Affinity Update: It's now FREEmium...and more

[abc]

Pretty amazing how everyone has gone from hating Canva and the PDF files it produces to now praising them to the high heavens!

 

[wonderings]

Pretty amazing how everyone has gone from hating Canva and the PDF files it produces to now praising them to the high heavens!

Affinity makes decent PDF's, Canva the web application for design which is a very different thing still makes horrible PDF's if you need to edit or fix the files your client produces.

Canva purchased Affinity so it was created by a very different team.

 

[jwheeler]

I'm going to make a push to convert existing clients in the Canva camp to Affinity where possible

I think people who are using Canva don't really want to use programs like Adobe CC and Affinity where they have to start from a blank canvas. The allure of Canva is starting with a template that's already designed for you, and you just have to fill in the blanks. This lets them quickly get the finished product they want (or at least meets their needs) without having to pay a designer.

 

[jwheeler]

Adobe heading the way of Quark!

I loved Quark. I was such a holdout switching to the early versions of InDesign. I assumed it was just a renamed PageMaker.

 

[Magnus]

Pretty amazing how everyone has gone from hating Canva and the PDF files it produces to now praising them to the high heavens!

I have been doing some testing with Affinitys color management settings, and PDF export capabilities (PDF/X-4) and everything seems to be exported and embedded as expected. Embedded ICC-profiles are respected. There are some soft proof capabilties that are not as strong as in Adobe Indesign but I'm really impressed.

 

[wonderings]

If Affinity had separation view in the software I think they would be really close to everything most shops would need. They do variable data, PDF's are decent. Software is fast. Just a few little things to get in there. I do wonder what Adobe's reaction is going to be. Paying for the highest their for Canva is still cheaper then Adobe for the year, though it does not say how many AI image creations you get. The great thing about Adobe is there is no cap, you j just use it and don't think about it.

 

[abc]

I have been doing some testing with Affinitys color management settings, and PDF export capabilities (PDF/X-4) and everything seems to be exported and embedded as expected. Embedded ICC-profiles are respected. There are some soft proof capabilties that are not as strong as in Adobe Indesign but I'm really impressed.

Hi Magnus, yes I remember Stefan Jaeggi do some tests with the Ghent Output Suite with Affinity Publisher and they passed all tests. Hopefully this engine might find it's way into the Canva Platform.

 

[abc]

Affinity makes decent PDF's, Canva the web application for design which is a very different thing still makes horrible PDF's if you need to edit or fix the files your client produces.

Canva purchased Affinity so it was created by a very different team.

Yeah that's known, Affinity was/is developed by the Serif team.

 

[Magnus]

Hi Magnus, yes I remember Stefan Jaeggi do some tests with the Ghent Output Suite with Affinity Publisher and they passed all tests. Hopefully this engine might find it's way into the Canva Platform.

Yes, maybe someone from the Canva team could even join the Ghent Workgroup.

 

[abc]

Yes, maybe someone from the Canva team could even join the Ghent Workgroup.

we have reached out Magnus, several times...

 

[DYP]

I was forced to use and learn Affinity 3 because I had to make major catalog changes that for what ever reason we could not get the original QuarkExpress files. All we had to work with was the most recent print ready PDF files. Affinity produce the most clean native files from those PDF files. After spending about two full days working with Affinity I am most impressed and I still have not figured it all out but so far I am finding it more productive than Indesign. So much so that I am wanting to learn more.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I've told several customers about this and within days each one has sent me files made in Affinity. Affinity being free is a big deal. Next stop is Affinity (or a program like it) being open source. Very excited for the future of design software - it will only unlock more print jobs to be possible. The only caveat is that design will trend to lower quality due to it being easier for less creative people to make files, but that's life.

Thanks Canva.

 

[jwheeler]

Next stop is Affinity (or a program like it) being open source

This already exists:
Opensource Photoshop Alternative: Gimp (also worth noting is Photopea - a free browser-based version of Photoshop which actually works quite well!)
Opensource Illustrator Alternative: Inkscape
Opensource InDesign Alternative: Scribus

And while we're at it, here's an open source video editing software that's great for basic needs: OpenShot

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

This already exists:
Opensource Photoshop Alternative: Gimp (also worth noting is Photopea - a free browser-based version of Photoshop which actually works quite well!)
Opensource Illustrator Alternative: Inkscape
Opensource InDesign Alternative: Scribus

And while we're at it, here's an open source video editing software that's great for basic needs: OpenShot

What I'm talking about is a piece of software that is the same level of quality as InDesign or Affinity, becoming as ubiquitous as InDesign or Canva, and it being open-source, so that people can't get rug pulled by the developer and can opt out of "AI data gathering" type stuff.

 

[TJPrinter]

Very excited for the future of design software - it will only unlock more print jobs to be possible.

I doubt that Canva has a vision of proving and constantly updating Affinity for free without having a solid plan to extract more revenue. With the collaboration of Canva and HP print service providers, you can expect Canva to become an even more competitive print provider that will affect every independent print provider in every county from shore to shore.

Be careful what you with for.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I doubt that Canva has a vision of proving and constantly updating Affinity for free without having a solid plan to extract more revenue. With the collaboration of Canva and HP print service providers, you can expect Canva to become an even more competitive print provider that will affect every independent print provider in every county from shore to shore.

Be careful what you with for.

If the opportunity becomes too juicy for Canva, someone else will step in and do it for less, and the process will repeat. The newcomer will need to offer something 5-10x better to get relevant market share. A tale as old as time.

 

[jwheeler]

I doubt that Canva has a vision of proving and constantly updating Affinity for free without having a solid plan to extract more revenue. With the collaboration of Canva and HP print service providers, you can expect Canva to become an even more competitive print provider that will affect every independent print provider in every county from shore to shore.

Be careful what you with for.

Canva just released a video addressing the concern of it being free and how they make money. Essentially, it sounds like they are county on people wanting the AI/premium features of Canva and/or Affinity, and for businesses to sign up for their business/enterprise plans for collaboration. Therefore, I believe they will continue to innovate to offer new features and improve the product. They already proved they would by the release of this latest version of the all-in-one software.