25+ Most Useful Affinity Publisher Tutorials (+ Reviews) in 2023
Affinity Publisher is a powerful design app available for Mac and Windows. It’s a standalone tool that is made for creating printed projects, such as magazines, brochures, posters, and other collateral pieces.
Use it to combine images and other graphic elements to create outstanding layouts for publishing. Whether you are new to Affinity Publisher or not, great tutorials can help you master specific or general skills to help you make the most of the tool. Here, we’ve collected some of the best to help you jumpstart projects.
MK’s Guide Affinity Publisher Tutorial for Beginners
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It’s just under 7 minutes, but this quick start tutorial is a great intro to the software for beginners that can help you understand and get familiar with the tools in Affinity Publisher. The timestamped video walks through 12 tools plus a basic intro to getting started with a new document. If you are considering this alternative to Adobe InDesign, this is a good place to start.
IDML Import on Affinity Publisher for iPad
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Did you know you can open an IDML file in Affinity Publisher on your iPad? This short tutorial will help you navigate files between software and devices so that you can work anywhere. This is a super-useful mini-tutorial with an easy-to-understand video and instructions. Plus, you’ll be able to use those legacy documents!
Placing and Developing RAW Images in Affinity Publisher
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You can use camera raw images in Affinity Publisher to create all kinds of documents. This tutorial explains the StudioLink feature so you can bypass the need to develop raw images separately in Affinity Photo and develop them straight on publication pages. This tutorial introduces the functionality and showcases some of the editing workflows available to you with this tool.
Affinity Publisher Review – Can It Really Replace InDesign?
Is Affinity Publisher as good as Adobe InDesign? Can you really do professional work using AF Publisher? These are questions most designers think about before using Affinity Publisher. This video offers answers to those questions and more. It showcases some of the best features of the software to show you the main differences between AF Publisher and InDesign.
Moving from InDesign to Affinity Publisher
If you’re already using InDesign for your professional work, you’ll be happy to know that you can easily transition from InDesign to AF Publisher without an issue. AF Publisher fully supports InDesign IDML file format so you can import or edit your existing InDesign documents using the software. This video tutorial will show you how that process works.
A to Z of Affinity Publisher: Tips, Tricks, and Hacks
This is a very fun video that covers some useful tips and tricks using the alphabet. It highlights cool features of Affinity Publisher representing each letter in the alphabet. You can learn a lot of random and useful hacks with this video without having to spend hours watching dozens of individual clips.
Typography Fundamentals in Affinity Publisher
Typography is one of the most important elements of every design. So this video is a must-watch for every designer who plans on using Affinity Publisher to craft documents and brochures. The tutorial covers the basics of typography and how you can implement them in your designs. A great thing about the tutorial is it teaches you all this using a real example.
How to Create a Magazine Layout in Affinity Publisher
If you plan on using Affinity Publisher to design magazines, this tutorial will come in handy. It shows you how to create an effective magazine layout in Affinity Publisher. There are many useful tips you can learn from this video as well. As a bonus, it also gives you a free template that you can download and experiment with.
Affinity Publisher: How To Lay Out A Book
This is more of an advanced tutorial series for Affinity Publisher that shows you the complete process of how to lay out a book. It’s a 3-part series that takes you from creating the layout to formatting and more. The tutorial provides you with a solid foundation on how to use AF Publisher in the publishing industry.
Affinity Publisher for Desktop Tutorials
You can find lots of video tutorials and guides for Affinity Publisher from the official tutorials section for the software. It includes more than 60 videos covering up-to-date tutorials on how to use the software.
How to Use Affinity Publisher
If you are new to Affinity Publisher, start with the basics. This video tutorial offers a quick overview of how to use basic tools and set up documents. It’s the perfect guide for new users and you can get everything you need to start using the software in about 30 minutes.
7 Best Beginner Tips
Nothing makes learning software easier than a few key tips that will speed up your productivity and have you using Affinity Publisher like a pro. This video is packed with 7 great tips in just 11 minutes. It will walk you through setting margin and bleed, changing hyphenation, warping text, and more.
Publisher Master Pages
Anyone who works with larger or multi-page layouts will understand the value of creating master pages for a project. Affinity Publisher includes this feature, This video shows you how master pages work and walks through some practical uses if you aren’t familiar with usage. (Hint: Master pages allow you to repeat elements of the design throughout documents without duplicating or copy-and-pasting objects.)
How to Import InDesign Templates to Affinity Publisher
Most Affinity Publisher users are likely coming from Adobe InDesign unless you are just getting started with designing publications. If that’s the case, you probably have files and templates that you want to move from InDesign to Publisher. This tutorial takes you through how to import different native InDesign file types and use them right away, including how to export from InDesign.
Working with Color
Elaine Giles offers live-streaming tutorials and then archives the videos so you can learn on your own time. This recording of the live stream is a lesson on how to use color in Affinity Publisher. The video runs more than 2 hours and is a wholly comprehensive look at everything you need to make the right color choices, including using the color picker tool, working with palettes, using afpalette files and Adobe swatches, and more.
How to Create a Tri-Fold Brochure in Affinity Publisher
Creating a tri-fold brochure is one of the most common print design asks. This common format is used almost universally by all types of industries and organizations. This tutorial takes you through the entire setup and design process in Affinity Publisher and even has a downloadable file that you can use to follow along.
Using Baseline Grids
A consistent baseline grid ensures that text lines up vertically in a text frame, table, or document. It’s one of the pro tips that print designers use to make large text documents look great. This 7-minute video shows you how to set up a baseline grid in Affinity Publisher.
Working with Images in Affinity Publisher
Bring images into a new document using each of the tool options available. Image tools include the ability to place actual images or placeholders. The quick tutorial shows all the basics of using images in less than 8 minutes.
Text Wrapping in Affinity Publisher
Text wrapping allows you to create a polished merging of images and text on the same page. This Affinity Publisher tutorial shows you how to prepare photos for perfect text wrapping and customize wrap outlines for a perfect finish.
Affinity Publisher Tables
Using tables can be a valuable tool for a lot of different types of design projects. Sometimes the first time using them can be a little clunky. This video takes the worry out of using data in a structured way. The 15-minute Affinity Publisher tutorial will have you designing tables like a pro.
How to Design a Book Cover in Affinity Publisher
Learn how to make a book cover – for printed or digital publishing – in Affinity Publisher. This tutorial takes you through design concepts such as choosing artwork, putting fonts together, and tips for cover design. Olivio Sarikas does it all in Affinity Publisher in a manner that’s designed for beginners.
How to Make a Menu Template in Affinity Publisher
Are you interested in making design templates that you can reuse in Affinity Publisher? This tutorial uses a restaurant menu as an example, but you can apply the steps and practices to almost any type or size of design.
Composing an Editorial Layout in Affinity Publisher
Product expert Emily Goater shows how easy it is to create eye-catching covers, simple and effective inside covers, and stand-out feature pages in Affinity Publisher. The lesson lasts about an hour but provides plenty of information to help you make the most of the tool for project publishing, as well as tips for using the iPad version of the software.
How to Collect Resources in Affinity Publisher
This short video lesson shows you how to move linked images in Affinity Publisher to a central file location for easier project management and portability. Don’t forget to collect all images and fonts when packaging files for printing.
PDF Publishing for the Web
Not all projects designed in Affinity Publisher are printed; many of these jobs are exported to PDF for digital publication. This tutorial shows you how to convert files into web-ready, RGB PDFs (even if you designed in CMYK with printing in mind).