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Affinity Studio now free

(www.affinity.studio)
1200 points dagmx | 4 comments | 30 Oct 25 15:54 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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pentagrama ◴[30 Oct 25 17:21 UTC] No.45762521[source]▶
I used Affinity for several years, so to add some background here:

Serif is the company that originally built this software.

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2014–2024

Serif developed the Affinity suite, a collection of three independent desktop apps sold with a one-time payment model:

- Affinity Designer: vector graphic design (Adobe Illustrator equivalent)

- Affinity Photo: digital image editing (Adobe Photoshop equivalent)

- Affinity Publisher: print and layout design (Adobe InDesign equivalent)

They were solid, professional tools without subscriptions like Adobe, a big reason why many designers loved them.

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2024

Canva acquired Serif.

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2025 (today)

The product has been relaunched. The three apps are now merged into a single app, simply called Affinity, and it follows a freemium model.

From what I’ve tested, you need a Canva account to download and open the app (you can opt out of some telemetry during setup).

The new app has four tabs:

- Vector: formerly Affinity Designer

- Pixel: formerly Affinity Photo

- Layout: formerly Affinity Publisher

- Canva AI: a new, paid AI-powered section

Screenshot https://imgur.com/a/h1S6fcK

Hope can help!

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raincole ◴[30 Oct 25 18:45 UTC] No.45763695[source]▶
Is "Affinity Studio" the version that is online-only and was down with AWS a week ago? Or that's a different thing?

(I don't know much about Affinity suite)

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InsideOutSanta ◴[30 Oct 25 21:23 UTC] No.45765542[source]▶
No. It didn't exist a week ago and doesn't require Internet, apart from an initial login.
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1. stackedinserter ◴[30 Oct 25 21:43 UTC] No.45765736[source]▶
Why do you need to login into something that doesn't require Internet?
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2. booi ◴[30 Oct 25 21:57 UTC] No.45765880[source]▶
you know why...
3. simondotau ◴[31 Oct 25 00:47 UTC] No.45767182[source]▶
It's functionally identical to the software registration requirement of previous Affinity software releases, except that instead of verifying a registration number, it's now verifying a (currently) free Canva account credential.
4. jwitthuhn ◴[31 Oct 25 11:20 UTC] No.45770789[source]▶
So you can only use it if Canva has your email and they can send you exciting new offers.