Our work to put full desktop-quality creative software onto iPad has set new industry standards for what users should expect from iPad apps. And now we’re the first to bring all the features you’d associate with desktop publishing to the iPad as well, which completes our core suite of apps available on macOS, Windows and iPadOS.
Based on the desktop version—which was chosen by Apple as its Mac App of the Year—Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad has been fully reimagined for touch to deliver a super-sleek professional workflow unlike that of any other creative app on iPad. Here are ten things you need to know about this ground-breaking new software.
1. There’s no other creative app like it on iPad
Affinity Publisher 2 is the first pro-grade page design and layout app to make its way to iPad. There is genuinely nothing comparable on a tablet right now. We’ve packed everything you’d expect from professional page design software into an app that you can just pick up and take wherever you go, totally free from the confines of your desk to work in whatever space brings you the most inspiration.
2. It’s game-changing for creative workflows
Like the desktop version, with all three Affinity apps installed on your iPad, Affinity Publisher’s StudioLink technology allows you to switch seamlessly between their various toolsets without ever having to change apps. This enables an unparalleled level of integration and saves a huge amount of time by massively streamlining the creative workflow.
By switching to the Photo Persona, you can place RAW files into your documents and edit their development settings (something no other publishing app offers!). You can also utilise many other useful features from Affinity Photo 2’s vast toolset, including the Paint Brush Tool for painting directly onto your publication pages, and Live Mesh Warp to distort linked files without losing the integrity of the link and for warping picture frames in which to place images.
In the Designer Persona, you can access all the key drawing and shape building tools from Affinity Designer, including the Pencil Tool and Vector Brush Tool for adding illustrations to your pages, the Knife Tool for quickly slicing shapes, curves or text into separate parts, and the Appearance Panel for applying multiple strokes and fills to objects in your layouts.
3. It’s the most ambitious app we’ve ever created
Even though you’re working on an iPad, this is by no means a light version of Affinity Publisher. It has powerful features you may be familiar with from Version 1, like smart master pages, text wrapping, custom tables, OpenType support, TOC, advanced colour controls (including PANTONE© library), and full professional print output. It also benefits from many of the new features in Version 2, such as Place Auto-flow, Footnotes, sidenotes & endnotes, Frame/Art text conversion, DXF/DWG import and more!
We’ve harnessed the power of Apple’s iPad technology too, so Affinity Publisher is super fast and delivers lag-free real-time edits, even on the most content-heavy documents.
4. The workspace has been meticulously designed for iPad
Every tool, panel and control has been expertly designed with touch in mind to give an incredibly immersive experience when designing pages. A Quick Menu gives you fast access to context-sensitive commands, while the Command Controller (a new radial menu) provides quick access to common modifiers in all tools. There’s also a Compact Mode for the Layers Panel, which simplifies your display, freeing up valuable space for the really important stuff—your work.
5. It’s optimised for the very latest iPad technology
Affinity Publisher is iPadOS 16-ready, which includes full optimisation of the new virtual memory swap, dramatically increasing performance, so working on large documents is smooth and lag-free.
6. You can import and edit IDML files
Want to work with other file formats? No problem. Affinity Publisher’s enormous compatibility allows you to import all major raster and vector files, including IDML, PSD, AI, PDF, JPG, TIFF, PNG, and AutoCAD DWG/DXF.
7. Output for digital and print projects is a breeze
Affinity Publisher delivers a professional quality output every time, whether your project is digital or destined for print. You can get live warnings to notify you of possible errors and take control of your colours with Pantone support, end-to-end CMYK and ICC colour management. You can also set overprint controls, add bleed, apply trim and crop marks and more.
8. Assets from Designer and Photo can be accessed in Publisher
All Affinity apps on a device can now share brushes, styles, assets, application palettes and more. This avoids unnecessary exporting/importing of content between apps on the same device.
9. You can work across Windows, Mac and iPad
With Publisher now available for iPad, you can work on your projects on the go and then pick up where you left off on your desktop if you wish. And with a shared file format across Affinity Publisher, Designer and Photo, you can round-trip from desktop to iPad and between Affinity apps. There are no limits. It works just like a creative suite should—seamlessly.
10. It’s 40% off for a limited time—and there’s no subscription!
To celebrate the release of Version 2, all Affinity apps—including Affinity Publisher for iPad—are currently on sale with a substantial 40% launch discount!
You can buy them individually for Mac, Windows or iPad or purchase an Affinity V2 Universal Licence covering the entire suite on all platforms. Whichever option you choose, it is a single one-off payment—there’s no subscription.
This incredible offer is available for a limited time, so don’t miss out—buy Affinity Publisher 2 for iPad now!
Find out more about Affinity V2
More information about Affinity V2, including details of the new features and learning resources for each app, can be found here:
- 5 things you should know about Affinity Publisher 2
- 5 things we love about Affinity Photo 2
- 5 game-changing new features in Affinity Designer 2
- Get the most out of Affinity V2 with our new Learning Portal