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Alfred's Serif Users' Forums → General Discussion → Canva-Affinity Live Stream Announcement(s) What do we think?
After watching most of the event, I admit to feel a bit of nausea.
What comes out of the event is an elation of oversimplification. Don't learn, we have the easy solution for you.
Affinity was out of place there, but at the same time trapped into the event, without any hope to escape.
I watched most of the event, but not all: too much for me, at my age.
Weren't we told they "listened" to us? Who did they listen to?
It doesn't look like they listened to the Affinity users on the, now closed, Affinity Forum.
Also with a new Affinity website (and new URL) for the new app I can't see the old forum and web site, along with all the information on it, lasting much longer either.
They did mention both bitmap and vector graphics and that they do vector and bit map graphics with lots of tools for bitmap and vector graphics.....
Most of the time I use Publisher which was barely mentioned in passing.
Most who seemed happy with the way things are going also seemed to be Canva users.
BTW apparently we are all Canvanoughts now.... They aren't aiming at the professional markets, you can hear the sigh if relief from Adobe as Affinity retreats from the field.
I recommend watching the Canva live stream on YT and see what you think of Ash and the bits on Affinity.
My general feeling is that Affinity is dead.
This kind of reminds me of GoLive CyberStudio. If I remember right, GoLive was the company name and the actual product name was CyberStudio. I mean the full product name was GoLive CyberStudio, but GoLive was the company name. (The company name was originally GoNet, but they later changed to GoLive.)
Then Adobe bought them and changed the product name to Adobe GoLive. IMHO, Adobe CyberStudio would have been better.
And, then, Canva bought Serif which had Affinity Publisher, Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo. And now Canva is basically changing that to one app which is Affinity by Canva.
It just reminds me of Adobe GoLive.
And I can kind of foresee Affinity by Canva eventually being renamed to Canva Pro or something like that which drops the Affinity name entirely. They've already de-emphasized the Affinity name by doing away with capitalizing the name in the logo.
I mean, I don't know. Like I said, I like the one-app concept. I don't like Internet activation. And, being free, it's easy enough for them to eventually discontinue it or stop activating older versions or whatever and use the argument that you didn't pay anything for it anyway. But, I don't want to have an archive of files that I might not be able to utilize in the future if the software becomes unavailable.
I guess those of us that do not like Internet activation schemes or things that rely on an outside server in order to activate and use software are not loud or numerous enough to make a difference. I think a lot of us learned the lesson from Adobe. It's not just subscriptions that are undesirable, but also the notion that you can be essentially locked out of being able to use your own files at the whim of a corporation.
On top of that, besides being one app, does v3 really offer anything new? Looking over things, nothing much really struck me as new, except maybe Image Trace. When v2 came out, it felt like that came out before Publisher v1 was a mature product. Designer and Photo had received multiple updates but Publisher was relatively new and didn't seem like it got much before v1 was shoved aside and we were all pushed to get v2. And I'm not sure v2 felt like a major upgrade to v1. I think they added StudioLink but was there much more? So, v3 seems kind of like that all over again. A lot of hype and anticipation, but then an underwhelming release.
It's about what I expected. I downloaded and some of the main bugs that plagued my setup are still there. Pixel mode shows as scaled/200% on a 100% zoom because Windows 10 is running at 150% scale (to make things readable). So in order to get a proper Pixel view, I have to scale down the UI across my entire system. Oh and everything in the UI is redesigned. I don't dislike the unification of everything. I think it will make a lot of work faster. There are some things that are a big improvement over V2. I also noticed the eye icon is back for Layers now after all the complaints there lol.
I can't say I will be moving my work back to it anytime soon.
It looks like they broke up Export Persona into multiple panels that aren't unified at all... oh boy...
My general feeling is that Affinity is dead.
This kind of reminds me of GoLive CyberStudio. If I remember right, GoLive was the company name and the actual product name was CyberStudio. I mean the full product name was GoLive CyberStudio, but GoLive was the company name. (The company name was originally GoNet, but they later changed to GoLive.)
Then Adobe bought them and changed the product name to Adobe GoLive. IMHO, Adobe CyberStudio would have been better.
I was a GoLive user for a looong time, it was a MUCH better product than Dreamweaver in every respect *except* Dreamweaver could build front ends for database driven sites, being tightly integrated with ColdFusion, and that was very popular at the time (also the Windows version of GoLive was less than stellar at a critical moment in history, so I hear).
Currently having our own Canva moment in the HTML space, with Espresso having launched a new "full of AI" version (after 2 years of no updates or replies to support emails etc) that looks like the product has been bought by a dodgy "stick in AI then flip an upgrade" group, who are offering flash discounts on upgrades only a couple of weeks after launch.
Perhaps the thing I find most offputting about Affinity 3 is that I don't think Serif ever delivered on a merchantable-quality product with Affinity 2. I don't think Serif ever gave me my money's worth for the purchase I already made; the product was never stable, its features never bug-free, it was always at best pre-release / beta software, and I have trouble forgiving that fact.
Well, I have started looking at Affinity, I've watched Ash's video (the full 22-minute version) and I have to say that I am happy. It's pretty much what I had expected.
I predicted a mixed economy where subscriptions were concerned, and that is what we have got (you pay for the Canva AI bit, if you want it). I did not believe that the app would otherwise be free: that's a surprise, but not an unwelcome one.
There was speculation that the three apps might be rolled into one: given that the architecture for this was already there from the very outset, this is not that much of a surprise, either, and now that I am beginning to find my way around the updated interface, I think it's going to work well.
We haven't lost any functionality: all of the V2 functionality is there, albeit some of it is not in the same place, and there are some new features, with a promise of more in the future that will remain part of the free app. For example, a sophisticated blend tool is on its way.
Unsurprisingly, the loudest voices on Discord who did not want a subscription-based model are now complaining because it's free; those who didn't want AI as standard are complaining because it's there (even though they don't need to use it unless they want to). Really, you couldn't make it up! However, at least some new sections have appeared on Discord over the past 24 hours that will make it a little bit easier to use (threaded sections).
All in all, apart from the download being leaked before anyone who'd signed up got their 'first peek' E-mails, for me, yesterday played out pretty much as I had hoped, with a couple of surprises. I remain optimistic, and having to access the Internet when launching for the first time, having to have a free Canva account and having to access Help files online really don't bother me one jot.
You want money for AI which is stolen art and not allowed in my industry.
Canva wants money from anyone who wants to use AI ‘art’ in their projects. The rest of us get to use the new Affinity by Canva app for free.
Obviously the "big" feature was the UI unification and customization. I will have to try it out to see how I like it, but it's not something I was pushing for. I absolutely do understand that there was a huge amount of UI-related work involved, to the point of pushing most new feature work out of this release. And I can understand why the first Canva release needed (strategically) to have that infrastructure work in it. But it's not what I was looking for.
I mostly work in Publisher (now "layout") so I was quite interested in some of the stuff Ash was just quickly tossing out toward the end of the Affinity-specific presentation. Linked text is one in particular. I intend to go read all the documentation on that, especially to see if they have dealt (in any helpful way) with concatenated/split linked text files in one story, and if linked text files can be specified via import merge.
Changing "Publisher" to "Layout" might be a good thing.
While I got used to it, I never really liked the Publisher name and that's because Microsoft had already ruined that name. Before Affinity, if someone said they did something in Publisher, that meant Microsoft Publisher, and I was like, would you rather work with a Publisher file or have dental surgery without anesthetic? Tough choice.
Twenty-odd years ago I acquired a copy of MS Publisher 2000 for collaborative purposes. The best thing about it was that 159 well made fonts were included in the package.
Changing "Publisher" to "Layout" might be a good thing.
While I got used to it, I never really liked the Publisher name and that's because Microsoft had already ruined that name. Before Affinity, if someone said they did something in Publisher, that meant Microsoft Publisher, and I was like, would you rather work with a Publisher file or have dental surgery without anesthetic? Tough choice.
MS publisher has gone. MS have discontinued it at last.
"layout" is a pointless name. Also, 95% of the Studio discussed was the vector and bit map imaging. and "layout" only mentioned in passing. So those of us who publish books and magazines know where we stand. I went from indesign to A-Pub. I won't be moving to Canva-Affinity studio.
My general feeling is that Affinity is dead.
[snip....]
And I can kind of foresee Affinity by Canva eventually being renamed to Canva Pro or something like that which drops the Affinity name entirely. They've already de-emphasized the Affinity name by doing away with capitalizing the name in the logo.
Sadly, I have to agree with you.
The whole thing, along with the Canva live stream where Ash had a few moments to talk about Affinity Studio (and nothing about "layout", suggests that Canva are taking Affinity down market.
Basically, it is a Canva app for non-professionals or non-serious users that is a gateway for the Canva subscriptions. The All-in-one format is not a good move,
Adobe will be breathing a sigh of relief to the day.
On the upside, apparently, we are all "Canvanoughts" now.....
You might be a Canvanought, as you are leaving, but those that remain will be Canvanauts.
I have good reason to believe that the Layout side of things will be just as important to Serif/Canva as the other studios. I refuse to be brow-beaten by negativity: there's a lot to be happy about today.
Having sat through the Canva keynote live stream, I was relieved to find the 20+miute video from Ash talking about the new Affinity (v3 as it says on the launch screen).
My initial reactions -
It seems to load faster than the v2 programs if on my Win 11 PC
The consolidation of all the personas into one program makes sense
It's free
Initial log in to a free Canva account is not an issue - no having to find licence numbers/registration code, and you only fo it for the initial install. Launch.
It opened one of my v2 Publisher files easily/correctly
Haven't had a cjance to dig in to using the features
Must go back and take a note of what improvements Ash talked about in his video - there were some enhancements to Data Merge, I think
My only gripe at the moment (until I've had the chance to delve deeper) is that there's only a Dark mode for the UI, although the Help file says you can switch to a Light mode - I'd m uch prefer a Light Mode when using the Layout (Punlisher) functionality.
AI features are extra cost IF you want them - that seems prett standard - and I don't feel the need for them...
There seemed to be timing isues in getting the links to the keynote, the new website, etc, etc all co-ordinatyed - but it's done
And isn't it very early for people to realistically assess what v3 provides? Seems like there's a lot of negativity for the sake of it/
So at the moment I feel satisfied and share the same viewpoint as Ali above. If the v3 Affinity allows me to do what I was doing in v2 and improvements continue as a free ptooduct, I'll be happy.
BTW - is it true that Adobe's share proce has dropped?
Must go back and take a note of what improvements Ash talked about in his video - there were some enhancements to Data Merge, I think
https://youtu.be/UP_TBaKODlw?t=14m46s
AI Is Not the Villain
I don’t really get all the doom and gloom around the new Affinity Studio. Honestly, my first reaction last night wasn’t great either — but I gave it some time, tested things properly, and now I actually like what I’m seeing.
Let’s be real: the whole world is moving toward subscriptions. Affinity isn’t breaking tradition here. The good news is, you still have a choice. If you don’t need the AI tools, the apps are free — forever. Only if you want the AI features do you need a Canva Pro plan.
And about Canva’s AI… don’t forget it’s low-resolution. That can mess you up if you’re not careful. I’ve got a Pro subscription myself — affordable enough and useful — but I mostly redraw or refine whatever it gives me. It’s a tool for ideas, not a shortcut to finished work.
Now, the new integration? That’s a win. Having the three apps in one space with a unified file format feels clean and efficient. Worth the upgrade on its own.
The image tracing though… yeah, it’s rough. Too many extra objects and nodes — same story as most other apps, to be fair. I’ll just use it for base shapes and then add what I need manually.
Whoever hid the margin settings inside “Guides…” under “View” deserves a gentle roast. That belongs in “Document Setup.”
As for the AI debate: I get the anger. A lot of people feel their art’s being exploited. But AI isn’t the enemy — misuse is. Fair use should mean consent, transparency, and proper credit. Still, if all the artists who care about ethics walk away from AI, then only the careless ones will shape how it’s used.
I work with AI daily — stories, layouts, concepts — but it never replaces me. I let it build a structure or spark an idea, then I rewrite, redraw, reshape. It’s collaboration, not theft.
Affinity and Canva need income to stay alive — just like any creative business. This model at least gives everyone access. Sure, it’ll attract the “make money fast” crowd who churn out junk, but let’s be honest — Adobe has the same problem. The quality of the work still depends on the person behind the screen.
I watched the keynote. It wasn’t perfect, but it was about creativity and choice — and that matters.
For €12 a month, Canva Pro is fine by me. You can get decent starting points and build your own designs from there. I get that some people don’t like AI — fair enough — but maybe ask yourself: has it really stolen your work? Or are we just scared of change?
My take: respect artists, demand ethical AI, and keep evolving. Progress isn’t the enemy.
To end on a good note:
We’re all here because we love creating. You don’t have to like every update, but let’s stay curious, keep testing, and help each other find what works. The tools will keep changing — our creativity doesn’t have to.
Kind regards,
Chris
To end on a good note:
We’re all here because we love creating. You don’t have to like every update, but let’s stay curious, keep testing, and help each other find what works. The tools will keep changing — our creativity doesn’t have to.
Hear, hear!
@Twolane:
That’s rough — and I get why you’d feel violated. Cases like yours are exactly why ethical use and consent matter. I really hope companies start taking that seriously, because without trust, none of these tools deserve our creativity.
@Ali:
Thank you for your positive feedback. Affinity really can use that right now.
Thank you for your positive feedback. Affinity really can use that right now.
There is no Affinity. It is Canva. The "Affinity by Canva" website affinity.studio goes to Canva pages for everything. All the T's and C's are Canva. the a or affinity is just a label they stick on this Canva product.
I notice that in Affinity-studio, unlike Affinity V2 the spellings have gone American.
Serif (which was acquired by Canva) still exists (albeit under the Canva umbrella) and its HQ is still in Nottingham. Affinity is the software that Serif continue to develop, but now for Canva.
There are still people at Serif with whom I worked on the Plus range betas: they and their team deserve a pat on the back and will continue to get my support.
Serif (which was acquired by Canva) still exists (albeit under the Canva umbrella) and its HQ is still in Nottingham. Affinity is the software that Serif continue to develop, but now for Canva.
There are still people at Serif with whom I worked on the Plus range betas: they and their team deserve a pat on the back and will continue to get my support.
I think the difference between how we see things is that one of us was a teacher and the other has spent several decades in the software and electronics industry and has lived through several take-overs like this before.
Serif does still exist, but the Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary are now, as of the date of the Serif takeover by Canva, American and reside in Australia. Serif also lost a lot of Directors at the same time. Much the same as the Serif Group company
BTW in 2024 Serif made a £35,523,814 loss for the year and one person holds 75% of the shares. Which were transferred 4 months after the appointment of the new Secretary. After the takeover here has been a change of engineering focus at Serif to be in line with Canva.
The sad thing is sales of V2 incenses were up by 30% in 2024... I think that Serif could have gone on to greater things as a serious professional alternative to Adobe. .
Our different viewpoints will be down to many things. Having been a teacher does not make me any less able to assess situations and draw reasonable conclusions than you.
I completely accept that you have more experience in this industry than I do. Of course your viewpoint will be affected by what you have experienced: one might say that it has made you cynical. I had to steer a department through very dark times that included two rounds of redundancies that were none of our fault, so I have experience of business (yes, schools are businesses, too), albeit in an educational environment. But I am resilient, and that's because I refuse to give in. I will always do my utmost to stay positive, even in extremis, and it's served me well in life.
I respect your opinion, but I don't share it. Whether you are right or I am, or neither of us is, only time will tell. If you choose not to respect my opinion, that's something only you can decide. But you won't change my mind any more than I'll change yours (not that I am trying to, by the way).
As it happens, I am married to a Teacher.
My opinion is informed from having worked in the industry for decades, and what happens in schools bears no resemblance. Also, much of what I wrote wasn't opinion it was factual. That you can put uninformed opinion over facts and experience does not bode well for learning.
As for "Time will tell..." err... time has told and it fits the pattern I described and is on the trajectory I expected.
So I suggest you relax and learn rather than rigidly sticking to opinion as though it is fact.
As it happens, I am married to a Teacher.
A German teacher, or was there some other reason for capitalizing the noun in that sentence?
That you can put uninformed opinion over facts and experience does not bode well for learning.
So I suggest you relax and learn rather than rigidly sticking to opinion as though it is fact.
Let’s get back on topic! And keep it civil, please.
If you don’t need the AI tools, the apps are free — forever.
There is NO guarantee on that. The apps require Internet activation. That means that, if the activation servers ever go away, you will not be able to re-activate and use the apps again should you ever need to re-install in the future.
Should that happen, what can open an Affinity v3 file other than Affinity v3? Not v2. Not v1. Not InDesign. Not Quark. Not Scribus. You'd be stuck with a bunch of files you would no longer be able to access and use.
To me, that's an important detail.
Right now, I have files going back to the 1990s. PageMaker files, Illustrator files, etc. I can open them all. I can still install PageMaker (any version) on a compatible system and open the file. I have Illustrator CS3 (for as long as I can keep the machine it's on running) and can open any previous Illustrator file with it. InDesign CS3 can open some of the older PageMaker files. (Either PageMaker version 6 or 6.5 and up.) If I need to open a PageMaker 4 or 5 file, I can open it in 6 or 6.5, save it, then open in InDesign.
With my Affinity files (v1 or v2), I can't open them in anything but Affinity but, as long as I have a compatible system, I can install and activate Affinity v1 or v2 without worrying about activation servers, open my file and then export to whatever is best at the time.
If I use Affinity v3, I have no future guarantees. Ten years from now, I may not be able to install and activate it if needed. There are no guarantees Affinity v4 or v5 (or Canva v4) will even exist or be able to open older files.
And that's what gives me pause. Affinity v1 did not have Internet activation. So, I was happy to buy and use the software, knowing that, at the very least, I could still use and open files in the software in the future. Affinity v2 brought Internet activation into the picture, which I did not like. I bought v2 but did not use it because I do not trust Internet activation. Then I learned the v2 business licenses functioned similarly to v1 in that Internet activation was not required. So, I bought the business licenses, so I have that guarantee in the future that I will be able to install and activate the software if needed. And that's when I began using v2 because I had that guarantee.
It's nice that v3 is free. I have no complaint about it being free. But, it has Internet activation. I might be willing to purchase a non-activation version, but that does not appear to be an option. So, there are NO guarantees I can install and activate the software in the future if needed. So, for me, I don't want to risk having my projects locked away behind files I might not be able to open.
You have to also look at software that will likely meet your needs in the future. Yes, I have perpetual licenses for v1/v2, but someday they will not be able to run on a then-current machine. Yes, I can keep an older machine available to run them or even a virtual machine, but those options are not convenient. They are good solutions if you need to be able to open and export a file to some other format, but not necessarily good solutions if you want to take advantage of the then-latest tech. So, you want to choose a platform that has a likelihood of meeting your needs in the future.
With v3, I cannot see that. Like I said, the prospect of having files locked into software you might not be able to use five or ten or more years from now is not a positive one.
Adobe Fireworks is a good example. I have Adobe Fireworks CS3. I cannot reactivate it on another machine if needed. I have a good number of files in Fireworks format. Nothing can open an Adobe Fireworks file except Fireworks. So, once I cannot use my licensed copy of Fireworks, I won't be able to open and use those files. Even if I were to subscribe to Adobe's offerings, I could not open those Fireworks files because Adobe discontinued Fireworks.
I don't want to repeat that with something like Affinity v3. I don't see this as unreasonable. Back to my prior example, I paid for a license for Fireworks. I don't let anyone else use the software. I don't hand out the license to anyone else to use. Only me. Yet, at some point, I am not going to be able to use software I paid for even on a compatible machine because it is unable to be activated because Adobe shut down the activation servers for it.
Yes, I can keep using Adobe CS3 while it still runs on the machine it's on. I can still keep using Affinity v1/v2 too. But, if I am going to invest time in learning and using something, and especially if I will be spending money on software, I would like it to be with something that has a likelihood of being available and updated now and several years from now.
And, yes, there are no guarantees that any company/software will do that, but we all have to make our best guesses as to which may. For almost two decades, that company was Adobe. And, for a brief time, I thought it would be Serif/Affinity.
Now, I'm basically back to where I was before I placed my bets on Affinity.
Some people don't see Internet activation as a big deal. I bet they may change their minds if they ever reach the point where they have hundreds of files locked away and software used to create and edit those files that they can no longer use because they can't activate it anymore.
Alfred's Serif Users' Forums → General Discussion → Canva-Affinity Live Stream Announcement(s) What do we think?
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