Riccardo B.

Are there any active roadmap for adding WebP export?
Now all main browser support it natively, also Safari (since 14.x https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-release-notes/safari-14-release-notes ).

+1

Are there any active roadmap for adding WebP export?
Now all main browser support it natively, also Safari (since 14.x https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-release-notes/safari-14-release-notes ).

See this topic is still rather active, posted about the same thing myself.
Would definitely love to see an *.ico export feature integrated. Not sure why people assume that because the software is vector it can't be used for icons, nor why just because they are currently stored as a .dll file, doesn't mean people aren't making icons for their own use, or wanting to do things their own way.
Affinity isn't strictly commercial use only, so if there's still support for a feature despite the "industry standard" not using/requiring it, although later replies seem to suggest it may still be useful regardless, it doesn't make it not worth introducing, for end users who don't use *.ico files, it's neither here nor there, but for those who do want the feature it'd make a world of difference, especially when it comes to the previously mentioned TOS of online converters that may sneak in "reserve the right to use uploaded content for our own promotional use...etc etc etc"
 
Do hope that this is considered by the devs, unless plugins are ever introduced (only post I could find regarding plugins was from 2016 and said they didn't have plans at that stage to introduce plugin support) which would allow open source version of it.

I will follow 🙂
I agree with sisyphos And many user who are waiting for this export format.

Agreed. Webp is a unique format in that it combines both lossy image compression combined with alpha transparency. It is a great format for 2d hand-drawn game graphics, for example, for which I use the format. PNG takes up too much file space, and the art looks just fine with a lossy compression.
Jpeg wouldn't work since it does not support transparency/alpha. On a web page often a lossy compressed image with full alpha works just as nicely as that PNG version, but hugely saves on bandwidth. To reduce a PNG file in file size, colour reduction is the only option, but it can only be taken so far before it degrades the image too much.
For example, a typical asset that would be reduced to 1024 colours with alpha transparency at ~600x600px would take up around 130KB file size after running it through a PNG optimization power tool (forget saving an optimized PNG version from Affinity Photo). Saving this same asset at full colour in a lossy webp format results in 55kb. Running the 1024 colour version as a webp version shaves off even more.
And both the alpha and colour data can be independently processed in Webp, offering a lot of optimization potential.
By now all major browsers support the file format. Only Apple obstinately refuses to do so. Webp potentially saves a lot of bandwidth, and thereby a lot of energy.
By not supporting webp export, Affinity is only shooting itself in the foot.
But all is moot anyway: Affinity still to this day does not allow the user to preview what the assets look like optimized. I can't even consider Affinity for image optimization work unless that is implemented. And quality/export control over PNG is terribly limited in Affinity as well (and to be fair in most design apps), so I use Color Quantizer (a dedicated PNG optimization tool) to perform the final optimization step. It will also export Webp.
To be entirely honest, the entire export persona in Affinity is not that useful to me in its current state. But I do confess to be a complete nitpicking asset optimization nutcase! So it is probably works just fine for the average user.

Thank you for all the arguments in favor of WebP. I personally would like to point out:
Google PageSpeed Tools recommend Webp because it speeds up loading time. In my job, I can't close my eyes to this. Due to the fact that Afinity doesn't support it, I have breaks in my workflow because I have to use 3rd party tools. I didn't think I would have to deal with Gimp again. Annoying. For me privately, I also find it nicer when my image archives are considerably none with subjectively the same quality to almost 100% JPEG exports. The trend towards WebP became clear years ago. There are even smartphone foto apps that save in WebP. Dear Affinity Team. Affinity Photo is innovative in so many ways. What are you waiting for?

We use webp extensively as image resources for our Android mobile apps because it greatly reduces the apk size and thus reduces the download time of our apps. This would be a really nice feature to add.