Oscraps

New Affinity App - free for all and forever????

Jam-on-toast

Jam-on-toast

Well-Known Member
CHEERY O
Have you seen it??? I've just got the email and watched the video... downloaded the app and had a look... LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that the interface is NOT that different from what it was... I never upgraded to the V2 - second generation - so am not familiar with the new features available to Affinity2 users, but this new app promises all of them and more... for free... forever. All you need is a free Canva account and you are good to go...

This sounds like a deal too good to be true... somebody pinch me!

And the sceptic in me softly whispers "What's the catch???"
 
They're calling it "Affinity Studio" and it **IS** free for everyone, forever!
(EXCEPT it's apparently not available in China according to their FAQs.)

Here's a video that talks about this newest release at YouTube

The people who created Affinity always intended to blend Affinity Photo (their version of Adobe Photoshop), Affinity Designer (their version of Adobe Illustrator), and Affinity Publisher (their version of Adobe InDesign) into a single app. And now they've done it! The desktop version is already available and the iPad version is coming soon.

I :beatingheart: LOVE:beatingheart: that they're making creative software available to everyone for free!
 
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I watched the Canva call yesterday and was just astounded at all of the new features, include the Affinity announcement. Pretty amazing stuff. So far, the only two things that have occurred to me that are/might be "catches" are:

(1) Most of the AI tools within the Affinity app will not be available unless you have a paid Canva account. That may or may not may not be important to you.

(2) Unlike the desktop apps, you'll need to be connected to the internet to use Affinity—which makes sense because of the integration with Canva and its AI tools. You can continue to use the desktop apps and you can edit docs created with the old Affinity in the new Affinity. But once you do so, those files are no longer backwards compatible — meaning you won't be able to the edited version in the desktop apps.
 
Vicki Robinson said:
(2) Unlike the desktop apps, you'll need to be connected to the internet to use Affinity—which makes sense because of the integration with Canva and its AI tools. You can continue to use the desktop apps and you can edit docs created with the old Affinity in the new Affinity. But once you do so, those files are no longer backwards compatible — meaning you won't be able to the edited version in the desktop apps.
Click to expand...
It is a desktop app. In the video he said that after the initial activation you would be able to work entirely offline in Affinity. I don't know if that also applies to the Canva AI extension - AI is pretty resource hungry.
 
I had a go at creating my first page using the new Affinity Studio today. I'm not liking the changes to the context toolbars much - most of the tools I use regularly are not included in the new toolbars. I'm going to need to spend a few minute creating a customised toolbar etc. Apparently I can create a new "studio" with all my preferred workflow tools etc in it. I might find out more about that this coming week.
I recorded myself creating this page for my "watch me scrap" YouTube channel (Angela Toucan @toucanscraps) if you want to scrap along with it if this is your first time trying Affinity.
My Page:
Penguins

Penguins

For November challenge #1: Color Play.
Note, this is my first page created using the new...
 
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Wow! You're brave! Just jumped right in and played around with the new Affinity! Congratulations! Your penguin piece is adorable, so it seems like you figured out enough to give it a good go.
:woohoo:
 
tanteva said:
Nothing is free. What's the catch?
Click to expand...
I understand your skepticism @tanteva, because there isn't much in life that's free!

Affinity was originally designed and created by a group of people who were tired of paying Adobe a hefty price tag for their ongoing subscriptions. A lot of their policies are basically reactionary against Adobe: "We want to treat people well, by doing the OPPOSITE of what Adobe would do."

There's also an element here about wanting to bring equity to creative fields again. It used to be that anyone who had pencil and paper could learn to be a creative. But now, most creative fields require computer literacy and good working knowledge of a number of software programs -- pricey ones. But not everyone can afford that. It often excludes people of color. And it often excludes small businesses in favor of large corporations. The group behind Affinity want to change all of that.

Affinity versions 1 and 2 both had a low one-time only price. But a company called Canva recently bought Affinity. Canva is an online tool that has pre-designed elements that people can use to put together presentations, marketing materials, t-shirts, and more. And they've recently added the ability to do AI prompts. Canva is so profitable, that they don't need Affinity to make money ... and enabling Affinity to be free is their way of "giving back" to the creative and artistic communities. They also see it as symbiotic to generating business for Canva, so they're doing it in service of others and themselves (aka it is part of a profitable business model).

Here's Affinity's co-founder Cameron Adams to explain it in his own words:
(Content warning: he does use the word "h e double hockey sticks" instead of "heck.")

Affinity Studio is free. The part that acts like Photoshop, Illustration, and InDesign, all under one hood.
If you want to use Canva's AI features within it, that would cost extra -- like most AI services.

Personally, I think it's pretty cool. I've loved their vision from the start and I'm glad Canva is upholding it.
 
If anyone is interested in trying the new, free Affinity Studio, here are some links you might like:
It's brand new, so there aren't a lot of free tutorial videos out there -- yet! I imagine they'll be coming soon! :kitty1:
 
Angela Toucan said:
I had a go at creating my first page using the new Affinity Studio today. I'm not liking the changes to the context toolbars much - most of the tools I use regularly are not included in the new toolbars. I'm going to need to spend a few minute creating a customised toolbar etc. Apparently I can create a new "studio" with all my preferred workflow tools etc in it. I might find out more about that this coming week.
I recorded myself creating this page for my "watch me scrap" YouTube channel (@AngelaToucan) if you want to scrap along with it if this is your first time trying Affinity.
My Page:
Penguins

Penguins

For November challenge #1: Color Play.
Note, this is my first page created using the new...
Click to expand...
I'm just looking at it... I like the idea of creating my own studio and not having to switch between vector and pixel personas - and Affinity Photo if I need to remove red eyes, lol... I am currently loading my styles and brushes...

One thing I don't like is the black and white icons - I miss the colors... but it is a matter of getting used to it, of course...
 
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