move tool.
use the Frame Text
tool to set the default 2. Position the text cursor in the text whose formatting you want to set as the
formatting based on default and choose Edit > Defaults > Synchronize from Selection or click the
text in an art text matching icon in the Toolbar to set Publisher’s session defaults to match
object
the text’s formatting.
Tip: To set a the To set the defaults for text frames and text objects, repeat steps 1 and 2.
default formatting for
text frames and 3. The defaults for new text frames and/or text objects in this document will
now be changed. To save these session defaults as Publisher’s defaults for new
documents, choose Edit > Defaults > Save.

128 Basic text

To change Publisher’s defaults for one or more attributes:
If you want to change one or more attributes in Publisher’s defaults, it is better to
create a blank document before changing the attribute to avoid accidentally
saving formatting in use in an open document.
1. Create a temporary new document; its settings are unimportant because it
will be deleted when you’re done.
2. To set the defaults for text frames (including shape text frames and tables),
choose the Frame Text or Table tool. Change any attributes you wish to
change.
To set the defaults for text objects (including art text and path text), choose
any other tool such as the Artistic Text or Move tool. Change any
attributes you wish to change.
To set the defaults for both text frames and text objects, you must choose the
attribute separately for both of them. For example, choose the Frame Text
tool and change the attribute and then choose the Artistic Text tool and
reselect the same attribute, even though the control will show that it’s already
selected.
• For a list control such as Font Family, select the option from the list a
second time by clicking it twice.
• For a text field control such as Font Size, click in the text field and press
Return.

• For a checkbox control such as No Break, click it twice to select/deselect it

again.
• For a toggle control such as Underline, select another option and then
select it again.
3. Choose Edit > Defaults > Save to save the session defaults as Publisher’s new
defaults. You can now close the temporary document.
To revert to the Publisher’s default formatting:
1. Choose Edit > Defaults > Revert or click the matching icon in the Toolbar.
To revert to the factory default formatting:
1. Choose Edit > Defaults > Factory Reset.
2. Choose Edit > Defaults > Save.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 129

 Default font
If you enter text in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean you should change the default
font from Arial to avoid missing characters. You can use any font you want but
the default fonts included with macOS and Windows are listed below. Follow the
instructions above for changing the default text formatting.
Language macOS font Windows font

Simplified Chinese PingFang SC Microsoft YaHei UI

Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) PingFang TC Microsoft JhengHei UI

Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong and Macau) PingFang HK Microsoft JhengHei UI

Japanese Hiragino Sans (sans serif) Yu Gothic UI

Hiragino Mincho (serif)

Korean Apple SD Gothic Neo Malgun Gothic

130 Basic text

Text wrap
Publisher will flow text in text frames without regard to an overlapping object Tip: Text in art text and
unless you specify that text should be wrapped around it. The text wrap feature path text objects is not
creates an editable and invisible outline around which the text will wrap. affected by text wrap

To wrap text around an object: Tip: Unlike most

applications, text wrap
1. Select one or more objects to modify. in Publisher also
applies to text frames
2. Click the Show Text Wrap Settings icon in the Toolbar or choose Text > above the wrapped
Text Wrap > Show Text Wrap Settings to open the Text Wrap window. object; you must set
Ignore Text Wraps for
a text frame above a
wrapped object to
avoid the object
impacting the frame

Tip: To ensure a
wrapped object
moves with the
relevant text, pin the
object and choose
Float With Text

3. Select a Wrap Style:

Wrap Style Description

None (default) Text will not wrap around the object

Jump Text will flow above and below the object

Square Text will flow on all four sides of the object’s bounding box

Tight Text will flow around the object’s invisible wrap outline; the
outline will match the object’s shape unless you change it

Inside Text will flow inside the object’s invisible wrap outline, as well as
above and below the object

Edge Text will flow on both sides of the object’s invisible wrap outline,
as well as above and below the object

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 131

 4. For Square and Tight, select where to Wrap To:
Wrap To Description

Tip: Publisher does Both Sides (default) Text will wrap on both the left and right sides
not offer options to
wrap toward or away Largest Side Text will wrap only on the wider side; if the object is
from the document’s positioned in the centre of the text frame, text will wrap on
spine the left side

Tip: Although Bottom 5. Set the Distance from Text offsets to adjust the space between the object and
should define a fixed text. For Square and Tight, the Bottom distance setting defines the minimum
distance from the distance from the wrapped object because the start of the first baseline after
wrapped object with
the Jump setting, it the wrapped object is impacted by the paragraph spacing.
currently works like To customize the wrap outline to wrap text around the subject of an image:
Square and Tight and
defines the minimum When you select the Tight, Inside, or Edge wrap styles, Publisher flows text
distance around the object’s invisible wrap outline rather than its bounding box. For a
non-rectangular shape, the wrap outline will match the shape’s path until you
Tip: Publisher does change it. Paths and shapes converted to paths
not include a feature
to set the wrap outline 1. Select the object to modify.
to match the subject
of a photograph—you 2. Click the Edit Wrap Outline icon in the Toolbar or choose Text > Text
must manually trace Wrap > Edit Wrap Outline. Publisher will display node handles along the
the subject by editing object’s path which you can drag and modify like any other path to change
the wrap outline the shape of the wrap outline.

Tip: To ensure a
wrapped object
moves with the
relevant text, pin the
object and choose
Float With Text Text wrap set to Tight Editing the wrap outline

3. Deselect the object to end editing of the wrap outline.

To reset the wrap outline to the object’s shape or path:
1. Select the object to modify.
2. Click the Reset Wrap Outline icon in the Toolbar or choose Text > Text
Wrap > Reset Wrap Outline. Publisher will restore the original wrap outline.
To ignore text wrap for a text frame:
1. Select a text frame or position the text cursor in a frame.
Tip: Ignore Text Wraps 2. Choose Text > Text Wraps > Ignore Text Wraps or select Ignore Text Wraps
applies to the text in the General section of the Text Frame panel. Objects with text wrap
frame and not to a applied will no longer impact text in the selected text frame.
selected range of text

132 Basic text

Pinning (anchoring) objects
You can pin an object to a position in text to enable the object to move with the Tip: Pinning is referred
text to which it is pinned as you continue to edit the text. to as anchoring in
some applications
Publisher allows you to pin objects to text so they float relative to a position in
the text or to position objects inline so that they are treated similar to a character. Tip: All of the images
The examples below are a group a images and text frames grouped together and in this manual are
pinned inline. pinned inline, includ-
ing both the icons
placed between words
and the larger illustra-
Float With Text: Example of a columnar tions between
object with Text Wrap set to Tight paragraphs

Definition: Extra-
columnar object refers
to objects outside of
Float With Text: Example of an extra-
the column
columnar object

Inline In Text: Example of a columnar

object in a paragraph by itself; the
multiple objects were first grouped
together

Inline In Text: Example of a columnar

object positioned between two
characters; the tool icons in this manual
are created in this manner

Pinned objects can be scaled, rotated, and deleted like any other object but
moving them may be limited by the options you select in the Pinning panel.
To pin an object or change its pinning type:
1. Select the object. If there are multiple text objects on the page, move it near to
where it should be pinned.
2. Do one of the following:
• Click the Float With Text icon or the Inline In Text icon in the
Toolbar
• Click the Float With Text or Inline In Text buttons in the Pinning panel.
• Choose Layer > Float With Text or Inline In Text.
3. The object will be pinned to text in the nearest text object. A blue pin icon
will indicate where the object is pinned.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 133

 4. Drag the pin icon to the position in the text where you want to anchor the
object. The object will remain in the same position but the horizontal and
vertical offset values in the Pinning panel will change.
5. If necessary, set the pinning options with the Pinning panel. If the panel is
not visible, choose Window > Text > Pinning.
To import an image and pin it inline:
1. Position the text cursor in text.
2. Choose File > Place… and select an image to import. Publisher will position
it inline.
3. If necessary, set the pinning options with the Pinning panel. If the panel is
not visible, choose Window > Text > Pinning.
To unpin a pinned object:
1. Select the object and do one of the following:
• Deselect the Float With Text icon or the Inline In Text icon in the
Toolbar
• Click the Unpin button in the Pinning panel.
• Choose Layer > Float With Text or Inline In Text to deselect it.
To view pin icons:
Blue pin icons will indicate where objects are pinned. The pins are always
visible when a pinned object is selected but hidden when special characters are
not shown.
1. Choose Text > Show Special Characters to display pins for all pinned objects.

134 Basic text

Using the Pinning panel
To display the Pinning panel:
1. Choose Window > Text > Pinning to display the Pinning panel.
2. Set the pinning options:
Float With Text Inline In Text

Unpin

• Float With Text: Click to pin the object relative to a position in the text. Tip: This tip could
This option is used for extra-columnar objects often placed outside of the have been created as a
text frame. It can also be used for objects inside the text frame if text wrap floated object but was
actually created using
is enabled. the Sidenotes feature
• Inline in Text: Click to position objects inline so that they are treated for better automatic
positioning
similar to a character.
• Unpin: Click to disconnect the object from the text.
• Horizontal align, Of, and Offset: Select how the object should be posi-
tioned horizontally. To float an object in a consistent horizontal position Tip: Changing the
outside of a text frame, set Of relative to the Column, Frame, Page Margin, Horizontal Align and
or Page Edge. Of options will change
the Offset to maintain
• Horizontal Align: Outside Left, Inside Left (default), Inside Centre, the object’s current
Inside Right, or Outside Right. If Mirror Facing Pages is selected, this horizontal position
option will alternate between left and right as the pin is moved
between facing pages.
• Of (what): Character (default, not recommended), Text (Indented),
Column, Frame (recommended), Page Margin, or Page Edge.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 135

 • Offset: Enter the amount the object should be offset horizontally from
the selected page element.
• Keep within bounds: Select to prevent the floated object from being
shifted to the left or right of the text column.
• Vertical align, Of, and Offset: Select how the object should be positioned
Tip: Changing the horizontally. To float an object outside of a text frame without it appearing
Vertical Align and Of above or below the column, select Keep within bounds.
options will change
the Offset to maintain • Vertical Align: Outside Above, Inside Top (default), Inside Centre, Inside
the object’s current Bottom, or Outside Below.
vertical position
• Of (what): Line (default, recommended), Frame, Page Margin, or Page
Edge.
• Offset: Enter the amount the object should be offset vertically from the
selected page element.
• Keep within bounds: Select to prevent the floated object from being
shifted above or below the text column.
• Mirror Facing Pages: Select to automatically alternate Horizontal Align
between left and right as the pin is moved between facing pages.
• Preserve Manual Position: Select to allow the object to be moved manu-
ally within the limits imposed by the other options. Deselect to prevent
the object from being moved manually.
• On Overlap: Select what to do if two or more floated objects would over-
lap at their optimal positions. This option must be set for all of the floated
objects to be of any use.
• Do Nothing (default): Select to allow objects to overlap.
• Pack Horizontally: Select to adjust the object’s horizontal position so
that more than one object can be positioned at the same vertical posi-
tion. This option is not recommended for large objects because they
may overlap the adjacent text even if positioned in the page margin.
• Stack Vertically: Select to adjust the object’s vertical position so that
the objects are spaced vertically, even if they’re not directly aligned to
the pin position.
• Horizontal/Vertical Gap: Enter the gap between objects when On Over-
lap is set to Pack Horizontally or Stack Vertically.
• Scale to: Select to scale the inline object to match the adjacent text. Select
No Scale (default) to set the size manually, Point Size to match the font
size, or Ascent, Cap Height, or X-Height to match these font measurements.

136 Basic text

• Scale: When Scale To is set to an option other than No Scale, set how
much the image should be scaled relative to the selected option. For
example, if Point Size is selected for 24 pt text then setting Scale to 50%
would cause the inline object to be scaled to 12 pt tall.
• Base position: Select to align the bottom of the object with the text’s
Baseline (default) or Descender.
• Offset: Enter the offset of the object from the Base Position.
• Preserve manual scale: Select to allow the object to be scaled manually.
Scaling an object manually will adjust the Scale value.
• Borders: Enter the gap between the object and adjacent text. Enter nega-
tive values to allow adjacent text to overlap the object.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 137

138 Basic text
Text styles 4
Text styles, also known as character and paragraph styles or style
sheets, are essential for creating a consistently-formatted docu-
ment. You can use text styles in documents of any length but
they are critical for long publications such as books, magazines,
and newspapers.

In this chapter
Using text styles ..........................................................................................140
Applying text styles ...................................................................................144
Creating text styles ....................................................................................147
Changing text styles..................................................................................151
Importing and setting default text styles ..........................................152

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 139

 Using text styles
Tip: Don’t confuse text A text style is a collection of paragraph and character attributes that you can
styles with object styles, apply to text without having to apply the attributes individually to save time and
which Publisher refers ensure consistent formatting.
to simply as styles
Publisher offers paragraph and character text styles which are applied to para-
graphs and characters. A paragraph style is a collection of any paragraph and
character attributes while a character style is limited to character attributes.
Tip: Publisher allows Applying a paragraph style to one or more characters will apply it to the entire
you to apply para- paragraph while applying a character style will apply it only to the selected
graph styles to charac- characters.
ters with the Show in
both panels option You can apply only a single paragraph style to a paragraph and a single character
but this is not recom- style to a range of text. For example, you can’t apply both Heading 1 and Bullet 1
mended for beginners
to the same paragraph—if you want Heading 1 to have a bullet you would need to
Tip: Publisher allows edit the style or create a version of it with that formatting. Likewise, you can’t
you to apply only a apply both the Emphasis and Highlight character styles to the same text.
single character style
to a range of text You can override a paragraph or character style with individual formatting
attributes. This capability should be used sparingly because if you were to over-
ride the Body style with Bold and then later decided that Semibold was more
appropriate, you’d have to change all instances of Bold manually. With a character
style, you could change the style’s definition to update all instances automatically.
Individual attributes are best reserved for text that already has a character style
applied or for rare exceptions.
Tip: Publisher does Most users define a paragraph style for each type of paragraph, such as Heading
not offer GREP styles 1, Heading 2, and Body, and apply a style to every paragraph in the main text.
or nested styles Most text will not have a character style applied because they are used to modify
the formatting of selected words and phrases in a paragraph, such as Emphasis to
make text stand out or Hyperlink to indicate that the text is a clickable link.

Text style and formatting precedence:

If you apply conflicting formatting to the same text, Publisher uses a hierarchy to
determine which formatting to display. For example, if you defined a paragraph
style as Helvetica, a character style as Garamond, and then formatted the text as
Caslon, Publisher would display the text as Caslon regardless of the order you
applied the paragraph style, character style, and font family.
Formatting precedence (from top to bottom)

Character attributes (style overrides)

Character style

Paragraph attributes (style overrides)

Paragraph style

Application defaults

140 Text styles

Text style example

Lorem ipsum Heading 1 paragraph style

Dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed Body paragraph style
do eiusmod tempor.
Incididunt ut labore et ½ aliqua. Body paragraph style +
Strong Emphasis character style
Body paragraph style +
Strong Emphasis character style +
a character attribute (Fractions)

How text styles affect formatting

Text formatting is a combination of the default text attributes, the paragraph
style, the character style, and any paragraph or character attributes applied to
override the styles.
A text style can be based on another text style which results in attributes defined
in the parent style being inherited by the child style. For example, it is common
to base Heading 2 on Heading 1. Publisher also offers style groups which aren’t
applied directly to text but which can be used as the base for other styles and to
group styles in the Text Styles panel. For example, all of Publisher’s default
paragraph styles are based on the Base style group.
A text style can also be based on [No Style] which means it is not based on Tip: [No Style] is not a
another style and inherits no attributes. text style but just a
shortcut for the Text >
If you do not define an attribute such as font family or size for a text style that is Text Styles > Set No
based on another style or style group, it will inherit the parent’s attribute. If you Paragraph/Character
do not define an attribute for a text style that is not based on another style or Style commands
style group, applying the text style will not change those attributes. For example:
Based on Font family Weight Size/Leading Colour

Default attributes n/a Arial – 12/Default Black Tip: 12/Default means

12 pt type on Default
“Base” style group [No Style] Garamond – 10/12 – leading while 10/12
means 10 pt type on
“Heading 1” Base Myriad Pro Bold 24/28 – 12 pt leading
“Heading 2” Heading 1 – – 12/14 –

If you applied Heading 2 to text formatted as Arial 12/Default Green, it would

become Myriad Pro Bold 12/14 Blue—the Myriad Pro Bold and Blue attributes
would be inherited from Heading 1 while 12/14 were defined in Heading 2.
If it had not been defined as Blue, applying Heading 2 to the green text would not
change the colour was not defined in Base, Heading 1, or Heading 2 and you had
already overridden the default text attributes with Green. However, if Base had
been defined as Black and Heading 1 did not define the colour, applying Heading
2 would have made the green text black because Heading 1 and Heading 2 would
have inherited it from Base.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 141

 Using the Text Styles panel
The formatting applied to text is expressed as paragraph style + character style +
individual attributes. For example, Body + Strong Emphasis + Font size: 24 pt. The
Text Styles panel shows
To display the Text Styles panel:
1. Choose Window > Text > Text Styles to display the Text Styles panel.

Panel menu
Current Formatting Reapply Text Styles
Style group
Paragraph style Style options menu

[No Style]

Character style

Update
Create Style Group Character Style
Delete Style
Create Create Update
Paragraph Style Character Style Paragraph Style

2. Click the caret icon to the left of the Current Formatting field to view
overflowing information. This field lists the formatting in use at the text
cursor position or for the first character in a selected range of text. The pre-
sentation format is Paragraph Style + Character Style + individual formatting
attributes.
3. Choose Show Hierarchical from the panel menu to toggle between listing
text styles as children of the styles or groups on which they are based (default)
and showing styles as a flat list (recommended). Hierarchical makes it easy to
see at a glance how your styles are structured while a flat list makes it easier to
find styles by name.

142 Text styles

4. Choose Show Samples from the panel menu to toggle between listing text
styles with their formatting (default) and as plain text (recommended).
Samples makes it easy to find certain styles such as Drop Caps at a glance but
it gives too much weight to lesser-used such as Initial Words compared to
Body and Heading 1.
5. Choose Sort by Type from the panel menu to toggle between listing style
groups first followed by paragraph and then character styles (default, recom-
mended), and listing all styles and groups in alphabetical order regardless of
type. Styles are listed alphabetically within the three types when sorted by
type.
6. Click the Style options menu for a text style to see options specific to that
style. You can also right-click a style name to see the same options.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 143

 Applying text styles
There is more than one way to apply character styles but the most common way
is to select a range of text or position the text cursor in text and then select a
paragraph or character style. This option will clear existing formatting. If you
want to preserve or control the existing formatting when applying text styles,
refer to the next section.
To apply a text style:
Tip: You don’t need to 1. Position the text cursor in text or select a range of text.
select an entire
paragraph to apply a 2. Select a style by doing one of:
paragraph style; the
style will be applied • Click the character or paragraph style name in the Text Styles panel.
even to partially • Select the style from the Character Style or Paragraph Style popup menus
selected paragraphs
in the Context Toolbar.
Tip: Although text
styles are normally
applied with a text • Select the style from the Character Style popup menu in the Character
tool, you can apply panel or Paragraph Style popup menu in the Paragraph panel.
text styles to entire
text frames selected • Choose Apply “Style Name” to Paragraphs from the style options menu
with the Move tool; to the right of the text style’s name in the panel, but there’s no reason to
this can lead to use this more cumbersome method. This option is available only for
unexpected results for
text in linked frames paragraph styles.
because the styles will • Choose Apply “Style Name” to Characters from the style options menu
be applied only to the
text that was in the to the right of the text style’s name in the panel. Paragraph styles can be
frame when the style applied to selected characters with this option—doing so applies only their
was applied, and the character attributes.
frame may end up
containing more or To apply a text style to and preserve or control existing formatting:
less text depending on
the style’s formatting 1. Position the text cursor in text or select a range of text.
2. Apply a paragraph style by doing one of:
• Choose Apply “Style Name” to Paragraphs and Clear Character Styles
from the style options menu to the right of the text style’s name in the
panel to clear existing character styles from a paragraph but not individual
character attributes. For example, if you applied Body to a paragraph with
some text formatted with the Emphasis character style and, this option
would remove Emphasis from the text.
• Choose Apply “Style Name” to Paragraphs and Preserve Character
Formatting from the style options menu to the right of the text style’s
name in the panel to retain the existing character attributes as overrides.
For example, if you applied Body to a paragraph formatted as Garamond
14, those attributes would override the Arial 12 defined for Body.

144 Text styles

 • Choose Apply “Style Name” to Paragraphs and Preserve Local Format-
ting from the style options menu to the right of the text style’s name in
the panel to retain all character and paragraph attributes and character
styles as overrides. For example, if you applied Body to a paragraph for-
matted as Garamond 14 and with some text formatted with the Emphasis
character style, those attributes and the Emphasis style would override
Body.
3. Or apply a paragraph or character style by choosing Apply “Style Name” to
Characters and Preserve Local Formatting from the style options menu to
the right of the text style’s name in the panel to retain all character attributes
and character styles as overrides. For example, if you applied Emphasis to text
formatted as Garamond 14, those attributes would override Emphasis.
To remove a text style from text:
1. Position the text cursor in text formatted with the style.
2. To remove the style and its formatting, click [No Style] in the Text Styles Tip: [No Style] is not a
panel. There are two [No Style] options in the panel so be sure to click the one text style but just a
with the pilcrow (paragraph) icon to remove the paragraph style or the shortcut for the Text >
Text Styles > Set No
lowercase a icon to remove the character style. Paragraph/Character
3. Or to remove the style and retain its formatting, choose Detach Paragraphs Style commands
from “Style Name” or Detach Characters from “Style Name” from the style
options menu to the right of the text style’s name in the panel.
To override a style:
A style override is any attribute you’ve applied to text formatted with a text style.
If there are overrides applied to the selected text or text cursor position, a plus Tip: The plus sign will
sign will be shown beside the style name in the Current Formatting field in the not be shown next to
Text Styles panel as well as in the Context Toolbar, Paragraph panel, or Charac- the style name in the
Text Styles panel list
ter panel.
1. Position the text cursor in text or select a range of text.
2. Apply any character or paragraph formatting attributes.
To clear text style overrides:
1. Position the text cursor in text or select a range of text.
2. Reapply the style by doing one of:
• Click the style name in the Text Styles panel.
• Click the Reapply Text Styles icon to the right of the Current Format-
ting field at the top of the Text Styles panel or choose Text > Reapply Text
Styles. These options will reapply the paragraph and character style and
remove all paragraph and character overrides.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 145

 • Choose Text > Reapply Base Styles. This option will reapply the paragraph
style but remove character styles in addition to paragraph and character
overrides.
• Choose Apply “Style Name” to Paragraphs or Apply “Style Name” to
Characters from the style options menu to the right of the text style’s
name in the panel, but there’s no reason to use this more cumbersome
method.

146 Text styles

Creating text styles
To manually create a new text style:
1. Optional: Position the text cursor in a text frame or other text object. The new
style will be based on the text style and formatting in use. For example, if you
place the cursor in text formatted as Body with 14 pt overriding the style, the
new style will be based on Body and have 14 pt already defined.
2. Choose the type of style to create. You can change the type of style after
starting but choosing the right type now will pick up the current text style and
formatting in use.
• Click the Create Paragraph Style icon or choose Text > Text Styles >
Create Paragraph Style to create a paragraph style.
• Click the Create Character Style icon or choose Text > Text Styles >
Create Character Style to create a character style.
• Click the Create Style Group icon. There is not a matching menu
command.
• Or if you want to create a text style based on another style, choose Create
Style based on “Style Name” from the style options menu to the right
of the text style’s name in the panel.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 147

Tip: Consider how the 3. Style name: Enter a unique name for the text style.
text style will be
sorted alphabetically
4. Based on: Select another text style or style group on which to base this style.
when choosing a The new style will inherit all of the base style’s attributes. This is especially
name; for example, useful if there are only minimal differences between styles, such as a heading
numbering heading that is smaller than the heading on which it is based. Select [No Style] if you
styles as 1, 2, 3 makes don’t want to base this style on another.
them easier to find
than naming them 5. Next style: Select another text style for the paragraph following one formatted
Title, Heading, and with this text style. For example, setting Next style to Body for Heading 1
Sub-heading
would automatically set Body for the next paragraph when pressing Return in
Tip: Consider how the
a Heading 1 paragraph. Select [Same Style] if you don’t want the text style to
text style will be change when you press Return; you would use this option for body, num-
sorted alphabetically bered, and bulleted styles
when choosing a
name; for example, 6. Next level: Select another style for the next lower text style in a hierarchy of
numbering heading styles. For example, you would set Next level to Heading 2 for Heading 1, and
styles as 1, 2, 3 makes to Heading 3 for Heading 2. This feature allows you to press Tab or Shift + Tab
them easier to find at the start of a paragraph to switch to the next lower or higher level of the
than naming them
Title, Heading, and
style hierarchy. For example, pressing Tab at the start of a Heading 1 paragraph
Sub-heading would switch automatically to Heading 2 instead of entering a tab character.
7. Keyboard shortcut: Assign a custom keyboard shortcut for commonly-used
Tip: You can’t edit [No
Style] with the Text
text styles by clicking in the text field and pressing the shortcut combination
Styles panel but you you want to use. If that shortcut is already in use a warning icon will
can assign a keyboard appear. Mouse over that triangle to find out which shortcut is in conflict.
shortcut by choosing
Affinity Publisher 2 > If you assign a keyboard shortcut to a character style and want to be able to
Settings… (macOS) or turn it off (set it back to [No Style]) turn it off with a shortcut, too, you must
Edit > Settings… assign a shortcut to [No Style] because shortcuts can’t be used as toggles.
(Windows), clicking
Shortcuts in the left The keyboard shortcut will be shown in the Text Styles panel as a reminder.
pane, choosing Text
Shortcut is set to Shift + ⌘ + B
from the menu list,
and then selecting
Text Styles > Set No 8. Type: Choose between Paragraph, Character, and Group style types. Regard-
Character Style less of which type of style you started to create, you can change this setting to
create a different type of style. The title of the window will not update to
reflect the change in the type of text style.
A style group has all of the same options as a paragraph style.
Tip: The both panels 9. Show in both panels: Select this option if you want to be able to apply the
name refers to apply- character attributes of a paragraph style as a character override to text set in a
ing text styles via the different paragraph style, or to apply a character style as a paragraph style. For
Character and Para-
graph panels and also example, you might choose this option if you wanted to be able to apply the
via the Context font family, weight, and size attributes of Heading 2 to text set as Body.
Toolbar, not via the
Text Styles panel In the above example both Body and Heading 2 would be listed in the Text
Styles panel as the selected paragraph style, but Body would be applied to the
paragraph and Heading 2 to just a range of characters. Look at the Context
Toolbar or Character and Paragraph panels for clarity.

148 Text styles

10. Reset formatting: Click to remove all attributes defined for the text style. Tip: Reset formatting
does not change the
11. Style settings: This field displays a summary of the text style definition. options in the Style
12. Apply style to selection: Select to apply the new text style to the selected text category (Style name,
Based on, Next style,
or text cursor position when you click OK; deselect it to create the style Next level, Keyboard
without applying it to the text. This option is not applicable to style groups. shortcut, Type, and
Show in both panels)
13. Category: Click each category of character or paragraph attributes in the left
pane and define the values you wish to include in the text style. The options
are the same as those in the Character and Paragraph panels.
Character

Font Set the font family, traits (font style) weight, width, and size Tip: Weight and Width
will be disabled if you
Colour & Decorations Set the fill and highlight colours, underline, etc. select a font style
because it combines
Position & Transform Set the kerning, tracking, baseline offset, leading override, the weight, width, and
superscript, etc. slope (italic) traits
Language Set the spelling and hyphenation language

Optical Alignment Set how punctuation and certain characters are positioned
relative to the frame edges

Typography Specify ligatures, alternates, variants, figures, and capitals

Paragraph

Spacing Set the alignment, indents, leading, space before, and after

Tab Stops Set tab stops and leaders

Justification Set minimum, desired, and maximum word and letter

spacing

Bullets & Numbering Set bulleted and numbered list options

Flow Set start, keep together, widow, and orphan options

Baseline Grid Set to override a baseline grid

Hyphenation Set hyphenation rules

Drop Caps Set to create automatic drop caps

Initial Words Set formatting for the first words in a paragraph

Decorations Set paragraph borders and fill

If you don’t want the style to change the existing formatting for an attribute,
leave the option set to[No change]. If you edit a value and want to restore it to
[No change], the way you do that depends on the type of control:
• Popup menu: Select [No change] from the list.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 149

 • Text field: Delete the value to clear the field and then press Tab.

• Checkbox: Click the checkbox until the mixed-state value appears (a

horizontal line instead of the usual checked or unchecked appearance).

• Radio button: Click the No Change radio button option.

Tip: A white colour • Colour sample: Deselect the neighbouring checkbox; the colour will be
sample with a red line ignored if the checkbox is deselected.
through it means no
colour

14. Click OK to create the style.

To duplicate a text style to create a new text style:
1. Choose Duplicate “Style Name” from the style options menu to the right
of the text style’s name in the panel.
2. The Text Style Editor window will be displayed with the same options as
creating or editing a text style. Name the new style and change its formatting
attributes as required. Publisher will show the effect of the changes live as you
modify the attributes in the window.
3. Click OK to create the style.
To delete text style(s):
1. To delete a single text style, choose Delete “Style Name” from the style
options menu to the right of the text style’s name in the panel.
Or select the text style name in the panel list and then click the Delete Style
icon or choose Text > Text Styles > Delete Paragraph Style or Delete
Character Style. Note that selecting a style will apply it to the selected text or
text cursor position so this method is often less convenient.
2. To delete all text styles, choose Detach and Delete All Styles from the panel
menu or choose Text > Text Styles > Detach and Delete All Styles. No
formatting will be lost as the formatting attributes will be detached from the
text styles and applied directly to any styled text. There is no confirmation for
this command but you can undo it.
3. To delete only the text styles that are not in use, choose Delete Unused Styles
from the panel menu or choose Text > Text Styles > Delete Unused Styles.
There is no confirmation for this command but you can undo it.
4. To delete a style group or a text style, as well as all the styles based on it,
choose Delete “Style Name” Group from the panel menu . There is no
confirmation for this command but you can undo it.

150 Text styles

Changing text styles
You can change text styles at any time using the same options as when you cre-
ated the style.
One of the first things you might do after creating a new document with the
default text styles is edit the Base style group. With the default text styles, Body,
Heading 1, Bullet 1, and Numbered 1 are all based on the Base style group so
instead of changing the font family for each from Arial to your preferred font you
could edit Base and the styles would be updated automatically.
You can even change a paragraph style to a character style or vice versa. You can
even change a paragraph or character style to a style group but these types of
changes can have confusing consequences so it’s best to avoid changing a style’s
type. For example, if you changed the Body style to a style group then all text
formatted as that style would appear to be formatted with a style group. You
would also no longer be able to apply the style directly via the Text Styles panel
without using the group’s style options menu.
To update a text style to match the current formatting:
1. Format text with the text style and then adjust its formatting attributes as
desired using the Paragraph and Character panels. Position the text cursor
anywhere in the formatted text. If you leave a range of text selected, Publisher
will use the formatting at the start of the text range.
2. Update the paragraph or character style by doing one of:
• Click the Update Paragraph Style icon or the Update Character Style
icon at the bottom of the Text Styles panel or in the Context Toolbar.
• Choose Text > Text Styles > Update Paragraph Style or Update Character
Style.
• Choose Update “Style Name” from the style options menu to the right Tip: With this option
of the text style’s name in the panel. you can update any
style to match any
To manually change a text style’s definition: other style as well as
the current formatting
1. Choose Edit “<style name>” from the style options menu to the right of
the text style’s name in the panel. Tip: If you change a
paragraph or charac-
Or double-click the style name in the Text Styles panel. Note that double- ter style to a style
clicking a style will apply it to the selected text or text cursor position so this group, the text style’s
method is not recommended unless the cursor is in text of the text style you formatting will be
want to edit. removed from any
paragraphs formatted
2. The Text Style Editor window will be displayed with the same options as with it
creating or editing a text style. Change the style’s formatting attributes as
required. Publisher will show the effect of the changes live as you modify the
attributes in the window.
3. Click OK to update the style.

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 Importing and setting default text styles
Newly-created documents include Publisher’s default text styles. You can save
your current collection of text styles for use in future documents or import text
styles from one document into another.
To save the current text styles as the default:
1. Choose Save Styles as Default from the panel menu or choose Text > Text
Styles > Save Styles as Default.
To revert to the factory default text styles:
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click Miscellaneous in the left pane.
2. Click Reset Text Styles.
3. Click Close.
To import text styles from another document:
1. Choose Import Styles… from the panel menu and then select the other
document from the Open window.

2. Select which text styles to import by selecting or deselecting the checkboxes

to the left of their names. Publisher will display the formatting attributes of
the selected text style and for a style in the document of the same name at the
bottom of the window.

152 Text styles

 Choose Check All from the popup menu below to select or deselect all text
styles, or choose Check Paragraphs or Check Characters to select or deselect
all paragraph or character styles.
3. Publisher will indicate which text styles will replace and overwrite an existing
style. To import a style but not replace an existing one with the same name,
enter a new name for the style in the text field to the right of the style name.
4. Click OK to import the selected text styles into the document.
To export text styles to share them with another user:
Publisher doesn’t provide a way to export text styles because you can import
styles from another document, but if it’s easy to share text styles without sharing
the contents of your document.
1. Create a new document.
2. Choose Detach and Delete All Styles from the panel menu or choose Text
> Text Styles > Detach and Delete All Styles to delete all text styles from the
document.
3. Choose Import Styles… from the panel menu and then from the Open
window select a document that contains the text styles you want to share.
4. Click OK in the Imported Text Styles window. The blank document now
contains just the text styles you want to share.
5. Save the document and send it to the other user.

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154 Text styles
Images 5
Images and even other documents can be imported from a vari-
ety of applications to illustrate your document and enhance its
design. Images and documents can be placed directly on a page
or into picture frames which are used to crop and frame their
content.
Images can be embedded directly into the document or left
external to keep the document size small. Publisher can even
update your document automatically when a linked image is
changed.

In this chapter
Types of images ..........................................................................................156
Picture frames ..............................................................................................157
Placing images ............................................................................................160
Modifying images ......................................................................................166
Linking and embedding ..........................................................................173
Filling and stroking images ....................................................................176
Image captions............................................................................................177

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 155

 Types of images
Definition: The term You can add three types of images to your Publisher documents:
image is used to refer
to all types of graph- • Raster images are made up of a grid of pixels (square dots) and are com-
ics, including raster monly used for photos. Scaling a raster image larger will enlarge the pixels
and vector images and which can make it appear jagged. Text in raster images is converted to pixels.
documents TIFF, PNG, JPEG, and HEIC/HEIF are the most popular raster formats.
• Vector images are made up of lines and curves drawn between points and are
commonly used for illustrations. Scaling a vector image larger will not result
in any loss in quality. Text in vector images is often retained as editable text.
SVG and EPS are the most popular vector formats.
• Documents can be placed into a Publisher document in the same manner as
an image. Documents can combine raster and vector images and text remains
editable. PDF, PSD, DWG/DXF, Affinity (AFPUB, AFPHOTO, and AFDE-
SIGN) are the most popular document formats.
The lines between the image types have blurred because many vector formats can
include rasters and some raster formats can store editable text and vectors.
Before applications such as Publisher, users flattened and exported their raster
images before placing them into a publishing application. This step is no longer
necessary and you can place complex documents into Publisher, streamlining
your workflow. You may still want to export final, flattened images for use in
Publisher to avoid accidentally updating a linked image when you merely show
and hide layers and then resave it.

Image resolution
Definition: The term Most images define the resolution of the image in dots per inch. If you place an
resolution refers to the unframed image without dragging to define its size, Publisher will use the image’s
image’s level of detail resolution to set its initial size. For example, if a raster image is 1920×1080 pixels
and is expressed as
the number of pixels and its resolution is 300 dpi, the image will be 6.4×3.6 inches (162.69×1.4 mm)
wide by the number of when placed on the page.
pixels tall, not in
megapixels which is a If you place an unframed image but drag to define its size, you will be effectively
pixel count changing the image’s resolution. That size example image at 3.2×1.8 inches would
be 600 dpi. It’s important to ensure that the resulting actual resolution will be
sufficient when printing or exporting the document. For example, if your printer
has asked for images to be 300 dpi but you scale a 300 dpi image to be larger on
the page, the image’s actual resolution will be less than 300.
You don’t need to calculate the resolution yourself because Publisher will display
its actual resolution in the Context Toolbar when you select an image.
Replace Image Properties Fill colour Stroke colour Stroke

Layer name Image size and actual resolution Show/Hide Fill with Content Size Picture Frame to Content

156 Images
Picture frames
You can place images directly onto the page or into a frame that will crop the Definition: The term
image to the size and shape of the frame and allow the image to be moved and picture frame is used to
scaled within the frame. Picture frames are ideal for professional layouts because refer to a frame that
can contain any time
you can define the space for images prior to placing them and without regard to of image, not just
the picture’s size and aspect ratio. Empty picture frames will be shown with an X photos; the name
as a placeholder to help with laying out the document. image frame would be
more accurate but
picture frame is the
traditional name for
this feature in page
layout applications

Empty picture frame Image in picture frame

Unframed or frameless images are similar to art text which also lacks a frame.
Scaling an unframed image scales the image directly while scaling a framed
image scales the frame without scaling the image. Unframed images are com-
monly used for images that don’t need to be cropped, although you can still crop
them with the Vector Crop tool.

Unframed image Cropped unframed image

To create a picture frame by drawing:

1. Select the Picture Frame Rectangle tool or Picture Frame Ellipse tool.
2. Draw the frame as you would any other shape by dragging from one corner of
the shape to the other.
• Hold Shift to constrain the shape to a square or circle
• Hold ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) to draw from the centre
• While drawing, hold Ctrl (macOS) or right mouse button (Windows) to
rotate the shape about its origin
• While drawing, hold Space to move the shape while drawing

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 157

 To create a picture frame by entering its coordinates:
1. Select the Picture Frame Rectangle tool or Picture Frame Ellipse tool.
2. Hold ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) and click on the page where you would
like the frame to be created.

3. Enter the Width and Height.

4. By default, the position you clicked will be the centre of the new frame. Select
a corner or side anchor to change how the frame is positioned.

Shape picture frames

Tip: You can place an Publisher provides tools to create picture frames in the shape of rectangles and
image directly inside a ellipses but you can convert any shape to a picture frame.
shape without con-
verting it to a frame; To convert a shape to a picture frame:
this will crop the
image inside the 1. Select a shape.
shape but it is not
recommended 2. Choose Layer > Convert to Picture Frame.
because the shape will To create a picture frame made up of multiple shapes:
lack the other features
of a picture frame such 1. Draw the shapes and then select them with the Move tool.
as the Scaling slider

Tip: If you convert an

open path, the frame’s
content will be
cropped at a straight
line from the path’s
endpoints
2. Choose Layer > Geometry > Add to create a compound shape.
3. Choose Layer > Convert to Picture Frame. An image placed into this frame
would fill the two ellipses but not the space between them.

158 Images
To fill text with an image:
1. Create and format an art text object as desired.
2. Select the art text object with the Move tool.

3. Choose Layer > Convert to Curves to convert the text to paths.

4. Choose Layer > Ungroup because the characters will have been grouped.
5. Choose Layer > Geometry > Add to create a compound shape.
6. Choose Layer > Convert to Picture Frame. An image placed into this frame
would fill the two ellipses but not the space between them. An image placed
into this frame would fill the characters but not the space between them.

To convert an unframed image to be in a picture frame:

If you place an image directly on the page as unframed, you can convert it to be
in a picture frame at any time.
1. Choose Layer > Convert to Picture Frame or right-click the image and
choose Convert to Picture Frame from the context menu. Publisher will
create a frame at the same size of the image and move the image inside it.
To convert a framed image to an unframed image:
1. Using the Move tool, double-click the picture frame to select the image
inside it.
2. Using the Layers panel, drag the image layer out of the picture frame so that it
is above or below the frame.
3. Delete the empty picture frame.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 159

 Placing images
Definition: The term Placing images is similar to drawing shapes but you can place multiple images at
place is used instead once and even multiple copies of each image.
of import images
because you position To place a single image:
an image on the page
at the same time as 1. Optional: Select a picture frame.
you import it
2. Choose File > Place… or choose the Place tool. A file open window will
Tip: If you select appear to select the file to open. Or if a picture frame is selected, click Replace
multiple picture Image in the Context Toolbar. Select the image and click Open.
frames before choos-
ing Place, the image You can also drag an image file’s icon from your computer into Publisher, or
will be placed into all to place a pixel selection from the pasteboard (clipboard), right-click the
of them picture frame and choose Paste as Content from the context menu.

Tip: While you can If a picture frame was selected the image will be placed into the frame and no
copy and paste an further action is required; otherwise, the mouse pointer will change to a Place
image file’s icon from .pointer.
the macOS Finder into
Publisher, this is not 3. Position the image in a frame on the page:
recommended
because Publisher will • To place an image into a picture frame: Click on a picture frame.
not know the image’s • To place an unframed image at its native size and resolution: Click
name and location
and an unnamed copy anywhere on the page.
will be embedded • To place an unframed image at a custom size: Drag on the page to define
the size.
Tip: If there is already
a picture in the frame To place multiple copies of a single image:
it will be replaced by
the new image 1. Start placing an image as you normally would but before clicking on a picture
frame or clicking or dragging on the page to position the image, set Repeat in
Tip: Ensure picture the Context Toolbar to a number greater than 1. Select Replace Existing if
frames are stacked in you want the existing images in picture frames to be replaced by copies made
the correct order, from
bottom to top, before by the Repeat feature.
placing multiple
images into them

2. Position the image in a frame or on the page:

Tip: If there is already • To place images into picture frames: Click on a picture frame. Publisher
a picture in the first will place the copies into other unlocked frames above the frame in the
frame it will be layer stack. Frames lower than the frame will not be used. If there are not
replaced by the new
image even if Replace enough frames on the current page, Publisher will create additional frames
Existing is deselected for them at the same size and position on the following pages, mirrored
because that option for facing pages, and will create pages if necessary.
applies only to copies
• To place an unframed image: Click or drag anywhere on the page as you
normally would when placing an image. If Repeat is set to greater than 1,
Publisher will place the copies at the same size and position on the

160 Images
 following pages, mirrored for facing pages, and will create additional pages
if necessary.
To place multiple images:
1. Choose File > Place… or choose the Place tool. A file open window will
appear to select the file to open. Or if a picture frame is selected, click Replace
Image in the Context Toolbar. Select multiple images by pressing ⌘ (macOS)
or Ctrl (Windows) while clicking or press Shift while clicking to select a range
of images. Click Open.
You can also drag the images’ icons from your computer into Publisher.
2. The Place panel will open allowing you to select which image to paste next. Tip: The Place panel
Select one or more images to place—the first image will be selected automati- cannot be opened
cally. Click a different image to select it, press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) from the Window
menu like other panels
while clicking to select multiple images, or press Shift while clicking to select a because there it is of
range of images. no use outside of
placing images, but its
position can be saved
in a studio preset
while it is open

Tip: The Place panel

will close automati-
cally when there are
no more images, you
change tools, or press
Esc

3. Position the first image in a frame or on the page: Tip: If you place
multiple copies of
• To place images into picture frames: Click on a picture frame. Publisher multiple images,
will place the first image in that frame and place the next image into other Publisher will place all
unlocked frames above the frame in the layer stack. Frames lower than the the copies of each
frame will not be used. If there are not enough frames on the current page, image before placing
the next image
Publisher will create additional frames for them at the same size and
position on the following pages, mirrored for facing pages, and will create Tip: Ensure picture
pages if necessary. frames are stacked in
the correct order, from
• To place unframed images: Click or drag anywhere on the page as you bottom to top, before
normally would when placing an image. Publisher will place the copies at placing multiple
the same size and position on the following pages, mirrored for facing images into them
pages, and will create additional pages if necessary.
Tip: If there is already
4. The image you just placed will be removed from the Place panel and if there a picture in the first
is at least one remaining image, the next one will be selected automatically. frame it will be
Position the next image in a frame or on the page. replaced by the new
image even if Replace
5. To stop placing images while there are still images in the Place panel, press Existing is deselected
Esc. because that option
applies only to copies

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 161

 To replace the image in a picture frame:
1. Select a picture frame.
2. Click Replace Image in the Context Toolbar. Select the image and click
Open.
Or using the Layers panel, drag an unframed image’s layer over the picture
frame’s layer and release the mouse button when the layer name is high-
lighted.
To move or duplicate an image between frames:
1. Using the Move tool, double-click the picture frame or hold ⌘ (macOS) or
Ctrl (Windows) and single click the picture frame.

2. Choose Edit > Cut to move the image or Edit > Copy to duplicate the image
to the other frame.
3. Click the frame to which you want to add the image.
4. Choose Edit > Paste Inside.

162 Images
Placing documents
You can place PDF and CAD documents as well as documents created with the
Affinity applications into Publisher. The process for placing documents is similar
to images but there are several additional options that you can set before and
after placing a document. Documents can have many pages or artboards so when
placing one on a page in Publisher you must also select which will be displayed.
To display more than one page or artboard, place the document a second time
and select a different page or artboard.
To place a PDF or Affinity document:
1. Place the document as you would any other image.
2. If a PDF file is password protected, you will be prompted to enter the pass-
word to place the file. Click the Show Password icon to show the password
characters or the Paste icon to paste a copied password.

3. If the document contains more than one page or artboard and you did not
select a picture frame before choosing Place, the Place panel will open to
prompt you to select which page or artboard to display.

4. From the panel list, select a page or artboard, or click the caret icon to the
left of the filename to view thumbnails of all the pages or artboards. Tip: You may need to
reselect the PDF file in
5. Place the document into a picture frame or directly on the page as you would the panel if it is
any other image. You can change which page of the document is displayed by deselected
double-clicking the frame to select the document within the frame and then
selecting a page in the Context Toolbar.
6. PDF Passthrough (optional, PDF only): In the Context Toolbar, select
Passthrough for Publisher to make no changes to the placed PDF file, allowing
it to be printed or exported as part of the page even if you don’t have its fonts
installed, or Interpret to allow Publisher to interpret its contents. This option
will default to Passthrough unless the contents of the PDF file require that
Publisher interpret it.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 163

 To place a CAD (DWG/DXF) document:
1. Place the document as you would any other image.
2. Set the Import Options:

• Selection: Select:
All Pages To import all paper space layouts, if present

Single Page To select one paper space layout from the Selected Page list

Model To import only the model space

• Insertion Units (Model only): Select what one unit in the CAD drawing
corresponds to in the CAD document.
• DPI: Set the resolution for the document.
• Background colour: Set a background colour for the CAD document.
• Colour override: Select a colour to override all stroke colours in the
document
• Remove hidden items: Select to exclude hidden and frozen layers from
import.
• Display entity handles: Select to append a handle suffix to each named
entity to assist with troubleshooting.
• Override line weights (Model only): Select to set all strokes to 0.1 pt.
• Sanitize model (Model only): Select to clean the model to remove unnec-
essary detail and correct common map errors.
3. Click OK.

164 Images
To change which page or artboard of a document is displayed:
1. Select the placed document with the Move tool.
2. Select the page from the Spread list or the artboard from the Artboard list in
the Context Toolbar.
To change how much of a document’s page is displayed.
1. Select the placed document with the Move tool.
2. From the Page Box list in the Context Toolbar, choose:
TrimBox (default) Displays all content inside the page

BleedBox Also displays content extending into the bleed zone

MediaBox (PDF only) Also displays the printers marks and bleed zone

ArtBox (PDF only) Few documents have ArtBox defined; rarely used

CropBox (PDF only) Normally the same as TrimBox because it is the size to
be displayed in a PDF viewing application

Minimum Content Crops to the bounding box of the content, including

content outside of the page edges that would be
cropped by the other options; used to trim whitespace
from around a page

Minimum Visible Content Same as Minimum Content but excludes hidden

objects

Maximum Content Same as Minimum Content but includes invisible

control handles for paths outside of visible objects

Maximum Visible Content Same as Maximum Content but excludes hidden

objects

To change which layers of a CAD, PDF or Affinity document are displayed:

1. Select the placed image or document with the Move tool.
2. Select one or more layers from the Layers list in the Context Toolbar.
Or select Show All or Hide All from the Layers list to show or hide all layers.
Objects that are not on a layer will be displayed even when all layers are
hidden.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 165

 Modifying images
Selecting images
It’s important to know whether the picture frame or the image within it is
selected before scaling a picture frame or image.
Picture frame: Size handles to scale the frame will be shown at the frame’s cor-
ners and the Scaling slider will be shown below the frame to scale the image
inside the frame. The Pan control will be shown in the frame’s centre when
Tip: The Scaling slider the mouse pointer is over the frame. The Context Toolbar will show (Picture
and Pan control won’t Frame) after the layer name and the frame will be selected in the Layers panel.
be shown if the frame
is too small—zoom in Image inside a picture frame: Size handles to scale the image will be shown at
to see these controls if the image’s corners and the Scaling slider will not be shown. The Context Tool-
they’re not visible bar will show (Image) after the layer name and the image will be selected in the
Layers panel.
Tip: The name for a
picture frame layer Picture frame selected Mouse over frame Image inside frame selected
defaults to Picture
frame which is why the
it shows Picture frame
(Picture Frame) for
picture frame layers
that haven’t been
renamed

Tip: The name for an

image layer defaults to
its filename

To select a picture frame or an unframed image:

1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once. A bounding box and
size handles will appear around the picture frame or unframed image to
indicate that it is selected.
To select the image inside a picture frame:
1. Using the Move tool, double-click the picture frame or hold ⌘ (macOS) or
Ctrl (Windows) and single click the picture frame. A bounding box and size
handles will appear around the image to indicate that it is selected.
To select the picture frame of an image:
1. Using the Move tool, right-click the image inside a picture frame and
choose Select Parent from the context menu.

166 Images
Moving images
To move both the picture frame and the image inside it:
1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it.
2. Drag anywhere on or inside the bounding box but do not drag on the Pan
control or you will move the image inside of the frame. Hold Shift while
dragging to constrain movement to horizontal, vertical, or 45°.
Or, with the picture frame selected, press Return or Enter to move the picture
frame and image by entering the horizontal and vertical offset in the Move /
Duplicate window.

To move the image inside a picture frame:

1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it.
2. Drag on the Pan control to move the image within the frame.
3. Or, using the Move tool, double-click the picture frame to select the image
inside it and drag anywhere on or inside the bounding box. Hold Shift while
dragging to constrain movement to horizontal, vertical, or 45°.
Or, with the image selected, press Return or Enter to move the image by enter-
ing the horizontal and vertical offset in the Move / Duplicate window.
To move an unframed image:
1. Using the Move tool, click the image once to select it.
2. Drag anywhere on or inside the bounding box. Hold Shift while dragging to
constrain movement to horizontal, vertical, or 45°.
Or, with the image selected, press Return or Enter to move the image by enter-
ing the horizontal and vertical offset in the Move / Duplicate window.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 167

 Scaling and rotating images
To set how an image is scaled inside a picture frame:
1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it.
2. Click Properties in the Context Toolbar to display the Image
Properties popup window.

3. Select how the image will be scaled in the picture frame. The image will be
scaled with the frame if Scale to Max Fit, Scale to Min Fit, or Stretch to Fit is
selected, but if you scale or transform the image inside the frame then None
Tip: You can also right- will be selected automatically.
click a picture frame
and choose the • Scale to Max Fit (default, recommended): The image will be scaled to fill
equivalent command the frame without changing its aspect ratio. The image will be cropped to
from Frame fit if the frame has a different aspect ratio. The image will be scaled with
Properties the frame.

• Scale to Min Fit: The image will be scaled to fill the frame without chang-
ing its aspect ratio. There will be empty space at the top and bottom or left
and right of the frame if the frame and image have different aspect ratios.
The image will be scaled with the frame.

168 Images
 • Stretch to Fit (not recommended): The image will be scaled to exactly fill
the frame without regard to its aspect ratio, matching the frame’s aspect
ratio. The image will be scaled with the frame.

• None: The image will not be scaled as the frame is scaled. This option will Tip: You can also select
be selected automatically if you scale or transform the image inside the Lock Children from
frame. the Context Toolbar
to prevent a picture
frame’s image from
scaling with the frame

The None option will add a content-scaling handle at the bottom-corner of

the picture frame. Dragging this handle will scale the image with the
frame rather than scaling only the frame.

Content-scaling handle

Picture frame with scaling set

to None

4. Set the anchor position to determine the point from which the image is
scaled. Tip: You can also right-
click a picture frame
To visually scale or rotate a picture frame and the image inside it: and choose Frame
Properties > Anchor
Select Scale to Max Fit, Scale to Min Fit, or Stretch to Fit in Image Properties to Centre but for the
before scaling the picture frame. other anchor points
you must click Proper-
1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it. ties in the Context
2. Drag a size handle to scale the frame and image. Hold Shift while dragging to Toolbar
constrain the frame and image to the current aspect ratio.
3. Drag the rotation handle to rotate the frame and the image inside it. Hold
Shift while dragging to constrain rotation to 15° increments.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 169

 To precisely scale or rotate a picture frame and the image inside it:
Select Scale to Max Fit, Scale to Min Fit, or Stretch to Fit in Image Properties
before scaling the picture frame.
1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it.
2. Using the Transform panel, change the frame’s width or height. Select the
Link icon so that the width and height are changed in tandem to maintain
the frame’s current aspect ratio.

3. Using the Transform panel, enter the Rotation and Shear angles.
To visually scale or rotate the image inside a picture frame:
Tip: Scaling the image 1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it.
inside a picture frame
will automatically set 2. Drag the Scaling slider control left or right to decrease or increase the scale of
the scaling method in the image inside the picture frame. Publisher will show the current scale
Image Properties to percentage as you drag the slider’s thumb.
none
3. Drag the rotation handle to rotate the image. Hold Shift while dragging to
constrain rotation to 15° increments.
To precisely scale or rotate the image inside a picture frame:
Tip: Scaling the image 1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it.
inside a picture frame
will automatically set 2. Click the Image Size and Actual Resolution in the Context Toolbar to edit
the scaling method in this information. Enter the Scale percentage or Image DPI (resolution);
Image Properties to changing one will change the other. Click Original Size to revert to the
none image’s native size and resolution. Select the Link icon so that the width
and height are changed in tandem to maintain the image’s current aspect
ratio.

Image size and actual resolution

Or using the Transform panel, change the image’s width or height. Select the
Link icon so that the width and height are changed in tandem to maintain
the frame’s current aspect ratio.
3. Using the Transform panel, enter the Rotation and Shear angles.

170 Images
To visually scale or rotate an unframed image:
1. Using the Move tool, click the image once to select it.
2. Drag a size handle to scale the image. Hold Shift while dragging to constrain
the image to its current aspect ratio.
3. Drag the rotation handle to rotate the image. Hold Shift while dragging to
constrain rotation to 15° increments.
To precisely scale rotate an unframed image:
1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it.
2. Using the Transform panel, change the image’s width or height. Select the
Link icon so that the width and height are changed in tandem to maintain
the image’s current aspect ratio.
3. Using the Transform panel, enter the Rotation and Shear angles.
To restore a picture frame’s original aspect ratio:
1. Using the Move tool, click the picture frame once to select it.
2. Double-click any edge size handle (left, right, top, or bottom).
To restore an image’s original aspect ratio:
1. Using the Move tool, double-click the picture frame to select the image
inside it.
2. Double-click any edge size handle (left, right, top, or bottom)
To scale a picture frame to the size of its image:
1. Using the Move tool, right-click the picture frame and click the Size Pic-
ture Frame to Content icon in the Context Toolbar or choose Frame
Properties > Size Frame to Content from the context menu.

Cropping unframed images

To crop an unframed image:
1. Using the Vector Crop tool, click to select an unframed image.
2. Drag a crop handle to scale the cropping rectangle.
• Hold Shift while cropping to constrain the cropping rectangle to its current
aspect ratio.
• Hold Ctrl while cropping to rotate the cropping rectangle around the
opposite handle.
• Hold ⌥ while cropping to disable global snapping.
• Hold ⌘ (macOS) or right mouse button (Windows) while cropping to
crop from the centre.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 171

 3. Drag on the cropping rectangle to move the image within the cropping rec-
tangle or drag on the cropping rectangle’s borders to move it while the image
remains fixed in place.

Using multiple images in a picture frame

Occasionally you might want to add more than one image into a single picture
frame. For example, you might want to add an icon or watermark that needs to
be cropped by the frame, too.
Every object in Publisher can act as a parent clipping object for multiple child
objects so you can add secondary images to a picture frame. In fact, you could
use rectangles to frame pictures instead of using picture frames, but rectangles
lack a frame’s content scaling options, Scaling slider, and Pan control.
The primary image of a picture frame is considered its framed content and
subject to the scaling and panning features. This layer is indicated by the Framed
Content icon in the Layers panel. Other secondary images of a picture frame
will scale like normal child objects.

Framed content icon

To add a secondary image to a picture frame:

1. Using the Layers panel, drag an image layer beneath the picture frame’s layer
and release the mouse button when a highlight line appears between the
picture frame layer and the existing framed content layer.

Or using the Move tool, select the unframed image and choose Edit > Cut
to move the image or Edit > Copy to duplicate the image to the other frame.
Double-click the picture frame that already has an image and then choose
Edit > Paste.

172 Images
Linking and embedding
When placing images, you can either embed the image into the document or link
to the original image file.
Linking stores only a low-resolution preview of the image in the Publisher Tip: Store all of the
document along with an absolute link to the image file’s location. This approach linked images for a
keeps the file size small and uses less memory. The images in the document can document in a folder
at the same level as
also be updated automatically when the linked images are updated. The disad- the document file to
vantage is that if you lose the image files, the document will only have the low- make it easier to move
resolution preview. Moving a document with linked images is slightly more the document and
complex because Publisher stores an absolute link—the full file path—so you will images together
be prompted to find the images when opening a moved document.
Embedding stores an exact copy of the image inside the Publisher document
which avoids losing data if the images are later moved or lost. This approach
comes at the cost of memory and file size—embedding multiple images can
create huge Publisher files and consume a lot of memory so it is best to use
embedding only for small documents with few images.
The Image Placement option in the New Document and Document Setup
windows allows you to select whether images should be placed as embedded or
linked. Refer to Creating a new document on page 10 and Changing layout
options on page 16 for more information. If you select Prefer Embedded but
attempt to embed more than about 25 MB of images, you will be prompted to
switch to Prefer Linked. You can also mix linked and embedded images in the
same document.

To update linked images automatically:

Linked images can be updated automatically or manually when they are
modified.
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click General in the left pane.
2. Select Automatically update linked resources when modified externally.
To change an embedded file to linked or vice versa:
1. Choose Window > Resource Manager.
2. Select the image in the list. If you select an image on a page, it will be selected
automatically in the list. You can also press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows)

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 173

 while clicking to select multiple images, or press Shift while clicking to select a
range of images.
Tip: If you edit an 3. Click Make Linked to link it or Embed to embed it. When making a file
embedded PDF, SVG, linked and the original file no longer exists, Publisher will prompt you to
PSD, or EPS document choose a location where it will create a new linked copy of the image. If the
within Publisher then
it will be converted to original file exists but has been modified since you embedded a copy of it, you
an Affinity document will be prompted to choose which version to use. Choosing Yes will overwrite
and you will no longer the original external file with the embedded copy and No will replace the
be able to make it embedded copy with the external file.
linked; you can use the
Resource Manager to
find the original file
should you want to
revert to it

To find and relink missing images:

Preflight can warn you when an image is missing but you can also find missing
images on your own.
1. Choose Window > Resource Manager.
2. Click the Status column to sort by status. Missing images will be sorted to the
top of the list.
3. Select the first missing image and click Relink to select the folder containing
the image. A file open window will appear. Navigate to a folder and click
Select Folder. If other missing images are stored in the same folder, Publisher
will relink them automatically.
Or click Replace… to select another image file. A file open window will
appear. Select an image and click Open.
To find and update linked images that have been modified externally:
If Automatically Update Linked Resources when Modified Externally is not
selected in Affinity Publisher > Settings > General and a linked image is modi-
fied in another application, then the images must be updated manually.
1. Choose Window > Resource Manager.
2. Click the Status column to sort by status. Modified images will be sorted near
the top of the list, below missing images.
3. Select the first modified image and click Update. Repeat for all modified
images. You can also press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while clicking to
select multiple images, or press Shift while clicking to select a range of images
before clicking Update.

174 Images
To find an image in the document:
1. Choose Window > Resource Manager.
2. Select the image in the list. If there are multiple copies of the image in the
document, click the caret icon to the left of the image thumbnail so you
can select one of them.
3. Click Locate in Document.
To find a linked image used in the document on your computer:
1. Choose Window > Resource Manager.
2. Select the image in the list. If there are multiple copies of the image in the
document, click the caret icon to the left of the image thumbnail so you
can select one of them.
3. Click Show in Finder (macOS) or Show in Explorer (Windows). Publisher
will open a file folder window on your computer containing the image file.
To move linked images to a different folder:
If you move linked images using macOS Finder or Windows Explorer, the images
will become missing in Publisher and you will need to relink them. You can also
move images with Publisher in one step. This is also a convenient way to group
images from multiple folders into a single location.
1. Choose Window > Resource Manager.
2. Select the image(s) to move in the list. You can also press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl
(Windows) while clicking to select multiple images, or press Shift while
clicking to select a range of images.
3. Click Collect… A file open window will appear. Navigate to the new location
and click Collect. The selected images will be moved to this folder.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 175

 Filling and stroking images
Publisher allows you to apply fill and stroke properties to unframed images and
picture frames. The fill will only be visible if the Show/Hide Fill with Content
option is chosen and the image doesn’t fill the entire frame or it has transparent
areas.

Stroke and fill off Frame stroke set Frame fill set to a colour for an image that
doesn’t fill the entire frame with Show/Hide
Fill with Content selected

You can also apply fill and stroke properties to the image inside a picture frame.
Filling an image will tint the image similar to using Layer > New Adjustment >
Recolour. The stroke for an image inside a picture frame will be visible only if the
image does not fill the frame. If the stroke is set for both the frame and the image
inside it, the frame’s stroke will be layered above the image’s stroke.

Stroke and fill off Image fill colour set Frame and image stroke set
and frame fill colour set

To add a border (stroke) to an image:

1. Select a picture frame or unframed image, or select the image inside a picture
frame.
2. Using the Context Toolbar, set the Stroke and Stroke Colour.
To add a fill (tint) to an image:
1. Select an image (not a picture frame).
2. Using the Context Toolbar, set the Fill Colour.
To add a fill to the background of a picture frame:
1. Select a picture frame.
2. Using the Context Toolbar, set the Fill Colour.
3. Select the Show/Hide Fill with Content icon in the Context Toolbar.

176 Images
Image captions
Publisher does not include a feature to automatically add captions to images but Tip: For images that
you can easily add your own captions that flow with a story’s text. aren’t pinned to text,
simply create a text
For captions above or below an image pinned inline: frame or art text
object for the cap-
1. Enter the caption text as a paragraph and apply a caption paragraph style to it. tion—group the
image and caption if
2. To avoid the image and caption being separated on different pages, set Para- desired
graph > Flow Options > Keep With Next to 1 line in the style for captions
above an image, and select Paragraph > Flow Options > Keep With Previous
Paragraph in the style for captions below an image.
For captions to the left or right of an image pinned inline, and for images
pinned floating:
1. Unpin the image.
2. Enter the caption text into a separate text frame or art text object.
3. Select the image and caption text object and choose Layer > Group.
4. Choose Edit > Cut.
5. Place the text cursor where the image and caption should be pinned and
choose Edit > Paste. If the image and caption is now pinned as floating when Tip: Pasting the cut
it should be inline or vice versa, click the Inline In Text or Float With Text group will ensure that
icons in the Toolbar. it is pinned in the right
location but Publisher
To number figures or illustrations throughout a document: will default to inline or
floating depending on
You can create a running list name a list and add new items to it anywhere in which feature was last
your document or Book. used

1. Select a numbering style from the Type field. Definition: The term
running list refers to a
2. Enter the text to define the list marker in the Text field. You can include list that is interrupted
Figure or a similar word as a prefix. by other paragraphs
or even the end of a
Format Text value story or Book chapter
Figure 1: some text… Figure :

3. Set Tab Stop to 0 if the list marker (Text) includes or will be followed by a
space and set Marker Alignment to Left.
4. Set Start Numbering At to 1.
5. Select Restart Numbering to Manual Only and deselect Restart Numbering
Now.
6. Enter a unique list Name and select Global.
7. Optional: Select a character style to apply to the list marker (Text).

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 177

Tip: Test with the 8. Optional: To right-align the numbers, set Marker Alignment to Right. Using
largest number to the Spacing section of the panel, set First Line Indent to greater than zero.
determine the appro-
priate First Line 9. Create a paragraph style for this list. Refer to Creating text styles on page 147
Indent value for more information.

178 Images
Books 6
There are many different ways to create a book with Affinity
Publisher, including creating it as individual chapter documents
combined together as a Book file. The best approach to use for
your book project will depend on the type of book you plan to
publish, its design, and your preferred workflow.

In this chapter
Parts of a book .............................................................................................180
Static layouts vs. automatic text flow..................................................180
Sections and stories in books ................................................................182
Books: splitting a book into chapter documents............................184

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 179

 Parts of a book
Books are typically divided into front matter, body pages, and end matter, also
known as back matter. Below is a list of the most common parts of a book but
not all books will have every part or have them in the same order:
Front Matter Body End Matter

Accolades Prologue or Introduction Appendices

Half title Chapters Endnotes
Frontispiece Epilogue Bibliography
Title page Afterword/Conclusion Glossary
Copyright/Colophon Postscript Index
Also by the author Acknowledgements
Dedication Author bio
Table of contents Accolades
Epigraph Colophon
List of figures
Preface
Foreword

Static layouts vs. automatic text flow

Many books have text that flows automatically from page to page like a word
processor. The text and images pinned into it will flow as you add and edit text as
long as the text frames are linked together. To change the order of pages you
would cut and paste the text from one page to another, just as you would with a
Definition: The term word processor.
story refers to all the
text in a text object or Automatic Text Flow:
in a series of linked text frames are linked
from page to page into
text frames
one story

Tip: Adding, moving, Other books use a static layout with text that does not flow automatically from
or deleting a single page to page. To move a page to another position in the document you would
page in a facing-pages change the order of the pages. These books are sometimes designed around
document can lead to
confusing results; refer complex illustrations with text edited to fit the available space.
to Working with Static layout: text frames
spreads on page 24 are not linked, each
frame contains its own
story

180 Books
A novel or textbook will almost always use automatic text flow while a photo
book or children’s story book will almost always use a static layout. This manual
uses automatic text flow with inline images that are pinned to the text, as well as Tip: You can pin
page breaks to interrupt the flow where required. images with the
Pinning panel so they
Some books can be laid out either way and the choice is a personal preference. move with the associ-
For example, a cookbook could be created as a static layout if you want to posi- ated text; refer to
tion each page element manually and be able to change the order of recipes
easily. But you could also use automatic text flow and pin each recipe’s sidebars Tip: Refer to Interrupt-
ing text flow on page
and photos. 63 for information on
page breaks
Using static layouts with automatic text flow
If a chapter’s body text skips a page or spread due to the use of a full-page or full- Definition: A spread is
spread photo or illustration, you can insert a page break before the photo or a pair of left and right
illustration and pin the full-page image followed by another break. Be careful pages in a facing-
pages document
using this approach with full-spread images because if you add or remove text
before the image it could shift to the right side and not fit onto the page. You
could avoid this by inserting an even page break before the image but that could
lead to a preceding blank page.
Automatic text flow with a pinned
image: a page break is inserted before
the pinned full-page image, followed by
another page break

Automatic text flow with a pinned

spread: a page break is inserted before
the pinned full-spread image, followed
by two page breaks

Alternatively, you can also place the images on static pages and link the previous
and following text frames to skip over them. If you add or remove a substantial
amount of text before the static page or spread you may need to rearrange the
pages because the static page or spread may become distant from the text that
describes it.
Automatic text flow with a static page:
the story is linked from the frame before
the static page to the frame after it,
jumping over the image

Automatic text flow with a static

spread: the story is linked from the
frame before the static spread to the
frame after it, jumping over the image

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 181

 Sections and stories in books
Tip: Use the Section Publisher uses the term section to refer to a range of pages but sections don’t
Manager to create have to correspond to your book’s chapters. You might use sections even if your
sections; refer to book doesn’t have chapters because most books have front matter, pages before
Sections on page 33
for more information the first body page. Using a section for your front matter and one or more sec-
tions for the body of the book will allow you to restart page numbering at the
Definition: Front first body page and to change the page numbering style.
Matter refers to the
pages before the body A book with a static layout might not use linked frames so each frame would
of a book, including contain a separate story, or it might have frames on the left and right side of each
the title page, copy- spread that are linked together as pairs, but not linked to frames on other
right page, table of spreads.
contents, and preface
For a book with automatic text flow there would be many pages of linked frames
containing one story. You must choose whether to use a single story for all of the
text in the body of your book or whether to use a separate story for each chapter.
And you must also choose whether to create a section for each chapter.

Single vs. multiple stories

Use a single story for simplicity. With a single story, all of the text in the body of
the book in a single series of linked frames. You can start a new chapter by
inserting a page break. You can move a chapter by cutting and pasting all of its
text as you would in a word processor. You may need to add or remove pages at
the end of the book as you add and remove text.

A B Single story: the last text frame of chapter A

on page 3 is linked to the first text frame of
1 2 3 4 5 6 chapter B on page 4 so there is only a single
story

Use multiple stories in a single document, one for each chapter, to simplify
reordering chapters, add endnotes at the end of each chapter, and improve per-
formance. You can move a chapter by dragging all of its pages to a new position
with the Pages panel. You may need to add or remove pages at the end of each
chapter as you add and remove text.

A B Multiple stories: the text frames in chapter A

are linked from pages 1–3 and the frames in
1 2 3 4 5 6 chapter B are linked from 4–6 but there is no
link between the chapters

Using multiple stories reduces the load on your computer because Publisher only
has to reflow a single chapter instead of the entire book when you add or delete a
line of text. Although modern computer hardware makes this less of a concern,
performance can still be an important factor in a document with many inline
images.
Regardless of which approach you select, adding pages and linking their text
frames is easy with AutoFlow. Refer to AutoFlow text on page 62 for more
information.
182 Books
Single vs. multiple sections
Use a separate section for each chapter if you want chapter-specific page number-
ing or to easily change the chapter name shown in the header or footer. But if Tip: Use the Fields
your chapters require master page objects unique to each chapter, such as tabs panel to insert a
that bleed off the right edge of pages, sections will be of little value because Section Name into a
header or footer
master pages must be applied manually to pages. You could apply a master page
manually to all of the pages in a section but if you do that you might as well place
the chapter name on the master page.
If you use separate sections for each chapter then you should use a separate story
for each chapter, too. Unlike word processors such as Microsoft® Word which
allow you to insert a section break at any point in your text, sections in Publisher
are a grouping of pages. If you had a section starting on page 50 but the chapter
heading on that page re-flowed to page 51 when you added more text, your
chapter headings would be off by one page. If you used separate stories, the story
for the previous chapter would be overset (overflowing) when you added more
text. Publisher will warn of this you through Preflight so that you could add
another page with AutoFlow.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 183

 Books: splitting a book into chapter docu-
ments
Tip: Books is capital- You can create a book as a single file or as separate files for each chapter joined
ized in this manual together into a book. Many people used to create separate files for chapters due
when referring to the to limited computer hardware but today’s computers are more than sufficient to
Books feature of
Affinity Publisher, and create a long, complex document with hundreds of images without needing to
uncapitalized when use separate files. But if you do need or prefer to work this way, the Books panel
referring to the book allows you to create a Publisher Book comprised of multiple chapter documents.
you are creating A chapter document is just a regular Publisher document that has been added to
a Publisher Book. Working on a single chapter at once lowers the demands on
your system’s memory and it’s much easier to reorder chapters with the Books
Tip: You can use the panel.
Books feature even if
your project doesn’t
have chapters because
you can divide your
Book into whatever
groups of pages you
want
A Publisher Book is stored as a .afbook file which combines the pages of separate document .afpub files
Tip: Do not add a together when you export or print the Book
chapter document to
more than one Book The disadvantage of using the Books feature is increased complexity and the
because it will impact
inability to package a Book for publication—at this time the Save As Package
synchronization
command works only with individual documents. Publisher simplifies most of
Tip: Do not duplicate a the complexity for you by synchronizing text styles, page numbers, and more
Book and its chapters, across the Book but you may need to add or remove pages to the end of chapters
other than for archiv- to achieve the layout you desire.
ing, because Books
use absolute links to Undo and Books
their chapters so
opening the duplicate When you undo an action in Publisher it is added to the undo history which you
Book will modify the can view with the History panel. Each document has its own undo history so the
original chapters
list of actions in the History panel will change when you switch documents.
A Book does not have its own undo history so the actions you perform on a book
cannot be undone.

184 Books
Using the Books panel
To display the Books panel:
1. Choose Window > Books to display the Books panel.

Panel menu
Switch between open books
Style source chapter Selected chapter is highlighted

Chapter file status

Preflight status

Update Numbers now

Add chapter Synchronize chapters
Remove chapters

The first icon to the right of each chapter’s name and page number indicates its
chapter file status:
Chapter file
Status Description

The chapter is open for editing

The chapter is closed and there are no issues

The chapter is closed and was edited while the Book was closed—open it
to update the Book

The chapter could not be found and you opted not to locate it when
opening the Book—close and reopen the Book to resolve this
the Book

The chapter is locked because it’s in use by another user or application

The second icon to the right of each chapter’s name and page number indicates
its Preflight status:
Preflight
Status Description

Preflight not completed because Check is set to Never

All Preflight tests passed

One or more Preflight warnings

One or more Preflight errors and possibly one or more warnings

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 185

 Managing stray pages
Most books use facing pages to mirror headers and footers on the left and right
side or to allow for different inner and outer margins, so pages are paired into
Definition: Spread spreads. The term stray page refers to a single page at the start or end of a chap-
refers to a pair of left ter document that isn’t part of a spread in that chapter. Stray pages from adjoin-
and right pages in a ing chapter documents need to be joined together into a spread and sometimes a
facing-pages
document blank page needs to be added to maintain the proper order of pages.
Publisher’s Books feature does not support books with chapters that can start on
the left side of a spread to avoid blank pages. Novels, biographies, and some other
text-focused books often start chapters on either side of the spread depending on
where the previous chapter ended. If you were to use the Books feature for this
type of book and chapter 1 ended on a right page but you created the chapter 2
document with its first page on the right, as a new document is normally created,
Publisher would have to change the side for every page in chapter 2. This would
result in unsatisfactory results so it’s best to avoid this issue.
If your chapters always start on either the left or right side of a spread then you
can use the Books feature but you will have to add and remove blank pages
manually if you don’t want two successive blank pages.
The Books panel’s menu offers two Stray Pages commands:
• Merge Where Possible: If a chapter ends on a left page and the following
chapter starts on a right page this command will merge those two stray pages
into a single spread when printing or exporting the Book.
• Pad: If a chapter ends on a right page and the following chapter starts on a
right page this command will add a blank page to maintain the facing pages.
By default, Merge Where Possible is enabled and Pad is disabled but this is not
an optimal combination. Leaving Pad off will result in a single-page spread when
a chapter document ends with a right page which must be avoided.

186 Books
 1 1 1
2 3 2 3 2 3
4 4 5 4
5 7 7
6 7 8 9 8 9
Chapter ends on left: The Chapter ends on right: The Chapter ends on a blank right page:
Merge Where Possible Pad command can insert a The Pad command will insert a blank
command can merge pages 4 blank page before page 7 to page before page 7 but Merge Where
and 5 into a single spread maintain facing pages Possible won’t merge the two blank
pages

When Pad is used, as is shown in the middle and right scenarios above, a com-
pletely blank page will be added; you cannot choose a master page to be applied
to it. If you want your blank pages to display a chapter name or page number
then you must add your own blank pages.
The right scenario above shows how a chapter document ending with a blank
right page can result in two successive blank pages. The blank page at the end of
the first chapter document would not be completely blank–it would typically be
based on a master that displays the page number and perhaps the chapter name,
but from a book design perspective it’s effectively blank. Because you would have
Pad enabled to avoid single-page spreads, Publisher will add a blank page before
page 7. Merge Where Possible merges only stray pages as shown in the left sce-
nario and Pad will have created two spreads, albeit ones with two blank pages.
If you want to avoid two successive blank pages you must first delete the blank
right pages from the end of your chapter documents. If you later need another
page in that chapter, you must manually add a new page—do not use AutoFlow
because it always inserts an even number of pages, and in this case that would
leave you with a blank left page.
If you don’t want to deal with the complexity of adding and removing pages in
your chapter documents then you may wish to refrain from using the Books
feature.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 187

 Creating a Book
Create at least one of the chapter documents before you create a Publisher Book.
Although you can update the design and formatting of chapters later, it’s a best
practice to finalize the document size, margins, colour profile, master pages,
notes formatting, and other basics before creating additional chapter documents.
Some information can be synced across chapters, but other options such as
endnote placement would have to be changed manually in each chapter.
To create a Book:
1. Choose File > New Book. The Books panel will be displayed if it is not
already shown. You can also open the Books panel with Window > Books
and then click its Create new book button or choose New Book from the
panel menu .

2. Choose Stray Pages > Pad from the panel menu to avoid single-page
Tip: You can only save spreads.
a Book from the panel
menu ; it doesn’t 3. Choose Save Book from the panel menu and give your project a name.
allow for the use of
keyboard shortcuts
like the File menu

188 Books
To add chapters to a Book:
1. Click the Add Chapter icon or choose Add Chapter… from the panel
menu .
2. Select one or more Affinity Publisher document files to add. Tip: It is a best practice
to add separate
chapters for Front
Matter and End Matter

3. If your chapters aren’t in the right order, you can drag them to the correct
order in the panel.
To remove chapters from a Book:
1. Select the chapter name(s) in the Books panel; press Shift and click to select a
range of chapters, or press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) and click to select
multiple discontinuous chapters.
2. Click the Remove Chapter icon or choose Remove Chapter from the panel
menu .
3. Choose Replace Chapter from the panel menu to remove one selected
chapter document and replace it with another of your choosing in a single
step.
To open a Book:
You can open more than one book simultaneously. Only one Book is active at Tip: Recently-used
once, similar to how only one document is active at once. books can be opened
by choosing them
1. You can open a Book with the same File > Open… command used to open a from the File > Open
document. The Books panel will be displayed if it is not already shown. When Recent menu or the
no Book is open, the Books panel will display an Open book… button and Recent pane of the
New Document
you can also open a Book by choosing Open Book… from the panel menu window
.
2. To change which Book is active, click the current Book’s name at the top of
the Books panel to choose from the list of open Books.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 189

 To save a Book:
Tip: Saving a Book will 1. Choose Save Open Chapters from the Books panel menu to save any
not save its chapter modified (un-saved) chapters you have open, or choose File > Save for each
documents of them.
2. Choose Save Book or Save Book As… from the Books panel menu . These
commands are not in the File menu and a keyboard shortcut cannot be
assigned; however, if you quit Publisher with a modified Book open then
Publisher will prompt you to save it.
To close a Book:
1. To close the active Book, choose Close from the Books panel menu . You
can close only one Book at a time but if you quit Publisher with open Book(s)
they will be closed automatically and you will be prompted to save modified
Book(s).
To duplicate a Book:
1. Using macOS Finder or Windows File Explorer, duplicate the folder contain-
ing the Book and its chapter documents; for example, name this folder
Project-Copy.
2. Temporarily rename the original folder; for example, rename it to Project-
Temp.
3. Open the duplicate Book’s .afbook file in Publisher.
4. Publisher won’t be able to locate its chapter documents because a Book uses
absolute paths to its chapters and you renamed the original folder. Click Yes
and in the file window that appears select the chapter document in the
Project-Copy folder. Ensure you don’t select the same chapter in the original
folder.

5. Publisher will relink all the remaining chapter documents if they’re in the
same folder. Save the Book now by choosing Save Book from the Books panel
menu .
6. Using macOS Finder or Windows File Explorer, rename the original folder
back to its original name.

190 Books
Syncing styles, formats, and masters in a Book
Each chapter document has its own master pages, text styles, table formats, and
swatches but Publisher can sync this information across the Book. By default, the
first chapter you add is designated the Book’s Style Source Chapter, the master
copy for this information. Tip: Note that custom
variables are not
You can synchronize formatting to other chapters even while those chapters are synced across chap-
closed. Publisher will open the chapter documents in the background, update ters and are available
them, save changes, and close them. Note that chapters that are currently open only in the chapter
will be updated but changes will not be saved; you should save those chapters document in which
they were created
when you’re done with your other edits.
Syncing text styles and table formats
If a text style or format one with the same name doesn’t exist in the target chap-
ter, it will be copied from the Style Source Chapter. You can add a new text style
or table format in the Style Source Chapter and sync it to all other chapters.
If a text style or format with the same name exists in the target chapter, it will be
updated to have the same attributes. You can update a text style or table format in
the Style Source Chapter and sync the change to all other chapters.
If you rename a text style or table format in the Style Source Chapter, syncing Tip: It is important to
will create a new one in the target chapters because the names won’t match. Text finalize your text style
formatted with that text style won’t be formatted with the renamed style. For names before creating
additional chapters or
example, consider the case of renaming the Body style in the Style Source Chap- your chapters will end
ter to Body Text and then syncing to another chapter. The text formatted as Body up with multiple
in the target chapter will still be formatted as Body and a new Body Text style will copies of your styles
be created. You would need to use Find and Replace to search for all instances of with different names
Body to replace format them as Body Text.
Syncing swatches
Syncing swatches is identical to syncing text styles and table formats with the
addition of synching document palette categories.
Syncing master pages
Syncing master pages is more complex. If a master page with the same name
doesn’t exist in the target chapter, it will be copied from the Style Source Chapter.
If a master page with the same name exists in the target chapter but anything Tip: It is important to
about that master is different, it will not be updated and instead a new master finalize your master
page will be created and copied from the Style Source Chapter. Making any pages before creating
additional chapters or
change to a master page in the Style Source Chapter can result in duplicate your chapters will
master pages in the target chapters. have multiple copies
of your master pages
If you rename a master page in the Style Source Chapter, syncing will create a
new master page in the target chapters because the names don’t match.
If you must adjust your master pages—for example, adjusting page size, margins,

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 191

 or bleed, or adding an object—it is best to make the changes manually to each
chapter and disable the synchronization of master pages in Synchronize Settings.
To synchronize chapter documents:
1. If necessary, select a chapter in the Books panel and choose Set Style Source
Tip: Be careful when Chapter from the panel menu . Or click in the blank well area to the left of
clicking near the Style the chapter name in the Books panel—a tooltip will be displayed when the
Source Chapter well pointer is over the well. This action cannot be undone.
because there is no
visual cue that clicking
in the well will do
anything, nor is there a
confirmation alert to
avoid accidental
changes

Tip: As with other

Book actions, synchro-
nizing chapters cannot
be undone

2. Select the chapters you want synchronized. To synchronize only specific

chapters, select just those chapters in the panel list. To synchronize all chap-
ters, deselect any selected chapters by clicking in a blank area of the chapter
list or by holding ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while clicking the selected
chapter.
3. If desired, you can customize which information is synced by choosing
Synchronize Settings from the panel menu . The settings you select will be
saved with the Book.

4. Choose Synchronize from the panel menu , Synchronize Now from this
window, or click the Synchronize Chapters icon to sync the information
from the Style Source Chapter to the selected chapters.

192 Books
Number pages, notes, and lists in a Book
Publisher can number pages, notes, and global list items automatically across
chapters even while chapters are closed. Publisher will open the chapter docu-
ments in the background, update them, save changes, and close them. Note that
documents that are currently open will be updated but changes to them will not
be saved.
Page numbers are updated automatically and there is no need to manually
update them unless you turn off automatic numbering. Note and list item num-
bers are updated only when you choose to update them. All numbers can be
updated automatically when you print or export a Book.
Notes will be numbered across chapters only if Restart Every > Book is chosen
from the Notes panel for all of the chapter documents.
List items will be numbered across chapters only if the lists at the start and end
of each chapter are the same level and if the following options are chosen from
the Bullet and Numbering section of the Paragraph panel:
• Restart numbering > Manual Only
• Restart Numbering Now set to Off
• Global set to On.
To update page numbers automatically across chapters:
If you turn off automatic page numbering for a Book, Publisher will change the
Start page number at setting in the Section Manager for the first section of each
chapter document to a fixed number. Tip: With a Book you
cannot select Con-
1. Choose Update Numbers > Update Page Numbers Automatically from the tinue page number-
Books panel menu to enable or disable automatic page numbering. This is ing for the first section
on by default. of a chapter document
in the Section Man-
To modify the page numbering for a chapter: ager because this
feature is controlled at
Many books have front matter with pages numbered in Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, the Book level
iv…) followed by body pages numbered in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4…) To
create this common numbering approach in a Publisher Book:
1. Ensure Update Numbers > Update Page Numbers Automatically is selected
from the Books panel menu .
2. Open the front matter chapter and choose Window > Section Manager or
click the Section Manager icon in the Pages panel.
3. Set the Number style to i, ii, iii, iv…
4. If there are no other sections in this chapter, open the next chapter. Other-
wise, select the next section in this chapter.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 193

 5. Set the Number style to 1, 2, 3, 4… in the Section Manager. The remaining
chapters will continue this numbering style automatically unless you wish to
change it again.
6. To restart page numbering at the start of a chapter, select that chapter in the
Books panel and choose Page Number Options from the panel menu .

To number notes across chapters:

1. Choose Numbering > Restart Every > Book from the Notes panel.

2. Create or edit an endnote and then choose Update Document Settings from
Selected Endnotes from the panel menu . If you’ve already created multiple
chapter documents you will need to repeat these steps for each chapter.
To update page, note, and list numbers before printing or exporting:
Tip: Although this 1. Choose Update Numbers > Update Numbers Before Output from the panel
command is named menu . This is on by default. Note that this affects only the Export… and
Update Numbers it Print… commands in the panel menu . Choosing the same commands
will also update the
text of endnotes so from the File menu will not update numbers because those export only the
there is no need to use current chapter and not the whole Book.
the similarly-named
command for To manually update page, note, and list numbers:
endnotes 1. Select the chapter(s) to update in the Books panel.
2. To update just one type of number, select Update Numbers > Page Numbers,
List Numbers, or Note Numbers from the panel menu .
3. To update all numbers at the same time, choose Update Numbers > All
Numbers or click the Update Numbers button at the bottom of the panel.

194 Books
Positioning endnotes at the end of a Book
Many books include endnotes at the end of chapters which Publisher does by
default. If you want to consolidate all of your endnotes at the end of a Book,
Publisher can do this automatically but you should learn how it works to avoid
confusion.
To position endnotes at the end of a Book:
1. Choose Positioning > Note position > End of Book from the Notes panel.

2. Create or edit an endnote and then choose Update Document Settings from
Selected Endnotes from the panel menu . If you’ve already created multiple
chapter documents you will need to repeat these steps for each chapter.
3. When the End of Book option is chosen, Publisher will create a non-printing
section named #Booknotes at the end of each chapter to make it convenient
to edit its endnotes without having to keep switching between the current
chapter and the endnotes at the end of the Book.

4. Create an End Matter document for your endnotes and index to avoid adding Definition: End Matter
a printing section for them after the non-printing #Booknotes section in your is also known as Back
last actual chapter. Matter and includes
the appendices,
5. Add the End Matter document to the Book as a chapter. endnotes, glossary,
index, and bibliogra-
6. Place the cursor in a text frame in the End Matter chapter and choose End- phy
notes > Insert Endnotes from the Books panel menu . All of the Book’s
endnotes will be added to that text frame. These endnotes are not editable so
they are similar to an inserted index or table of contents.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 195

 Adding references to a Book
Publisher can create the table of contents and index for an entire Book and cross-
reference text across its chapters but the features function slightly differently in a
Book.
To add a table of contents to a Book:
Refer to Creating a table of contents on page 208 for general information on
tables of contents.
1. Place the cursor in a text frame in your front matter chapter and click the
Insert icon in the Table of Contents panel.
2. No entries will be shown for the inserted table of contents unless your front
matter chapter has applicable headings. Click Scope > Book in the panel to
include all chapters in this table of contents.
3. Click the Update icon in the Table of Contents panel to reflect the table’s
expanded scope.
4. To update tables of contents automatically before printing or exporting,
choose Update Numbers > Update Tables of Contents Before Output.
To add an index to a Book:
Tip: The Find in Refer to Creating an index on page 224 for general information on indices.
Document feature
cannot be used to 1. Place the cursor in a text frame in your End Matter chapter and click the
search all of the Insert Index icon in the Index panel. Unlike the table of contents feature,
Chapter documents in the scope for a Book’s index is always the entire Book so there is nothing else
a Book you need to do. Publisher will automatically sync index topics across chapters,
even if you rename them.
2. To update the index automatically before printing or exporting, choose
Update Numbers > Update Index Before Output.
To add cross-references to a Book:
Refer to Creating cross-references on page 200 for general information on cross-
references. The Book and the chapters to target (add a cross-reference to) must
be open when you add or remove a cross-reference. You can edit a cross-refer-
ence without the Book and target chapter being open as long as you don’t need to
change the target paragraph, anchor, or index mark.
1. Open the Book and the chapter(s) you want to target.
2. Follow the steps for creating a cross-reference. A Target Chapter option will
appear in the Insert Cross-Reference window to select a chapter for the target
paragraph, anchor, or index mark. The remainder of the options are the same
as for standard documents.
3. To update all cross-references in a Book, choose Cross-References > Update
Cross-References from the Book panel menu .

196 Books
4. To update cross-references automatically before printing or exporting, choose
Cross-References > Update Cross-References Before Output.

Printing and exporting a Book

The Print and Export commands in the File menu will print and export the
current document, not an entire Book. To print and export a Book you must use
the Book panel. Likewise, the Preflight panel will check for errors in the current
document, not an entire Book. To preflight a Book you must use the command
in the panel menu .
To preflight a Book: Tip: Refer to Preflight-
ing documents on
1. Select one or more open chapter documents in the Books panel to preflight page 268 for more
the selected chapter(s), or deselect all chapter documents to preflight all open information on
chapters. Preflight

2. Choose Preflight from the panel menu . The Preflight panel will not be Tip: You can only
displayed and no window will open; instead, the Preflight status icons for the preflight chapters that
chapter(s) will update to reflect the results of the Preflight check: are currently open

Status Description

Preflight not completed because Check is set to Never

All Preflight tests passed

One or more Preflight warnings

One or more Preflight errors and possibly one or more warnings

3. Click the Preflight status icon to open a chapter and display the Preflight
panel to see the list of warnings or errors.
To print or export a Book: Tip: Refer to Printing
on a commercial press
1. To export specific chapters, select the chapters in the Books panel. on page 278 for more
information on
2. Choose Print… or Export… from the panel menu . The Print and Export printing
windows will include a Range option (for Print) and an Area option (for
Export) to let you choose whether to export the entire Book or the chapters
selected in the panel.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 197

198 Books
References 7
The features described in this chapter are critical to creating
books, newspapers, magazines, academic papers, reports, and
other long documents.
Cross-references are used to refer readers to another place in the
same publication and can be updated automatically as the docu-
ment changes. A table of contents is used to list the topics for
the publication or one of its chapters in page number order. The
index is used to list topics and keywords in alphabetical order,
typically at the end of a publication.
Notes, including footnotes, sidenotes, and endnotes, are used to
cite other works or to provide comments on the main text.
Anchors and hyperlinks are used to link to other places in the
publication or to another document or website URL.
Fields are used to insert information about the document, such
as the page number or section name, and can be updated auto-
matically as the document changes.
Together these features simplify the effort required to create a
long and complex publication. Mastering these features will save
you time as you prepare a document for publication and help
ensure a more consistent publication with fewer errors.

In this chapter
Creating cross-references ........................................................................200
Creating a table of contents ...................................................................208
Creating an index .......................................................................................224
Creating notes .............................................................................................237
Using fields ...................................................................................................251
Using anchors ..............................................................................................259
Using hyperlinks .........................................................................................263

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 199

 Creating cross-references
A cross-reference refers the reader to another place in the same publication,
whether through a page or chapter reference or a hyperlink in a PDF or eBook.
A cross-reference in Publisher is a field that refers to the position of an anchor
elsewhere in your publication. The cross-reference field will update automatically
when its target changes pages and you can choose to update cross-references
when the paragraph text changes.
Publisher can generate many complex types of cross-references by combining
subfields including the paragraph text following the anchor position. You can
save combinations of subfields and text as presets to make it easy to add cross-
references.
You can format cross-references automatically with a character style but the style
can be applied only to the entire cross-reference. If you want to format only part
of a cross-reference or format two parts of it separately, you would need to com-
bine it with plain text or a second cross-reference to the same target.
refer to “Aperture” on page 192
refer to “Depth of field” above
The boxed text in these
see Understanding Exposure on page 87 of chapter 2 examples can be inserted
See Depth of Field automatically as a cross-
reference
See Depth of field for more information
See Depth of field on page 73 for more information
See Depth of field on page 73 for more information

Cross-reference targets
You can choose to target a cross-reference to an anchor, paragraph, or index
mark, but targeting a paragraph or index mark will generate a new anchor auto-
matically. Anchors generated automatically by cross-references will not be
exported as PDF bookmarks unless you modify them.
The choice of which to target depends on your work style:
• If you cross-reference a heading and target the paragraph, Publisher will
insert an anchor at its start. If you later insert a table of contents, Publisher
will insert a second anchor because the table of contents feature also relies on
anchors.
• If you insert the table of contents first and update it as you edit your docu-
ment, Publisher can reuse the table of content’s anchor when adding a cross-
reference.
• If you cross-reference an index mark, Publisher will create an anchor using
the index mark’s name rather than the paragraph text.

200 References
Using the Cross-References panel
To display the Cross-References panel:
1. Choose Window > References > Cross-References to display the
Cross-References panel.

Panel menu
Filter list by page or spread
Column dividers—drag to resize
Selected cross-reference Text inserted on the page
Status icon

Page number of
a cross-reference

Go to cross-reference Delete

Go to target Insert Edit

Update Update All

2. Choose Edit Strings… from the panel menu to change the Above/Below
text used for certain cross-references.
3. Drag the column dividers to see more of a particular column.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 201

 Adding a cross-reference
To insert a cross-reference:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor where you want the
cross-reference to be inserted.
2. Click the Insert Cross-Reference icon in the Cross-References panel or
choose Text > Cross-References > Insert Cross-Reference, and select the
target.

• Link to: Select Paragraph (default), Anchor, or Index Mark. You must have
previously defined anchors or index marks to use the latter options.
• Filter style (Optional): Select a text style name to filter the list by style.
• Search (Optional): Enter a search phrase to filter the list by text. Publisher
will search anywhere in the paragraph, anchor name, or index mark name.
To search only from the start, click the caret icon and select Search from
Start.
• List: Select one of the listed paragraphs, anchors, or index marks.
3. Format the cross-reference:
Tip: Presets are • Preset: Choose one of the default cross-reference presets. You can create a
language specific custom format with the Text option below and create your own presets.

202 References
• Language: If the cross-reference’s language doesn’t match the language of
the surrounding text, click the menu icon beside the Preset list, choose
Language from the popup menu, and then select the language to use.
• Text: Create a custom format for the cross-reference. Click the caret Tip: You could type
icon on the left side of the field to select from a list of relevant special text such as “refer to”
characters and cross-reference components (building blocks). You can also and “on page” directly
in the text frame but
enter plain text into the field. including this text in
Component Text Result the cross-reference
format helps ensure
Page Number on page PageNumber on page 192 consistency through-
out a long publication
Section Name in chapter SectionName in chapter 3
Tip: Do not use a
Chapter Name in the ChapterName chapter in the Exposure chapter component with a
Object Description see figure ObjectDescription see figure 46 paragraph that doesn’t
make sense, such as
Anchor Name see AnchorName see Depth of field List Number for a
paragraph that isn’t
Above/Below continued AboveBelow continued below numbered because
the cross-reference
Numbered Paragraph see NumberedParagraph see 3. Aperture will be shown as out-
of-date until you
Paragraph Body see ParagraphBody see Aperture remove the
List Number see ListNumber see 3 component

Note Number in footnote NoteNumber in footnote 17 Tip: Object Descrip-

tion inserts the layer’s
• Combine components together to create complex cross-references: name which you can
use as a way to insert
Text Result text that doesn’t
appear in the
refer to “ParagraphName” on page PageNumber refer to “Aperture” on page 192 document

refer to “ParagraphName” AboveBelow refer to “Depth of field” above Tip: Note Number
see AnchorName on page PageNumber of chapter SectionNumber see Understanding exposure on page inserts the number of
a footnote, endnote,
87 of chapter 2 or sidenote; use
on page SectionName.PageNumber on page 12.10 Paragraph Body to
insert its text

• For Above/Below, you can change the text that will be inserted by choos-
ing Edit Strings… from the panel menu .

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 203

 4. Optional: To create a preset for your custom cross-reference format, click the
menu icon beside the Preset list and choose Create Preset… from the
popup menu. Enter a preset name and then click OK. If you later modify the
preset, choose Save Preset from the menu icon to update it. Choose Rename
Preset… or Delete Preset… to rename or delete the selected preset.
5. Optional: To apply a character style to the cross-reference, choose one from
Style override. Choose what the style is applied to with For.
• Everything: Select to apply the character style to the entire cross-reference
• All Fields: Select to apply the style to just the fields and not the plain text
you enter. For example, for a cross-reference of “ParagraphBody on page
PageNumber”, the style would be applied to ParagraphBody and
PageNumber but not to the words in between.

• Text Fields: Select to apply the style just to text fields such as
ParagraphBody.

• Number Fields: Select to apply the style to just the number fields such as
PageNumber.

Generate hyperlinks 6. Optional: Deselect Generate hyperlinks if you don’t want cross-references to
does not apply be clickable in an exported PDF file. It is recommended to leave this on
formatting automati- because you can control whether hyperlinks are included when exporting.
cally; it’s up to you to
apply an appropriate Hyperlinks added for cross-references will not appear in the Hyperlinks
character style with panel because they are not editable. Ensure Include Hyperlinks is selected
Style override when exporting to PDF if you want them included.
7. Optional: If you cross-reference short paragraphs such as headings, you’ll
likely want to include the full heading name in the cross-reference but if you
cross-reference a full paragraph or a long section name then you may wish to
truncate the inserted text. Select Limit subfields to choose from two options
to shorten the text:
• Enter the Max word count to limit the text by number of words. Select
Add ellipsis to add an ellipsis to truncated text. For example, setting Max
word count to 3 and adding an ellipsis to “Introduction to digital photog-
raphy” would result in “Introduction to digital…” being inserted.
• Enter one or more characters into End characters to choose which charac-
ters mark the end of the text to include—if an end character is not
encountered the full paragraph will be inserted. Select Include end char-
acter if you want it included in the inserted cross-reference. For example,
setting End characters to a colon would insert “Chapter 6” for a paragraph
with the text “Chapter 6: Exposure”.
8. Click OK to insert the cross-reference.
9. Optional: If you created a cross-reference to a Paragraph or Index Mark you
can rename the generated anchor with the Anchors panel. Refer to Using the
Anchors panel on page 259.

204 References
To edit a cross-reference:
1. To edit one cross-reference, position the text cursor before or after its field in
the document text and choose Text > Cross-References > Edit Cross-Refer-
ence… You can also double-click its name in the Cross-References panel or
select the cross-reference in the panel and click the Edit Cross-References
icon.
2. To edit the format of multiple cross-references at once, press Shift and click to
select a range of cross-references, or press ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) and
click to select multiple discontinuous cross-references, before clicking the
Edit Cross-References icon. You can’t set the target for multiple cross-ref-
erences and the formatting options of the first one will be shown in the Edit
Cross-Reference Format window

3. All of the options for editing a cross-reference are the same as for creating a
new one. When editing a single cross-reference, you can change its target to a
different paragraph, anchor, or index mark.
To find a cross-reference in the document:
1. Select a cross-reference in the Cross-References panel and click the Go to
Cross-Reference icon.
To view the target of a cross-reference:
1. Select a cross-reference in the Cross-References panel and click the Go to
Target icon.
To delete cross-references:
1. Select one or more cross-references in the Cross-References panel and click
the Remove Cross-References icon. The cross-reference field in the docu-
ment text will be expanded to become regular text which you can then edit.
You can also simply delete the cross-reference field directly in the document’s
text.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 205

 To convert a cross-reference to regular text:
1. Right-click a cross-reference field and choose Expand Field from the context
menu. The cross-reference field will be expanded to become regular text
which you can then edit and the cross-reference will be removed from the
panel. Deleting a cross-reference with the panel will also convert a cross-ref-
erence to regular text.
2. If the text in a cross-reference was hyphenated by automatic hyphenation, the
hyphen will be included in the expanded field. Fields are expanded automati-
cally when copying text from Publisher to a word processor such as
Microsoft® Word so it is a good practice to scan expanded fields for misplaced
hyphens. Spell checking text copied to Word will usually find these hyphens.
To share a cross-reference preset with another computer or user:
Presets are not saved in your user settings but there is a way to share them with
another computer or Publisher user.
1. Click the Insert Cross-Reference icon in the Cross-References panel.
2. Choose the preset you want to copy.
3. Click in the Text field and press ⌘ + A (macOS) or Ctrl + A (Windows) to
copy the cross-reference format to the pasteboard (clipboard). Click Cancel.
To close the Insert Cross-Reference window.
4. Create a new document and draw a text frame.
5. Paste the pasteboard (clipboard) into the text frame. It will appear empty
because you have pasted invisible control codes that don’t have associated
special character symbols.
6. Save this document and transfer it to the other computer.
7. Open the document on the other computer.
8. Click in the text frame and press ⌘ + A (macOS) or Ctrl + A (Windows) to
copy the cross-reference control codes to the pasteboard (clipboard).
9. Click the Insert Cross-Reference icon in the Cross-References panel.
10. Paste the pasteboard (clipboard) into the Text field.
11. Click the menu icon beside the Preset list and choose Create Preset…
from the popup menu. Enter a preset name and then click OK.

206 References
Updating cross-references
Cross-references aren’t updated automatically when you edit your document and
the target of a cross-reference changes. It’s up to you to update the cross-refer-
ences before printing or exporting.
The Cross-References panel shows a status icon for each cross-reference:
Status Description
OK – there are no issues with the cross-reference

The cross-reference target is missing because the paragraph, anchor, or index

mark was deleted; copying and pasting text that includes a target anchor will
result in a missing target

The cross-reference is out-of-date, the anchor or index mark is no longer on

the same page; click the Update or Update All icon

To update cross-references:
1. Click the Update All Cross-References icon in the Cross-References panel
to update all in the document. This is the right of the two Update icons and is
always available, regardless of what part of the document you are viewing or
which tool you have selected.
2. To update one or more specific cross-references, select the cross-references in
the Cross-References panel. Click the Update Cross-Reference icon to
update the selected items.
Publisher can also warn you of an outdated cross-reference through the Preflight
panel which offers a convenient Fix button to update it, but each outdated cross-
reference will have its own Fix button so it’s usually faster to update cross-refer-
ences with the Cross-References panel.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 207

 Creating a table of contents
Publisher can generate one or more table of contents for your publication based
on the selected paragraph styles. While most publications will have just one table
of contents near the front of the document, some may have a second table of
contents to list figures, illustrations, or photo credits. Some textbooks also have a
table of contents at the start of each chapter to list its topics.
A table of contents is a block of special text that you can modify but when you
update the table of contents any edits you made to it will be lost. You should
avoid making any edits until the last stage before publishing. The table of con-
tents can be updated at any time and can be generated from a single document or
from all of the chapter documents in a Publisher Book.
Sort order
Tip: You cannot sort a A table of contents is sorted in the order the headings are used in your publica-
table of contents tion, from the first to last page and from the bottom to top of the layer stack on
alphabetically each page.
Tip: Master page text The layer stack order is important only if you use more than one text frame for
frames will be on the your headings. Most long documents have just one main text frame per page for
bottom of the layer all of the page’s text, with separate frames only for the header and footer. If your
stack unless you have
edited the master document uses a separate text frame for each heading then your table of contents
layer detached entries could be in the wrong order unless you pay attention to the layer stack
order. Ensure the heading at the top of the page is on the bottom of the layer
stack with additional headings on top.

Parts of a table of contents

A table of contents is a list of entries that are made up of a heading and a page
Tip: If you number number. You can select how many levels of headings to include and you can
chapter pages using a modify the formatting, including the separator between the heading and page
combination of number and whether the page number is shown before or after the heading. You
section name and
page number (for can even hide the page number entirely.
example, 1.1, 1.2, Sample table of contents
1.3…), the section
prefixes will not be
included in the table ¶ TOC 1: Heading 1 Exposure .................................................................5 a TOC 1: Heading 1 Number
of contents because Aperture ......................................................... 12
they are not part of ¶ TOC 1: Heading 2 Shutter speed ............................................... 15 a TOC 1: Heading 2 Number
the page number ISO..................................................................... 17
Light meter .................................................... 21
Focusing modes.................................................27
Manual focus ................................................. 28
Auto focus ...................................................... 39
Continuous focus ........................................ 42
White balance .....................................................44
Types of lenses ...................................................58

208 References
Using the Table of Contents panel
To display the Table of Contents panel:
1. Choose Window > References > Table of Contents to display the Table of
Contents panel.
Update Update All Delete

Panel menu

Insert Rename TOC

Table of contents name

Limit scope to current section (chapter)
Limit scope automatically Ignore unlinked text frames

Include front matter before the TOC

Generate PDF bookmarks
Share styles among TOCs

Include in TOC Set indent level and page number

visibility

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 209

 Generating a table of contents
Tip: You cannot You must use paragraph styles for the text to include in a table of contents. You
choose the text styles can use any styles that you want but for the main table of contents there are some
to include in the table advantages to using the standard Heading 1, 2, 3… naming convention, or
of contents before
generating it Publisher’s equivalent for the user interface language in use.
It’s difficult to see the start and end of a table of contents because Publisher
Tip: When a TOC is first doesn’t display it with any shading as in other applications. Until you’re experi-
created, an anchor is
added for each style enced with working near the table of contents text block, it is recommended that
that matches the you insert the table of contents into a separate text frame without any other text
standard Heading 1, 2, to avoid losing text when the table of contents is updated.
3 naming convention,
so if you don’t want The table of contents inserted by Publisher does not include the title Table of
anchors generated for Contents and you might consider placing even the title in a separate frame so that
one of them, rename it updating the table of contents can replace all the text in the frame(s).
temporarily, insert the
table of contents, and It doesn’t matter whether you create text frames for the table of contents on a
then rename it back master page or whether you create them directly on a document page.

Tip: For information To insert a table of contents:

on generating an table
of contents for a Book 1. Using the Frame Text tool, create a text frame for the table of contents and
made up of separate position the text cursor in it.
chapter documents,
refer to Adding 2. Click the Insert Table of Contents icon in the Table of Contents panel or
references to a Book choose Text > Table of Contents > Insert Table of Contents. Publisher will
on page 196 insert the table into the frame.
3. Review the list of paragraph styles in the panel. Select any additional styles
you want to include in the table and deselect any selected ones that you want
to exclude.
4. If the table of contents’ text frame has an overflowing Text Flow Out
control near the frame’s bottom-right corner, you will need to create addi-
tional pages.
• If none of the pages following the table of contents have text frames inher-
ited from a master page, press Shift and click the Text Flow Out control.
The AutoFlow feature will create as many pages of text frames as required
to contain the table of contents.
• If any of the pages following the table of contents have text frames inher-
ited from a master page, you must manually add page(s) for the rest of the
table of contents and create and link the text frames. Using AutoFlow
would result in text frames being layered over the master frames on the
following pages.
5. Refer to Formatting a table of contents on page 212 for information on the
formatting options and instructions for editing the table of contents text
styles.

210 References
To delete a table of contents:
1. To delete a table of contents, select the table name from TOC popup menu
and click the Delete icon.
To update a table of contents:
The table of contents isn’t updated automatically when you add, edit, and delete
headings. It’s up to you to update the table of contents before printing or
exporting.
Tip: Each time you edit a heading used in the table of contents and update the table,
Publisher will insert a new anchor before the heading. Editing your headings and
generating the index multiple times can lead to duplicate anchors that will make a mess
of a PDF file’s bookmarks. To avoid this, delete the anchor when editing a heading
before updating the table of contents.

1. Click the Update All Tables of Contents icon in the Table of Contents
panel to update all the tables in the document. This is the right of the two
Update icons and is always available, regardless of what part of the document
you are viewing or which tool you have selected.
2. To update a specific table of contents, position the text cursor in the table of
contents frame or choose the table name from the TOC popup menu in the
Table of Contents panel. Click the Update Table of Contents icon to
update the selected table. Publisher can also warn you that a table of contents
is outdated through the Preflight panel which also offers a convenient Fix
button to update it.

To set the scope for a table of contents:

If your publication has only one table of contents, Publisher will automatically Tip: For tips on
add all headings that are after the table of contents. You can also choose to formatting and setting
include headings in the publication before the table of contents. the scope of multiple
tables of contents,
If you wish to limit the table’s scope or are working with multiple tables of con- refer to Pinning
tents, you can choose from these options. (anchoring) objects on
page 133
1. To include front matter headings on pages before the table of contents, select
Include entries before TOC in the Table of Contents panel.
2. To limit the scope until the next table of contents is found, select Stop at next
TOC in the Table of Contents panel.
3. Or to limit the scope to the current section, change Scope from Document to
Section in the Table of Contents panel.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 211

 Formatting a table of contents
Publisher provides several formatting options in the Table of Contents panel to
modify the table text that will be inserted.
Because a document can have more than one table of contents, the formatting
Tip: Table of contents options are saved as a TOC style. A TOC style is not a text style but a group of
text styles are based text styles used to format a table of contents. You can use the same TOC style for
on the document’s multiple tables of contents or a different style for each table, but you’ll need to
Base text style but you
cannot change use separate styles if you want modify formatting or the included heading levels.
Publisher’s default To set the table of contents options:
formatting for a table
of contents so refer to 1. To choose a different TOC style, select from the TOC Style popup menu in
To import TOC styles the Table of Contents panel.
from another docu-
ment on page 218 for 2. TOC Style formatting options: Use these options to customize the text
more information inserted into the table of contents.
Tip: Changes you Item Purpose
make to a TOC style’s
text styles or to the Numbers before headings Position page numbers to the left of headings
options in the Table of
Contents panel are Remove line breaks Replace manual line breaks in headings with spaces
made immediately to Include inline pins Include images pinned in headings
the TOC style–there is
not a command to Separator Inserted between the heading and page number;
save changes to the click the caret icon on its left side to easily enter
TOC style
relevant special characters

Style Name Select which paragraph styles to include in the

table of contents; click the menu icon to the
right of a selected style to Include Page Number
(default) or change the Indent Level

Include page number Deselect to not display page numbers for this level
of the table of contents; this is useful when you want
to summarize the contents of a major topic

Tip: Indent level does Indent level Set the hierarchy level for TOC anchors so book-
not indent the text; marks are organized correctly in exported PDF files;
edit the associated Publisher will do this automatically if you use the
TOC text style to
change the left indent standard Heading 1, 2, 3… text styles or Publisher’s
value equivalent for the user interface language in use;
indent levels are numbered from 1

3. To rename a TOC style, click the menu icon to the right of the TOC Style
popup menu and choose Rename… from the context menu.

212 References
4. To delete a TOC style, click the menu icon to the right of the TOC Style
popup menu and choose Delete from the context menu.
5. You can also create a new TOC style with the Create New… command but it’s
unnecessary unless you deleted the automatic style created for an additional
table of contents.
Using numbered headings in a table of contents:
If you create a table of contents for numbered headings the numbers cannot be
removed automatically when the table is created; editing the TOC heading style
will have no effect because the numbers are included as text.
When you insert the table of contents, the numbered headings will be poorly
formatted because the number and heading are separated by a tab but the table of
contents text styles have only one tab stop for between the heading text and page
number. To fix this:
1. Position the text cursor in the table of contents heading you want to correct.
2. Using the Text Styles panel, click the menu icon to the right of the heading
text style and choose Edit “TOC #: Heading #”, where TOC # is the name of
the table and Heading # is the name of the heading style.
3. Click Tab Stops in the left pane.
4. Click the Add New Tab Stop icon and adjust the value for the new tab stop.

5. Click OK.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 213

 To reformat the table of contents by editing its text styles:
Tip: Publisher creates When you insert a table of contents in a document for the first time, Publisher
the table of contents will create a number of additional text styles to control the table formatting. You
text styles for you; can modify the attributes of these styles as required for your publication. These
while you can redefine
the character and text styles are grouped into a table of contents style, referred to as a TOC style.
paragraph attributes Each TOC style has its own set of text styles numbered in the order you create
of these styles, do not
rename them because them so you can format each one separately. Because this can result in many text
the modified name styles, table of contents styles are displayed in the Text Styles panel only when
will not be shown the text cursor is placed in a table of contents.
The styles are:
Style Purpose

Tip: TOC 1: Entry will ¶ TOC 1: Entry Base style, not applied directly to the TOC; the TOC
be based on whatever style for the first TOC you insert is named TOC 1 and
style your level 1 additional ones are numbered sequentially
heading is based on; it
is not advisable to ¶ TOC 1: Heading 1 For all TOC entries, numbered by level; if you use
change this custom heading style names, they will be prefixed with
the TOC name
a TOC 1: Number Base style, not applied directly to the TOC
a TOC 1: Heading 1 Number For the page number

To add a dot leader:

The default formatting for tables of contents doesn’t include a dot leader but you
can add one.
1. Ensure Separator in the Table of Contents panel is set to (tab), the
default value.
2. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor in the table of contents.
3. Double-click the TOC 1: Entry style in the Text Styles panel to edit it, where
TOC 1 is the name of the TOC style.
4. Select Tab Stops from the left pane. There will already be a right-aligned tab
stop set to 0 from right.
5. Select (.) Tab stop leader character or one of the other leader characters from
the list. You can also click the More icon to chose a custom character.

214 References
6. Click OK.
To hang page numbers to the right of table of contents entries:
If your table of contents has long headings you may wish to hang its page num-
bers to the right of the entries.
1. Set Right Indent to the value that the table of contents’ entries should be
indented from the right edge of the text frame.
2. Set Last Line Outdent to 0.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit .................... 5 With Right Indent = 0 and Last Line Outdent = 0, the
page numbers will be aligned with the table of
Aliquam nec turpis quis lacus porta contents’ entries
tincidunt ....................................................12
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit .................... 5 With Right Indent = 1p6 (18 pt) and Last Line Outdent
= 0, the page numbers will hang to the right of the
Aliquam nec turpis quis lacus table of contents’ entries
porta tincidunt ........................................12

To create clickable bookmarks for an exported PDF:

1. Select Include as PDF bookmarks in the Table of Contents panel. This
option is specific to each table of contents so if you have more than one you
can choose whether to select it for each table.
2. When exporting to PDF, you must also select Include bookmarks in the
Export window.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 215

 To exclude specific headings from a table of contents:
Sometimes you might want to exclude a specific heading from a table of contents
yet wish to use the same heading style for that paragraph. There is more than one
way to do this but the best option is:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor in the heading to
exclude.
2. Click the menu icon beside the heading style name in the Text Styles panel
and choose Duplicate from the popup menu.
3. Name the new style Heading # Copy, where # is the number of the original
heading.
4. Click OK. Paragraphs formatted with this new style won’t be included in the
table of contents. Changes you make to the original heading style will be
made to the duplicate style, too.
To include headings that do not appear in a publication:
Sometimes you might want to include headings that do not appear in a publica-
tion, such as list of advertisers, or perhaps the actual headings are images but you
need plain text equivalents to appear in the table of contents.
In this manual, the chapter headings are written as “References 3” but as
“3. References” in the table of contents. This was achieved by formatting the
actual chapter headings with a paragraph style not used by the table of contents
and then following the steps below to add a hidden layer for the heading used by
the table of contents.
1. Using the Frame Text tool, create a separate text frame for a heading that
should be invisible. The frame does not need to be in the exact position
because it will not be printed or exported to PDF.
2. Type the heading text and apply the heading style to it.
3. If the heading should move with the text on page, select the heading’s text
frame and click the Float with Text icon in the Toolbar at the top of the
screen to pin the heading’s frame into the main text frame.
4. Choose Layer > Hide to make the heading’s frame invisible. The heading will
still be included in the table of contents but it will not be printed on the page.
You can also click the Toggle Visibility icon next to the heading’s text
frame’s layer in the Layers panel to show and hide the frame but you might
have to expand the master page layer and the main text frame’s layer to find it.

216 References
To include a chapter number prefix in the table of contents:
If you number chapter pages using a combination of section name and page
number (for example, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3…), the section prefixes will not be included in
the table of contents because they are not part of the page number. You must use
a workaround to include the chapter’s section name prefix.
1. After each heading that will be included in the table of contents, type a tab
character, insert a SectionName field, and type a period. An entry will look
like this for a chapter with a section name of “7”:
White balance 7.

2. Select the tab and field and using either the Context Toolbar or Character
Panel, set their text fill colour to none to make them invisible. Repeat this
for each heading.
3. Generate the table of contents but remove the tab from the Separator field in
the Table of Contents panel because you already inserted a tab manually into
each heading. The resulting entry will look like this:
White balance ................................................. 7.44

To switch between print and digital table of contents formatting:

If you want to be able to export your document with hyperlink style formatting
for digital but plain text for print, you can do this with two TOC styles.
1. After generating the table of contents and adjusting the TOC text styles for
print (or digital), click the menu icon to the right of the TOC Style popup
menu and choose Rename… from the context menu. Name it Print (or
Digital, as appropriate) or another name of your choosing.
2. Click the menu icon again and choose Create New… from the context menu.
Name this style Digital (or Print, as appropriate) or another name of your
choosing.
3. Adjust this TOC style’s text styles for digital (or print).
4. To switch between the two styles, select the Print or Digital style name from
the TOC Style popup menu and your table of contents will be reformatted
automatically.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 217

 To import TOC styles from another document:
TOC styles cannot be exported independently but you can import a TOC style
by adding a page from another document.
1. In the document from which you want to import a TOC style, rename the
desired TOC style to something unique by clicking the menu icon to the
right of the TOC Style popup menu and choosing Rename… from the con-
text menu. For example, My TOC Style
2. Save that document and switch to the document in which you want to import
the TOC style.
Tip: The Pages panel 3. Using the Pages panel, note the absolute page number of the last page.
will only show abso-
lute page numbers 4. Choose Document > Add Pages from File… and select the first document.
unless you use a
section to restart page
numbering, and then
it will show the
absolute page number
followed by the
relative number in
parentheses, for
example, Pages 60,61
(54,55)

• Page Numbers: There is no need to import all of the document’s pages

since you just want the TOC style so enter the number of a single page to
import.
• Pages: Enter the absolute page number of the last page you noted above.
This will ensure the imported page is placed at the end of the document so
it won’t disrupt an existing page spread.
Click OK.
5. Publisher will display a window listing the source (incoming) document’s text
styles and noting any conflicts. Assuming you named the TOC style with a
unique name, those styles will not have any conflicts.

218 References
 • Deselect all text styles except for those that are part of the TOC style
group that you named to avoid replacing an existing text style such as
Body or Heading 1.
Click OK.
6. The page you chose will be added to the document. Select that page in the
Pages panel and click its Delete icon to remove it.
7. Using the Table of Contents panel, select the table of contents you want to
style from the TOC popup menu near the top of the panel. If there is only one
table of contents and you haven’t renamed it, it will be named TOC 1.
8. Choose the name of the TOC style you imported from the TOC Style popup
menu in the panel. The table of contents will be reformatted using the
imported TOC style.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 219

 Working with multiple tables of contents
Most books have a single table of contents. If a book has more than one table of
contents they can share a single TOC style as long as they have identical format-
ting, but if their formatting or settings differ you will need at least a second TOC
style.
For demonstration purposes, this book also has chapter-specific tables of con-
tents at the start of each chapter, listing only the topics in that chapter. While
Publisher provides the tools to do this, it takes some effort to format the tables
consistently. The steps below instruct you to match the approach used for this
book.
1. Follow the instructions in Using sections for chapters on page 38 to create a
section for each chapter in the book.
2. Follow the instructions in Generating a table of contents on page 210 to insert
the main table of contents. This first table will be named TOC 1 in the TOC
popup menu near the top of the Table of Contents panel. To rename this
table of contents for your own convenience, click the Rename icon, but this
will not change its appearance.
3. Follow the instructions in Formatting a table of contents on page 212 to
format this first table of contents. The first table will have a TOC style named
TOC 1. To rename this TOC style for your own convenience, click the menu
icon to the right of the TOC Style popup menu and choose Rename…
from the context menu, but this will not change its appearance.
4. Sometimes you might need to customize a heading. For example, if your
chapter headings are numbered and you use the same heading style for
Introduction, it would be left aligned with the “1” for the following chapter
name as shown in this example. One solution is to insert a tab before the
word Introduction in that heading but to make it invisible. To do this, a tab
Tip: Publisher doesn’t stop can be created at 0.0001 pt for that heading. This invisible tab would
allow tab stops at 0 pt become visible in the table of contents because its tab stop was set to match
so 0.0001 pt was used the other chapter headings.
as an approximation
of 0 pt without adding
so many decimal
places that Publisher
rounded it to zero

5. Insert the second table of contents at the start of the first chapter. The second
table and its TOC style will be named TOC 2.
6. Deselect Heading 1 from the Style Name popup menu because the chapter
headings are formatted as Heading 1 and are not included in the chapter-spe-
cific tables.
7. Deselect Include as PDF bookmarks because you only want bookmarks
generated from the main table of contents. While Publisher will not create

220 References
 duplicate bookmarks for the same heading, leaving this on will break the
hierarchy of the PDF bookmarks because you deselected Heading 1 for this
table.
8. By default, the scope for these chapter tables will be the same as for the main
table. Include entries before TOC is not selected so the second table will start
with subsequent headings. You could choose Stop at next TOC to prevent
this table from including entries in the next chapter’s table but in this book
the Appendices chapter heading needed to be excluded from the last chapter’s
table. It’s possible to do that with a table of contents in a hidden layer just
before the Appendices page but the better approach is to create sections, as
you did in step 1, and to limit the scope of this table of contents to the current
section by changing Scope from Document to Section.
9. Repeat steps 5 to 8 for each of the chapter-specific table of contents.
10. The panel’s controls act on the table selected in TOC list. To switch between
tables of contents, select the table name from TOC popup menu or click in
the table of contents’ text frame. All of the chapter-specific tables of contents
share the same formatting but as each table was inserted, Publisher created
TOC styles for each chapter. Only two TOC styles are needed, TOC 1 for the
main table and TOC 2 for the chapters, so the excess TOC styles were deleted
to avoid later confusion. To delete a TOC style, select the table name from
TOC list, click the menu icon to the right of the TOC Style list, and choose
Delete from the context menu. Ensure you choose TOC 2 from TOC Style for
each of the chapter tables.
11. The left indent for the new chapter-specific tables is different than the main
table because Heading 1 is not included. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to
base one TOC style on another nor is it possible to make a copy of a TOC
style and customize it. The TOC 2 style created by Publisher has none of the
formatting that was set for the main table so all of the formatting would
normally have to be repeated but there is a workaround. To do this, go to a
chapter-specific table of contents and:
• Change TOC 2: Entry to be based on TOC 1: Entry instead of Base
• Change TOC 2: Heading 2 to be based on TOC 1: Heading 2 instead of
TOC 2: Entry
• Change TOC 2: Heading 3 to be based on TOC 1: Heading 3 instead of
TOC 2: Entry
The TOC 2: Heading 1 style was skipped because Heading 1 is not included in
this table. There is no need to change the number styles.
12. Adjust the left indent for the TOC 2: Heading 2 and 3 text styles to complete
the formatting of the chapter-specific tables of contents.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 221

 Creating a pictorial table of contents
Images pinned to headings can be included to create a pictorial table of contents
for catalogues and other special cases. The images can be used with or without
accompanying text. For example, the sample below was created with inline
images in Heading 1 paragraphs that did not include any text. The Numbers
Before Headings option was used to position the numbers before the images and
the leading zero was achieved by changing the page number format with the
Section Manager.
Sample pictorial table of contents

a TOC 1: Heading 1 Number ¶ TOC 1: Heading 1

The generated table of contents will include the pinned image at the same size it
was pinned so you will likely need to make a second copy of the image on the
page on which it is used at the size required for the table of contents. Use linked
images instead of embedded ones to avoid increasing the size of your document
when duplicating images.
To create a pictorial table of contents:
1. Select an image to include in the table of contents. Choose Edit > Copy to
copy the image to the pasteboard (clipboard).
2. Using the Frame Text tool, draw a text frame. Don’t worry about its posi-
tion because this frame will be hidden and won’t be visible to readers, but
make it larger than the image you copied.
3. Select Heading 1 or whichever heading style you want to use for the table of
contents from the Text Styles panel, Context Toolbar, or Paragraph panel.
4. Optional: Enter heading text if you want text to accompany the image in the
table of contents.
5. Choose Edit > Paste to paste inline the copied image; if you entered text, you
can paste the image anywhere in the heading.
6. Using the Move tool, select the pasted image.
7. Using the Transform panel with the Link icon selected, change the image’s
width (or height) to the size you want the image to appear in the table of
contents. Optional: Make the text frame smaller.
8. Select the text frame and hide it by choosing Layer > Hide or by deselecting
the Toggle Visibility icon in the Layers panel.

222 References
9. Repeat the above steps for each image you want to include in the table of
contents.
10. Using the Frame Text tool, create a text frame for the table of contents and
position the text cursor in it.
11. Click the Insert Table of Contents icon in the Table of Contents panel.
12. In the list of paragraph styles at the bottom of the panel, select only the style
used for the images in the hidden text frames.
13. Select Include Inline Pins in the panel. Optional: Select Numbers Before
Headings to match the sample.
14. Optional: Edit the TOC 1: Heading 1 Number text style to change the page
number size, or the equivalent style if your heading uses a different style.
15. Optional: Edit the TOC 1: Heading 1 text style to change the leading and tab
stop. To position the numbers to the right of the images, you must deselect
the From Right option for the tab stop.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 223

 Creating an index
Publisher can generate an index for your publication based on index marks that
you add into your text. The index is normally placed at the end of the document
and there can be only one index per document so you can’t create multiple
specialized indices unless you use a workaround such as the one described in
Creating multiple indices on page 235.
Publisher sorts index entries alphabetically with punctuation and symbols first,
followed by numbers, A–Z, and then non-Roman language characters. You
cannot customize the order of these categories but you can manually change the
sort order of individual index entries.
An index is a block of special text that you can modify but when you update the
index any changes you made to it will be lost. You should avoid making any edits
to the generated text until the last stage before publishing. The index can be
updated at any time and can be generated from a single document or from all of
the chapter documents in a Publisher Book.
Publisher offers two approaches for creating an index. You can create its topics
and then find the topics in the document to reference them or you can add index
marks to create topics and references at the same time. Both approaches will
create the same results but which approach is best for you depends on the publi-
cation and your working style. You can also use a combination of both
approaches,

Parts of an index
The key parts of an index are the index topics, the words you have indexed, and
Tip: If you number the references which can be either the page numbers or cross-references to other
chapter pages using a index topics. A topic and reference are together referred to as an index entry.
combination of Some topics may not have a reference because they may list only subtopics.
section name and
page number (for Sample index
example, 1.1, 1.2,
1.3…), the section
prefixes will not be A F Section heading
included in the index Aperture, 17, 192, 223 Film speed, 54, 86
because they are not Aspect ratio, 33 Focal length, 16, 81 Index entry (index topic and index reference)
part of the page Auto focus, 24 Focus Index topic without a reference
number
B Auto focus, 29 Index entry with a sub-topic
Bokeh, 67. See also Focus Manual focus, 25–27 Grouped page range

D H
Depth of field, 69 Hot shoe, 29
Dynamic range, 82 I
E Image stabilization, 18, 30 Style override for a primary reference
Exposure, 31–34, 79 ISO. See Film speed Cross-reference

224 References
Using the Index panel
To display the Index panel:
1. Choose Window > References > Index to display the Index panel.
Insert Mark Delete Insert Index Update

Panel menu

Add Topic Show/Hide Index Marks toggle

Index formatting options
(click to collapse)

Index topic
Index subtopic
Index reference

Expand/collapse a topic

Index cross-reference

Filter the topic list

2. Choose Show Topics from the panel menu to view topics without refer-
ences. This view saves space and allows you to focus on the topics. Choose
Show Topics and References to restore the default view.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 225

 Adding index topics
You don’t have to create index topics manually because Publisher will create them
automatically when you insert an index mark. These instructions are for those
who prefer to create topics on their own before they add index references.
To create a topic list (optional):
If you want to create topics before reviewing where they are mentioned, you can
add a list of topics to have available during indexing.
Creating topics in advance is optional because you can create a topic at the same
time as you insert an index mark. Topics without any references added to them
will not be listed in the index.
Tip: The Find in Publisher does not provide an option to import a topic list. The best way to create
Document feature a list quickly is to enter the topic names into a temporary text frame and to copy
only searches the the topic names to the pasteboard (clipboard) one by one as you add them. Once
current document, not
a Book comprised of you’ve added all of the topics, use the Find in document feature to quickly index
multiple chapter all of the added topics.
documents
To add an index topic:
1. Click the Add Topic icon. This feature does not have a matching menu
command so you can’t assign a keyboard shortcut to it.

2. Enter the Topic Name, for example, Auto focus.

Tip: You can create 3. Optional: To create a subtopic, select a Parent Topic from the list of existing
sub-subtopics to as topics. For example, select Focus to add Auto focus as a subtopic of Focus.
many levels as
required by selecting a 4. Optional: To override the automatic sorting of the topic, enter text for a
subtopic as the Parent custom sort order. For example, to sort van der Linden as Linden you would
Topic enter Linden for Sort By.
5. Optional: To create a cross-reference to another index topic, select the other
topic from the list of existing topics under See. For example, select Focus to
append See also Focus to the Bokeh topic. Refer to adding cross-references
below for more information on See vs. See Also.
6. Click OK. The index topic will appear in the Index panel list.

226 References
To add a subtopic:
1. Right-click an index topic title in the Index panel and choose Edit topic…
from the context menu.
2. The features of the Add Index Topic window are the same for adding topics
and subtopics.
To rename or edit an index topic:
1. To rename it, select an index topic title in the Index panel and then click it a
second time—do not double-click. Enter a new name and press Return.
2. Or right-click an index topic title in the Index panel and choose Edit topic…
from the context menu. The features of the Edit Index Topic window are the
same for adding topics.
To change the index topic for an index reference:
1. Using the Index panel, drag the index reference below another index topic.
To change the index parent topic for an index topic:
1. Using the Index panel, drag the index topic below another index topic.
To delete an index topic:
1. Select an index topic in the Index panel and then click the Delete icon. The
topic and all of its references will be deleted.
To import index topics from another document:
Publisher doesn’t provide a way to import or export index topics but it’s relatively
easy to copy index topics, but only for those that have at least one reference
(index mark).
1. Open the document containing the index topics to be copied.
2. Using the Frame Text tool, select and copy the text containing the index
references. If the references are in more than one story you will need to repeat
this for each story.
3. Open the document to which the topics should be copied.
4. Using the Frame Text tool, create a temporary text frame.
5. Paste the copied text into the frame using Edit > Paste or Paste Without
Format. The latter will paste the text and index marks without importing any
text styles.
6. Delete the pasted text. The text and its index references will be deleted but the
index topics will remain.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 227

 Adding index entries
An index entry is made up of an index topic and a reference which is either a
page number or a cross-reference to another topic. When you insert an index
mark in your text, you can create a new topic or choose an existing topic to
associate it with.
Tip: Click the Show/ When you insert an index mark a special character is inserted at the text cursor
Hide Index Marks position or at the start of the selected word.
toggle icon in the
Index panel or Choose Publisher does not allow you to enter multiple references simultaneously so if
Text > Index > Show you want to insert marks for multiple topics you will need to repeat the steps
Index Marks to see the below.
invisible index markers
and avoid accidentally To add a new reference to an index topic:
deleting them
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor before, in, or after a
word, or select a word.
2. Double-click the desired index topic or subtopic in the Index panel. Publisher
will insert an index mark for the topic before the text cursor or selected text.
To add an index entry:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor before, in, or after a
word, or select a word. To index a phrase, select the range of text to index.
2. Click the Insert Mark icon in the Index panel or choose Text > Index >
Insert Index Mark.

3. The Topic field will be pre-filled with the word you clicked in or the words
you selected. If the pre-filled text matches any topics in the list they will be
suggested. If you select a subtopic from the list, it will also pre-fill the Parent
Topic field. Alternatively, you can delete the pre-filled text and select from the
full Topic list.
4. Optional: To make the topic a subtopic of another topic, select the Parent
Topic or enter a new one. For example, to index Auto Focus as a subtopic of
Focus, you would enter Auto Focus as the Topic and Focus as the Parent Topic.
If the text pre-filled for Topic should be the Parent Topic, click the Move to
Parent icon to the right of the two fields.

228 References
5. Optional: To indicate the primary reference for a topic, choose a character
style from Style Override. This is typically used to bolden or italicize the page
number of the most important page for an index topic.
6. Click OK. Publisher will insert an index mark before the text cursor or
selected text. If the Topic or Parent Topic fields contains a topic that is not
already in the list, Publisher will create it when inserting the index mark.
To quickly index many occurrences of a topic:
1. Right-click an index topic in the Index panel and choose Find in docu- Tip: The Find in
ment… from the context menu. The panel will list all occurrences of the topic Document feature
title in the document with a checkbox beside them. The checkboxes for the cannot be used to
search all of the
existing reference(s) will be selected. Chapter documents in
a Book

2. Click a list item to view it in context in the document window. Select its
checkbox if you want to add an index mark for that occurrence.
3. Click the Done button after you have selected the desired occurrences of the
topic.
To view an index mark in the document:
1. Double-click an index reference in the Index panel. Publisher will change the
page displayed in the document window so that the index mark is visible.
2. Click the Show/Hide Index Marks toggle icon in the Index panel or
Choose Text > Index > Show Index Marks to see the invisible markers.

An index mark between two characters

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 229

 Adding index cross-references (See or See Also)
Tip: Index cross-refer- A cross-reference is an index reference that points to a related index topic rather
ences are unrelated to than a page number in the document. For a topic that has a page number refer-
the general Creating ence, a cross-reference will insert See also in the index entry. In the Sample index
cross-references
feature described on on page 224, Bokeh has another page number reference so the cross-reference to
page 200 Focus creates an index entry of:
Bokeh, 67. See also Focus

For a topic that has no page number references of its own, a cross-reference will
insert See in the index entry. In the sample index, ISO doesn’t have a page
number reference so the cross-reference to Film speed creates an index entry of:
ISO. See Film speed

To add a cross-reference to another index topic:

1. Right-click an index topic in the Index panel and choose Add cross-refer-
ence… from the context menu.

2. Select a topic from the See topic list.

3. Click OK. Publisher will add the cross-reference. If you later delete the cross-
referenced topic, the broken cross-reference will be displayed in red in the
panel list.

Index cross-reference Broken index cross-reference

4. To customize the See and See also text that Publisher adds to the index, refer
to Formatting an index on page 232.
To delete an index entry:
1. To delete the entire index entry, include the topic and its references, select an
index topic in the Index panel and then click the Delete icon.
2. To delete only the reference to a page number or a cross-reference, select the
reference in the Index panel and click the Delete icon.

230 References
Generating an index
It’s difficult to see the start and end of an index because Publisher doesn’t display Tip: For information
it with any shading as in other applications. Until you’re experienced with work- on generating an
ing near the index text block, it is recommended that you insert the index into a index for a Book made
up of separate chapter
separate text frame without any other text to avoid losing text when the index is documents, refer to
updated. Adding references to a
Book on page 196
The index inserted by Publisher does not include the title Index and you might
consider placing even the title in a separate frame so that updating the index can
replace all the text in the frame(s).
It doesn’t matter whether you create text frames for the index on a master page or
whether you create them directly on a document page.
To insert the index:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, create a text frame for the index and position
the text cursor in it.
2. Click the Insert Index icon in the Index panel or choose Text > Index >
Insert Index. Publisher will insert the index into the frame.
3. If the index’s text frame has an overflowing Text Flow Out control near
the frame’s bottom-right corner, press Shift and click the control. Publisher
will create as many pages of text frames as required to contain the index.
To update the index:
The index isn’t updated automatically when you add and delete index marks. It’s
up to you to update the index before printing or exporting.
1. Click the Update Index icon in the Index panel. The Preflight panel can
also warn you when the index needs to be updated and offers a convenient
Fix button that to update it.

To delete the index:

1. There isn’t a command or button to delete the index, so using the Frame Text
tool, select all the text in the index text block and press Backspace or Delete.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 231

 Formatting an index
Publisher provides several layout options in the Index panel to modify the index
text that will be inserted. The options you select and the text you enter in this
panel will be saved in your user defaults for future documents.
1. Language: Use this to specify the language of the index for spell checking and
hyphenation.
Tip: To insert empty 2. Include section headings: Use this to add heading characters before all of the
space between letters indexed words starting with A, B, C, etc. Publisher will add a letter for each
instead of section character, including non-Roman alphabets, but not for the punctuation and
headings, edit the
Index Section Heading numbers section. For example, 6-pack starts with a number so it would be
style and change the sorted into the punctuation and numbers section but would not have a sec-
text fill colour to white tion heading.

Tip: Page ranges will 3. Group page ranges: Use this to group references on sequential pages rather
be grouped within than listing each of them separately. For example, 7–9 instead of 7, 8, 9.
sections, so a new
range will be started 4. Expand cross-references: Use this to replace the See cross-reference for a
for each section even topic that has no page number references of its own with the page number(s)
if they’re consecutive of the cross-referenced topic. With this setting off, the Sample index on page
pages 224 inserted these entries in their respective sections:
Film speed, 54, 86
ISO. See Film speed

But with this setting on, it would insert:

Film speed, 54, 86
ISO, 54, 86

5. Labels and separators: Use these options to customize the text inserted into
the various parts of the index. Click the caret icon on their left side to
easily enter relevant special characters.
Item Purpose

After Topic Inserted after the topic name, default is comma + en space

Between Items Inserted between references, default is comma + space

Between Ranges Inserted between grouped page ranges, default is en dash

Before References Inserted before cross-references, not page numbers, default is

period + space

See Inserted as part of a cross-reference, default is See

See Also Inserted as part of a cross-reference, default is See Also

After See (Also) Inserted after the See or See Also text, default is space

After References Inserted after the last cross-reference, default is space

232 References
To reformat the index by editing its text styles:
When you insert an index in a document for the first time, Publisher will add a Tip: Publisher creates
number of additional text styles to your document to control the index format- the index text styles
ting. You can modify the attributes of these styles as required for your publica- for you; while you can
redefine the character
tion. The styles are: and paragraph
Style Purpose attributes of these
styles, do not rename
¶ Index Base style, not applied directly to the index them or Publisher will
generate a new
¶ Index Entry Base style, not applied directly to the index version when you
update the index
¶ Index Entry 1 For topics

¶ Index Entry 2 For subtopics, if they exist

¶ Index Section Heading For section headings (there is no option to

insert a section heading for a character that
lacks matching entries)
a Index Cross-reference Base style, not applied directly to the index
a Index Cross-reference Label For the words See and See Also
a Index Cross-reference Topic For the cross-reference topic name
a Index Entry Number Separator For the characters between multiple index entry
page numbers; for example, 7–9, or 14, 22, 36
a Index Entry Page Number For the page numbers

To right align index page numbers or add a dot leader:

Publisher left aligns index page numbers but you can change this with text styles.
Aperture, 17, 192, 223
Aspect ratio, 33
Auto focus, 24

Follow the steps below to format an index with this formatting:

Aperture ................................... 17, 192, 223
Aspect ratio ................................................ 33
Auto focus ................................................... 24

1. Delete all of the characters from the After Topic field of the Index panel.
2. Choose Tab from the field’s menu (click the caret icon on its left side).
3. Double-click the Index Entry style in the Text Styles panel to edit it.
4. Select Tab Stops from the left pane and click the Add New Tab Stop icon.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 233

Tip: If you can’t type 0 5. Click the More icon to display the popup settings window. Choose right
into the Position field, alignment, select (.) (the tab stop leader), select From Right, and set Position
use the down arrow to to 0.
its right to reduce it to
0 6. Click OK.
To capitalize index entries:
1. Create a character style and with Typography selected in the left pane, select
All Caps.
2. Edit the Index Entry 1 paragraph style and with Drop Caps selected in the left
pane, set Height in Lines to 1 and Characters to 1. Set Style to the name of
the character style you created in step 1. Although the Drop Cap feature is
used, this combination of options will do nothing other than capitalize the
first character of the index entry.
3. To capitalize level 2 or other index entries, repeat step 2 for the corresponding
paragraph style.

234 References
Creating multiple indices
While you can create only one index with Publisher, there is a workaround but it
involves manual work that must be repeated each time you update the index.
Index topics for a secondary index can be created as subtopics for a dummy
parent topic that you will later delete. After updating the index, you would simply
cut the secondary index from the main index, paste it elsewhere, and reformat it
to correct the indentation level.
The dummy topic can be named anything but it’s easiest to choose a name that
will be sorted to the top of the index. If you chose one that sorted to the end of
the index, the secondary index text might be overflowed from the main index’s
text frame, making it difficult to select.
Publisher sorts punctuation before numbers and letters so it’s recommended to
prefix the dummy topic name with an underscore. In the example below, the
dummy topic is named _Film brands. When the index is generated, all of the
subtopics of the dummy topic are sorted below it before the first entry of the
main index.
Sample multiple indices

Punctuation and _Film brands Italy

numbers section Austria Ferrania, 314
Lomography, 322 Japan
Belgium Fujifilm, 307
Dan-Di, 306 Konica, 316
Germany …truncated example
ADOX, 324 A First section heading
AGFA, 338 Aperture, 17, 192, 223
Rollei, 306 Aspect ratio, 33
Hungary Auto focus, 24
Forte
B

To add an index entry for a secondary index:

1. Index the term as you normally would but enter the dummy topic name into
the Parent Topic field.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 235

 To generate and format a secondary index:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, create a text frame for the secondary index just
as you did for the main index.
2. Insert or update the main index as you normally would.
3. Select all the text from the start of the dummy topic name up to and including
the paragraph break at the end of the last secondary index entry.
4. Choose Edit > Cut.
5. Position the text cursor in the secondary index’s text frame and choose Edit >
Paste.
6. Select the dummy topic name, including its paragraph break , and press
Delete.
7. The secondary index entries are indented one level more than they should be
since they were created as children of the dummy parent topic. If they are all
the same indent level, you can simply choose Edit > Select All and then use
the Paragraph panel, change the Left Indent and First Line Indent to match
the main index’s first level index entry. If the secondary index has subtopics of
its own, you must adjust the indent values for each entry manually because
Publisher can’t change varying indent values by a relative amount.
To update a secondary index:
1. Each time you update the main index, the secondary index’s entries will be
added to it. Repeat the steps for generating and formatting a secondary index
each time you update the main index.

236 References
Creating notes
A note is text positioned at the bottom or side of a page or at the end of the Tip: Choose Text >
chapter or publication and is used to cite other works or to provide comments on Notes > Show Note
the main text. A note is made up of two parts: the note reference marker in the Markers when work-
ing with notes to see
text and the note body. their markers more
Publisher offers three types of notes which you can use together in the same easily, and never edit
endnotes without this
document. For each you can control the formatting of the note reference and the selected
note body as well how the body is positioned. You can choose whether long notes
can be split and continued in the next column or frame. Publisher will keep Tip: Note references
footnote and sidenote references and bodies on the same page, where possible. are not plain text so
their characters
• Footnotes are positioned at the bottom of the column or frame and can be cannot be found with
positioned inside or below the frame. If a frame has more than one column Find and Replace and
you can choose whether they should span columns. They can be separated are not counted by
from the main text by a horizontal rule. Word Count

• Sidenotes are positioned to the left and/or right side of frames and are verti-
cally aligned with the marker, although multiple or long sidenotes may cause
the vertical position to change.

• Endnotes are positioned at the end of the story, chapter, or document and
don’t affect the layout of the main text but readers must navigate to the end of
the text to find the corresponding endnote. Publisher can also insert a title for
the endnotes.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 237

 Using the Notes panel
To display the Notes panel:
1. Choose Window > References > Notes to display the Notes panel.
Go to note reference

Panel menu

Insert note Go to note body

Type of note
Scope of settings

Expand/collapse section

For footnotes only

238 References
Adding notes Tip: For information
on using notes in a
To insert a note into text: Book made up of
separate chapter
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor where you want the documents, refer to
note reference to be inserted. Adding references to a
Book on page 196
2. Choose one of Text > Notes > Insert Footnote, Insert Sidenote, or Insert
Endnote. Notes inserted via the menu will always use Document-wide
settings.
Or to insert a note using the Notes panel, set Type to Footnotes, Sidenotes,
or Endnotes and choose Document-wide or Custom. Click the Insert Note
icon.
Publisher will insert the note reference and for a footnote or sidenote will
adjust the text flow to accommodate the note body. The text cursor will move
automatically to the note body to allow you to type the note.
3. When you have finished typing the note body, click the Go to Reference
icon to return to the main text.
To view the note body for a note reference:
1. Click the Go to Body icon to move the text cursor from the note reference Tip: You cannot
to the note body. navigate from one
note to the next so
To view the note reference for a note body: position the text
cursor in a different
1. Click the Go to Reference icon to move the text cursor from the note body note using the mouse
to the note reference.
To edit a note: Tip: You can include
inline and floating
1. Edit a note body as you would any other text. Choose Select All to select all images in the note
the text in the note without selecting text outside of the note. body; text wrap for
floating images will
2. For endnotes, you must first select Text > Notes > Show Note Markers to see apply only to the note
their enclosing brackets. Be very careful when placing the text cursor at the body and not to the
start or end of an endnote. If you start typing and notice that the text is story text
outside of the endnote brackets you must undo what you have typed and
move the cursor inside of the brackets.

The text cursor may look like it

is to the left of this end bracket
but it is actually to its right

3. If you copy and paste a range of story text that includes a note marker, the
note will be pasted along with the text.
To delete a note:
1. You must delete the note reference to delete a note body. You can delete the
note reference as you would any other character with Backspace or Delete. A
field is treated as a single character so you need only press the key once.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 239

 Separating multiple note references
If you insert two or more note reference numbers at the same position in your
document, you should separate them with a comma or space. Publisher can’t do
this for you automatically. Typing a comma and superscripting it will result in a
comma that is larger and heavier than it should be and that is misaligned to the
surrounding numbers because the Superscript feature in the Notes panel doesn’t
use the font’s automatic superscript capability. In some fonts, a comma can’t even
be superscripted.
Note references1,2,3 Comma is superscripted
Note references1,2,3 Properly scaled and aligned

To separate multiple reference numbers with commas or spaces:

1. Type a comma or space between two note references and then select it.
2. Change the font size to 60% of the current value. You can do this easily by
entering *60% or *.6 into the Font Size field and pressing Return.
3. If you are formatting a comma, use the Character panel to change Position-
ing and Transform > Baseline Offset to 33% of the font size. You can do this
easily by combining the font size with 33%. For example, if the original font
size was 11 pt, enter 11*33% and press Return.
4. The comma or space will now be formatted correctly. Create a character style
so that you can easily apply the same formatting to other commas or spaces to
separate note references. Click the Create Character Style icon or choose
Text > Text Styles > Create Character Style to create a paragraph style. Enter
a unique Style Name and then click OK.

Adding multiple references to the same note

Publisher doesn’t allow you to insert multiple instances of the same note refer-
ence number that point to the same footnote or endnote, but you can accomplish
this with cross-references.
To add an additional reference to an existing note:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor where you want the
additional reference to be inserted.
2. Click the Insert Cross-Reference icon in the Cross-References panel or
choose Text > Cross-References > Insert Cross-Reference.
3. Select Paragraph from Link To and type the first few words of the footnote or
endnote text to find the note in the list. Select the note.
4. Delete the contents of the Text field. Click the caret icon on the left side of
the field and choose Note Number which will insert a cross-refer-
ence component.

240 References
5. If the actual note reference (note number) is formatted with a character style,
select that same character style from the Style Override list.
6. Select Generate Hyperlinks if the document will be distributed digitally.
7. Click OK. Publisher will insert a cross-reference field at the text cursor posi-
tion with a value that matches the note’s reference number.
8. If you did not select a character style from Style Override, select the field and
then Text > Baseline > Superscript. You can also select Superscript from the
Super/Subscript list in the Character panel’s Positioning and Transform
section.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 241

 Converting one type of note to another
You can convert footnotes, sidenotes, and endnotes to either of the other types.
You can convert all the notes in your document at once or just those in a
selection.
To convert notes from one type to another:
1. Choose Convert Notes… from the Notes panel menu .

2. Choose the types of note you want to convert from and to.
3. Set Scope to Entire Document to convert all notes or to Current Selection to
modify only the notes in the selected text.
To convert notes in selected text only:
1. Choose Convert Selection to Footnotes/Sidenotes/Endnotes, as applicable,
from the Notes panel menu . This has the same effect as choosing Convert
Notes… and setting the scope to Current Selection.

242 References
Note settings
Note settings includes all of the numbering, formatting, and positioning options
in the Notes panel. When you create a new note you can choose whether to
create it with the document-wide settings or with custom settings for a specific
note. The document-wide settings for a new document will be based on Pub-
lisher’s default settings which you can change to match those of the current
document.
It is important to understand that the settings used to create a note depend on Tip: The only way to
the Document-wide / Custom toggle. Once the note is created the toggle will know if a note uses
have no further effect on the note and there is no user interface feedback as to document-wide or
custom settings is to
which settings were used to create the note. Clicking in a note will not change the look in the panel
toggle to reflect whether it uses document-wide or custom settings. menu; if the Revert
Selected Notes to
You can revert the document-wide settings for a document back to Publisher’s Document Settings
default settings, and revert the default settings back to the original factory command is disabled
defaults. Changes are saved and reverted to all three types of notes at once. then the note uses
document-wide
Changing the document-wide settings will update the settings for all notes settings and if it is
created using those settings but will have no impact on custom notes which each enabled then it uses
have their own individual settings. To change custom notes to the document custom settings
settings you must use Revert Selected/All Notes to Document Settings.
Tip: After using
You can’t create custom presets nor can you copy custom settings from one note Custom to format a
to another, but you can copy a note reference (marker), paste it at the desired specific note, change
location, and then change its note body text. the toggle back to
Document-wide or
To set the document-wide note settings: the next note you
insert with the panel
1. If the text cursor is positioned in text, click on a blank area of the page or will use custom
change to the Move tool. settings

2. Choose one of Footnotes, Sidenotes, or Endnotes in the Notes panel. Tip: You can set
document-wide
3. Choose Document-wide. settings only when the
4. Set any note options to update the document-wide settings. text cursor is not
placed in a text frame
To convert custom-formatted notes to the document-wide settings: or when the cursor is
placed in a note of the
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor in a note with custom same type that was
settings or select a range of text containing one or more note reference created with docu-
markers. ment-wide settings

2. Choose Revert Selected Footnotes/Sidenotes/Endnotes to Document Set-

tings, as applicable, from the Notes panel menu . The command you choose
will have no impact on the other two types of notes. Or choose Revert All
Footnotes/Sidenotes/Endnotes to Document Settings to change all custom
notes of the chosen type at once.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 243

 To convert notes using document-wide settings to custom settings:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor in a note with docu-
ment-wide settings or select a range of text containing one or more note
reference markers with document-wide settings.
2. Choose Custom from the Notes panel and define the settings for the selected
notes.
To save the current document’s document-wide note settings as Publisher’s
defaults:
1. Choose Save Document Settings as New Defaults from the Notes panel
menu .
To revert the current document’s note settings to Publisher’s defaults:
1. Choose Reset Document Settings to Factory defaults from the Notes panel
menu .
2. This will change only the current document’s settings, not Publisher’s current
defaults. To change the defaults to the factory defaults, now choose Save
Document Settings as New Defaults.
To change the current document’s note settings to match those of the
current custom-formatted note:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor in a note with custom
settings.
2. Choose Update Document Settings from Selected Footnotes/Sidenotes/
Endnotes, as applicable, from the Notes panel menu . The command you
choose will have no impact on the other two types of notes.

244 References
Numbering notes
Notes are numbered automatically within a document, from the first to last page
and from the bottom to top of the layer stack on each page, but you can restart
numbering for each frame, page, story, or section. In the case of a Book you can
also restart numbering every chapter.
There is one significant exception to the numbering of endnotes. Note references
that are in text frames or tables pinned in another text frame will be numbered
after the end of the story. If the story spans dozens of pages and you pin a text
frame containing a note reference on the first page, it will be numbered after the
last note on the last page of the story. If you must use notes in a pinned text
frame then you should consider using footnotes in that frame and numbering
them separately.
You can choose whether to restart note numbering every frame, page, story,
section, document, or Book.
To change note numbering:
1. Set Type to Footnotes, Sidenotes, or Endnotes in the Notes panel. Each type
of note can be numbered separately.
2. Choose Document-wide to change the document’s settings or Custom to Tip: You cannot
change the selected note(s) or the next one you insert. It is generally best to change Document-
maintain a consistent numbering system within a document but you are able wide settings while a
Custom-formatted
to use 1, 2, 3… for the document and A, B, C… for a custom note. However, note is selected
if you restart numbering in a custom note it will impact subsequent docu-
ment-wide notes.
3. In the Numbering section, choose a Number format from the list. In addi- Tip: When using
tion to the standard number and letter options, you can choose symbols symbols for number-
which numbers notes as *†‡§¶#, duplicating each symbol when the pattern ing, restart numbering
every frame for best
repeats. results due to the
4. Choose the Start number and when to Restart numbering. By default, Pub- limited range of
symbols
lisher will restart numbering footnotes for each frame which you may want to
change to story, section, or document. Numbering for sidenotes and endnotes
restarts by default for each story which you may want to change to section or
document.
5. For Custom-formatted notes you can also choose to Restart numbering now.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 245

 Formatting notes
Before changing note formatting:
1. Set Type to Footnotes, Sidenotes, or Endnotes in the Notes panel. Each type
of note can be formatted separately.
Tip: You cannot 2. Choose Document-wide to change the document’s settings or Custom to
change Document- change the selected note(s) or the next one you insert. Refer to Note settings
wide settings while a on page 243 for more information.
Custom-formatted
note is selected To format the note reference marker:
In the Format section of the Notes panel, use the settings under In main text:
1. By default, the Number text will appear as a pound sign or hashtag which
inserts an automatic note number. You can enter additional character(s) such
as enclosing brackets [ ]or click the caret icon on its left side to easily
enter relevant special characters.
2. Choose a character style from Number style to format the note reference
marker. Ignore this if you are satisfied with the default reference marker’s
appearance.
Tip: The Superscript 3. The reference marker is superscripted by default but you can deselect Super-
option scales the font script for formats such as [#].
size so the character
strokes will be thinner To format the note body text:
than normal text;
disable this feature In the Format section of the Notes panel, use the settings under In note body:
and apply a character
style with Typography 1. The Number text, Number style, and Superscript options apply to the note
> Superscript enabled number in the note body and are identical to those for the reference in the
to take advantage of a main text so refer to the above description. Number text in the note body
font’s true superscript defaults to plus a space to provide a separator before the note text.
characters, if available
2. Choose a paragraph style from Note body style to format the text of the note’s
text. The default is the Body style but you may want to create a unique style.
3. You can apply character styles and attributes directly to the note body text. If
you apply formatting to the first character of the note body, the note body’s
Tip: You can also avoid number will be formatted, too. To avoid this, position the text cursor before
this by selecting a the first character, choose Text > Insert > Spaces and Tabs > Zero-Width
character style from In Space. Then while pressing Shift, use � (Right Arrow) to select the text you
Note Body > Number
Style but it must have want to format. As long as you don’t select the Zero-Width Space and apply
the same type of formatting to it, the note number will be unaffected.
character attributes
defined; for example, if To link note references to note bodies:
the first word of the 1. Choose Generate hyperlinks if you want the note references to be linked to
note body is italicized
and you don’t want and from the note bodies in an exported PDF file. This is useful mainly for
the Number Text to be endnotes that are separated from the note references. Hyperlinks added for
italicized, select a notes will not appear in the Hyperlinks panel as they are not editable.
character style that
has Italics set to off 2. Ensure Include Hyperlinks is selected when exporting to PDF.
246 References
Positioning notes
These controls determine how notes are positioned.
Before changing note positioning:
1. Set Type to Footnotes, Sidenotes, or Endnotes in the Notes panel. Each type
of note can be formatted separately.
2. Choose Document-wide to change the document’s settings or Custom to Tip: You cannot
change the selected note(s) or the next one you insert. Refer to Note settings change Document-
on page 243 for more information. wide settings while a
Custom-formatted
To position footnotes: note is selected

1. In the Positioning section of the Notes panel, choose a Note position option
from the list.
• Below Text: Notes appear below the last line of story text in the text frame
or column.
• Bottom of Column (default): Notes appear inside the bottom of the frame,
spanning only one column if there are multiple columns. This is the most
common setting for books.
• Bottom of Frame: Notes appear inside the bottom of the frame and span
the width of the frame if there are multiple columns.
• Below Frame (not recommended): Notes appear below the text frame in
an adjacent note frame. You can specify their maximum height to ensure
they don’t flow off the bottom of the page.
2. Set Min gap before to define the desired whitespace between the story text
and the start of the first footnote and set Gap between to define the vertical
space between each footnote. You can also set Initial advance and Min
advance to define the position of the footnote’s first baseline; refer to Initial
Advance on page 67.
3. Set Allow split notes to allow footnotes to be continued in the next column or Tip: Unlike in Adobe®
frame to reduce undesired whitespace. InDesign®, the Keep
Together paragraph
flow setting does not
override Allow split
notes

Tip: Choose Text >

Insert > Breaks >
Column Break to split
a footnote earlier than
4. Set Pack short notes to start footnotes on the same line as the previous foot- Allow split notes will
note’s body, and Short note gap to define the horizontal distance between do
them.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 247

 5. In the Rules section, select First Note from Rule before to define the rule
above a footnote, or Continued Note to define the rule above a note split
from the previous column or text frame with Allow split notes.
Tip: To change the 6. Select Draw rule if you want a rule (line) to separate the first or continued
space before the rule, footnote and then select the Stroke style including colour, width, and other
use Min gap before in options. Set Left indent and Length to define the width of the rule and Verti-
the Positioning
section cal offset to define the rule’s position relative to the start of the first note.
To position sidenotes:
1. In the Positioning section of the Notes panel, choose a Note position option
from the list.
• Left of Frame: Notes appear to the left of the text frame, even if the note
reference is not in the leftmost column of the frame.
• Right of Frame: Notes appear to the right of the text frame, even if the
note reference is not in the rightmost column of the frame.
• Away From Spine (recommended): In a facing-pages document, in the
outer margin. In a non-facing-pages document, this is the same as Left of
Frame.
• Towards Spine: In a facing-pages document, in the inner margin. In a
non-facing-pages document, this is the same as Right of Frame.
• Alternate Sides: The first note in the frame will be on the outer (or left)
side, the next on the inner (or right) side, etc.
• Closest Side (default): Notes appear on the side that is closest to the note
reference. Adding and removing text will cause the notes to change sides.
2. Set Width and Distance from frame to define the size and position of the
sidenote.
3. Set Min gap between to define the vertical space between each sidenote. You
can also set Initial advance and Min advance to define the position of the
sidenote’s first baseline; refer to Initial Advance on page 67.
4. Set Allow split notes to allow sidenotes to be continued on the side of the
next text frame for the main story. Split sidenotes are less common than split
footnotes.

248 References
To position endnotes:
1. In the Positioning section of the Notes panel, choose a Note position option
from the list.
• End of Story: Notes appear below the last line of text in the story in the
same text frame.
• Separate Frame: Notes appear in a new text frame after the story’s last text
frame to create separate endnotes for each story.
• Shared Section Frame: Notes appear in a new text frame after the section’s
last page to create separate endnotes for each section.
• Shared Document Frame (default): Notes appear in a new text frame after
the document’s last page to create endnotes for the entire document. This
is the most common setting for books.
• End of Book: Refer to Adding references to a Book on page 196.
2. Set Min gap before to define the desired whitespace between the story text
and the start of the first endnote and set Gap between to define the vertical
space between each footnote. You can also set Initial advance and Min
advance to define the position of the footnote’s first baseline; refer to Initial
Advance on page 67.
3. In the Title section of the Notes panel, enter the Title text and select a para-
graph style from Title style to create an automatic heading for endnotes
displayed in a separate frame than the story text. To create your own heading,
leave the Title text field blank.
How notes work:
Footnotes and sidenotes, as well as endnotes positioned at the end of a story, are
stored in individual text frames associated with a note reference marker. These
frames are similar to a pinned text frame so if you expand the main text frame’s
layer in the Layers panel you’ll see that the note frames are child layers.
Publisher will display X handles at the corners and midpoints of a selected note
to indicate that you cannot move or scale the layer. The width of the text frame
for footnotes and endnotes is determined by the column or frame they are asso-
ciated with while the width of the frame for sidenotes is set in the Notes panel.
The height is always determined by the note’s content.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 249

 Importing notes from Microsoft® Word
Footnotes imported from a Microsoft® Word .docx file will all use custom set-
tings because they won’t match the document’s Document-wide settings. They
will likely all have a paragraph style named Footnote Text which you could rede-
fine in Publisher but footnotes aren’t properly formatted after importing from
Word so it is recommended you reformat them in Publisher.
1. After importing the .docx file, choose Revert all Footnotes to Document
Settings from the Notes panel menu .
2. The footnotes will now be formatted with the document-wide settings (which
default to Body as the Note body style) and likely the Footnote Reference
character style imported from Word. Footnote Reference was intended for the
note reference marker and the number in the note body and not the rest of
the note body, so you should remove it from the note bodies. First, define a
new character style for the note bodies named Note Body and base it on the
Body paragraph style, you can change the attributes for it later as desired. The
choice of name is unimportant.
3. Using the Find and Replace panel, click the Find formatting icon for Find
and select Footnote Reference from the Character Style menu and Body from
Paragraph Style. Click the Find formatting icon for Replace and select the
new Note Body style you created above. Do not enter text in the Find or
Replace fields. This step assumes that the document-wide settings for foot-
notes uses Body as the Note body style and that the body text imported from
Word is not formatted with Body.
4. Click Find and then click Replace All.

250 References
Using fields
A field is variable text that you insert into your document and which Publisher Tip: Fields are specific
can update. Fields are used to insert information such as page numbers, section to a document and
names, dates, and metadata. If you insert them on a master page the information cannot be synced
across chapters of a
displayed on a document page will be relative to that page and its section. Book or imported into
Publisher offers three types of fields: another document

• Metadata: These fields store information about the document such as title, Tip: A field is not plain
author, and keywords and you can edit their values. All fields can be inserted text so its value
into document text but these fields are commonly used for PDF metadata. cannot be found with
Find and Replace and
• Variables: These fields display dynamic values such as page number, section is counted as one
name, and saved date. Their values cannot be edited. character and one
word by the Word
• Custom variables: You can also create your own fields and edit their names Count feature regard-
and values. less of how many
characters or words it
displays
Using the Fields panel
To display the Fields panel:
1. Choose Window > References > Fields to display the Fields panel.
Insert Mark Delete Insert Index Update

Panel menu
Section name

Field name Metadata field value

Edit format or set format default

Variable field value’s placeholder

2. Collapse and expand the panel’s sections by clicking the caret icons to the
left of their titles.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 251

 Inserting fields
Some of the common fields are available from the Text > Insert > Fields menu
but you must use the Fields panel to access most of them.
To insert a field:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor where you want the
field to be inserted.
Tip: You can also 2. Insert the desired field by double-clicking its name in the Fields panel or by
double-click the value choosing it from Text > Insert > Fields.
to insert non-editable
fields such as dates 3. Choose Text > Highlight Fields to add shading behind fields such as page
but it’s better to numbers to make them easier to see while editing your document. This
always double-click shading will not be printed.
the field names
because some fields To edit the value of a metadata field:
can be edited in the
panel by clicking them 1. Click a field value in the Fields panel and then click it a second time—do not
double-click. Enter a new value and press Return.
To delete a field:
1. Delete a field as you would any other character with Backspace or Delete. A
field is treated as a single character so you need only press the key once.
To expand a field and convert it to regular text:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, right-click the field in the document text and
choose Expand Field from the context menu.

252 References
Field types
All page number fields display page numbers in the numbering format defined
for the field’s section and are relative to the section’s starting page number. If you
haven’t used sections in the document, page numbers will be numbered 1, 2, 3…
Section Field Displays

Document Information Author User who created the document; you can change the name Tip: To set the default
value for Author, edit
Tags Keywords, used for PDF export; use commas to separate them this field when no
documents are open
Comments Freeform text of your choice, this isn’t displayed anywhere else

Title Freeform text for a PDF file’s title

Subject Freeform text for a PDF file’s subject

Revision For your own use, this isn’t displayed anywhere else

Document Statistics Last edited by User who last saved the document; you can change the name

Created Date the document was created or last use of Save As

Saved Date the document was last saved

Printed/Exported Date the document was last printed or exported

Save Count Number of times the document has been saved since creation or
last use of Save As

Filename Name of the .afpub file on your computer

Path Path to the .afpub file on your computer

Total Pages Number of pages in the document

Document Sections Name Name of the section in which the field is inserted

Running header First or last use of styled text on a page; refer to Running headers on
page 39

Page Number Page number on which the field is inserted; refer to Page numbering
on page 34

Last Page Page number of the last page in the section in which the field is
inserted

Run Last Page Page number of the last page before which page numbering is
restarted

Continuation Previous Frame Page number of the page for the previous text frame the field’s frame
is linked to; if there isn’t a previous frame then it will be blank

Next Frame Page number of the page for the next text frame the field’s frame
is linked to; if there isn’t a previous frame then it will be blank

General Information Date & Time Date and time when the field was inserted or last updated

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 253

 Section Field Displays

Data Merge Source Filename of the external data source

Merge Index Numerical order of the merged record from the filtered index

Unfiltered Index Numerical order of the merged record from the unfiltered index

Data Merge - filename <dynamic> Fields are generated from the external data source

Custom <user defined> Fields are defined by the user

Formatting fields
The date and Running Header fields allow you to customize their formatting.
To format a field:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, right-click the field in the document text and
choose Edit Field… from the context menu. You can also select the field or
position the text cursor before or after it and then click the respective Edit
icon beside the field in the Fields panel.
2. Format the field. Refer to Running headers on page 39 for information on
formatting a running header. For dates, select a Language if the field’s lan-
guage doesn’t match the language of the surrounding text. Choose one of the
preset date and/or time formats or click Custom and enter a custom format
into the Pattern field. Refer to the table on the following page for more
information.

3. Click Close.
To set the default formatting for a field:
1. Position the text cursor away from date or Running Header fields and click
the respective Edit icon beside the field in the Fields panel.
2. Format the field and click Close. The formatting options are the same as for
formatting a specific field.
Date and time formatting options:
Combine the following symbols in the Pattern field. Note that many are case
sensitive. Plain text such as Today’s date: must be enclosed in apostrophes and its
apostrophe repeated as ‘Today’’ date: ’. Non-alphabetic characters such as dashes,
commas, periods and colons do not need to be enclosed in apostrophes.
254 References
Symbol Meaning Pattern Examples for September 3, 2023

G Era G AD
GGGG Anno Domini
GGGGG A

y Year y 2023
yy 23

Q Quarter Q, QQ 2 Use QQ to prefix single digits with 0

QQQ Q2
QQQQ 2nd quarter

M Month in year M, MM 9, 09 Use MM to prefix single digits with 0

MMM Sep
MMMM September
MMMMM S

L Standalone month in year L, LL 9, 09 Use LL to prefix single digits with 0 Tip: Use Standalone
LLL Sep month in year for
LLLL September languages that spell
the month differently
LLLLL S in a full date versus
w Week of year w, ww 36, 36 Use ww to prefix single digits with 0 standalone; for
example, September
W Week of month W, WW 4, 04 Use WW to prefix single digits with 0 22 in Polish is 22
września but Septem-
d Day in month d, dd 3, 03 Use dd to prefix single digits with 0 ber 2023 is wrzesień
2023
D Day of year D, DD, DDD 246, 246, 246 Use DD to prefix single digits with 0 or DDD to
prefix single digits with 00

F Day of week in month F, FF 1, 01 Example is first Sunday in September

Use FF to prefix single digits with 0

E Day of week E Sun Example is Sunday

EEEE Sunday
EEEEE S
EEEEEE Su

e Local day of week e, ee 1, 01 Varies by language Tip: Sunday is the 1st

eee Sun day of the week for
eeee Sunday English US and some
other languages but
eeeee S the 7th day of the week
eeeeee Su for others such as
English UK

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 255

 Symbol Meaning Pattern Examples for 6:07:05 p.m. EDT

a AM or PM a varies PM (US), pm (UK, Australia), or p.m. (Canada)

aaaaa varies p (US, UK), pm (Canada, Australia)

B Flexible day periods B varies Possible values are “in the morning”, “noon”,
“in the afternoon”, “in the evening”, and “at
night” (US, UK, Canada) or “morning”,
“midday”, “afternoon”, “evening”, and “night”
(Australia)

h Hour in day (1-12) h, hh 6, 06 Use hh to prefix single digit with 0

H Hour (0-23) H, HH 18, 18 Use HH to prefix single digit with 0

k Hour number in day (1-24) k, kk 19, 19 Use kk to prefix single digit with 0

K Hour in AM/PM (0-11) K, KK 7, 07 Use KK to prefix single digit with 0

m Minute in hour (0-59) m, mm 7, 07 Use mm to prefix single digit with 0

s Second in minute (0-59) s, ss 5, 05 Use ss to prefix single digit with 0

z Time Zone z EDT

zzzz Eastern Daylight Saving Time

O Time zone: localized 0 GMT-4 “O” is a letter, not a zero

0000 GMT-04:00

V Time zone: ID V usnyc Example is New York city

VV America/New_York
Time zone: exemplar city VVV New York
Time zone: generic location VVVV New York Time

x Time zone: ISO8601 basic x -04

Time zone: ISO8601 basic xx -0400
Time zone: ISO8601 extended xxx -04:00

256 References
Creating custom variables
Custom variables are fields that you create for use in your document. For exam-
ple, you might use a custom variable as a placeholder for a product or company
name that will be finalized or revealed at a later date. Custom variables are also
useful for customizing previously-created documents for individual clients.
To manually create a custom variable:
1. Expand the Custom section of the Fields panel.
2. Click the Create Custom Field icon.

3. Enter a unique Name for the field and its initial Value.
4. Click Close.
To create a custom variable based on existing text: Tip: The field will be
formatted using the
1. If the existing text is longer than a single word, select the text. attributes of the first
character, so if you
2. Right-click the text and choose Convert Text to Field… The custom variable converted two words
will be created immediately using the selected text or the word you right- to a field and the
clicked for both the field name and value. The Custom Field Properties second word was bold,
window will appear to allow you to rename the field. the bold formatting
would be removed
To change the value of a custom variable:
1. Click the field’s value in the Fields panel and then click it a second time—do
not double-click. Enter a new value and press Return. You can also right-click
the field in the text frame and choose Edit Field from the context menu.
To rename a custom variable:
1. Click the Edit icon to the right of the field in the Fields panel. You can also
right-click the field in the text frame and choose Edit Field from the context
menu.
2. The options are the same as for creating a custom field.
To delete a custom variable:
1. Click the Edit icon to the right of the field in the Fields panel. Click the
Delete icon in the popup window.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 257

 To import custom variables into another document:
Custom variables are specific to a document and cannot be synced across chap-
ters of a Book or directly imported into another document. However, you can
copy and paste custom variables to another document.
1. Using the Frame Text tool, select a custom variable field and choose Copy
from the context menu. You can also copy a range of text containing one or
more custom variables or select its text frame.
2. Switch to the target document and choose Edit > Paste. The custom variables
will be imported into the new document.

258 References
Using anchors
An anchor is a position in a document that you can link to with a hyperlink or Definition: An anchor
cross-reference or which you can use as a bookmark in an exported PDF file. is a marker in your
document
Anchors can be inserted between two characters of text or added to an object
such as a shape or text frame. Text anchors will move with the text as you add Tip: While Publisher
and remove text before them in the story while object anchors will remain doesn’t allow anchors
attached to the object. to be applied to a
page like bookmarks
It’s very easy to delete text anchors by mistake because they are non-printing in Adobe® InDesign®,
characters. It’s recommended that you enable Show Anchors when working with they can be applied to
an object for more
text anchors. Object anchors are never visible and can be found only with the flexibility
Anchors panel.
You can create text and object anchors manually and Publisher will create text
anchors automatically when a table of contents is generated or when a cross-ref-
erence is added. The table of contents feature uses anchors to link its page num-
bers to pages while the cross-references feature uses anchors as the targets for its
references.

Using the Anchors panel

To display the Anchors panel:
1. Choose Window > References > Anchors to display the Anchors panel. Tip: Anchors are not
displayed in the order
Panel menu they appear in the
document or in the
Filter by area
order bookmarks will
Selected anchor appear in an exported
Parent anchor PDF
Child anchor
Export as PDF bookmark

Delete

Go to anchor Add new anchor

2. Collapse or expand parent anchors by clicking the caret icons to the left of
their names—they won’t stay collapsed but it may help
3. Filter the list of anchors to just those on a specific page by choosing a specific
page from the Area popup menu that defaults to All Spreads. If the document
is a chapter of an open Book, All Spreads will be renamed to Current Chapter
and an All Chapters option will be added. Choosing All Chapters will show
anchors in all of the Book’s chapters, allowing you to go to any of them even if
the chapter is not open. Anchors not in the current chapter are listed with a
Chapter icon beside them.
Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 259
 Inserting anchors
You can add anchors manually but Publisher will also create them automatically
if you insert a table of contents or target paragraphs or index marks with cross-
references. If you plan to add a table of contents, it is recommended that you not
add anchors for any headings because the table of contents feature will generate
them automatically. You might instead consider adding the table of contents to
your publication earlier than you need to and updating it as you work so that the
anchors are available to you for other purposes.
If you plan to cross-reference your publication by targeting paragraphs or index
marks, the cross-references feature will automatically insert anchors for the
targets. But you might prefer to add anchors manually and use them as targets
when you cross-reference your publication.
To view text anchors:
1. Choose Text > Interactive > Show Anchors to view the non-printing anchor
symbols. These are not turned on with Text > Show Special Characters.

An anchor symbol between two characters

To insert an anchor:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, select a word or words or position the text
cursor before or after a word. Selected text will be used as the anchor’s default
name.
Or to add an anchor to an object, select an object using the Move tool.
2. Click the New Anchor icon in the Anchors panel or choose Text > Inter-
active > Insert Anchor…

3. The Name field will be pre-filled if you selected text. If you placed the text
cursor or selected an object, the anchor name will default to Anchor # where #
is the next unused default anchor number. It is recommended that you enter a
useful name if you intend to export this anchor as a PDF bookmark. A
unique name will also avoid later confusion over the purpose of an anchor.
4. Select Export as PDF Bookmark (default) to include this anchor as a book-
mark in an exported PDF file.

260 References
5. From Data Merge and Field are used only for data merging which is beyond
the scope of this manual.
To delete an anchor:
1. Select an anchor in the Anchors panel and then click the Remove Anchor
icon.
Or position the text cursor before or after a text anchor or select an object
with an anchor and choose Text > Interactive > Delete Anchor.
You can also delete a text anchor reference as you would any other character
with Backspace or Delete.
To rename an anchor:
1. Select an anchor in the Anchors panel and then click it a second time—do Tip: Don’t rename
not double-click. Enter a new name and press Return. anchors generated by
the Table of Contents
Or position the text cursor before or after a text anchor or select an object feature because
with an anchor and choose Text > Interactive > Anchor Properties… The duplicate anchors will
options are the same as for inserting an anchor. be created when you
update the table of
To convert an anchor to a PDF bookmark: contents

1. Click the Bookmark icon to the right of the anchor name in the Anchors
panel.
Or position the text cursor before or after a text anchor or select an object
with an anchor, choose Text > Interactive > Anchor Properties…, and select
Export as PDF bookmark.
To move a text anchor:
You can cut and paste anchors just like any other character except that they have Tip: Don’t cut and
no width and can be difficult to select. paste anchors gener-
ated by the Table of
1. If text anchors are not already visible, choose Text > Interactive > Show Contents because
Anchors to view the non-printing anchor symbols. duplicate anchors will
be created when you
2. Using the Frame Text tool, position the text cursor before or after the update the table of
anchor. Press Shift + � or �, depending on where you placed the text cursor. contents

If you’re unsure if the text cursor is to the left or right of the anchor, press �
or � (Left Arrow or Right Arrow) and if the text cursor doesn’t move, you just
moved past it in that direction.
3. If the anchor was the target of a cross-reference you will need to reselect the
cross-reference target with the Cross-References panel. Tip: Don’t change the
hierarchy of anchors
To make an anchor a child of another anchor: generated by the
Table of Contents
1. Drag an anchor’s name in the panel over the desired parent anchor and then feature because they
release the mouse button when the parent anchor becomes blue. You can also will return to their
drag the anchor between two other anchors to make it a child of those original position when
you update the table
anchors’ parent but you can’t specify the exact position. of contents

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 261

 To export a document to PDF and include PDF bookmarks:
1. Choose File > Export…
2. Select PDF from the popup menu of file types.
3. Select a preset such as PDF (for digital - high quality).
4. If Advanced > Include bookmarks is not selected for the preset you chose,
select it now
You may need to enable bookmarks if they are not visible in your PDF viewer
software. Adobe® Acrobat® Reader displays PDF bookmarks by default but if
they’re not visible choose View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Bookmarks.
Apple Preview does not display PDF bookmarks by default so choose View >
Table of Contents.

262 References
Using hyperlinks
A hyperlink allows the reader of a PDF or eBook to jump to another location in Tip: While you could
the same publication, another file, a website, or to start an email with their use a hyperlink and an
device’s default mail application. A hyperlink can be applied to a range of text or anchor to create a
cross-reference, it’s
to an object. easier to do this with
the cross-references
Using the Hyperlinks panel feature which can also
automatically update
To display the Hyperlinks panel: a page number or the
1. Choose Window > References > Hyperlinks to display the Hyperlinks panel. link text

Panel menu Tip: The table of

contents, index, and
Filter by area cross-references can
Filter by type be hyperlinked
Toggle sort automatically but their
links are not listed in
Child anchor this panel

Selected hyperlink

Delete hyperlink
Go to Source Go to Target Edit Hyperlink Add Hyperlink

2. Filter the list of hyperlinks to just those on a specific page by choosing a Tip: Unlike the
specific page from the Area popup menu that defaults to All Spreads. Anchors panel, the
Hyperlinks panel
3. Filter the list of hyperlinks by choosing a single type of hyperlink from the cannot list hyperlinks
Type popup menu that defaults to All Types. in other chapters for a
Book
Inserting hyperlinks
Page and Section are most useful for objects since you can’t CR an object
File is just for relative links, the file isn’t incorporated
To insert a hyperlink:
1. Using the Frame Text tool, select a range of text. The selected text will be
used as the default URL if you choose the URL type.
Or to add a hyperlink to an object, select an object using the Move tool.
2. Click the Add Hyperlink icon in the Hyperlinks panel or choose Text >
Interactive > Insert Hyperlink…

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 263

 3. Choose the Type of the hyperlink:
• Anchor: Select a text or object anchor from the Anchor list. If the
document is a chapter in an open Book, the Chapter popup menu will
allow you to select an anchor in a different chapter. Refer to Using anchors
on page 259 for information on creating anchors.
• Email: Enter an email address so that when the reader clicks the hyper-
link, a new email will be started using the reader’s default mail application.
Do not include mailto: in the field but you can use the standard ?subject=
syntax, as long as you escape the spaces in the subject with %20.
Tip: Although you can • File: Click the More icon to browse to a PDF file on your computer,
select any type of file, which if you select the additional option to Include file on export will be
the File feature works linked with a relative URL in the exported PDF file so they can be
reliably only with PDF
files; you may get an uploaded together. If you don’t select Include file on export then an
error when attempting absolute URL to the file on your computer will be used.
to export a document
that includes a link to • Page: Select a page number in the current document—the target is to a
a different type of file page number so if you add or remove pages the content of the target page
number might be different. This option is not recommended because if
you add or remove a page before the hyperlink’s target then the link will be
to the wrong page. Use Anchor if you want the target to move as pages are
added and removed.
• Section: Select a section in the current document.
• URL: Enter an absolute URL for a website page or file. Use File if you
need a relative URL; inclusion of http/https is optional.
4. From Data Merge and Field are available for all but Page and Section and are
used only for data merging which is beyond the scope of this manual.
5. Character Style: Select a character style to apply to the hyperlink. Publisher
will create a default style named Hyperlink if you select Hyperlink from the list
for a document that lacks this style.
6. Click OK.

264 References
To delete a hyperlink:
1. Select a hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel and then click the Delete Hyper-
link icon.
Or position the text cursor before or after a hyperlink or select an object to
which a hyperlink is applied and choose Text > Interactive > Delete Hyper-
link. Or select a range of text that includes the hyperlink or the object to
which a hyperlink is applied and delete it.
To edit a hyperlink:
1. Position the text cursor in, before, or after a hyperlink or select an object with
a hyperlink and choose Text > Interactive > Edit Hyperlink…, or double-
click the hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel. The options are the same as for
inserting a hyperlink.
To rename a hyperlink:
1. Select a hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel and then click it a second time—
do not double-click. Enter a new name and press Return. The name has no
impact on the hyperlink but is helpful for keeping track of the hyperlinks in a
document
To find a hyperlink in the document:
1. Select a hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel and click the Go to Source icon.
To view the target of a hyperlink:
1. Select a hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel and click the Go to Target icon.
Or position the text cursor before or after a hyperlink or select an object to
which a hyperlink is applied and choose Text > Interactive > Go to Hyper-
link Target.
To fix a broken hyperlink:
1. If you delete the target of an Anchor, Page, or Section hyperlink, Publisher
will display a Broken Hyperlink icon in the Hyperlinks panel. Delete the
hyperlink or edit it to select a new target.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 265

266 References
Publishing 8
Although you can use Publisher for almost any visual project,
most users of Publisher use it to print directly to a local printer, to
prepare a PDF file to be printed at a large-format or high-volume
digital printing press, or to prepare a PDF file to be converted to
film for printing on a commercial press.
Printing a document on a commercial press used to mean print-
ing colour separations to a PostScript file for delivery to a print
partner, also referred to as a service bureau or service provider.
The commercial operator would send the PostScript file to an
Imagesetter for conversion to film. All of the work was done up
front on your computer so you had complete control of the final
product, but also the responsibility to get it right. This some-
times led to poor colour because the publishing application
wasn’t optimized for the specific printing press and type of
paper.
With newer applications such as Publisher, documents are
exported to a PDF file and the print partner handles the colour
separations to ensure colour fidelity with the printing press and
paper.
Publisher also allows you to export to a PDF file suitable for digi-
tal distribution or for printing through a print-on-demand ser-
vice. Publisher does not include optimized workflows for
generating ebooks but a standard PDF can be converted to an
ebook with specialized software.

In this chapter
Preflighting documents ...........................................................................268
Printing directly to a printer ...................................................................274
Printing on a commercial press .............................................................278
Creating an accessible PDF .....................................................................282
Exporting to PDF for digital distribution ...........................................284
Exporting to PDF for print-on-demand..............................................288

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 267

 Preflighting documents
Definition: Preflight Preflight helps you avoid mistakes before printing or exporting a document. It
refers to the automatic can alert you to errors including spelling, overset text, broken cross-references,
comparison of a out-of-date indices and tables of contents, missing fonts and images, and much
document to a check-
list and is named after more.
the preflight checks Publisher can preflight a document live as you work and on demand before you
that pilots do before
take off print or export. Publisher defaults to live checking for all documents, except for
those opened from PDF, Designer’s .afdesign, and Photo’s .afphoto files.
The Preflight settings can be individually disabled or configured as a warning or
error to indicate its severity to you and saved as a profile preset to use for differ-
ent types of documents. The profile preset includes when the Preflight check
Tip: The profile preset should be completed and is saved with a document for consistent preflight
selection is saved with checking. You can also add a Preflight comment to any object to remind you to
the document but the review it before printing or exporting.
profile is not embed-
ded in the document You can Preflight an entire Book at once but only if the Book and its chapters are
so if you send the all open. Refer to Preflight a Book on page 197 for more information.
document to some-
body else for review or
open it on another Using the Preflight panel
device and you want To display the Preflight panel:
the same Preflight
settings, export your 1. Choose Window > Preflight or click the Preflight icon at the bottom of the
presets to a file that document window to the right of the page navigation controls. The icon’s
can be imported
appearance will depend on whether there are errors, warnings, or no issues.
Status Description

Preflight not completed because Check is set to Never

All Preflight tests passed

One or more Preflight warnings

One or more Preflight errors and possibly one or more warnings

Panel menu

Selected profile Preset menu

Check when
Check now

Error icon Fix issue

Warning icon
Page number of issue (M if master page)

268 Publishing
2. The issues are sorted by page number by default but you can change that by
choosing Sort by error type from the panel menu.
3. Select the profile preset to use from the Profile popup menu and choose when
to Check from the three options. Click Check Now to perform a check if Live
is not selected.

Changing Preflight settings

To change Preflight settings: Tip: Preflight cannot
be restricted to a page
1. Create or open a document—you cannot change Preflight settings without an range and you cannot
open document. limit how many of
each issue are
2. Click the menu icon to the right of the Profile popup menu and choose reported
Edit profile… from the popup menu.
Tip: Preflight does not
check for issues on
hidden layers because
they don’t affect
printing or exporting

3. Choose an issue type from the left pane and configure its options.
4. You can select a Warning Level for each issue type. Select Disabled to ignore
this issue type, Warning for it to be flagged with the yellow icon, and Error for
it to be flagged with the Red icon. With the default settings, Error is reserved
for issues that will impact the successful printing or exporting of the docu-
ment but you can change them as you see fit.
5. You can select Look inside placed documents for some issue types to check
for that type of Preflight issue in a linked or embedded document
6. The specific options for each issue type vary:
• Index: No specific options, alerts you if outdated.
• TOC: No specific options, alerts you if outdated.
• Sections: No specific options, alerts you if all sections have Include on
export disabled.
• Overflowing Text: No specific options, alerts you if text is overflowing.
• Hyperlinks: No specific options, alerts you if a link is invalid.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 269

 • Cross-References: Alerts you for invalid cross-references. Select Check for
empty values to report if a cross-reference targets a blank paragraph.
• Linked Resources: No specific options, alerts you if a linked resource is
missing or the version in the document needs to be updated.
• Image Resolution: Set the minimum and maximum thresholds below and
above which you want to be alerted to avoid low-resolution images that
won’t print well or images that have such high resolution that it might
affect performance.
• Proportional Scaling: Set the threshold value above which you want to be
alerted for a distorted image.
• Hidden Objects: Set to be alerted to a hidden layer. This option is useful in
case you hide layers while working and forgot to un-hide them.
• Image Colour: Set to be alerted if the colour space (format) or colour
profile of a placed image or document doesn’t match this document.
• Bleed Hazard: If Bleed is set in Document Setup, select the Safe Zone
Edge for which you want to be alerted. Mirror Bleed (default) will set the
safe zone to the inverse of the bleed which is a useful amount, Trim Box
will set the safe zone to the edges of the page, and Custom allows you to
define your own safe zone boundaries.
Objects must extend to the edge of the Bleed
Zone when Bleed is set in Document Setup
The Trim Box is enclosed by the page edges
and approximates where trimming will occur
Important text and objects should be fully
within the Safe Zone to avoid being trimmed
• Minimum Stroke Width: Because thin lines don’t print well—white lines
disappear when neighbouring ink bleeds into them and colour lines can
have multiple component strokes if the CMYK plates are misaligned—you
can set the minimum widths for white, single ink, and multiple ink lines.
• Missing Fonts: No specific options, alerts you if a font is missing.
• PDF/X ICC Profile Check: No specific options, alerts you if the document
cannot be exported as a valid PDF/X file.
• Missing Glyphs: No specific options, alerts you if a font lacks a character
you used set in that font.
• Text Patterns: Set to be alerted for common issues such as multiple spaces,
consecutive breaks, straight quotes, and more; you can set each option
independently.
• Spelling: No specific options, alerts you of spelling mistakes and if a
dictionary is missing for the language used.
• User Comment: No specific options, alerts you if you entered a user
comment for any object.

270 Publishing
 • PDF Passthrough: Set the PDF compatibility level for PDF files placed in
the document below which you will be alerted. For example, placing a
PDF 1.4 file with a signature into a document with this option set to
PDF/X-1a:2003 would alert you of the incompatibility.
• Alt Text: Alerts you if alt text is missing for placed images and documents,
and for vector (path) objects. Tip: It is recom-
mended that the
• Data Merge Update: No specific options, alerts you if a data merge source option for Vector
has been updated. Objects be disabled
because it will gener-
• Data Merge Fields: No specific options, alerts you if there are mismatched ate a Preflight warning
text field and picture frame links. or error for every line
drawn with the Pen
• Colours and Inks: Set to be alerted if any part of the document would tool
exceed the specified Maximum Ink or Maximum Rich Black thresholds.
Your print partner will tell you the values you should use for their printing
press.
Refer to the Preflight help page for a complete list of the warning and error
messages that are associated with the above settings.
To save a Preflight profile preset:
1. Click the menu icon to the right of the Profile list and choose Create
preset… from the popup menu.
2. Enter a preset name and click OK.
To update a Preflight profile preset:
1. Click the menu icon to the right of the Profile list and choose Create
preset… from the popup menu.
2. Enter the preset’s exact name and click OK. Publisher will prompt you to
confirm that the existing preset should be replaced.
To organize, import/export, or rename or delete a Preflight profile preset:
1. Click the menu icon to the right of the Profile list and choose Manage Tip: The Preset Man-
presets… from the popup menu. ager is shared with
other parts of Affinity
and includes linked
categories, linking to
the other applications
in the suite, which
don’t apply to Pre-
flight because it is
specific to Publisher

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 271

 2. To rename or delete a preset, select a preset and click Rename or Delete.
3. To organize presets into categories, click Create Category…, enter a category
name, and then click OK. Then drag presets into the category—a blue line
will appear to indicate where the preset will be moved. If you have many
presets, you can collapse and expand the categories by clicking their caret
icon.
4. To rename a category, click the menu icon to the right of the category list
and choose Rename Category… from the popup menu. To delete a category,
delete all of its presets or move them to another category and then click the
menu icon to the right of the category name and choose Delete Cate-
gory… from the popup menu.
5. To export profile presets to share them with another user or device, click
Export User Presets… to export all presets, or to export just those in one
category, click the menu icon to the right of the category name and choose
Export User Presets… from the popup menu. Both options will create an
.afpreflightpresets file.
6. To import profile presets from an .afpreflightpresets file, click Import Pre-
sets… to import them exactly as they were exported. To import profile pre-
sets directly into a category, click the menu icon to the right of the category
name and choose Import Presets to Category… from the popup menu.

272 Publishing
Viewing and resolving Preflight issues
To enable or disable live Preflighting:
1. Click Live to enable live Preflighting, Never to disable Preflight entirely, or
Export to Preflight only before printing or exporting a document. Although
the button is labeled Export it works for printing, too. Tip: Preflight reports
can be viewed only
This feature is saved with a profile preset and with the document. within the panel and
cannot be exported
2. Click Check Now to perform a check if Live is not selected.
To change profile presets:
1. Select the profile preset to use from the Profile list.
To review Preflight issues:
1. Hover the mouse pointer over an issue to see more information in a popup
tip.
2. Double-click an issue to view the page with the issue; the object or text will be
selected as appropriate.
3. If the issue has a Fix button, such as an outdated index, click it to resolve the
issue. For certain types of issues such as missing fonts, the Fix button will
open another window for you to resolve the issue.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 273

 Printing directly to a printer
You can print directly from Publisher to any printer connected to your printer or
network.
To print directly to a printer:
1. Choose File > Print. The options are laid out slightly differently for macOS
and Windows due to the differences between the operating systems.

macOS Windows
2. Adjust the printing options:
• Printer: Select a printer if you have more than one available.
• Presets (macOS) / Profile (Windows): If you’ve created a preset or profile,
you can select it from the list.
• Copies: Enter the number of copies.
• Paper size: Select a paper size.
• Range and Scale:
• Range: Choose from Entire document, Odd pages, Even pages, Current
page, or Selection (selected object).
• Pages: Enter a custom page range to print; for example, 10-25.
• Fit type and Scale: Select Scale and enter a scale percentage, the default
is 100% (actual size), or select Fit to Printable or Shrink to Printable to
enlarge or shrink the document page to match the printable area of the
paper.

274 Publishing
 • Orientation: Select Portrait or Landscape to change the Automatic
orientation of the page on the paper.
• Document Layout:
• Model: Choose from:
Model Description

Single prints one page per sheet

Tiled prints each page over multiple sheets when the page is larger Tip: Refer to N-Up
than the paper; you can specify the amount of overlap to printing on page 276
make it easier to join sheets together

N-Up prints multiple pages or copies in rows and/or columns; for

example, a sheet of address labels

Book facing-pages are printed side-by-side on each sheet as they Tip: Refer to Book and
are shown on screen booklet printing on
page 277
Booklet facing-pages are imposed (flipped and reordered) so they can
be folded into a booklet

• Bleed and Marks:

• Include bleed: Select if your document has images or text that bleed off
the page and you defined a bleed when creating the document or
changing its layout. Always select Include printers marks when includ-
ing bleed.
• Include printers marks: Select if you want to crop a printed document
with a paper cutter.
Printers marks Description

Include crop marks Places trim lines to indicate the trim box
borders

Include registration marks Places target symbols at the corners and mid-
points outside of the crop area

Include colour bars Places greyscale and colour bars below crop
area to help adjust ink density during printing

Include page information Places the document name, page number, date,
and time above the crop area

• The remainder of the options will vary depending on your version of

macOS and the selected printer.
3. Click Print.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 275

 N-Up printing
The N-Up option in the Print window allows you to print multiple pages or
copies of the same page in rows and columns on a single sheet to save paper. This
is useful for printing address labels, business cards, and archival records. You
would print labels and cards at actual size but archival records might be printed
pages at a reduced size.

A 6-page document
1 1 1 1
2 1
2 printed N-Up with
landscape orientation
and Across set to 5,
Down set to 4, Repeat
2 3 3 3 4 set to 3, Skip set to 0,
and Fill last page
selected

4 4 5 5 5
6 6 6 1 1
When you choose the N-Up model, additional options are shown:

• Across/Down: Enter how many pages should be printed across a sheet

(columns) and down a sheet (rows).
• Repeat: Enter how many copies should be made. While you can make
additional copies with the normal Copies setting, this option makes copies
of a page on a sheet before the next page.
• Skip: Enter how many pages to leave blank at the start of the N-Up impo-
sition. If Across and Down were both set to 3 for a 3x3 grid, setting Skip
to 3 would leave the first row on the first sheet blank.
• Left/Top: Enter the offset from the left and top edges of the sheet. N-Up
printing aligns the pages to the left and top of sheets.
• HGap/VGap: Enter the horizontal and vertical gaps between the pages on
a sheet. Use these options with Left/Top to align pages or copies to a grid,
such as on a sheet of labels.

276 Publishing
 • Fill last page: Select this option to avoid wasting paper at the end of the
document. If the number of pages and copies would result in blank col-
umns or rows, this option will repeat the start of the document until the
last page is filled.

Book and booklet printing

The Book and Booklet options in the Print window don’t refer to printing a
Publisher Book but to the printing layout. These options are generally used to
print pages onto sheets twice as large, such as two US Letter pages on a Ledger
sheet or two A4 pages on an A3 sheet. It is recommended that you use multiples
of four pages for best results.
Pages are normally printed individually in sequence, one page per sheet, but the
Book option prints single-sheet signatures. When printed double-sided, a single- Definition: A signature
sheet signature would have four pages that could be folded for binding into a is a group of sheets
book or for side stapling, screw binding, or bound in another manner on the folded in half that are
bound into a book
side.
An 8-page document Tip: Books are typically
printed using Book would made up of signatures
4 1 2 3 8 5 6 7 be printed on 2 signatures,
folded separately
of more than one
sheet but the Book
printing layout is
Signature Signature limited to single
sheets

The Booklet option imposes pages so the sheets of paper can be folded together Definition: Imposition
into a booklet that could be stapled at the centre. Thick booklets will have uneven refers to the flipping
outer edges unless they are trimmed. and reordering of
pages on a sheet to
An 8-page document simplify binding
printed using Booklet
8 1 2 7 6 3 4 5 would be printed on 2
sheets folded together

Sheet Sheet

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 277

 Printing on a commercial press
To send a publication to a printer for printing on a commercial press, you need
to convert your Publisher document and all of its resources and fonts to a PDF
file.
To export a publication for commercial printing:
1. Preflight your document and resolve any issues. Refer to Preflighting docu-
ments on page 268. Exporting your document will run preflight automatically
unless you’ve disabled it, but it’s a best practice to resolve any issues and
resave the document before exporting.
2. Choose File > Export.

The preview of the first page and the estimated size of the exported PDF file
may take some time to appear, especially for long documents, and it’s not
necessary to wait. The preview and file size will also be recalculated as you
change options in the window.
3. Select the export options, click Export, and then enter a filename.
Tip: You cannot zoom • File format: Select PDF from the list of formats at the top of the window.
in and out of the
preview when export- • Preset: Select a PDF preset based on your print partner’s requirements.
ing to PDF, SVG, EPS,
or PSD

278 Publishing
 Preset Description

PDF/X-4 can be used by a wide range of presses; includes device-

independent colour spaces (formats) and live transparency

PDF/X-3:2003 similar to PDF/X-4 but does not support live transparency

PDF/X-1a:2003 colours are separated into CMYK and spot colours in the file

PDF (press ready) exports to PDF 1.7 (Acrobat 8) unlike PDF/X which is based
on PDF 1.6; use if the document has PDF Passthrough files
based on PDF 1.7

• Raster DPI: Select the resolution at which effects should be rasterized.

Leave this unchanged if you’re unsure which value to use.
• Include bleed: Select if your document has images or text that bleed off
the page and you defined a bleed when creating the document or changing
its layout. Always select Include printers marks when including bleed.
• Preview export when complete: Select to open the PDF in your com-
puter’s default PDF viewing application.
• Area: Select All Pages unless your document is a single page in which case Tip: Don’t select All
you would select Whole Document. Optional: Enter a page range below to Spreads for a facing-
limit the pages that will be exported. For example, 10-25. pages document
because your com-
• Rasterize: Select Unsupported properties (default, recommended) to mercial printer will
rasterize only the objects that aren’t compatible with the selected PDF need the pages
exported as individual
format. Select Everything to rasterize all objects or Nothing to omit objects pages and not as
that aren’t compatible with the PDF format. readers spreads
(layout spreads)
• Downsample images: Select and enter a resolution above which raster
images will be downsampled to that resolution to reduce file size. Tip: The All Pages
• Resample: Select the resampling method to use if an image is up- or setting is not sticky so
you must ensure that
downsampled on export. you select it each type
Resample options Description you export

Nearest Neighbour Fast but lower quality; use for hard-edge images

Bilinear Use when scaling images smaller (default)

Bicubic Use when scaling images larger

Lanczos 3 (separable) Very high quality but slower than the above
options

Lanczos 3 (non-separable) Marginally-higher quality than Lanczos 3

(separable) but slightly slower

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 279

 • Use document resolution/Use DPI: Select Use document resolution to
export the document at its native resolution, or select Use DPI to enter a
custom resolution. Leave this unchanged if you’re unsure which to use.
• Allow JPEG compression: Select to compress raster elements to reduce file
size but some quality may be lost (default, recommended). Deselect to
export uncompressed. Enter a JPEG quality level to specify the level of
compression (default is 98).
• Compatibility: Select the version of PDF to export. This will be set appro-
priately by the preset and there is no need to change this unless you are
creating a custom preset.
• Colour space: Select As document to use the document’s defined colour
space (format) or select a different colour space. For PDF/X the only other
option will be CMYK.
Tip: Refer to Colour on • Profile: Select Use document profile to use the document’s defined colour
page 302 for a descrip- profile, or select a different colour profile.
tion of colour formats
(spaces) and profiles • Embed profiles: Select to embed the colour profiles in the PDF file; this
cannot be disabled for PDF/X.
• Convert image colour spaces: Select to convert all images to the colour
space of the exported file or deselect to allow images to use a different
colour space. For example, an RGB image in a CMYK document would be
converted to CMYK when this option is selected. This cannot be disabled
for PDF/X-1a:2003.
• Honour spot colours: Select to export spot colours as spot colours instead
of converting them to an equivalent colour in the colour space. Select only
if your printer will print a separate plate for each spot colour.
• Overprint black: Select to print black over CMYK elements instead of
knocking out the CMYK colour below to avoid registration issues.
Tip: This option does • Include hyperlinks: Hyperlinks serve no purpose when printing on a
not change the press and this option cannot be selected for PDF/X although it’s available
appearance of hyper- for PDF (Press Ready).
links; it is up to you to
remove hyperlink • Include bookmarks: PDF bookmarks serve no purpose when printing on
formatting that you a press but you can select this option so the file can also be used for other
may have applied for
an online version of purposes.
the document • Include layers: Select to not flatten the document. Select Include invisible
layers to also include hidden layers that have non-hidden child layers.
• Include bleed: Select if your document has images or text that bleed off
the page and you defined a bleed when creating the document or changing
Tip: There are two its layout. Always select Include printers marks when including bleed.
Include bleed options
they are selected and
deselected together

280 Publishing
• Include printers marks: Select to include printers marks around the page
edges to aid in trimming the pages. You can select each type of printers
marks independently.
Printers marks Description

Crop marks Places trim lines to indicate the trim box borders

Registration marks Places target symbols at the corners and mid-points

outside of the crop area to help align the colour plates

Colour bars Places greyscale and colour bars below crop area to help
adjust ink density during printing

Page information Places the document name, page number, date, and time
above the crop area

• Embed fonts: Select All Fonts to ensure the document will print correctly.
For PDF (press ready), you can also select Uncommon Fonts to reduce the
file size by not embedding the basic PostScript fonts or No Fonts. Do not
select Text as Curves for a long publication because it will convert all text
to paths and increase the file size.
• Subset fonts: Select to include only the glyphs (characters) used in the
document rather than the entire font. Tip: Don’t use Subset
fonts if you think you
• Allow advanced features: Select to use advanced PDF features supported might ever need to
by the selected PDF format but which might not be supported by all PDF directly edit the PDF in
viewers, including stretched art text, stroked text, linear and radial gradi- Publisher, instead of
ents, and non-solid transparencies. Select this option for printing to a editing the .afpub file
commercial press or deselect it if the PDF will also be distributed digitally
and you aren’t sure of the viewers that will be used.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 281

 Creating an accessible PDF
To improve the accessibility of exported PDF files you should:
• Use paragraph styles consistently for all text: Use hierarchical heading styles
and generate a table of contents with PDF bookmarks so that screen readers
can navigate the document’s hierarchy.
• Include a table of contents, index, cross-references, and hyperlinks: These
features allow screen readers to navigate a document.
• Pin images in text: Inline and floated images will be processed by screen
readers with the relevant text rather than before or after the text in a text
frame.
• Tag images and other objects: Add alternative text descriptions of images,
shapes, and paths to convey their meaning for a screen reader and tag decora-
tive elements as such so that they can be ignored by a screen reader. Refer to
the instructions below.
• Simplify page layouts: Include headings and subheadings in the same text
frame as body text to ensure they are read in the correct order. Link text
frames to make it easier to finish reading an article or section.
• Set the document metadata: Enter the Title and Subject in the Fields panel.
Refer to Using fields on page 251.
• Include accessibility features in the exported PDF: Ensure that Include
Bookmarks, Include Hyperlinks, and Tagged PDF are selected when export-
ing. Refer to Exporting to PDF for digital distribution on page 284.

Tagging images and objects

Any object can be tagged to provide alt text (alternative text) for use by screen
readers. You can enter your own alt text or select XMP metadata present in an
image using the Tags panel.

Panel menu
Alt Text Source

Alt Text

Tag Length
Mark as Decoration

Only one alt text tag can be set per object in a PDF document so if an image and
a picture frame have their own alt text, the following rules are followed:
• If you place an image with alt text inside a picture frame without alt text or
vice versa, the alt text will be used for the framed image

282 Publishing
• If you place an image with alt text inside a picture frame with its own alt text,
the image’s alt text will be ignored
• If you change the alt text for a picture frame or the image inside it when they
both have their own alt text, the new alt text will be applied to the picture
frame and the image’s alt text will be cleared
To tag an object:
1. Select an object using the Move or Node tools. Tip: You cannot tag a
text frame or other
2. Select the Alt Text Source: Select Custom to enter your own alt text or select text object; to exclude
XMP:Title, Description or Headline to use XMP metadata, if present. decorative text from a
screen reader, con-
3. If you selected Custom, enter the Alt Text. Press Return or click elsewhere in sider converting it to
the document to finish editing the text. curves and then
tagging the path as
4. Select Mark as Decoration to indicate non-readable objects that should be decorative
ignored by a screen reader.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 283

 Exporting to PDF for digital distribution
To share a Publisher document with others online, an Adobe® PDF file is often
the best format. While your computer may allow you to print to a PDF file, it is
better to export to PDF to take advantage of the options Publisher offers.
Creating a PDF for digital distribution is similar to exporting to PDF for printing
on a commercial press but the settings are somewhat different.
To export a publication for digital distribution:
1. Preflight your document and resolve any issues. Refer to Preflighting docu-
ments on page 268. Exporting your document will run preflight automatically
unless you’ve disabled it, but it’s a best practice to resolve any issues and
resave the document before exporting.
2. Choose File > Export.

The preview of the first page and the estimated size of the exported PDF file
may take some time to appear, especially for long documents, and it’s not
necessary to wait. The preview and file size will also be recalculated as you
change options in the window.
3. Select the export options, click Export, and then enter a filename. The
number of options can be intimidating but the most important are File
format, Preset, and Area. You can leave the other options unchanged until
you’re more familiar with the range of options.

284 Publishing
• File format: Select PDF from the list of formats at the top of the window. Tip: You cannot zoom
in and out of the
• Preset: Select PDF (digital - high quality) unless you need to reduce the file preview when export-
size in which case select PDF (digital - small size) to reduce the quality of ing to PDF, SVG, EPS,
the document’s images. or PSD

Preset Downsample Resamples JPEG quality

PDF (high quality) 375 dpi 300 dpi 98

PDF (small size) 90 dpi 72 dpi 85

• Raster DPI: Select the resolution at which effects should be rasterized.

Leave this unchanged if you’re unsure which value to use.
• Preview export when complete: Select to open the PDF in your com-
puter’s default PDF viewing application.
• Area: Select All Pages unless your document is a single page in which case Tip: Don’t select All
you would select Whole Document. Optional: Enter a page range below to Spreads for a facing-
limit the pages that will be exported. pages document
because this will make
• Rasterize: Select Unsupported properties (default, recommended) to on-screen viewing of
rasterize only the objects that aren’t compatible with the selected PDF the PDF more difficult
format. Select Everything to rasterize all objects or Nothing to omit objects
Tip: The All Pages
that aren’t compatible with the PDF format. setting is not sticky so
• Downsample images: Select and enter a resolution above which raster you must ensure that
you select it each type
images will be downsampled to that resolution to reduce file size. you export
• Resample: Select the resampling method to use if an image is up- or
downsampled on export.
Resample options Description

Nearest Neighbour Fast but lower quality; use for hard-edge images

Bilinear Use when scaling images smaller (default)

Bicubic Use when scaling images larger

Lanczos 3 (separable) Very high quality but slower than the above
options

Lanczos 3 (non-separable) Marginally-higher quality than Lanczos 3

(separable) but slightly slower

• Use document resolution/Use DPI: Select Use document resolution to

export the document at its native resolution, or select Use DPI to enter a
custom resolution. Leave this unchanged if you’re unsure which to use.
• Allow JPEG compression: Select to compress raster elements to reduce file
size but some quality may be lost (default, recommended). Deselect to
export uncompressed. Enter a JPEG quality level to specify the level of
compression (default is 98 for high quality, 85 for small size).

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 285

 • Compatibility: Select the version of PDF to export. This will default to
PDF 1.6 (Acrobat 7) and in general there is no need to change this unless
you are creating a custom preset.
• Colour space: Select RGB (default, recommended) because the PDF will
be viewed on a monitor. You can also select As document to use the docu-
ment’s defined colour space (format) or select a different colour space.
• Profile: Select SRGB IEC61966-2.1 (default, recommended) because the
Tip: Refer to Colour on PDF will be viewed on a monitor.
page 302 for a descrip-
tion of colour formats • Embed profiles: Select to embed the colour profiles in the PDF file.
(spaces) and profiles
• Convert image colour spaces: Select to convert all images to the colour
space of the exported file or deselect to allow images to use a different
colour space. For example, a CMYK image should be converted to RGB
for on-screen viewing.
• Honour spot colours: Select to export spot colours as spot colours instead
of converting them to an equivalent colour in the colour space. This is not
important for digital distribution.
• Include hyperlinks: Select to include clickable links in the PDF if you have
Tip: This option does added hyperlinks to the document.
not change the
appearance of hyper- • Include bookmarks: Select to include bookmarks in the PDF to make it
links; it is up to you to easier for readers to navigate the document.
format them to appear
clickable • Include layers: Select to not flatten the document. Select Include invisible
layers to also include hidden layers that have non-hidden child layers.
• Include printers marks: Do not select this option for digital distribution.
• Embed fonts: Select All Fonts to ensure the document can be viewed
without installing the fonts used in the document. You can also select
Uncommon Fonts to reduce the file size by not embedding the basic Post-
Script fonts or No Fonts. Do not select Text as Curves for a long publica-
tion because it will convert all text to paths and increase the file size.
• Subset fonts: Select to include only the glyphs (characters) used in the
document rather than the entire font.
• Allow advanced features: Deselect this to ensure that the PDF can be
viewed by PDF viewers that don’t support advanced features, including
stretched art text, stroked text, linear and radial gradients, and non-solid
transparencies.
• Tagged PDF: Select to include alt text that you’ve added to images and
other objects to improve the accessibility of the exported PDF. Refer to
Creating an accessible PDF on page 282.

286 Publishing
• Password Protection: Select options to protect your document from being
opened and/or modified and printed by others. The encryption method
will be selected automatically based on the Compatibility option you
selected above. Password Protection requires PDF 1.6 (Acrobat 7) or
higher.
Option Description

Require password to open Select and enter a password below to prevent

others from opening the exported PDF without
the password

Require password for Select and enter a password below to:

modification and printing

No document printing prevent others from printing

No content modification prevent others from modifying the PDF in an

application such as Publisher or Adobe®
Acrobat®

No content copying prevent others from copying text and images in

an application such as Publisher or Adobe®
Acrobat®

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 287

 Exporting to PDF for print-on-demand
To send a publication to a self publishing or print-on-demand service such as
Amazon® Kindle® Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark®, Lulu®, or Blurb®, you
must convert your Publisher document and all of its resources and fonts to a
PDF file.
Tip: Select All Pages Exporting to PDF for a print-on-demand service is similar to exporting to PDF
and not All Spreads, for digital distribution but the settings are somewhat different. Service providers
and unless directed frequently require that the cover be uploaded as a separate file and will provide
otherwise by your
print-on-demand instructions on whether the document should be created as RGB or CMYK.
service, select PDF/X-
1a:2003 Tip: Refer to your print-on-demand service’s instructions for their specific requirements to
avoid costly errors.

To export a publication for print-on-demand:

1. Preflight your document and resolve any issues. Refer to Preflighting docu-
ments on page 268. Exporting your document will run preflight automatically
unless you’ve disabled it, but it’s a best practice to resolve any issues and
resave the document before exporting.
2. Choose File > Export.

The preview of the first page and the estimated size of the exported PDF file
may take some time to appear, especially for long documents, and it’s not
necessary to wait. The preview and file size will also be recalculated as you
change options in the window.

288 Publishing
3. Select the export options, click Export, and then enter a filename. The
number of options can be intimidating but the most important are File
format, Preset, and Area.
• File format: Select PDF from the list of formats at the top of the window. Tip: You cannot zoom
in and out of the
• Preset: Select PDF/X-1a:2003. Your print-on-demand service may also preview when export-
support PDF/X-3:2003. ing to PDF, SVG, EPS,
or PSD
• Raster DPI: Select the resolution at which effects should be rasterized.
Leave this unchanged if you’re unsure which value to use.
• Include bleed: Select if your document has images or text that bleed off
the page and you defined a bleed when creating the document or changing
its layout.
• Preview export when complete: Select to open the PDF in your com-
puter’s default PDF viewing application.
• Area: Select All Pages. Optional: Enter a page range below to limit the Tip: The All Pages
pages that will be exported. setting is not sticky so
you must ensure that
• Rasterize: Select Unsupported properties (default, recommended) to you select it each type
rasterize only the objects that aren’t compatible with the selected PDF you export
format. Select Everything to rasterize all objects if the file is rejected by
your print-on-demand service due to transparency issues.
• Downsample images: Select and enter a resolution above which raster
images will be downsampled to that resolution to reduce file size.
• Resample: Select the resampling method to use if an image is up- or
downsampled on export.
Resample options Description

Nearest Neighbour Fast but lower quality; use for hard-edge images

Bilinear Use when scaling images smaller (default)

Bicubic Use when scaling images larger

Lanczos 3 (separable) Very high quality but slower than the above
options

Lanczos 3 (non-separable) Marginally-higher quality than Lanczos 3

(separable) but slightly slower

• Use document resolution/Use DPI: Select Use document resolution to

export the document at its native resolution, or select Use DPI to enter a
custom resolution. Leave this unchanged if you’re unsure which to use.
• Allow JPEG compression: Select to compress raster elements to reduce file
size but some quality may be lost (default, recommended). Deselect to
export uncompressed. Enter a JPEG quality level to specify the level of
compression (default is 98 for high quality, 85 for small size).

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 289

 • Compatibility: This will default to PDF/X-1A:2003 or PDF/X-3:2003 as
you selected from Preset. There is no need to change this setting.
• Colour space: Select As document to use the document’s defined colour
space (format) or select a different colour space.
• Profile: Select Use document profile to use the document’s defined colour
Tip: Refer to Colour on profile.
page 302 for a descrip-
tion of colour formats • Embed profiles: Select to embed the colour profiles in the PDF file.
(spaces) and profiles
• Convert image colour spaces: Select to convert all images to the colour
space of the exported file.
• Honour spot colours: Deselect because print-on-demand services gener-
ally do not offer spot colours.
• Overprint black: Select to print black over CMYK elements instead of
knocking out the CMYK colour below to avoid registration issues.
• Include bookmarks: This setting isn’t relevant because the PDF file will be
printed.
• Include printers marks: Deselect this option for print-on-demand.
• Embed fonts: Select All Fonts.
• Subset fonts: This setting isn’t important for print-on-demand.
• Allow advanced features: Select because it should work for most print-on-
demand services but consider deselecting it if the uploaded PDF file is
rejected. Deselecting will disable advanced features such as stretched art
text, stroked text, linear and radial gradients, and non-solid transparen-
cies.
• Tagged PDF: Deselect because the PDF file will not be interacted with on
screen.
• Password Protection: Deselect because the PDF file will not be distributed
to others.

290 Publishing
Customizing 9
We all have different ways of working and it’s important to cus-
tomize our tools to the way we work to increase efficiency.
Publisher provides many ways to customize the application but
the best approach for you will depend on your computer and
monitor setup, your keyboard and pointing device, and your
personal preferences.
Publisher allows you to customize the interface by moving, scal-
ing, and hiding the toolbars and panels and you can save your
preferred configurations as Studio presets. You can also change
many options and keyboard shortcuts and install additional
spelling and hyphenation dictionaries.

In this chapter
Customizing the interface .......................................................................292
Changing settings or preferences ........................................................299
Installing additional dictionaries ..........................................................317

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 291

 Customizing the interface
Publisher’s features are accessed through a combination of menu commands,
tools, and panels. Tools and panels are windows that remain open while you
work and you can choose which ones to open and where they are displayed.
You can customize the Toolbar, Context Toolbar, Tools, various panels, and
Studios independently and then save the interface at any time as a studio preset
that you can load in the future to restore the interface to your preferred setup.

Customizing the Toolbar

The Toolbar provides quick access to several commonly-used features. You can
choose which controls are shown in it and you can hide it entirely but note the
Status control provides the main indication of the current magnification level so
it’s recommended that you keep it open.
On macOS, the Close, Minimize, and Maximize buttons (red, yellow, and green
controls) are located in the Toolbar so closing it will also leave you without
access to these standard controls. The background of the Toolbar also provides
the easiest way to drag the document window but if you close it you can drag
from an empty part of the Tools panel or the Status Bar at the bottom of the
screen to move the window.

To open or close the Toolbar:

1. Choose View > Show Toolbar.
To customize the Toolbar:
1. Choose View > Customize Toolbar to view all the icons that can be added to
the toolbar.

292 Customizing
2. Drag icons you don’t use frequently out of the Toolbar and release them
anywhere to remove them. Drag icons you want to add from the Customize
window onto the Toolbar between other icons—use the space icons to
arrange the icons in the Toolbar.
3. To restore the Toolbar icons to their default state, drag the default set to the
Toolbar.
4. Choose Icon and Text from Show to display labels below the icon groups.
5. You can save the Toolbar state as part of a Studio preset. Refer to Using Studio
presets on page 298.
6. Click Done (macOS) or Close (Windows)

Showing the Context Toolbar

Below the main toolbar is a second toolbar named the Context Toolbar, com-
monly referred to as the Context Bar. You can only show and hide this toolbar,
you cannot choose which controls are shown in it because they change dynami-
cally based on the current tool and selected text or objects.
It is recommended that you keep the Context Toolbar open because it provides
quick access to the most frequently-used features.

To open or close the Context Toolbar:

1. Choose View > Show Context Toolbar.
2. You can save the Context Toolbar state as part of a Studio preset. Refer to
Using Studio presets on page 298.

Customizing Tools
The Tools panel is different from the panels shown in the Left and Right Studios
because it shown on its own outside of the studios. It can be shown docked on
the left side of the document window or undocked as a floating panel that you
can position on the screen.
Like the Toolbar, you can customize the Tools panel by adding and removing
tool icons.
To open or close the Tools panel:
1. Choose View > Show Tools to open or close the panel.
2. Choose View > Dock Tools to dock or undock the panel from the document
window. You can also double-click the title of the Tools panel when it is
undocked to dock it again.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 293

 To customize the Tools panel:
Tip: The Colour 1. Choose View > Customize Tools to view all the tools that can be added to the
Selector control Tools panel.
cannot be removed
from the Tools panel
and is not shown
when customizing the
panel

2. To remove tools you don’t use frequently, drag the tool icons out of the Tools
panel on the left and release them anywhere else.
3. To add a new tool, drag the icon you want from the Customize window onto
the Tools panel between other icons. Some tools are available stacked and
unstacked—stacks group similar tools that can display a popup menu from
which you can choose a different tool. The currently-selected tool will be
shown in the Tools panel. Stacks are indicated with triangle cues in the bot-
Tip: You can also click tom-right corner which you can click to display the popup menu. For exam-
and hold on the tool ple, you can add the individual shape tools or the stack of shape tools.
to display the popup
menu 4. Optional: Add separator lines to divide groups of tools.
5. Click Reset to restore the Tools panel icons to their default state.
Tip: The None swatch 6. Choose the Number of Columns if you’d prefer to view the tool icons in
won’t be displayed for multiple columns. This is useful if you use a large set of tools on a smaller
the Colour Selector screen.
when tools are
arranged in a single 7. You can save the Tool panel’s tools as part of a Studio preset, but not the
column panel’s docked or undocked state or the number of columns. Refer to Using
Studio presets on page 298.
8. Click Done (macOS) or Close (Windows)

294 Customizing
Customizing the panels
Most of Affinity’s features can be accessed from the panels that appear on the left Definition: Panels are
and right sides of the screen. You can open additional panels with the Window windows that remain
menu, and close panels by choosing Close from the panel menus. open while you work

Panels can be docked in the Left or Right Studio which you can show and hide Definition: Studios are
independently. You can group panels within a studio, switch between grouped containers for panels
panels, adjust the height of panel groups, and collapse groups so that you can see on either side of the
document window
other panels better. Panels can also be undocked as floating windows that you
can position on the screen. Undocked panels can be snapped to each other’s Tip: Publisher for
edges so that they can be moved as a single unit. Windows can display
two columns of panels
in each studio while
Publisher for macOS
can display only one
column in each

Tip: Publisher will

automatically shorten
panel names if there
are more panel tabs in
a group than will fit
A docked panel group with two panels An undocked panel group with two panels within the studio

You can save your favourite panel setups as Studio Presets that you can switch
between with the Window > Studio menu.

A docked panel group (top) with three

panels and a second panel group (below)
with three more panels

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 295

 To open or close a studio:
1. Choose Window > Studio > Show Left/Right Studio to open or close a
studio.
2. Or choose Window > Studio > Hide Studio to close or open both studios at
Tip: The Tools panel is once.
not hidden by Hide
Studio To open or close a single panel:
1. Choose the panel name from the Window menu to open or close it. When
Tip: Some panels are
in the Windows > you open a panel, it will be docked in the Left or Right Studio or undocked
References, Table, and and positioned on screen depending on how it was displayed before it was last
Text sub-menus closed.
2. Or close it by choosing Close from the panel menu . If the panel is
undocked and not part of a panel group, you can also click its Close icon.
To group panels:
1. To add a panel to an existing group—a row of panel tabs—drag the panel’s tab
Tip: When adding a into the group’s row of tabs and position it between the desired tabs.
panel to a group, do
not release the mouse 2. To create a new group—a new row of panel tabs—drag the panel’s tab above
until the blue high- or below an existing panel until you see the blue highlight appear and then
light disappears or you release the mouse button.
will create a new panel
group The blue highlight indicates
that releasing the mouse now
will create a new panel group
for the Fields tab that is being
dragged into the left Studio

3. To merge two panel groups, drag one group’s dragger icon into the other
group’s row of tabs and position it between the desired tabs. If the group has
only a few tabs you can also drag the blank area to the right of the last tab.
To expand/collapse a panel group:
You can collapse a group of panels to the height of their tabs to provide more
space to view the panels in another group.
1. To collapse a panel group, double-click any of the group’s panel tabs.
2. To expand a panel group, click the tab you wish to make active.

296 Customizing
To close a panel group:
1. Choose Close Panel Group from the panel menu . If the group is undocked
you can also click its Close icon.
To dock and undock panels:
1. To add a floating panel to a studio, drag the panel’s tab into a studio and add it
to an existing panel group or above or below a panel create a new group.
2. To float a panel as a standalone window, drag the panel’s tab out of the studio.
To add it to an existing floating panel’s group, drag it onto that panel’s tab row.
3. To snap undocked panels to each other:
To resize panels, panel groups, and studios:
1. To change the width of a studio and the panels in it, position the mouse
pointer anywhere over the panel’s interior borders. When the mouse pointer
changes to the horizontal resize pointer, drag the border to the desired
width.
2. To change the height of a panel group in a studio, position the mouse pointer
anywhere over the group’s horizontal border. When the mouse pointer
changes to the vertical resize pointer, drag the border to the desired width.
3. To resize a floating panel, drag from any of its sides or corners. When the
mouse pointer changes to the appropriate resize pointer, drag the border or
corner to the desired width or height.
To reset the studios and panels to the default configuration:
1. Choose Window > Studio > Reset Studio.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 297

 Using Studio presets
Once you have the panels, Toolbar, Context Toolbar, and Tools set up the way
you want them you should save the setup as a Studio preset so that you can easily
restore the interface to this configuration. If you normally work on a large moni-
tor or monitors you might want to create a second preset for use on a laptop
screen. Or you may wish to create presets for different styles of working, such as
document layout, cross-referencing, and digital publishing.
Studio presets save the position, size, and dock status, as applicable, for the
Toolbar, Context Toolbar, Tools, panels, and panel groups, including the active
panel in a panel group and the vertical height of a panel group. A preset does not
save whether a section in a panel is expanded or collapsed.
To save a Studio preset:
1. Choose Window > Studio > Add Preset…
2. Enter a name for the preset and click OK.
To load a Studio preset:
1. Choose Window > Studio > preset name.
To rename or delete a Studio preset
1. Choose Window > Studio > Manage Studio Presets.

2. Select a preset and then click Rename or Delete, and then enter a new name
or confirm the deletion.

298 Customizing
Changing settings or preferences
General
Some of the most important settings are grouped together in the General settings
pane
To customize general settings:
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click General in the left pane.

2. Customize the Document settings:

• Reopen document(s) on startup: Select to reopen documents when
starting Publisher. On macOS, this control will do nothing unless you
have also deselected Close windows when quitting an application in
macOS System Settings > Desktop & Dock.
• Limit initial zoom to a maximum of 100%: Select to avoid zooming in
more than 100% when opening documents with small dimensions. When
deselected, Affinity will adjust the view magnification to fit the window.
• Documents open in a new floating window (Windows only): Select to
open documents in a floating window instead of in the main application
window.
• Documents open in the current active group (Windows only): Select to
open documents as a new tab in the active window.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 299

 • Hide file extension (macOS only): Select to hide the file extension in
macOS; files will still have a file extension.
• Automatically update linked resources when modified externally (rec-
ommended): Select so that linked resources such as images and docu-
ments that you have modified outside of Publisher will be updated
automatically. If this option is deselected, you must manually update each
modified resource.
• Save thumbnails with documents: Select to generate a custom thumbnail
for a file based on the document’s first page. If this option is deselected, a
generic thumbnail will be used for Publisher’s files.
• Enable “Save” over imported PSD files: Select if you’re exchanging PSD
files with a Digital Asset Management program or deselect which will
cause Publisher to save the document in a new Affinity format file. Note
that some Affinity features are not supported by the PSD file format.
3. Customize the Text settings:
• Preserve Unicode breaks when copying plain text: Select to convert
paragraph breaks to line breaks for text copied to the pasteboard (clip-
board) as plain text or deselect to preserve paragraph breaks. Text is
copied to the pasteboard in multiple formats and only applications that
don’t support rich (formatted) text use the plain text version.
• Insert filler text as text: Select to insert filler text as static, editable text
rather than as a dynamic field that expands to the length of the story. Filler
text inserted as a field can be converted to static, editable text with Text >
Expand > Expand Field.
• Import PSD text as text instead of as bitmap: Select if you want to edit
the text in a PSD file or deselect to rasterize the text.
4. Customize the Other settings:
• Copy items as SVG: Select to copy the selection in SVG format for better
compatibility with some applications in which you want to edit the copied
objects or text. Selecting this option may result in pasting SVG code as
text in some applications.
• Prefer to keep selection after delete: Select so that when you delete an
object, the object below it in the layer stack will be automatically selected.
• Prefer metafile to raster when pasting from external application (Win-
dows only): Select to paste the metafile (vector) version of the clipboard
rather than the raster (bitmap) version. Objects copied to the Windows
clipboard by other applications may be copied in both formats and select-
ing this option directs Affinity to use the metafile version.
• Load metadata from XMP sidecars: Select to automatically load metadata
from matching sidecars for XMP files. A sidecar file can be used to store
metadata information that isn’t compatible with certain image formats, so

300 Customizing
 selecting this option directs Affinity to load metadata from an image’s
companion sidecar file.
• Refine HEIC depth maps: Select to load an HEIC image file’s depth map
as a separate editable layer. Depth maps are used for blurring backgrounds
in portrait mode and for transparency.
• Link new content categories: Select to add new content categories to all
three Affinity applications, if present, rather than just to Publisher.
• Send anonymous usage information: Select to allow anonymized data
about your computer, operating system, and application setup to Serif to
assist with improving the Affinity applications. No personal information
will be collected.
• Help improve the product by automatically uploading crash reports
(Windows only): Select to automatically send crash reports to Serif to help
with resolving issues. macOS users can choose whether to send crash
reports to Serif when a crash report is displayed.
5. Customize the user interface Language: Select Default to use your operating
system’s language if it matches one of the options, or select another of the
options manually.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 301

 Colour
Publisher allows you to set the default colour profile for each colour format
(space). The default profile is used when creating a new document.
Publisher uses the ICC colour profiles installed on your computer and you can
install additional profiles recommended by your printer.
If you’re new to working with colour printing, you should understand that
colours are displayed on screen in RGB (Red, Green, Blue) and printed in CMYK
(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black). LAB (Luminance, A for Green to Red, B for
Yellow to Blue) is a three-dimensional colour model that can represent any
colour in the range of human vision and is popular for enhancing and converting
photographs. CMYK is the best colour format (space) for colour printing.
To install a colour profile on macOS:
Quit Publisher before installing a colour profile because it checks for profiles
when it is started.
1. Copy the .icc file(s) to /users/<username>/Library/ColorSync/Profiles. The
default colour profiles are stored in a similar folder for all users of your com-
puter so this folder will be empty if you haven’t previously installed a colour
profile.
2. Restart Publisher.
Tip: You can also To install a colour profile on Windows:
install a colour profile
by switching to the 1. Open Colour Management via the Control Panel or by searching for it in the
Photo persona and Settings app.
choosing File >
Import ICC Profile…, 2. Select the All Profiles tab.
but the profile will not
be available to other 3. Click Add, select the .icc file, and click Add.
applications on your 4. Restart Publisher.
computer

302 Customizing
To change colour settings:
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click Colour in the left pane.

2. Select the default colour profile for each colour format (space).
• RGB Colour Profile: Select the default for RGB/8 and RGB/16 documents;
not recommended for publishing
• 32bit RGB Colour Profile: Select the default for RGB/32 (HDR) docu-
ments; not recommended for publishing
• CMYK Colour Profile: Select the default for CMYK/8 and CMYK/16
documents; refer to the list of Popular CMYK colour profiles on page 305
for more information.
• Greyscale Colour Profile: Select the default for Grey/8 and Grey/16
documents
• LAB Colour Profile: Select the default for LAB/16 documents; not recom-
mended for publishing
3. Rendering Intent: Select an option for converting colours from the document
or image’s colour gamut that are not reproducible in the output colour gamut.
The Perceptual and Saturation rendering intents are used for re-purposing,
such as the display or printing of photographs, while Absolute and Relative
Colourimetric are used for proofing, such as proofing a CMYK print job on a
6-colour inkjet printer.

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 303

 • Perceptual: Typically used to process digital and scanned photographs
with highly saturated colours. All colours are shifted to allow out-of-
gamut colours to be shown but the relationships between colours are
retained to preserve the overall perception.
• Saturation: Typically used for business graphics because colours are
shifted to maximize saturation and make the image more vibrant at the
expense of colour accuracy.
• Absolute Colourimetric: Used for side-by-side comparisons of outputs
from different printers and when complete accuracy is required, such as
for a logo. All colours of the original colour gamut are shifted so that the
white points are aligned.
• Relative Colourimetric: With identical papers, Absolute and Relative will
produce identical results but Relative accounts for differing white points,
such as one printer using a yellowish paper.
4. Black point compensation: Select to adjust the document’s black point for the
current colour profile while maintaining the current contrast. Deselecting this
may impact contrast.
5. Convert opened files to working space: Select to automatically convert all
opened documents with their own colour profile to the default colour profile
set for their colour format (space). Select the And warn option so that Pub-
lisher displays a temporary alert to notify you of the conversion:

Example: When opening a CMYK document set to

U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2 and Publisher’s CMYK
default is set to Coated GRACoL 2006 (ISO 12647-
2:2004), the document would be converted to the
default and this alert shown

6. Warn when assigning working profile to unprofiled photos: Documents

without a colour profile are always converted to the default colour profile set
for their colour format (space). Select this option so that Publisher displays a
temporary alert to notify you of the conversion.

Example: When opening an RGB document without a

colour profile and Publisher’s RGB default is set to
sRGB IEC61966-2.1, the document would be con-
verted to the default and this alert shown

7. Enable HDR/EDR by default in 32-bit RGB views: Select if you have a

compatible HDR/EDR display and want to use the full dynamic range. You
may not want to use this if creating images for other uses. This option is
named HDR on Windows and EDR on macOS.
8. OpenColorIO and OpenEXR: These options aren’t relevant to publishing as
they are intended for motion picture production. Publisher includes them
because all three Affinity applications can open each other’s files.

304 Customizing
Popular CMYK colour profiles
North America Description Included Tip: Included means
the profile is included
U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2 for printing on rolls of coated paper on a web offset press; ✓ with Publisher but it is
default for most publishing applications not in a user-accessi-
ble location
U.S. Web Uncoated v2 for printing on rolls of uncoated paper on a web offset press ✓

Coated GRACoL 2006 (ISO 12647-2:2004) for printing on grade 1 paper such as for a brochure on a
sheetfed press

Web Coated SWOP 2006 Grade 3 Paper for printing on bright, glossy lightweight paper such as for
a magazine on a web offset press

Web Coated SWOP 2006 Grade 5 Paper for printing on lower quality lightweight paper on a web
offset press

U.S. Sheetfed Coated v2 for printing packaging and brochures ✓

U.S. Sheetfed Uncoated v2 for printing packaging and brochures ✓

US Newsprint (SNAP 2007) for printing on rolls of newsprint on a web offset press

Europe and Australia Description

Coated FOGRA27 (ISO 12647-2:2004) for printing on paper type 1 on a web offset press, super- ✓
seded by FOGRA39; 350% total ink coverage

Coated FOGRA39 (ISO 12647-2:2004) for printing on paper type 1 on a web offset press; 350%
total ink coverage ✓

Web Coated FOGRA28 (ISO 12647-2:2004) for printing on paper type 3 on a web offset press; 350%
total ink coverage ✓

Uncoated FOGRA29 (ISO 12647-2:2004) for printing on paper type 4 on a web offset press; 350%
total ink coverage ✓

Euroscale Coated v2 for printing on paper type 1 or 2 (bright white) using

Euroscale inks on a web offset press; 350% total ink coverage

Euroscale Uncoated v2 for printing on uncoated white paper using Euroscale

inks on a web offset press; 260% total ink coverage

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 305

 Japan Description

Japan Color 2001 Coated for printing on paper type 3 on a sheetfed press; 350%
total ink coverage ✓

Japan Color 2001 Uncoated for printing paper type 4; 310% total ink coverage ✓

Japan Color 2002 Newspaper for printing on rolls of newsprint on a web offset press;
240% total ink coverage ✓

Japan Color 2003 Web Coated for printing on paper type 3 on a web offset press; 350% ✓
total ink coverage

Japan Color 2011 Coated for printing on paper type 1 on a sheetfed press

Japan Web Coated (Ad) for printing magazine advertisements

Generic Description

Generic CMYK Profile don’t use for commercial printing

Photoshop 4 Default CMYK don’t use for commercial printing

Photoshop 5 Default CMYK don’t use for commercial printing

306 Customizing
Keyboard shortcuts
Most users press keyboard shortcuts to invoke frequently-used menu commands
and while Publisher has a standard set of shortcuts, some users are more familiar
with other software and prefer to use the same shortcuts they’ve used for many
years. Publisher allows you to change the keyboard shortcut for any menu com-
mand as well as for the tools, panels, and text input.
Some of the default shortcuts might not work with your keyboard. For example,
the default shortcut to move the text cursor to the end of the story is ⌘ + End
(macOS) or Ctrl + End (Windows) but if you use a laptop you may not have an
End key on your keyboard.

Once you have the keyboard shortcuts set the way you prefer you can save the
shortcuts to a file that you can load again at any time in case you make changes
you regret.
Shortcut files can generally only be opened in the same major version of Pub-
lisher for the same operating system that they were saved from. For example, a
shortcuts file saved from Publisher 2.3.0 will work in 2.3.1 but not necessarily in
2.2.0. If you save and load your shortcuts, it’s a good idea to save a new copy after
upgrading Publisher to a new major version.
Publisher includes shortcuts for some of the most frequently-used menu com-
mands doesn’t have default shortcuts for some of the features used in creating
long publications, including cross-references, indexing, and notes. If you use
these features you should consider adding shortcuts to save time.
The symbols shown for the modifier and special keys in the shortcuts editor are:
Symbol Key Symbol Key

Command (macOS) Ctrl

Shift Option (macOS) or Alt (Windows)

Arrow Left Arrow Up

Arrow Right Arrow Down

Home Page Up

End Page Down

Tab Esc

Delete Return (macOS) or Enter (Windows)

Function (Fn) Tip: Be careful when

editing shortcuts,
To change a keyboard shortcut: there is no undo
feature but you can
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings… restore the shortcuts
(Windows) and then click Shortcuts in the left pane. to Serif’s defaults or
load your own saved
shortcuts file

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 307

 There are two unlabeled lists at the top of this window. The first is Personas
and the second is Elements .

2. Choose the Persona for which you want to set shortcuts. Don’t change this if
you want to change shortcuts for the default Publisher persona.
3. Choose the user interface Element which are groups of shortcuts correspond-
ing to the menus, the tools, studio panels, text input, blend modes, and some
miscellaneous shortcuts. On macOS, the first option is Affinity Publisher 2
which corresponds to the application name menu while on Windows the first
option is the File menu.
4. Select Apply to All if you want the changes you make to apply to the same
command in all personas, if applicable. This is on by default because it’s
confusing to use different shortcuts for the same feature in different personas.
5. Select Ignore Modifier to create single-key shortcuts. This is off by default
because using a single key such as N for New would make it impossible to
type an N. Modifiers cannot be used for Tools so this option is hidden when
editing those shortcuts.
6. To add or change a keyboard shortcut, click in the box to the right of the
command, tool, or operation you want to change and then press the shortcut
combination you want to use. If that shortcut is already in use a warning
icon will appear. Mouse over that triangle to find out which shortcut is in
conflict.
7. To delete a keyboard shortcut, click the delete icon to the right of the
shortcut. Do not press the Delete key to delete the shortcut or Esc to cancel

308 Customizing
 because that will assign the Delete or Esc keys as a shortcut for that command
or operation.
8. On Windows, click Reset to restore all of the keyboard shortcuts for all
personas and user interface elements to the default settings. On macOS, click
Serif Defaults to do the same thing or Apple Defaults to use a more Mac-like
combination. The only difference in the Apple Defaults is the Text Input
shortcuts, but the Apple Defaults button changes all shortcuts.
9. Click Clear All Shortcuts to remove all shortcuts. This option is not recom-
mended because you will lose all the basic and most common shortcuts.
To save the current shortcuts:
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click Shortcuts in the left pane.
2. Click Save and enter a filename and select a location for the file. Publisher
will save the shortcuts as an .affshortcuts (macOS) or .afshort (Windows) file
that you can load at any time.
To load shortcuts from a file:
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click Shortcuts in the left pane.
2. Click Load and select an .affshortcuts (macOS) or .afshort (Windows) file
from your computer.
Recommended shortcuts for references
Publisher doesn’t have default keyboard shortcuts for notes, cross-references,
anchors, and hyperlinks. If you’re using the references features for a book you
might find these shortcuts helpful but some will require changing the defaults for
the listed commands. Windows users, substitute Ctrl for ⌘.
Command Shortcut Availability

Insert Cross-Reference ⌘ + R Used for Show Rulers

Edit Cross-Reference Shift + ⌘ + R Used for Rename Layer

Insert Anchor ⌘+Y Used for Last Used (View Mode > Wireframe)

Anchor Properties Shift + ⌘ + Y Available

Insert Hyperlink ⌘+K Used for Find in Layers

Hyperlink Properties Shift + ⌘ + K Available

Insert Footnote Shift + ⌘ + N Available: use this shortcut for whichever type
of note you’re using

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 309

 AutoCorrect, Abbreviations, and Title exceptions
AutoCorrect allows you to automatically replace specified text with other text as
you type. For example, you can convert straight quotation marks to typographic
ones and replace teh with the. AutoCorrect can also automatically capitalize the
first word of a sentence.
Abbreviations allows you to define exceptions to the automatic capitalization of
text. For example, you wouldn’t want to capitalize the first word after vs. which is
typically used within a sentence.
Title exceptions allows you to define exceptions to the capitalization of phrases
that are formatted with the Title Case formatting option. For example, “and”
should not be capitalized with Title Case so it should be included in this excep-
tion list.
Publisher uses its own lists for each type of text replacement for every language it
supports and doesn’t rely on the similar text replacement features built into
macOS and Windows. This is important because while you might want the same
corrections for basic text some of the corrections you use in Publisher may be
more typographic and not suitable for your other applications. macOS also lacks
separate text replacement lists for each language so Affinity’s custom feature is
important for those who work in multiple languages.
Publisher includes default lists of AutoCorrect, Abbreviations, and Title Excep-
tions for the languages for which it provides a user interface. You must create
your own lists for other languages. Although Publisher includes useful default
lists for British and American English, it does not include them for Australian,
Canadian, or other variations of English, and you cannot easily copy the British
or American lists to use as a starting point.
On macOS, the user interface language and the language used for formatting text
are not consistently spelled out for British and American English. On Windows,
they are written as English (United Kingdom) and English (United States) but on
macOS they are written as shown below:
Text language Interface language Defaults included for

English (United Kingdom) English AutoCorrect, Abbreviations, Title Exceptions

English English (United States) AutoCorrect, Abbreviations

English (Australia) n/a none

English (Canada) n/a none

German Deutsch AutoCorrect, Abbreviations

Français français AutoCorrect, Abbreviations

Español español AutoCorrect

Italiano italiano AutoCorrect

Português (Brasil) português (Brasil) none

310 Customizing
To add or remove AutoCorrect text:
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click AutoCorrect in the left pane.

2. Customize the AutoCorrect rules:

• Capitalize first letter of sentence: Select to use automatic sentence capital-
ization. You can define exceptions to this rule with Abbreviations.
• Change straight quotes to typographic quotes: Select to automatically
change single and double quotation marks as you type, for example, "x" to
“x” and 'x' to ‘x’.
Text language Typographic quotes

English “test”

Français [French] « text » with narrow non-breaking spaces (U+202F)

Deutsch [German] „text“

Čeština [Czech] „text“

Magyar [Hungarian] „text“

Română [Romanian] „text“

Polski [Polish] „text“

Norsk [Norwegian] «text»

Dansk [Danish] »text«

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 311

 Text language Typographic quotes

Suomi [Finnish] ”text”

Svenska [Swedish] ”text”

Most other languages “text”

• Support language-dependent single typographic quotes: Select to auto-

matically change single quotation marks as you type in languages other
than English, for example, 'x' to ‚x‘.
• Use tab to alter paragraph level instead of inserting a tab: If the text style
has Next Level set to another text style, pressing Tab at the start of the
paragraph will change the text style to that defined in Next Level instead of
inserting a tab. For example, it would change Heading 1 to Heading 2.
Pressing Shift + Tab will change to the previous level’s text style.
• Correct two initial, consecutive capitals: Select to change this common
typo situation, for example, THe to The.
Tip: If the font sup- • Superscript ordinals as they are typed: Select to automatically change
ports true ordinals, use ordinals as you type, for example, 1st to 1st.
those instead of the
AutoCorrect feature to • Automatically create bulleted lists: Select to automatically change para-
typeset ordinals as the graphs starting with “* ” (an asterisk and space) to a bulleted list. Note that
font designer this will not apply the default Bullet 1 text style.
intended; refer to
Ordinals on page 99 • Automatically create numbered lists: Select to automatically change
paragraphs starting with “1. ” (a 1 followed by a period and space) to a
numbered list. Note that this will not apply the default Numbered 1 text
style.
3. Select Replace Text While Typing to replace certain text with other text as
you type.
Tip: When editing a 4. Select which Language you wish to customize.
variation of English
other than British and 5. Enter the word to replace in Replace, for example, teh., and the replacement
American English, text in With, for example, the. You are not limited to single words and can
ensure you are editing enter phrases in either field. Click Add to add the text replacement to the list
the right text because below.
this window defaults
to your user interface 6. To delete an existing text replacement pair, select it from the list and click
language, not the Remove.
language of your text

312 Customizing
To add or remove Abbreviations:
You can define exceptions to the automatic capitalization of text following com-
monly-used abbreviations.
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click Abbreviations in the left pane.

2. Select which Language you wish to customize. Tip: When editing a

variation of English
3. Enter the abbreviation into the text field. You can enter any text string but other than British and
only text that ends with a period will have any effect because text will not be American English,
automatically capitalized following abbreviations without periods. Click Add ensure you are editing
to add the abbreviation to the list below. the right text because
the window defaults
4. To delete an existing abbreviation, select it from the list and click Remove. to your user interface
language, not the
language of your text

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 313

 To add or remove Title Exceptions:
You can define exceptions to the capitalization of phrases that are formatted with
the Title Case formatting option.
1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click Title Exceptions in the left pane.

Tip: When editing a 2. Select which Language you wish to customize.

variation of English
other than British and 3. Enter the title exception into the text field. You can enter any text string but
American English, only text that ends with a period will have any effect because text will not be
ensure you are editing automatically capitalized following abbreviations without periods. Click Add
the right text because to add the abbreviation to the list below.
the window defaults
to your user interface 4. To delete an existing abbreviation, select it from the list and click Remove.
language, not the
language of your text

314 Customizing
Filler text
Filler text, also referred to as placeholder text, is used to demonstrate a layout’s
design without using actual words that may not be ready yet and which could be
distracting.
Designers have long used Lorem Ipsum as filler text, adapted from a Latin dia-
logue by the Roman statesman Cicero. Publisher allows you to insert filler text
automatically by choosing Text > Insert Filler Text. The filler text will fill all the
space in the text frame or series of linked frames without overflowing the frames.
Publisher will select a random sentence from the filler text to avoid identical
blocks if you inserted it into multiple frames on the same spread.
You can replace Publisher’s default filler text with your own, and use different
filler text for various languages if the Latin text is not suitable for your purposes.
To replace Publisher’s filler text:
1. Create or open a document—you cannot set Filler Text defaults without an
open document.
2. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
(Windows) and then click Filler Text in the left pane.

3. Select which Language you wish to customize. The text field below will be Tip: It doesn’t matter
blank if you have not customized the filler text for this language. which variation of
English you choose,
4. Enter the new filler text. Use at least a few sentences or paragraphs so that there is only one Filler
there is sufficient text for Publisher to randomize the starting sentence. Text default for all
variations of English

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 315

 You can test it before saving it as the default by drawing a text frame and
choosing Text > Insert Filler Text. If you have already done that, doing
anything to the document including changing the zoom level or page will
update the filler text.
5. Until you save the filler text as the default, it will remain a document-level
setting and not a global setting and will not be available to other open docu-
ments. To save the current document’s filler text as Publisher’s default, click
Save as Default. This command saves only the selected language’s filler text.
6. To undo changes you have made to the Filler Text for the current document,
click Revert to Default. This command reverts only the selected language’s
filler text.
7. To revert the Filler Text to Publisher’s original default, click Factory Reset.
This command resets only the selected language’s filler text.
Tip: If you insert filler To insert filler text as text instead of as a field:
text as a field (with
Insert filler text as 1. Choose Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings… (macOS) or Edit > Settings…
text disabled), you can (Windows) and then click General in the left pane.
convert it to regular
text by right-clicking it 2. Click Insert filler text as text. From now on when you choose Text > Insert
and choosing Expand Filler Text, it will insert enough filler text as regular text to fill the frame(s).
Field

316 Customizing
Installing additional dictionaries
Publisher uses the spelling and hyphenation dictionaries included with macOS
and an equivalent set of dictionaries is installed with Affinity for Windows. Tip: macOS does not
include a matching
You can install additional dictionaries if the spelling or hyphenation language hyphenation dictio-
you want isn’t included listed in the Spelling and Hyphenation language lists in nary for every spelling
the Character panel. Publisher uses the widely-available Hunspell dictionary dictionary, nor are
format used by many other applications. they available for
every language
A list of the included and available dictionaries is shown on the following pages.
You can download Hunspell dictionary files from many websites but Serif has Tip: Some dictionary
provided a convenient list of download links on the Affinity forum. All of the files are named xx_XX
files will be named xx_XX where xx is the language and XX is the region, for while others are
named xx-XX with a
example, pl_PL represents Polish and Poland. hyphen instead of an
To install an additional dictionary on macOS: underscore—this isn’t
important
1. To install a spelling dictionary, copy the downloaded xx_XX.dic and xx_XX.aff
files to /users/<username>/Library/Spelling/. Both files are required for a spell-
ing dictionary.
2. To install a hyphenation dictionary, create a folder named xx_XX in
/users/<username>/Library/Spelling/ and copy the downloaded hyph_xx_XX.dic
file into it.
3. Restart Publisher for the changes to take effect.
To install an additional dictionary on Windows:
1. The default folder for installing additional dictionaries is
C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\2.0\Dictionaries\ but you can change this if
desired by choosing Edit > Settings…, select Tools from the left pane, and
click Browse. Tip: When changing
the location of dictio-
2. To install spelling and hyphenation dictionaries, create a folder named xx_XX naries, select the
in C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\2.0\Dictionaries\ or your custom location folder containing the
and copy the downloaded xx_XX.dic and xx_XX.aff spelling dictionary files language folder(s) and
and/or the hyph_xx_XX.dic hyphenation dictionary file into it. not the language
folder (xx_XX) you
3. Restart Publisher for the changes to take effect. created

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 317

 Included and available dictionaries
This table lists all of the included spelling and hyphenation dictionaries as well as
some other common ones but you are not limited to those listed here. Dictionar-
ies marked as ✓ are included with macOS or with Publisher for Windows.
Hyphenation dictionaries marked as auto aren’t necessary because hyphenation
is generally the same for each regional variant of a language (for example, Span-
ish for Spain and Mexico) so Publisher will automatically use the main hyphen-
ation dictionary for that language when Language > Hyphenation is set to Auto
in the Character panel.
For all variants of English other than English (United Kingdom), setting hyphen-
ation to Auto will default to the English (United States) hyphenation dictionary.
macOS Windows
Locale Language Spelling Hyphen. Spelling Hyphen.
Tip: On macOS, English en_US English [United States] ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
(United States) is
written as English en_GB English (United Kingdom) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
without United States en_AU English (Australia) ✓ auto (US) auto
in parentheses
en_CA English (Canada) ✓ auto (US) auto
en_IN English (India) ✓ auto (US) auto
en_SG English (Singapore) ✓ auto (US) auto
en_ZA English (South Africa) ✓ auto (US) auto
en_NZ English (New Zealand) ✓ auto (US) auto
en_JP English (Japan) ✓ auto (US) auto
de_DE Deutsch [German] ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Tip: If the de_AT or de_AT Deutsch (Österreich) [Austria]
de_CH files you
downloaded include de_CH Deutsch (Schweiz) [Switzerland]
_frami in their file- es_ES Español [Spanish] ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
names and you use
macOS, remove es_MX Español (México) auto auto
_frami from the
names so that the es_AR Español (Argentina) auto auto
language will be listed
es_BO Español (Bolivia) auto auto
correctly
es_CL Español (Chile) auto auto
es_CO Español (Colombia) auto auto
es_CR Español (Costa Rica) auto auto
es_EC Español (Ecuador) auto auto
es_PE Español (Perú) auto auto
es_PY Español (Paraguay) auto auto

318 Customizing
 macOS Windows
Locale Language Spelling Hyphen. Spelling Hyphen.
es_US Español (Estatdos Unidos) auto auto
es_UY Español (Uruguay) auto auto
es_VE Español (Venezuela) auto auto
fr_FR Français [French] ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
fr_CA Français (Canada) auto auto Tip: The only available
dictionary for French is
fr_BE Français (Belgique) auto auto the main fr_FR
fr_CH Français (Suisse) auto auto dictionary; if you
import text formatted
fr_LU Français (Luxembourg) auto auto as Français (Canada) or
one of the other three
it_IT Italiano [Italian] ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ variants, download the
fr_FR dictionary files
pt_BR Português (Brasil) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
from the Affinity
pt_PT Português (Portugal) ✓ auto auto forum and rename
them as required to
cs_CZ Čeština [Czech] ✓ avoid seeing the
missing dictionary
da_DK Dansk [Danish] ✓ error in Preflight
ga_IE Gaeilge [Irish] ✓
hu_HU Magyar [Hungarian] ✓
nl_NL Nederlands [Dutch] ✓
nb_NO Norsk Bokmål [Norwegian] ✓
nn_NO Norsk Nynorsk [Norwegian] ✓
pl_PL Polski [Polish] ✓
ro_RO Română [Romanian] ✓
fi_FI Suomi [Finnish] ✓
sv_SE Svenska [Swedish] ✓
sv_FI Svenska (Finland)
vi_VN Tiếng Việt [Vietnamese] ✓
tk_TM Türkçe [Turkmen] ✓
el_GR Ελληνικά [Greek] ✓
bg_BG Български [Bulgarian] ✓
uk_UA українська [Ukrainian] ✓
ru_RU Руссĸий [Russian] ✓
af_ZA Afrikaans (Suid-Afrika)
bs_BA Bosanski (Bosna | Hercegovina)

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 319

 macOS Windows
Locale Language Spelling Hyphen. Spelling Hyphen.
et_EE Eesti [Estonian]
gl_ES Galego (España) [Galician]
hr_HR Hrvatski (Hrvatska) [Croatian]
lv_LV Latviešu (Latvija) [Latvian]
lt_LT Lietuvių [Lithuanian]
mn_MN Mонгол [Mongolian]
sk_SK Slovenčina (Slovensko) [Slovak]
sq_AL Shqip (Shqipëri) [Albanian]
sl_SL Slovenščina (Slovenija) [Slovenian]
Tip: The Latin hyphen- la Latin ✓ ✓
ation is included to
support hyphenating ca Català [Catalan]
Filler Text which is ca_valencia Català (Valencian)
similar to Latin but the
spelling dictionary is gd_GB Gàidhlig (An rìoghachd Aonaichte) [Gaelic]
not included because
Filler Text isn’t identi-
cal to Latin and should
not be spell checked;
you can also name the
la files as simply la_VA
but that will cause the
language to appear as
Latin (Vatican City)

320 Customizing
Appendices
Appendix A – Special characters
To type a special character:
1. Type the character’s Unicode value and choose Text > Toggle Unicode, or
choose Text > Insert and select from the list.
2. Choose Text > View Special Characters to show the invisible symbols for
special characters. This will not display anchors, index marks, or fields which
you must enable separately with their respective commands.
Whitespace * Not in menu

Space U+0020

Em Space, non-breaking U+2003

En Space, non-breaking (½ em) U+2002

Third/Thick Space, non-breaking (1⁄3 em) U+2004

Quarter/Mid Space, non-breaking (¼ em) U+2005

Thin (Fifth) Space, non-breaking (1⁄5 em) U+2009

Sixth Space, non-breaking (1⁄6 em) U+2006

Hair Space, non-breaking (1⁄12 em) U+200A

Punctuation Space, non-breaking (width of period) U+2008

Figure Space, non-breaking (often the width of a 0) U+2007

Medium Mathematical Space, non-breaking (4⁄18 em) U+205F*

Non-Breaking Space U+00A0

Narrow Non-Breaking Space (1⁄7 em) U+202F

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 321

 Whitespace, continued * Not in menu

Tab U+0009

Right Indent Tab

Indent to Here

Em Quad/Mutton – no symbol shown U+2001*

En Quad/Nut – no symbol shown U+2000*

Ideographic Space – no symbol shown U+3000*

Hyphens

Automatic Hyphen-

Soft Hyphen, inline/end of line U+00AD

Non-Breaking Hyphen – no symbol shown U+2011

Breaks and Joiners

Line Break U+2028

Paragraph Break U+2029

Column Break

Frame Break

Page Break U+000C

Odd/Even Page Break

End of Story

322
Breaks and Joiners, continued * Not in menu

Zero-Width Space (breaking, discretionary line break) U+200B

Zero-Width Non-Breaking Space U+FEFF*

Zero-Width Non-Joiner U+200C

Zero-Width Joiner U+200D*

Word Joiner U+2060*

Markers

Anchor position

Pinned object position

Index Mark

Note Mark

Endnote brackets (type between)

Broken endnote brackets and number

Field (field value is shown)

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 323

 Appendix B – Clearing user data
If Publisher starts to act strangely, such as if a panel won’t display when you
choose its menu command, you might need to clear your user data for a fresh
start.
To clear user data:
1. Before starting Publisher:
• macOS: Start Publisher and then immediately press and hold Ctrl. Don’t
press Ctrl before clicking the app icon or a context menu will appear.
Tip: Windows: If you • Windows: Press and hold Ctrl and then start Publisher.
don’t have the app
icon pinned in the Task 2. Release Ctrl when the Clear User Data window appears.
bar and the Clear User
Data window doesn’t 3. Select which data to clear and click Clear. Your preference settings, text
appear, wait for the formatting defaults, and other options are grouped together as the first item,
icon to appear and User Defaults, but other settings can be cleared independently.
then click it
The options are similar but slightly different for macOS and Windows.

macOS Windows

324
Appendix C – Keyboard shortcuts
The table lists the default keyboard shortcuts for the Publisher persona menus and text selection and
formatting. Commands with a apple symbol are for macOS only while some Windows commands are in
different menus. Some macOS commands may appear only when ⌥ (Option) is pressed.

Affinity Publisher 2 menu macOS Windows

Settings… ( in Edit menu) ⌘+, Ctrl + ,
Hide apple ⌘+H n/a
Hide Others apple ⌥+⌘+H n/a
Quit ( in File menu) ⌘+Q Ctrl + Q
Quit and Keep Windows apple ⌥+⌘+Q n/a
File menu macOS Windows
New… ⌘+N Ctrl + N
New from Last Preset… ⌥+⌘+N n/a
Open… ⌘+O Ctrl + O
Open Recent > More… Shift + ⌘ + O Ctrl + Shift + O
Close ⌘+W Ctrl + W
Close All ⌥+⌘+W Ctrl + Alt + W
Save ⌘+S Ctrl + S
Save As… Shift + ⌘ + S Ctrl + Shift + S
Place… Shift + ⌘ + M Ctrl + Shift + M
Export… ⌥ + Shift + ⌘ + S Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S
Document Setup… Shift + ⌘ + P Ctrl + Shift + P
Print… ⌘+P Ctrl + P
Edit menu macOS Windows
Undo ⌘+Z Ctrl + Z
Redo Shift + ⌘ + Z Ctrl + Shift + Z
Cut ⌘+X Ctrl + X
Copy ⌘+C Ctrl + C
Paste ⌘+V Ctrl + V
Paste Style Shift + ⌘ + V Ctrl + Shift + V
Paste FX ⌃+⌘+V Alt + Shift + V
Paste Without Format ⌥ + Shift + ⌘ + V Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V
Duplicate ⌘+J Ctrl + J
Delete ⌫ Del
Start Dictation apple � n/a
Emoji & Symbols apple �+E n/a

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 325

Document menu macOS Windows
First Page Shift + ⌘ + ⇟ Ctrl + Shift + ⇟
Previous Page ⌘+⇞ Ctrl + ⇞
Next Page ⌘+⇟ Ctrl + ⇟
Text menu macOS Windows
Find… ⌘+F Ctrl + F
Character Traits > Bold ⌘+B Ctrl + B
Character Traits > Italic ⌘+I Ctrl + I
Character Traits > Underline ⌘+U Ctrl + U
Size > Bigger ⌘+> Ctrl + >
Size > Smaller ⌘+< Ctrl + <
Size > Precise Bigger ⌥+⌘+> Ctrl + Alt + >
Size > Precise Smaller ⌥+⌘+< Ctrl + Alt + <
Spacing > Tighten ⌥+← Alt + ←
Spacing > Loosen ⌥+→ Alt + →
Spacing > Tighten More ⌥+⌘+← Alt + Shift + ←
Spacing > Loosen More ⌥+⌘+→ Alt + Shift + →
Baseline > Superscript ⌃+⌘++ Ctrl + Alt + +
Baseline > Subscript ⌃+⌘+- Ctrl + Alt + -
Baseline > Raise Baseline ⌥ + Shift + ↑ Alt + Shift + ↑
Baseline > Lower Baseline ⌥ + Shift + ↑ Alt + Shift + ↓
Baseline > Precise Raise Baseline ⌥ + Shift + ⌘ + ↑ Ctrl + Alt + Shift + ↑
Baseline > Precise Lower Baseline ⌥ + Shift + ⌘ + ↑ Ctrl + Alt + Shift + ↓
List > Increase Level ⌃ + Shift + [ Alt + Shift + [
List > Decrease Level ⌃ + Shift + ] Alt + Shift + ]
Alignment > Align Left ⌥+⌘+L Ctrl + Alt + L
Alignment > Align Center ⌥+⌘+C Ctrl + Alt + C
Alignment > Align Right ⌥+⌘+R Ctrl + Alt + R
Alignment > Justify Left ⌥+⌘+| Ctrl + Alt + |
Paragraph Leading > Increase ⌥+↓ Alt + ↓
Paragraph Leading > Decrease ⌥+↑ Alt + ↑
Paragraph Leading > Precise Increase ⌥+⌘+↓ Ctrl + Alt + ↓
Paragraph Leading > Precise Decrease ⌥+⌘+↑ Ctrl + Alt + ↑
Insert > Dashes and Hyphens > Em Dash ⌥ + Shift + - Alt + Shift + -
Insert > Dashes and Hyphens > En Dash ⌥+- Alt + -
Insert > Dashes and Hyphens > Soft Hyphen Shift + ⌘ + - Ctrl + Shift + -
Insert > Dashes and Hyphens > Non-Breaking Hyphen ⌥+⌘+- Ctrl + Alt + -

326
Insert > Spaces and Tabs > Non-Breaking Space ⌥ + Space Alt + Space
Insert > Spaces and Tabs > Right Indent Tab Shift + Tab Shift + Tab
Insert > Spaces and Tabs > Indent to Here ⌘+\ Ctrl + \
Insert > Breaks > Line Break Shift + Tab Shift + Enter
Index > Insert Index Mark ⌥ + Shift + ⌘ + [ Ctrl + Alt + Shift + [
Spelling > Spelling Options… Shift + ⌘ + ; Ctrl + Shift + ;
Layer menu macOS Windows
Group ⌘+G Ctrl + G
Ungroup Shift + ⌘ + G Ctrl + Shift + G
Arrange > Move to Front Shift + ⌘ + ] Ctrl + Shift + ]
Arrange > Move Forward One ⌘+] Ctrl + ]
Arrange > Move Back One ⌘+[ Ctrl + [
Arrange > Move to Back Shift + ⌘ + [ Ctrl + Shift + [
New Adjustment > Curves… ⌘+M Ctrl + M
New Adjustment > Black & White… ⌥ + Shift + ⌘ + B Ctrl + Alt + Shift + B
Lock ⌘+L Ctrl + L
Unlock Shift + ⌘ + L Ctrl + Shift + L
Unlock All ⌃+⌘+L Ctrl + Alt + Shift + L
Master Page > Edit Detached Shift + ⌘ + D Ctrl + Shift + D
Master Page > Edit Frame Content Shift + ⌘ + C Ctrl + Shift + C
Show All ⌃+⌘+H Ctrl + Alt + Shift + H
Find in Layers Panel ⌘+K Ctrl + K
Rename Layer… Shift + ⌘ + R Ctrl + Shift + R
Select menu macOS Windows
Select All ⌘+A Ctrl + A
Select All on Current Layer Shift + ⌘ + A Ctrl + Shift + A
Deselect ⌘+D Ctrl + D
Cycle Selection Box . (period) . (period)
Set Selection Box ⌘ + . (period) Ctrl + . (period)
Select Next ⌥+⌘+] Ctrl + Alt + ]
Select Previous ⌥+⌘+[ Ctrl + Alt + [
View menu macOS Windows
Zoom > Zoom In ⌘++ Ctrl + =
Zoom > Zoom Out ⌘+- Ctrl + -
Zoom > Zoom to Fit ⌘+0 Ctrl + 0
Zoom > Zoom to Width ⌥+⌘+0 Alt + Shift + 0
Zoom > Zoom to Selection Shift + ⌘ + 0 Ctrl + Alt + 0

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 327

Zoom > Zoom to Document ⌥ + Shift + ⌘ + 0 Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 0
Zoom > 100% ⌘+1 Ctrl + 1
Zoom > 200% ⌘+2 Ctrl + 2
Zoom > 400% ⌘+3 Ctrl + 3
Zoom > 800% ⌘+4 Ctrl + 4
Zoom > Actual Size ⌘+8 Ctrl + 8
Zoom > Pixel Size ⌘+9 Ctrl + 9
Rotate > Reset Rotation ⌃ + Shift + ⌘ + R Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R
Show Guides ⌘+ ; Ctrl + ;
Show Grid ⌘+ ’ Ctrl + ’
Show Pixel Grid ⌥+⌘+ ’ Ctrl + Alt + ’
Preview Mode ⌃+W Ctrl + Shift + ‘
Show Rulers ⌘+R Ctrl + R
Show Toolbar ⌥+⌘+T Ctrl + Alt + T
Toggle UI Tab Tab
Window menu macOS Windows
Studio > Hide Studio Shift + ⌘ + H Ctrl + Shift + H
Text > Character ⌘+T Ctrl + T
Text > Typography Shift + ⌘ + T Ctrl + Shift + T
Toggle Full Screen apple ⌃+�+F n/a
Navigate text macOS Windows
Move one character left or right � or � � or �
Move one line up or down ↑ or ↓ ↑ or ↓

Move to the start or end of the current word and then ⌘ + � or � Ctrl + � or �
to subsequent words
Move to the start or end of the current paragraph and ⌘ + ↑ or ↓ Ctrl + ↑ or ↓
then to subsequent paragraphs
Move to the start or end of the current line fn + � or � Home / End
Move to the start or end of the story fn + ⌘ + � or � Ctrl + Home / End
Select text macOS Windows
Extend selection one character left or right Shift + � or � Shift + � or �
Extend selection one line up or down Shift + ↑ or ↓ Shift + ↑ or ↓
Extend selection to the start or end of the current word Shift + ⌘ + � or � Shift + Ctrl + � or �
and then to subsequent words
Extend selection to the start or end of the current Shift + ⌘ + ↑ or ↓ Shift + Ctrl + ↑ or ↓
paragraph and then to subsequent paragraphs
Extend selection to the start or end of the current line Shift + fn + � or � Shift + Home or End
Extend selection to the start or end of the story Shift + fn + ⌘ + � or � Shift + Ctrl + Home or End

328
Delete text macOS Windows
Delete the previous character Delete Backspace
Delete the next character fn + Delete Delete
or ⌦ Delete
Delete to the start of the current word and ⌥ + Delete Ctrl + Backspace
then to subsequent words
Delete to the end of the current word and ⌥ + fn + Delete Ctrl + Delete
then to subsequent words or ⌥ + ⌦ Delete
Delete to start of line fn + ⌘ + Delete n/a
Text size macOS Windows
Bigger ⌘+> Ctrl + >
Smaller ⌘+< Ctrl + >
Precise Bigger ⌘+⌥+> Ctrl + Alt + >
Precise Smaller ⌘+⌥+< Ctrl + Alt + <
Text spacing (kerning or tracking) macOS Windows
Loosen ⌥+� Ctrl+ �
Tighten ⌥+� Ctrl+ �
Loosen More ⌘+⌥+� Shift + Alt + �
Tighten More ⌘+⌥+� Shift + Alt + �
Text baseline macOS Windows
Raise Baseline Shift + ⌥ + ↑ Shift + Alt + ↑
Lower Baseline Shift + ⌥ + ↓ Shift + Alt + ↓
Precise Raise ⌘ + Shift + ⌥ + ↑ Ctrl + Shift + Alt + ↑
Precise Lower ⌘ + Shift + ⌥ + ↓ Ctrl + Shift + Alt + ↓
Text leading macOS Windows
Increase ⌥+↓ Alt + ↓
Decrease ⌥+↑ Alt + ↑
Precise Increase ⌘+⌥+↓ Ctrl + Alt + ↓
Precise Decrease ⌘+⌥+↑ Ctrl + Alt + ↑

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 329

Appendix D – Terminology dictionary
This dictionary is intended to help Dutch, Polish, and Ukrainian users navigate Publisher’s English user
interface.

English Nederlands Polish Ukrainian

Main menus Hoofdmenu’s Głównych menu Головне меню
File Archief Plik Файл
Edit Wijzig Edycja Редагувати
Document Document Dokument Документ
Text Tekst Tekst Текст
Table Tabel Tabelę Таблиця
Layer Laag Warstwę Шар
Select Selecteer Zaznacz Вибрати
View Schermafbeelding Widok Перегляд
Window Venster Okno Вікно
Tools Gereedschappen Narzędzia Інструменти
Move Selectiegereedschap Zaznaczanie Вибрати
Node Knooppunt Punktów Точка
Frame Text Tekstkader Ramki tekstowej Текстовий кадр
Table Tabel Tabelę Таблиця
Artistic Text Grafische tekst Tekst graficzny Графічний текст
Pen Pen Pióro Перо
Rectangle Rechthoek Prostokąt Прямокутник
Picture Frame Rectangle Recht fotokadar Ramka prostokątna Прямокутний фотокадр
Picture Frame Ellipse Ovale fotokadar Ramka eliptyczna Овальний фотокадр
Place Plaatsen Umieść Помістити
Data Merge Layout Lay-out voor gegevenssamenvoeging Układ skalowania danych Шаблон злиття даних
Vector Crop Vector uitsnede Kadrowanie wektorowe Векторне кадрування
Gradient Verloopstaal Gradientu Градієнт
Transparency Transparantie Przezroczystość Прозорість
Style Picker Stijl pipet Styl kroplomierz Піпетка стилю
View Handje Rączka Рука
Zoom Zoomgereedschap Lupka Масштаб

Stroke/Fill Lijn/Wypełnienie Obrys/Wypełnienia Oбведення/Заливка

330
Panels Deelvensters Paneli Панелі
Assets Elementen Zasobów Aктиви
Books Boeken Ksiąg Книги
Colour Kleur Kolor Колір
Constraints Beperkingen Ograniczenia Обмеження
Find and Replace Zoek en vervang Znajdowanie i zastępowanie Знайти і замінити
History Historie Historia Історія
Layers Lagen Warstwach Шари
Navigator Navigator Nawigator Навігатор
Pages Pagina’s Strony Сторінки
Preflight Preflight Inspekcja wstępna Перевірка перед друком
Quick FX Snelle FX Szybki FX Швидкий FX
References Referenties Odwołań Посилання
Anchors Ankers Zakotwiczenia Прив’язки
Cross-References Kruisverwijzingen Odsyłacze Перехресні посилання
Fields Tekstvariabelen Zmiennych tekstowych Поля
Hyperlinks Hyperlinks Hiperłącza Гіперпосилання
Index Index Indeksu Iндекс
Notes Noten Przypisy Примітки
Table of Contents Tnhoudsopgave Spisu treści Зміст
States Staten Stanów Стани об’єкта
Stock Stock-afbeeldingen Stockowych Стокові зображення
Stroke Lijn Obrys Oбведення
Styles Stijlen Style Стилі
Swatches Stalen Próbki Зразки
Table Tabel Tabelę Таблиця
Table Formats Tafelformaten Formaty tabel Формати таблиць
Tags Tags Znaczniki Теги
Text Tekst Tekst Текст
Character Teken Typografia Символ
Glyph Browser Glyphs Glify Гліфи
Paragraph Alinea Akapit Абзац
Pinning Vastmaken Przypięcie Закріплення
Text Frame Tekstkader Ramki tekstowej Текстовий кадр
Text Styles Tekststijlen Style tekstu Стилі тексту
Typography Typografie Typografia Типографіка
Transform Transformeren Przekształć Трансформувати

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 331

User interface Gebruikersinterface Interfejs użytkownika Інтерфейс користувача
Tools Gereedschappen Narzędzia Інструменти
Toolbar Knoppenbalk Pasku narzędzi Панель інструментів
Context Toolbar Contextuele knoppenbalk Kontekstowy pasku narzędzi Kонтекстна панель інструментів
Studio Studio Studio Студія
Section Manager Secties Sekcje Розділи
Data Merge Manager Gegevenssamenvoeging Skalowania danych Злиття даних
Font Manager Vervanging van lettertypen Zarządzania czcionkami Заміна шрифту
Resource Manager Bronnen Zarządzanie zasobami Ресурси
Toggle UI Toon/verberg interface Przełącz interfejs użytkownika Перемкнути інтерфейс користувача
Documents Documenten Dokument Документи
Document Setup Documentinstelling Ustawienia dokumentu Параметри документа
Width Breedte Szerokość Ширина
Height Hoogte Wysokość Висота
Orientation Richting Orientacja Орієнтація
Portrait Staand Pionową Kнижкова
Landscape Liggend Poziomą Aльбомна
Facing pages Pagina’s naast elkaar Strony widzące Розворот
Bleed Afloopgebied Spad Bипуск за обріз
Margins Marges Marginesy Поля
Columns Kolommen Kolumny Стовпці
Gutter Tussenruimte Odstęp Середник
Page Pagina Strona Сторінка
Spread Spread Stron widzących Розворот
Master Page Master-pagina Strona wzorcowa Cторінка-шаблон
Edit Detached/Linked Bewerken ontkoppel/ gekoppelde Edycja odłączona/ powiązana Редагувати відокремлено/зв’язані
Page Number Paginanummer Numer strony Номер сторінки
Book Boek Księga Kнига
Chapter Hoofdstuk Rozdziałów Глава
Section Sectie Sekcja Розділ
Export Exporteer Eksportuj Експортувати
Package Pakket Pakiet Пакувати
Template Sjabloon Szablon Шаблон
Rulers Linialen Miarkami Лінійки
Text Ruler Tekstliniaal Miarkami tekstu Текстова лінійка
Guides Hulplijnen Linie pomocnicze Hапрямні
Grid Raster Siatka Сітка

332
Objects Objecten Obiektów Об’єкти
Art Text Grafische tekst Tekst graficzny Графічний текст
Frame Text Tekstkader Ramki tekstowej Текстовий кадр
Path Text Tekstpad Tekstu na ścieżce Текст по контуру
Tables Tabellen Tabele Таблиці
Curves Curven Krzywiznami Криві
Shapes Vormen Kształtów Фігури
Artboards Tekengebieden Obszarów roboczych Монтажні області
Picture Frames Fotokadars Ramka na zdjęcia Фотокадри
Images Afbeeldingen Obrazy Зображення
Pixel Objects Pixel objecten Obiekty pikseli Піксельні об’єкти
Groups Groepen Grupy Групи
Vector Layers Vectorlagen Warstwach wektorowych Векторні шари
Embedded Documents Ingesloten documenten Dokument osadzony Вбудовані документи
Symbols Symbolen Symbole Cимволи
Transform Objects Objecten transformeren Przekształcanie obiektów Трансформування об’єктів
Place Plaatsen Umieść Помістити
Group Groepeer Grupuj Групувати
Ungroup Hef groep op Rozgrupuj Розгрупувати
Lock Vergrendel Zablokuj Замкнyти
Unlock Ontgrendel Odblokuj Biдiмкнути
Rotate Left/Right Linksom/Rechtsom roteren Obróć w lewo/prawo Повернути ліворуч/праворуч
Flip Horizontal/Vertical Spiegel horizontaal/verticaal Odbij w poziomie/pionie Віддзеркалити горизонтально/
вертикально
Fill Colour Vulkleur Kolor wypełnienia Колір заливки
Stroke Colour Lijnkleur Kolor obrysu Колір обведення
Stroke Weight Lijndikte Grubości obrysu Ширина обведення
Snapping Magnetisch Przyciąganie Прив’язка
Alignment Uitlijning Wyrównanie Bирівнювання
Arrange Orden Rozmieszczanie Розмiщeння
Less (or Equal) Minder (of gelijk) Mniejsze niż (lub równe) Менше (або рівне)
Greater (or Equal) Groter (of gelijk) Większe niż (lub równe) Більше (або рівне)
Selection Box Selectievak Obwiednię Обмежувальний прямокутник
Float With Text Zwevend met tekst Obiekt ruchomy Об’єкт рухається з текстом
Inline In Text Inline met tekst W wierszu Об’єкт в тексті
Resources Bronnen Zasoby Ресурси

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 333

View Schermafbeelding Widok Перегляд
Zoom In Zoom In Powiększ Наблизити
Zoom Out Zoom uit Zmniejsz Biддaлити
Zoom to Fit Maak passend op spread Zmieść stronę w oknie Підігнати
Zoom to Width Pas aan breedte aan Dopasuj szerokość За шириною
Zoom to Selection Inzoomen op selectie Powiększ do zaznaczenia Масштабувати до виділення
Zoom to Document Inzoomen op document Powiększ dokument Масштабувати до документа
Actual Size Werkelijke grootte Rzeczywista wielkość Справжній розмір
View Mode Weergavemodus Tryb wyświetlania Режим перегляду
Text Tekst Tekst Текст
Story Artikel Wątku Матеріал
Text Flow Tekststroom Wlewanie tekstu Зв’язки між текстовими кадрами
Character traits Karakter klassen Atrybutów znaków Атрибути символів
Bold, Italic… Vet, Cursief… Pogrubienie, Kursywa… Жирний, Курсив…
Size Grootte Rozmiar Розмір
Alignment Uitlijning Wyrównanie Bирівнювання
Spacing Afstand Odstępów Інтервали
Leading Tegelafstand Interlinia Iнтерліньяж
Kerning Spatiëring Kerning Кернінг
Tracking Reeksspatiëring Swiatło Tрекінг
Capitalization Hoofdletters/kleine letters Wielkości liter Велика літера
Ligatures Ligaturen Ligatury Лігатури
Baseline Basislijn Bazowej Базова лінія
Baseline Grid Basislijnraster Siatka linii bazowych Сітка базових ліній
Text Styles Tekststijl Style tekstu Стилі тексту
Paragraph Style Alineastijl Stylu akapitowego Стилі абзацу
Character Style Tekenstijl Stylu znakowego Стилі символів
Paste Style Plak stijl Wklej styl Вставити стиль
Paste Without Format Plak zonder opmaak Wklej bez formatowania Вставити без форматування
Filler Text Plaatsaanduidingstekst Tekstu zastępczego Текст-заповнювач
List Lijst Lista Список
Bullets and Numbers Genummerd en opsommingstekens Wypunktowana i numerowana Маркери та номери
Running Header Doorlopende koptekst Nagłówek w wierszu Поточний заголовок
Text Wrap Tekstomloop te kiezen Oblewanie tekstem Обтікання текстом
Word Count Aantal woorden Licznik słów Kількість слів
Show Special Characters Tone speciale tekens Pokaż znaki specjalne Показати спеціальні символи

334
References Referenties Odwołań Посилання
Table of Contents Tnhoudsopgave Spisu treści Зміст
Index Index Indeksu Iндекс
Cross-Reference Kruisverwijzing Odsyłacz Перехреснe посилання
Footnote Voetnoot Przypis dolne Виноска
Sidenote Side-noot Przypis strony Бічна виноска
Endnote Eindnoot Przypis końcowe Кінцева виноска
Anchor Anker Zakotwiczenie Прив’язкa
Hyperlink Hyperlink Hiperłącze Гіперпосилання
Fields Tekstvariabele Zmienna tekstowa Поля
Special characters Speciale tekens Znaki specjalne Спеціальні символи
Em Space Em-spatie Spacja firetowa Em пропуск
En Space En-spatie Spacja półfiretowa En пропуск
Non-Breaking Space Vaste spatie Spacja twarda Нерозривний пропуск
Narrow Non-Breaking Space Smalle vaste spatie Spacja twarda, wąska Вузький нерозривний пропуск
Right Indent Tab Rechts ingesprongen tab Tabulator wcięcia z prawej Табуляція відступу праворуч
Indent to Here Inspringen tot hier Wcięcie dotąd Відступ до цієї позиції
Soft Hyphen Zacht afbreekstreepje Dywiz miękki М’який перенос
Non-Breaking Hyphen Vast afbreekstreepje Dywiz twardy Hерозривний дефіс
Line Break Regeleinde Koniec wiersza Розрив рядка
Paragraph Break Alinea-einde Podział akapitu Кінець абзацу
Column Break Kolomeinde Podział kolumny Розрив стовпця
Frame Break Kadereinde Podział ramki Кінець кадру
Page Break Pagina-einde Podział strony Розрив сторінки
End of Story Einde van artikel Koniec wątku Kінець матеріалу
Zero-Width Space Zero-Width Spatie Spacja o zerowej szerokości Пропуск нульової ширини
Zero-Width Non-Breaking Space Zero-Width Vaste Spatie Spacja twarda o zerowej szerokości Hерозривний пропуск нульової
ширини
Zero-Width Non-Joiner Zero-Width Niet Verbindingselement Rozłącznik o zerowej szerokości Hульова ширина
Zero-Width Joiner Zero-Width Verbindingselement Złącze o zerowej szerokości Нульова ширина
Word Joiner Woord Verbindingselement Złącze słowne З’єднувач слів

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 335

Adjustment layers Aanpassingslaag Warstwy dopasowania Коригуючі шари
Exposure Belichting Ekspozycji Експозиція
Levels Niveaus Poziomy Рівні
White Balance Witbalans Balansu bieli Баланс білого
Brightness / Contrast Helderheid / Contrast Jasność/Kontrast Яскравість/контраст
Shadows / Highlights Schaduwen / Hooglichten Cień/Podświetlenie Тінь/світлі тони
Curves Curven Krzywe Криві
Channel Mixer Kanaalmixer Kanałach Змішувач каналів
Selective Colour Selectieve kleur Selektywna koloru Вибіркова корекція кольору
Colour Balance Kleurbalans Balans kolorów Баланс кольорів
Gradient Map Verloop toewijzen Odwzoruj na gradient Мапа градієнта
Black & White Zwart-wit Czarno-białego Чорно-білий
HSL Kleurtoon, verzadiging en helderheid Barwę, nasycenie i jasność Tон, насиченість і яскравість
Recolour Herkleuren Zmień kolor Перефарбувати
Posterize Waarden beperken Posteryzacja Постеризувати
Vibrance Levendigheid Jaskrawość Живі кольори
Soft Proof Elektronische proefdruk Ekranowa próba kolorów Цифрова кольоропроба
LUT LUT LUT LUT
Lens Filter Lensfilter Filtr obiektywu Фільтр об’єктива
Split Toning Gesplitste tinten Podział odcienia Eфект розділення тонів
OCIO OCIO OCIO OCIO
Normals Normaalstructuur Mapa normalnych Мапа нормалей
Invert Omkeren Odwracanie Інвертувати
Threshold Drempel Próg Поріг

336
Index Notes, 193
Open, 189
Copying text, 73
Crop (vector) tool, 171
Page numbering, 193 Cropping images, 168, 171
A Panel, 185 Cross-references, 200
Abbreviation settings, 310, 313 Parts of, 180 Add, 202
Accessible PDF, 282 Preflight, 185, 197 Books, 196
Alignment (text), 107 Print, 197 Create preset, 204
All caps, 100 References, 196 Delete, 205
All Petite Caps, 100 Remove chapters, 189 Edit, 205
Alt text, 282 Save, 190 Panel, 201
Anchoring objects, 133 Sections, 182 Share preset, 206
Anchors, 259 Splitting, 184 Update, 207
Change hierarchy, 261 Story, 182
Delete, 261 Stray pages, 186 D
Insert, 260 Sync chapters, 192 Decorations (character), 93
Panel, 259 Sync master pages, 191 Decorations (paragraph), 126
Rename, 261 Sync swatches, 191 Deleting text, 74
Show, 260 Sync text styles and table Dictionaries, 2
AutoCorrect, 82 formats, 191 Installing, 2, 317
AutoCorrect settings, 310–311 Syncing, 191 Document Setup, 16
AutoFlow, 62 Table of contents, 196 Documents
Automatic layout, 180 Breaks, Column, Frame and Bleed, 12
Page, 63 Change options, 16
B Bulleted lists, 116 Colour, 11
Baseline grid, 42 Expand list, 116 Create, 10
Independent by text Layout, 10
frame, 65, 68 C Margins, 12
Baseline grid, paragraph Capital Spacing, 100 Model, 16
override, 110 Case-sensitive forms, 100 Pages, 11
Baseline offset, 95 Character Presets, 10, 12
Bleed Attributes, 86 Scaling, 17
Creating a document, 12 Decorations, 93 Setup, 16
Bold, 89 Font, 86 Dot leaders, 112
Bookmarks, 259 Language, 103 Drop caps, 123
Export as PDF, 262 Optical alignment, 105
Books, 180 Panel, 87 E
Add chapters, 189 Position and transform, 94 Embedding images, 173
Anchors, 259 Style, 89, 140 Endnotes, 237
Chapters, 184 Typography, 97 Export
Close, 190 Character variants, 101 Books, 197
Create, 188 Clear user data, 324 PDF (commercial press), 278
Cross-references, 196 Colour PDF (digital), 284
Duplicate, 190 Creating a document, 11 PDF (print on demand), 288
Export, 197 Colour settings, 302
Hyperlinks, 264
Index, 196
Context Toolbar, 293 F
Contextual alternates, 98 Fields, 251
Lists, 193 Contextual Swash, 101

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 337

 Custom, 257 Running, 39 Update, 231
Date and time formats, 255 Historical Forms, 101 Initial words, 125
Delete, 252 Hyperlinks, 263 Inline in text, 133
Edit, 252 Delete, 265 Invisibles, 321
Expand (convert to text), 252 Insert, 263 Italic, 89
Format, 254 Panel, 263
Insert, 252 Hyphenation, 121 J
Metadata, 251 Default language, 3 Justification, 107
Panel, 251 Installing dictionaries, 317 Justification options, 113
Show, 252 Language, 103
Types, 253 K
Figure style, 102 I Keep together, 114
Figure width, 102 Images Kerning, 94
Filler text, 315 Embedding, 173
Inserting, 71 Fill and stroke, 176 L
Finding and replacing, 77 Linking, 173 Language, 103
Regular expressions Missing, 174 Default, 2
(GREP), 79 Move, 175 Interface, 2
First line indent, 108 Picture frames, 157 Layers
Float with text, 133 Placing, 160 Stack order, 32
Floating window, 299 Raster, 156 Layout
Flow (paragraph), 114 Replace, 162 Automatic, 180
Flow text, 57, 180 Resolution (DPI), 156 Creating a document, 10
Controls, 57 Types, 156 Static, 180
Interrupting, 63 Update, 173–174 Leading, 108
Font, 86 Vector, 156 Leading override, 96
Background colour, 89 Import text, 84 Ligatures, 98
Colour, 89 Indents (paragraph), 108 Link text frames, 57
Outline, 93 Index, 224 Linking images, 173
Size, 88 Add cross-reference, 230 List of figures or illustrations, 177
Style, 88 Add entry, 228 Lists
Traits, 88 Add subtopic, 227 Books, 193
Variable, 90 Add topic, 226 Figures or illustrations, 177
Footers, 33 Books, 196 Global, 117
Page numbering, 34 Capitalize entries, 234 Running, 117
Footnotes, 237 Change parent topic, 227 Lists (bulleted and numbered), 116
Formatting characters, 86 Delete, 231
Formatting paragraphs, 106
Fractions, 99
Delete entry, 230 M
Delete topic, 227
Margins
Dot leader, 233
G Format, 232
Creating a document, 12
Master pages, 18
Glyph browser, 70 Generate, 231
Apply, 26
Import topics, 227
Change options, 25
H Multiple, 235
Change stack order, 32
Hanging punctuation, 105 Multiple occurrences, 229
Convert page to, 28
Headers, 33 Panel, 225
Create, 24
Page numbering, 34 Topic list, 226

338
 Delete, 25 Books, 193 Selecting, 166
Edit objects, 30 Continued on, 37 Shape, 158
Import, 29 Format, 35 Pinning
Override, 30 Sections, 36 Objects, 133
Unassign from page, 29 Pages, 18 Pinning objects, 133
Measurement units, 45 Add, 21 Placing documents (PDF and
Metadata, 251 Creating a document, 11 Affinity), 163
Delete, 22 Placing images, 160
N Duplicate, 22 Placing text, 84
No break, 96 Import from another Preferences, 299
Notes (footnotes, endnotes, document, 22 Abbreviations, 310, 313
sidenotes), 237 Numbering, 34 AutoCorrect, 310–311
Add, 239 Panel, 19 Colour, 302
Adding multiple refer- Reorder, 22 Filler text, 315
ences, 240 Select, 20 Shortcuts, 307
Books, 193 Size, 23 Title exceptions, 310, 314
Convert formatting, 243 View, 21 Preflight, 268
Convert type, 242 Pages panel, 19 Books, 197
Default, document-wide, and Panels Cross-references, 207
custom settings, 243 Customize, 295 Export and import pro-
Delete, 239 Paragraph files, 271
Edit, 239 Alignment (justification), 107 Index, 231
Endnote positioning in Attributes, 106 Panel, 268
Books, 195 Background and borders, 126 Presets, 269
Find, 239 Baseline grid override, 110 Resolve issues, 273
Format, 246 Bullets and numbering, 116 Settings, 269
Import from Microsoft Decorations, 126 Table of contents, 211
Word, 250 Drop caps, 123 Printing
Numbering, 245 Flow options, 114 Booklet, 277
Panel, 238 Hyphenation, 121 Books, 197
Position, 247 Initial words, 125 Commercial press, 278
Separating multiple Justification options, 113 Direct to printer, 274
references, 240 Panel, 106 N-Up, 276
Set defaults, 244 Rules above and below, 126
Settings, 243 Spacing, 108 R
Numbered lists, 116 Style, 107, 140 References
Expand list, 116 Tab stops, 111 Books, 196
PDF, 278, 284, 288 Regular expressions (GREP), 79
O Accessible, 282 Rulers, 45
OpenType, 97 Petite Caps, 100 Rules above and below para-
Optical alignment, 105 Picture frames, 157 graph, 126
Ordinals, 99 Create by drawing, 157 Runaround text, 131
Create by entering values, 158 Running headers, 39
P Fill and stroke, 176

Page Box (PDF), 165

Moving, 167 S
Replace image, 162 Sections, 33
Page numbering, 34
Scaling and rotating, 168 Books, 182

Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 339

 Change or delete, 37 Exclude heading, 216 Apply, 144
Go to, 20 Format, 212 Based on, 148
Use as chapters, 38 Generate, 210 Character, 89, 147
Selecting Text, 72 Import styles, 218 Clear override, 145
Settings, 299 Include hidden headings, 216 Create, 147
Abbreviations, 310, 313 Insert, 210 Delete, 150
AutoCorrect, 310–311 Multiple, 220 Duplicate, 150
Colour, 302 Panel, 209 Edit, 151
Filler text, 300, 315 Pictorial, 222 Export, 153
General, 299 Print and digital, 217 Import, 152
Shortcuts, 307 Scope, 211 Keyboard shortcut, 148
Title exceptions, 310, 314 Text styles, 214 Next level, 148
Shape text, 52 Update, 211 Next style, 148
Sidenotes, 237 Tags panel, 282 Override, 145
Size handles Text Panel, 142
Change size, 58 AutoFlow, 62 Paragraph, 107, 147
Small caps, 100 Copying, 73 Remove, 145
Spacing (paragraph), 108 Default formatting, 58 Set default, 152
Special characters, 321 Deleting, 74 Show in both panels, 148
Choosing, 70 Finding and replacing, 77 Type, 148
Typing, 70 Flow, 57 Update, 151
Spelling Flow controls, 57 Text wrap, 65, 131
Check, 80 Import (Place), 84 Title exception settings, 310, 314
Default language, 2 Place (import), 84 Toolbar
Installing dictionaries, 2, 317 Regular expressions Customize, 292
Language, 103 (GREP), 79 Tools
Static layout, 180 Selecting, 72 Customize, 293
Story, 49, 180 Text cursor Tracking, 95
Books, 182 Positioning, 69 Typography, 97
Split, 60 Text flow, 180
Strikethrough, 93 Text Frame panel, 64 U
Studio Text frames, 50 Underline, 93
Customize, 295 Balance columns, 66 Unlink text frames, 60
Presets, 298 Baseline grid, 65, 68 User data
Style Picker tool, 75 Column rules, 67 Clear, 324
Stylistic sets, 101 Columns, 66
Super/subscript, 96, 99 Create, 50 V
Swash, 101 Delete linked, 59 Variable fonts, 90
Fill and stroke, 65 Variables, 251
T Link, 57 User, 257
Tab stops, 111 Overflow, 65 Vector crop tool, 171
Table of contents, 208 Properties, 64
Bookmarks, 215 Scaled text, 58 W
Books, 196 Shape text, 52
Widow and orphan control, 114
Chapter prefixes, 217 Unlink, 60
Word count, 83
Delete, 211 Vertical alignment, 67
Word position forms, 102
Dot leader, 214 Text styles, 140

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Mike Loader Expert Guide to Affinity Publisher 341
May 23, 2024