Here is the unlisted demo video from their newsletter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP_TBaKODlw
Key bits:
After acquiring Serif last year, Canva is now relaunching its Adobe-rivalling Affinity creative suite as a new all-in-one app for photo editing, vector illustration, and page layouts. Unlike Affinity’s previous Designer, Photo, and Publisher software, which were a one-time $70 purchase, Canva’s announcement stresses that the new Affinity app is “free forever” and won’t require a subscription.
Affinity’s one-time-purchase model was one of the most appealing things about its older software offerings, standing in stark contrast to Adobe’s controversial subscription-based creative suite. While Canva’s own design platform can be used for free, it also locks most of its capabilities behind subscription paywalls, which raised concerns that Affinity would adopt Canva’s subscription-based approach following the acquisition. The company is trying to put those fears to rest for good by repeatedly mentioning how “free” the new Affinity app is, but the AI integrations will likely be met with some resistance by creatives who oppose the technology.
I’m glad they didn’t add any subscription pricing, and while I don’t know if they’ll actually be able to fund it through the optional AI subscriptions alone, at least it can be used offline for those who want any AI things. Now my only complaint is the lack of a solid Linux client.
100% this is a jump-the-shark moment.
I sort of think what they’re releasing will stay free for a long time. That’s not my concern.
My concern is that since they’ve been acquired by Canva you can tell how Canva is thinking about Affinity; it’s a pure subscription driver towards Canva.
So given this is what Canva wants to do with Affinity, I have no doubt that Affinity will focus on shipping features that drive towards Canva subscriptions. That means other features will atrophy and that the future of affinity is one where you’re increasingly finding it diffficult to use, if you’re aiming to use it as an alternative to Adobe, without a subscription.
So this is subscription software by another name - it just creeping subscription, slowly boiling the frog in hope we won’t all jump out. Make no mistake, the fire has been lit and it won’t be long before the water gets warm.
Enshittification here we come.
That seems a bit extreme. I don’t need anything beyond CS6, and so far, Affinity is looking good. If people want to pay extra for added features to subsidize me, more power to them; I’m seriously fine with features from (longer than I want to think) ago.
CS6 has better content aware filters than Affinity and those may never get updates now, since AI can do them better. This is not even an unreasonable take, but sub…
I have been a Serif user since the early 2000’s and Affinity since V 1
I love the suite, and use it to do pro stuff, mostly typesetting supported by photo and designer.
Tracing is one of the features I really missed. Now I have it.
I have the universal license for V2, and it’s so good that it’s going to be relevant for a while.
The fact that Canva is, for the time being making it free, and not forcing AI, and allowing it to be optional, is OK by me. If I need AI for a job, I can pay for a month, pretty cheap for what I’m going to be paid.
I like the situation.
Canva is essentially making migration from Adobe easy and free, to poach users.
Win Win in my opinion
Oh shit. I bought an Affinity lifetime thing a couple of years ago. Oh fuck, I didn’t realise I was supporting canva. Are they gonna force me to upgrade into this bullshit? God damn it, Affinity Photo and Designer were pretty good.
Any good alternatives out there? Ideally something cheap, I am not flush with cash at the moment 😬
Affinity wasn’t owned by canva back then. And you can still continue to use your v1 and v2 (though I don’t know how you would download the apps, now that the login page is gone)
The login page for the old apps is at the bottom of the page in the footer.
That being said, I really miss this being a premium offering.
Thanks!
I will continue using v1 (I have v2 but I never got around to using it). Sadly windows/macos only… (in wine it kinda works but that’s not good enough for me)
Canva’s announcement stresses that the new Affinity app is “free forever” and won’t require a subscription.
Until the gov does something that holds companies liable for straight up fucking lying about this shit, I won’t believe it.
Chances are almost no one will end up paying for the AI shit and they’ll have to very quickly pivot to find some way to monetize the investment.
They explained how they intend to make money from Canva while keeping Affinity free; Canva has the premium options, and is where the designer’s clients will be using the packages designed in Affinity, in Canva.
Yes, and as I said in the comment you replied to, no one is going to buy those “premium” options because it’s just AI trash.
As it turns out, people already have it working in Linux. I just torrented the latest KDE Neon build in case I get a wild hair for a project tomorrow.
Neat! Good to know :)
The fact that they’re now owned by a company that promotes the use of generative AI is enough for me to not bother. I guarantee it won’t stay free.
I’m not holding my breath for a Linux version. They’re positioning themselves as the alternative to Adobe, so they only need to cover those situations.
Though downloading it did introduce me to MSIX installers, which then led down a rabbit hole. Back in the app, all I did to kick the tires was create a layout and hit T to see if I could immediately draw a text box. The answer was “yes,” so that’s a good first impression. I just have nothing to design currently.
