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Affinity Studio now free

(www.affinity.studio)
1200 points dagmx | 1 comments | 30 Oct 25 15:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.202s | 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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davedx ◴[30 Oct 25 17:25 UTC] No.45762570[source]▶
I worked at Serif during the early years of their pivot from boxed desktop software in C++ for Windows to an internet company making modern design software. It was a nice place to work, had some good friends there. Been interesting watching their journey.
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1. Telemakhos ◴[31 Oct 25 02:03 UTC] No.45767589[source]▶
I just want to say "thank you." I use Affinity Publisher 2 (and used the first version) on a daily basis, and it's been amazing. I think I heard once that Affinity started because the founders wanted to publish a newsletter, and they developed image editing and vector editing software en route to making the page layout software they wanted. If that's true, it's an awesome route to take in life; if not, they (and you) still did an awesome job making software that understands user workflows and accomplishes wonderful things. You've made my life easier for years.