Affinity Publisher

This workbook turns the Affinity Publisher course into one finished deliverable: a complete multi-page publication (an eight-to-sixteen-page magazine or brochure) exported as a press-ready PDF. Each section maps to one course module and moves you from document setup, through master pages and grids, into flowing and styling text, and finally to images, tables, preflight, and export. Work in a single .afpub file and keep a master copy before any irreversible step such as flattening or final export.

Decide what you are publishing, create a correctly configured facing-pages document, and learn the Pages panel and Studio panels.

Before creating your document, fill in this sheet so facing pages, size, margins, colour mode, and bleed are correct from the start. Base the inside (gutter) margin on your binding method.

Create a blank facing-pages document of about eight pages. Add a page-number field on a master so numbers show. In the Pages panel, add, duplicate, and drag pages to reorder them, and watch the page numbers renumber automatically. Then delete back down to eight pages.

Build the repeating framework with master pages, automatic numbering and sections, and a baseline grid that aligns text.

Create Master A with running header and footer text frames plus an automatic Page Number field, and Master B for a full-bleed image page with the header removed. Apply Master A to your interior pages and Master B to one page. Edit Master A and confirm every page using it updates together.

Plan your masters and any numbering sections before building, so each recurring page type has its own master and front matter is numbered correctly.

Decide a body leading (for example 10 pt on 14 pt). Set the baseline grid increment to match that leading and show the grid. Later, when your body style exists, lock it to the baseline grid and confirm two columns of text line up row-for-row across a spread.

Bring in long copy, thread it across frames and pages, and control it with paragraph and character styles and proper hyphenation.

Place a long article (or several book pages) into the first column frame with File then Place. Note the red overset indicator, then use the flow handle to thread the story through several columns and onto a second page. Try Shift-clicking the flow handle to autoflow the remainder. Finish with no overset indicator.

Define your reusable styles before applying them, so typography stays consistent and editable. Use Based On so heading styles inherit from a parent.

Set your Body style to justified with hyphenation on (for example hyphenate after 3, before 3, max 2 consecutive hyphens) and enable widow and orphan control. Read through the flowed article looking for widows, orphans, and rivers, and fix at least two using copy edits, minimal tracking, or a non-breaking space.

Place and wrap images, edit them in-place with StudioLink, build a table and a contents page, then preflight and export.

Place three images: one full-bleed photo extending to the 3 mm bleed line, and two inset images inside text columns with text wrap and a 3 to 5 mm standoff. If Affinity Photo is installed, switch to the Photo Persona and make a small correction to one photo in-place, then return to the Publisher Persona. Check the Resource Manager for missing links.

Add one table (a price list, schedule, or spec grid) with a styled header row, banded rows, and adequate cell insets. Then insert an automatic Table of Contents driven by your Heading 1 and Heading 2 styles. Reorder a couple of pages and refresh the TOC to confirm the page numbers update.

Open the Preflight panel and record each flag it raises and how you resolved it, so you reach a clean report before export.