Ginblue

Being a big faceless corporation?

A couple of observations on the recent news, as a very special tester and the guy who suggested Serif bet the farm on Affinity at a time they were seemingly already doing it in secret (yes, remember that e-mail you got back in 2014, where I even quoted Churchill? That was me):
 
• The video that was posted on the news page was not very reassuring, and any PR specialist will tell you that.
 
• The pledge is all well and good, but it is not legally binding and, I take it, was not posted right away upon the announcement of the acquisition; and while the negotiations were done in two months and that does seem to be a very short time when it comes to these things, was it that difficult to have said pledge ready to go on day one? Another PR disaster, IMHO.
 
• Canva doesn’t have the best reputation overall, as a tool, among professional designers; however, they do seem to be loaded with cash, and their explanation that there is not much of an overlap in functionality, but perhaps in target market (i.e., some Canva users may want and actually be able to graduate from it to Affinity, or use it as a more advanced editing tool for objects even if they stay largely within the confines of Canva, kind of like you can already do across Affinity apps, and Affinity users may benefit from collaborative tools, for sure), does make sense, and sure, there may be some synergies, and Canva might be able to undercut Adobe both in subscription price – because we all know a subscription is coming, let’s not fool ourselves – and flexibility – if it makes financial sense and they don’t get too greedy, yes, them offering perpetual or semi-perpetual (à la Typeface.app) licenses, for which Affinity is famous for, may remain a thing.
And yes, we can’t be hypocrites and complain about Canva not valuing design as a professional pathway if they do indeed make good on their promises and start promoting their newly acquired serious tools and tutorials, which may lead people into making decent amateur design or even studying it at some level, and to Canva not just being part of the problem but also providing the solution. Heck, the files produced in Canva may even become better on a technical level if they move towards Serif tech at some point.
 
• Canva also has bad reputation when it comes to AI, and while we don’t expect them to drop it, we may give it the benefit of the doubt out of necessity. Expect, however, thorough sifting of EULAs, and maybe even lawsuits if user creations are ever mined for content.
 
• We’ve been burned in the past, and none of this is very surprising, only sad. In hindsight, it’s patently obvious that Serif was lacking the resources to keep up with Adobe after their seemingly vertiginous pace during the early years.
 
• The promises of missing features being added to V2 are all well and good, but in a sense, they are a bit too good; some of us suspect the team is just trying to wrap it up, and that indeed V3 is shaping up to be a very boring cash-grab, or mostly Canva-focused (because that integration will surely take time and can only really start now, if it does become a thing), and us losing access one day to V2 activations is also a concerning prospect (the indefinite maintenance of activation servers for as long as Canva exists as a corporate entity, and maybe even some properly laid out exit strategy in case it goes belly up, should be part of the pledge itself, spelled out in writing or even added to the very EULAs, and become legally binding, between Canva and us, the customers).
 
• Until all these fears are well and properly assuaged, I – and, I suspect, many others – won’t even bother with giving suggestions for my pet features on the betas, the topmost – variable font support – having been the first one mentioned in said video and on the pledge. Why should I, if Adobe already offers it in such stable form, and me having to switch back to CC may become a reality? Not until V3 rolls around as a truly groundbreaking, perpetually-licensed set of apps, and especially not now when Affinity devs are loaded with cash and could and should hire proper testers and pay for proper focus groups, instead of relying on community efforts.
You see, you had a tacit, unwritten agreement with your testers, in that we knew you were, staying with the Churchillian metaphor, the strapped-for-cash underdogs that were fighting the good fight, and with this acquisition you obviously lost a lot of that goodwill and the tiny bit that remains is now on probation, if not on thin ice. With Canva being just the lesser and more affordable and flexible of two evils – at least for the time being –, we’re now just your customers, not your fighting buddies, sorry.
That is not to say that you won’t keep fighting, but you’ll also have to do so to get at least our basic confidence back (not just to get new switchers from Adobe, which I still hope you do as long as you’re not trapping them into a technological dead end), and you won’t get unbridled word-of-mouth from us anymore because obviously we will warn our colleagues, students, etc. of all the corporate shenanigan and technical caveats (i.e. Affinity, in its free educational/non-profit version, is nice to learn just in case it turns into an alternative standard, but not safe enough to bet an entire portfolio on it lest it’s canned or something, and definitely even less of a safe option in its commercial incarnation for the same reason, and I hope Canva realizes this and doesn’t nix perpetual licenses based on understandably skewed sales numbers). V2.x, and especially V3 and beyond will be crucial in that regard.
 
TL;DR: nice as all of you at Serif may be as people, unless Canva allows you to interact with the community as you always did, and treats the community according to its very special ethos and idiosyncrasies, you likely lost us all for good, and will see at best a cooling down period until we see you all make good on your pledges.
It’s not vindictiveness, it’s just basic human behaviour; why would we, as old Macromedia users, old Creative Suite users, old Plus users, etc., keep blindly investing our time and mental energy in the development and improvement of this piece of software after having been so thoroughly burned, time and time again, by greedy corporate entities and technology transitions? My €0,02.

Everybody, let’s just face reality, Affinity (as we had known it) is finished long-term, they sold-out. Meanwhile, the short-term fix, using an affordable perpetual license (to keep everybody happy and on board) will be the introduction of quite a few major upgrades to 'Photo', 'Designer' and 'Publisher' as a show-piece to try and present a positive image presentation for the future of where Affinity/Canva want to take their software.

Meantime you can bet your mortgage, that the hierarchy within Canva will be plotting moves to take Affinity onto an Adobe styled subscription plan, this cost-of-living crisis won't end anytime soon, and if Canva thinks that us plebs can afford their subscription plans to help Affinity pay for the extra water cooler fans to stabilise their every growing sever warehouse, with all that new A.I Data flowing back and forth, it will be adios amigos, bye bye to Affinity, they'll be shocked when everyone bails on them heading straight for GIMP.

When Affinity Software starts dropping in quality and development begins to stop...I will immediately drop your apps and move to alternatives. I already have three dedicated apps in mind and bookmarked for me to access when your apps go to crap. I despise cheap and greedy money mongering short term gains that go completely against individual software sovereignty. Accepting that buyout offer, when just last year your entire company was making $22 million cash rich profits that went beyond paying all your staff (which I have no anger toward the non-founder staff)) and your fat executive checks just Screams Greed. I well understand gaslighting when it is being used. 
Us common folk are not stupid and most certainly not ignorant about such corporate jackwagon behavior. The Canva founders have vulture capital wealth well beyond what is necessary to live a comfortable sane life. I am not anti-wealth, I am just fully against Obscene levels of wealth; particularly when such "money" is made without any regard for the financial wellbeing of the local artists I talked to where I currently live. I tried to get individual attention from Canva Staff and they deliberately blocked me and shoved me off into being on my own by denying me access to any staff members to talk to.

That piss poor treatment, because I wasn't even a "major account", doesn't even qualify as "customer service". Congratulations, you just fed monster billionaires of a company with no decency for solo business owners/independents like me. At least my language is clean and not vulgar.

Ah yes: "pledges". Like the ones given when Zbrush was acquired by Maxon. Did not take long to conveniently forget about those after one slender release. Then full subscription.
Or past pledges given by Maxon and Autodesk. Or Adobe. Or Unity...
Pledges by companies mean NOTHING in contexts like this one (buyout).
Where were these pledges when the buyout was announced? Right, not on their minds. The community rears up in arms in response, which is utterly predictable.
Management and ex-owners of Affinity don't feel good about themselves. "People are mad with us!" "Look at all that negative publicity! Oh no!"
So "pledges" are conceived and published to allay public fears of the populous. Now small part of loyal user base quiet down and help quiet down most of the unrest. "Have no fear, friends! Management has explained that there is nothing to fear! All will be well!"
Two years later the first release without perpetual. And/or bloatware. And/or hardly any worthwhile updates anymore.
We will see. If history taught us anything so far: these pledges mean NOTHING. Only ACTIONS. And these actions so far have been...
disappointing.

This Team has nothing to decide anymore. Canva is deciding and I don't trust them further than I can throw a truck...

A "Pledge" ist not a promise and "we are committed to" is very different from "we are going to" -- sorry, but while this is a nice gesture, I've heard this noncommittal language way to often (in recent years even from our gouvernment with their listening, their commitments and the famous "five pledges") to believe any of it.
As I have spend a good amount of time of learning Affinity and moving all my work to it I'll stick with it for the time being. Worst case is that my version 2.4 stays as it is and I'll use it until I don't find a computer that runs it anymore.
Given that Serif just got handed a large sack of money, I won't do any free beta testing from now on though, and only install further updates if they have something I need rather than looking forward to playing with a new toy and being happy about everything I discover.
The software has hopped from "a journey I enjoy being part of" to "a tool I use to earn a living". My feeling towards Serif has shifted from "fan" and "advocate" to "user" respectively "customer" with a simple business relationship that can be cancelled the moment "the product doesn't meet expectations".

The thing is people will most likely not trust any promises made today. Serif is not in charge of their own product anymore and things can change any day. Serif was always a company that people liked with very usable software ( I still think serif movieplus had one of the interfaces ever for a video editing program). Now that it's canva serif will either cease to exist at all or just be part of a huge company.

Per the announcement canva contacted you weeks ago yet 2 canva controlled stock photo libraries were added to affinity products much longer ago. To me this is another reason to be at least a bit suspicious about any announcements and promises.

The clarity is much appreciated, but were these commitments codified in the terms of the sale in a way that has any legal weight?
If not, I’m sorry to say it won’t matter. Serif and Canva employees can truly believe in these ideals, but an investor owned corporation either private or public has no obligation to maintain them. As soon as they think they can get away with it, these commitments will be dropped to pursue more profitability for the shareholders. As I and many others have said already, we’ve seen it happen many times. This statement does very little to assuage those fears.

OK, Ash, that' a fair statement! I still don't trust company promises - but it's all I can ask for for now.

I was pretty upset about the humiliating marketing bullshit you send out yesterday. Seeing that this merger ends up in a pretty sprawling marketing desaster, you either completely misjudged the close relationship you(Affinity) build up with your customers during the many years of development and the effect of selling the company to a faceless nobody with enough money. Of course cutomers feel betrayed. The father just told his children that "familiy" is over and they all get sold to an orphanage home. Promising them that they still will get fed. Great news.

Yes I'm still scared I might loose the product I spend hundrets and hundrets of hours on to report bugs and participate in plenty discussion on improvement and ideas.I'm scared the supportive community might disappear. I'm scared canva will not keep their promises. (I do remember as well you saying that Affinity will not be sold!) But seeing there's not much I can do about it I'll wait and see.
Either way it will be hard for canva to (re-)gain trust of the customers. This merger marketingwise coud have been prepared a lot better!
Cheers, Timo

I bet the people at Adobe were saying few months ago "hmm maybe we should consider offering perpetual licenses again as Affinity is taking a large chunk of our customer base" Then after this CANVA announcement Adobe said while laughing their socks off "AH scrap that idea lets keep the subscription model going, Affinity just sunk their own flagship"
🤣

Yeah, they don't have to pay professionals to do it. The interns will. It's "good enough" because it's cheap enough. 

Canva itself makes a distinction on their page, saying:
"While our last decade at Canva has focused heavily on the 99% of knowledge workers without design training, truly empowering the world to design includes empowering professional designers too."
Thats why they bought Affinity in a first place. To have something for professionals.
Well, absolutely. Just like not everybody makes Citizen Kane - many more just make idiotic videos for TikTok. Its up to you what work you would rather do. Youre into making garbage - certainly there are tools for it too.
 
It doesnt have to be belittled. It is what it is. Its simply stating a fact. Fact that Canva recognizes as well. I know now in fashion is not to hurt anybodys feelings but reality is - you are either professional or you are not. I am riding a bike occasionally but I am not arguing with professional cyclists that my ride to shop is just as valid as Tour de France because... many more people is riding to shops.. Or something. 🤣

looks like affinity V2 will be the next adobe CS6.

i dont know where to go after that. im running a business off of affinity. 21st century sucks, predatory hypercapitalism everywhere.

Not sure I would be pushing that YouTube video, doesn't exactly inspire confidence. 

I've only read the first half of the replies and it seems the trend is already there, and what I expected.
I saw the announcement email and immediately thought this is the Demise of Affinity. And like many others it seems, I'm in the camp of, "It was fun while it lasted"
I originally bought Affinity not because it was a better PROGRAMME than Adobe, but because it was a better COMPANY, and that was worth the sacrifice. But as Affinities products developed that sacrifice became even less. Like many others, I too have encourages my Adobe using friends to switch to Affinity.
But, the email I got this morning could've be copy/ pasted right from Pixologic. They too sold off and promised "everything you've come to know use for, but better more development and no subscription!! First thing they did was add a subscription and from what I've been able to see, there's been virtually no development. I even talked to some of the people there and was informed that ZBrush was the developers baby and he'd never let any thing about it change. And there went the bath water AND the baby.
Then there was Chaos with V-Ray suddenly going to subscription, "because it's better for the users."
I not longer use either of those products and I would happily use worse products, or products with fewer functions / features to not be screwed over by them (in fact I do).
The funny thing is, I actually hardly use Affinity products because I've got other projects on the go, but when I do use them I really appreciate them. And I appreciate the fact that I haven't had to pay every month for years for the 2x a year I might use them. Despite this, I've been happy to pay for the upgrade because 1) It's affordable but 2) it supported a good company.
And at one point my path was taking me down particular avenue that previously was possible. But, with all the changes in software going to subscriptions, it's no longer possible. In general it seems less and less likely that an independent artist can actually run a viable business these days simply because the tools they need to use have become unaffordable and development is ceasing in favour of bleeding like leaches. We all know that if you're trying to be a professional in the industry you'll be using multiple pieces of software, and as they all go to subscription the nickle-and-dime techniques make it impossible to be financially viable as a business. But worse, this same technique prevents up an coming artists from being able to afford to even start thus making the whole industry shrink, and so too does it eliminate the hobbyists (which eliminates income to the software business, people like me are cash cows... well, were).
Like many others, this announcement leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. The words of Ashley Hewson don't provide me with any sense of trust, and the over-blown optimism is foreboding. I honestly think I can understand what it's like to be the beloved dog or cat of a family who's suddenly being take to the vet to be put down. I know I seem to be focusing only on the subscription risk, but there are really only two issues that will change, purchasing and development. But they both end up going hand-in-hand in these cases, I probably don't need to say that the development too will stop.
If, though, for some reason I am completely wrong, and Affinity keeps working as they have, or dare I say improves, I will be the first to put my hands up and apologise for my assumptions and state how wrong I was. Don't hold your breath though. I think we've all seen the writing on the wall too many times with too many companies.
Ashley, enjoy your retirement. Staff of Affinity, good luck in your job search. Fellow users, best of luck in your artistic endeavours and do share alternatives. I'm happy to go back to slate and chalk or crayons... it seems that's now the only way to not get screwed over by businesses.
RIP Affinity

This is not going to end well. I just upgraded to v2 and have invested in numerus  add-ons and am now feeling regret at the money spent. All due respect but "no plans currently" doesn't mean jack. Unfortunately the marriage looks to be over and I wont be investing any more money into this software. Real shame I felt part of a community, now already feel like a customer.

A few days ago I bought V2 universal and now I wish I didn't. If you will get subscription I think your software will die. It is okay to pay for a new major Version. But if you force to pay with a subscription, you will loose your fans and customers.

We’ve all been around the block and saw what happened to PaintShopPro when Corel acquired it (and how it turned into a bloated horrible mess). I feel sad that the Affinity apps will head in the same direction. Really is a sad day. 

Oh well. It was fun whilst it lasted. As soon as you become a £100 a year subscription service (which you will), I'll just go back to Adobe.
 

I love you guys, and I have a big load of respect about you, being a big evangelist of Affinity, but I'm not having a good felling on this. Canva is not what I could name a "professional software" partner. They want to be Adobe, not an adobe alternative.
The first insinuation of subscription model will break any trust on Affinity, and for the love of the goddess, I hope Affinity apps don't become a dumpster of stupid and crappy AI and cheap design tools that Canva really is.
I've read the FAQs you published… they don't give me enough reassessment that nothing is gonna change. Your company and your project is not yours anymore.
I wish to be wrong.

The only question is whether Affinity will offer a subscription in the future? I have bought a lot of brushes for your software. Especially on the Ipad, I am not willing to pay any subscription fees. I have purchased your software twice (v1. & v2). You say there are no plans for subscriptions at this time. But just wait until the Canva bosses change their minds, because greed is a virus in upper management. RIP, Adobe Alternative. 

Hi all, I have an issue with Affinity Designer crashing when I use grids. Been using Designer for about a month and experienced the occasional crash when drawing on to isometric grid. However now I set up my grid go to draw and as soon as I click on the canvas it crashes the computer, every time now. 
Update 15/02/2020: The issue seems to triggered by hesitation when drawing on the canvas either with mouse or pen when the grid is active. If I stop moving even for a fraction of a second crash. Sometimes the computer freezes sometime it blue screens.
Update 16/02/2020: Updated the graphics drivers in the hope that they maybe the cause of the issue. Grid show on opening a new document and works and does not crash until the grids and axis manager is opened. Then it either crashes as soon as any changes are made to grid settings or as so as I try and draw on the canvas having altered grid settings. Attempting to access the grids and axis manager from the studio isometric panel also results in a crash also. Resulting crashes are programme and computer frozen or blue screen.  
Update 17/02/2020: I think I've solved the issue (figures crossed). I reinstalled Designer (which I had done several times before). This time though I deleted App Data, restarting my computer between each stage. Interesting to note that when I was having these issues the grids preset menu was empty, after the last reinstall it is populated again. Hope this is of some help to someone, sometime.

 
Anyone else have this issue or know the cause? Thanks in advance Anthony