Affinity is now FREE!

[JoeW4 4]

A year ago, Canva acquired Affinity (and all 3 of its products--Affinity Photo is only one). They pumped more money in to Affinity. They have now made it clear that they (Canva) are going after Adobe.

Affinity 3.0 combines all 3 Affinity products (Affinity Photo, plus the design, layout, and publishing products) and continues to upgrade Affinity Photo. So why would Canva do this? The idea for Canva is: (1) to download Affinity for free, you have to register with Canva (which is painless). (2) If you want to use a lot of the AI features (like create a crowd or use prompts to create your background) then you need Canva. They (Canva) have said that they're gunning for Adobe and this is one of the ways they've shown they're serious about it.

There really is no catch involved with this. You have a fully functional, high-end photo editing package with Affinity and have now added the ability to do a lot more than just photo editing if you so desire) and it's free. And if you want to match the AI capabilities of Adobe, you can do that almost seamlessly through Canva.

My take (as a 10-year Affinity user) is that this is good news. But my perspective as a serious photographer (being agnostic of software) is that this is outstanding. Competition should only improve the quality of products. It might force Adobe to address the biggest complaint they continually face (the monthly "rental" fee) and/or lower prices. I see this as nothing but a big win for photographers and creatives.

 

[PhotoHobbyist126 152]

Thanks!

 

[TJMcG123 6]

A year ago, Canva acquired Affinity (and all 3 of its products--Affinity Photo is only one). They pumped more money in to Affinity. They have now made it clear that they (Canva) are going after Adobe.

Affinity 3.0 combines all 3 Affinity products (Affinity Photo, plus the design, layout, and publishing products) and continues to upgrade Affinity Photo. So why would Canva do this? The idea for Canva is: (1) to download Affinity for free, you have to register with Canva (which is painless). (2) If you want to use a lot of the AI features (like create a crowd or use prompts to create your background) then you need Canva. They (Canva) have said that they're gunning for Adobe and this is one of the ways they've shown they're serious about it.

There really is no catch involved with this. You have a fully functional, high-end photo editing package with Affinity and have now added the ability to do a lot more than just photo editing if you so desire) and it's free. And if you want to match the AI capabilities of Adobe, you can do that almost seamlessly through Canva.

My take (as a 10-year Affinity user) is that this is good news. But my perspective as a serious photographer (being agnostic of software) is that this is outstanding. Competition should only improve the quality of products. It might force Adobe to address the biggest complaint they continually face (the monthly "rental" fee) and/or lower prices. I see this as nothing but a big win for photographers and creatives.

Obviously, there are all kinds of opinions that will be bantered about in the coming weeks about whether this is going to be an Adobe killer or not, but for now, I think they (Adobe) are safe. Affinity Photo is good, but it is still not Photoshop. Affinity Designer is okay, but it is not Illustrator, and isn't likely to be. As for Publisher, it will never compete with InDesign.

Canva is a freemium model, where you get a stripped-down free version, and then pay up (as in a subscription) for the good stuff. They say that Affinity won't be like that, but it is headed in that direction, and if they decide that loss-leaders don't bring in enough dedicated users eager for the expensive versions, it could change. Already, the AI that is rapidly taking over photo editing and design is an option, won't work unless you subscribe at $120 (U.S) per year. Isn't that why everyone went over to Affinity in the first place? Even if you do decide you want that and pay the price, what you get, at least currently, is pretty sad compared with Adobe's AI. Of course, the refrain now is "Wonderful! I hate AI, I don't need AI, I will never need AI, and I will never pay for AI." If everybody thinks like that, how long is the for-profit company going to give away its premium product?

The most popular photo editing software today is Adobe Lightroom Classic, which combines digital asset management (DAM) with state-of-the-art AI tools for non-destructive raw file editing. Canva/Serif is not offering anything like that, and Affinity Photo's raw developer is not comparable. Even within the Adobe environment with its options to Lightroom, like Bridge and Camera Raw, Lightroom is still preferred by an overwhelming number of pros. If Canva intends to win these people over, can they do it without a comprehensive alternative to Lightroom? Do you think that this is something else they will just throw in for free?

The online Canva app is marketed to small businesses, individuals, and one-or-two two-person design shops for whom cost is a factor, and Adobe is too pricey. But for the big players, switching from Adobe's massive infrastructure to something entirely new could take decades, and who is going to assume that Adobe is just going to sit there and watch it happen? Can Canva overcome Adobe's market dominance by winning over all the Mom-and-Pops?

I started with an inadequate substitute for Photoshop from Corel almost 35 years ago. As soon as I could afford it, I got Photoshop and haven't looked back, I try (almost) everything that comes out, and I have the Affinity suite and still use Photoshop every day. If I am convinced that I can't get along without it, what do you think the big design firms, publishers, etc., are thinking?

 

[JoeW4 4]

Obviously, there are all kinds of opinions that will be bantered about in the coming weeks about whether this is going to be an Adobe killer or not, but for now, I think they (Adobe) are safe. Affinity Photo is good, but it is still not Photoshop. Affinity Designer is okay, but it is not Illustrator, and isn't likely to be. As for Publisher, it will never compete with InDesign.

Canva is a freemium model, where you get a stripped-down free version, and then pay up (as in a subscription) for the good stuff. They say that Affinity won't be like that, but it is headed in that direction, and if they decide that loss-leaders don't bring in enough dedicated users eager for the expensive versions, it could change. Already, the AI that is rapidly taking over photo editing and design is an option, won't work unless you subscribe at $120 (U.S) per year. Isn't that why everyone went over to Affinity in the first place? Even if you do decide you want that and pay the price, what you get, at least currently, is pretty sad compared with Adobe's AI. Of course, the refrain now is "Wonderful! I hate AI, I don't need AI, I will never need AI, and I will never pay for AI." If everybody thinks like that, how long is the for-profit company going to give away its premium product?

The most popular photo editing software today is Adobe Lightroom Classic, which combines digital asset management (DAM) with state-of-the-art AI tools for non-destructive raw file editing. Canva/Serif is not offering anything like that, and Affinity Photo's raw developer is not comparable. Even within the Adobe environment with its options to Lightroom, like Bridge and Camera Raw, Lightroom is still preferred by an overwhelming number of pros. If Canva intends to win these people over, can they do it without a comprehensive alternative to Lightroom? Do you think that this is something else they will just throw in for free?

The online Canva app is marketed to small businesses, individuals, and one-or-two two-person design shops for whom cost is a factor, and Adobe is too pricey. But for the big players, switching from Adobe's massive infrastructure to something entirely new could take decades, and who is going to assume that Adobe is just going to sit there and watch it happen? Can Canva overcome Adobe's market dominance by winning over all the Mom-and-Pops?

I started with an inadequate substitute for Photoshop from Corel almost 35 years ago. As soon as I could afford it, I got Photoshop and haven't looked back, I try (almost) everything that comes out, and I have the Affinity suite and still use Photoshop every day. If I am convinced that I can't get along without it, what do you think the big design firms, publishers, etc., are thinking?

Of course Canva/Affinity isn't going to overtake Adobe right now. But I think you're missing several points. First--where both programs are RIGHT NOW is likely going to change. That will help all of us, regardless of what program you use. More competition with Adobe might lead to an alternative option to the monthly subscription. It might prevent or delay future price increases. Do you think (as an Adobe user) those would be bad things?

You say Affinity is headed in the prescription direction. Affinity and Canva are both saying "free for life." Not "free for this version" or "free for a limited time only."

I completely agree with your description of AI with Affinity right now (or the planned future). For instance, "generative background" isn't there. And for me, that's a positive. If I want to use AI to create a background or a crowd that wasn't there, I can use AI programs for that and then call it a "creation" and not a "photo."

Look, I get you like Adobe--good for you. This Canva attempt to take on Adobe benefits you--certainly in the longterm and possibly in the short-term as well. And for those who aren't committed to Adobe or want some other benefits (like getting 3 software packages in 1 rather than having to buy Illustrator and InDesign in addition to paying for a photo editing package) than this is a great deal.

 

[TJMcG123 6]

Of course Canva/Affinity isn't going to overtake Adobe right now. But I think you're missing several points. First--where both programs are RIGHT NOW is likely going to change. That will help all of us, regardless of what program you use. More competition with Adobe might lead to an alternative option to the monthly subscription. It might prevent or delay future price increases. Do you think (as an Adobe user) those would be bad things?

You say Affinity is headed in the prescription direction. Affinity and Canva are both saying "free for life." Not "free for this version" or "free for a limited time only."

I completely agree with your description of AI with Affinity right now (or the planned future). For instance, "generative background" isn't there. And for me, that's a positive. If I want to use AI to create a background or a crowd that wasn't there, I can use AI programs for that and then call it a "creation" and not a "photo."

Look, I get you like Adobe--good for you. This Canva attempt to take on Adobe benefits you--certainly in the longterm and possibly in the short-term as well. And for those who aren't committed to Adobe or want some other benefits (like getting 3 software packages in 1 rather than having to buy Illustrator and InDesign in addition to paying for a photo editing package) than this is a great deal.

I think choices are good, and competition is good. You're right, that if Adobe wants to cut prices, I'll take it, but I'm already grandfathered into the 20GB Photography Plan for $120 a year, and new people are coming in at twice that. I see it as Adobe rewarding loyalty, at least to some small extent. My price for Photoshop hasn't gone up in 13 years, and since I first subscribed, they have had hundreds of upgrades, added Lightroom, and I get access to stock photos, free fonts, and lots of other perks. Adobe Bridge has always been free.

Do you think there is a real market for the three-in-one model? Designers might love it, but what do I, as a photographer, gain from this? I can already do vector stuff in Photoshop to a limited extent, but probably a greater extent than I'll ever need. I make a few signs now and then, a banner or a business card here and there, but I surely don't need a full vector drawing program and page layout for that. Doesn't it appear that Canva is chasing designers rather than photographers? Isn't their core business about design and layout?

The app may be free forever, but will it be upgraded for free forever? Will it be upgraded evenly, as in will the photo part get the same advances as the drawing and layout parts? guess time will tell...

 

[ACHILLEAS]

This is bad news. Less competition. I do not want to sign up to Canva. Plus you get an overbloated jack of all trades app that is going to suck. Now instead of Adobe Affinity compete with the FOSS apps like Scribus and Inkscape. I thought Canva is competing with Adobe already.

 

[Ysarex96 90]

This is bad news. Less competition. I do not want to sign up to Canva. Plus you get an overbloated jack of all trades app that is going to suck. Now instead of Adobe Affinity compete with the FOSS apps like Scribus and Inkscape. I thought Canva is competing with Adobe already.

It's not that bad. The new app is actually smaller than the old Affinity Photo 2. Affinity Photo 2 = 1.22 gb installed on my computer whereas the new app = 1.12 gb installed. Getting a Canva account is painless and if you don't want to tell them who you are then don't. I signed up using a dummy yahoo email account I created for just this kind of purpose. They sent a code to the address and I had to get that but the name on the address isn't me and I check it about once a month and just delete everything there in a single action. So Canva is going to send a bunch of adds to a dead end. Looks like the new app is exactly what Affinity Photo was before this launch -- I can't find a difference between them other than some UI redesign.

I don't know how much success they'll have with this approach. Affinity Photo was always a raster editor and it still is -- there's better ways to process photos. I suspect this new product is targeted more toward the graphic designer than photographer.

 

[smoke665]

As mentioned, those that use Affinity find it mostly adequate for their needs. Im always reminded on theses offers "The mouse dies in the trap because it doesn't understand why the cheese is free". Companies can't operate without revenue coming in from somewhere.

I started with an inadequate substitute for Photoshop from Corel al

I did also, I would probably have stayed with it if it didn't have a nasty quirk of crashing in the middle of a edit.

Here's the thing I've found with AI, it's highly dependent on the GPU and software/driver. When Adobe started deploying advanced updates back a couple years ago, they wouldn't work until Nvidia updated their drivers. Now a GPU update comes out same day in most cases. Will these smaller guys have the same symbiotic relationship with 3rd parties?

 

[TJMcG123 6]

I did also, I would probably have stayed with it if it didn't have a nasty quirk of crashing in the middle of a edit.

I was taking classes at the time, and I asked an instructor to recommend something like Photoshop that I could afford, and he recommended Corel PhotoPaint (which I think is still around as part of CorelDraw). I asked, "Does it have layers?" and he said yes, but it turned out it was "Floating Objects" which were mostly NOT layers. Not only did it crash constantly, but applying the simplest filter took half an hour, and THEN it would crash.

Here's the thing I've found with AI, it's highly dependent on the GPU and software/driver. When Adobe started deploying advanced updates back a couple years ago, they wouldn't work until Nvidia updated their drivers. Now a GPU update comes out same day in most cases. Will these smaller guys have the same symbiotic relationship with 3rd parties?

I guess that's another reason to align with the biggest, if you want more consistency. There have been many changes in photography, editing software, and business models in the past 20 years or so, and there will be more, you can bet on it. Get on board, or get off; the choice is yours.

 

[smoke665]

@TJMcG just loaded the new PS version 27. With all the new AI stuff they added its going to take me awhile to learn how to use it.