Microsoft Publisher support ends October 1, 2026.See your step-by-step transition plan
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Publisher to Affinity

Your transition, one manageable step at a time

You do not need to become a graphic designer or learn every Affinity feature. This path focuses on getting your weekly bulletin working reliably.

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The recommended path

Your four steps

Save your Publisher content before October 1, 2026—even while you’re working through the other steps.

Step 1

Start with Install and Setup

Start with Affinity Install Only on Monday, September 28 at 9:30 AM, then attend Affinity Bulletin Settings at 1:00 PM Eastern. These classes will help you install and configure Affinity before Microsoft Publisher sunsets on October 1. If you miss Monday’s classes, the combined Install and Setup session on Thursday, October 1 offers another opportunity.

Follow the illustrated installation guide at your own pace, or keep its PDF handy while you attend the class.

Resource

Follow the installation guide

Illustrated steps and a downloadable PDF.

Step 2

Build your foundation

Get familiar with the workspace, tools, and panels. Learn how to create a file and use an existing bulletin PDF as the starting point for an Affinity bulletin template.

Creating your Bulletin Template covers the basics of bulletin creation and setting up a reusable template. Use the interface guide to find your way around as you practice.

Resource

Getting around in Affinity

Annotated screenshots and a downloadable PDF.

Step 3

Create your bulletin

Bring in your bulletin text and images, check the layout, and export a printer-ready PDF. Save a clean Affinity starter file so you can reuse the structure next week.

Use the Text Workshop to practice text frames and formatting. The Master Page Workshop covers reusable page layouts and page numbers. The Tables and Tabs Workshop helps you organize Mass intentions, events, and offertory figures with tables and tabs in text frames. Bring questions from your own bulletin to an Affinity Q & A session.

Resource

Setting up Affinity for bulletin editing

Workspace, page, and PDF settings, with a downloadable PDF.

Step 4

Save Publisher content before October 1

Before October 1, 2026, save PDF copies of your Publisher files, including archived bulletins and scratch-area content. Begin this work even if you are still learning Affinity.

  • Open each PDF to check that every page is present and looks right.
  • Back up your PDFs and keep the original Publisher files and images too. Do not rely on .pub files alone as your archive.
  • Keep a separate Affinity file for ongoing edits. PDFs preserve a copy you can view and print.