[Affinity Photo V2 is much slower than V1 when opening raw files]

Strange because on my PC (Ryzen 3600, 16 GB RAM, Windows 10) v2 seems to start a bit faster.

Only hardware acceleration is broken - with enabled some things (brushes list etc.) load longer and there are probably some lags while drawing fast.

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

5 hours ago, erchdk said:

exe-aliases not being accessible from certain 3rd party apps (Photo Mechanic and a Huion Keypad device software)

Yeap, I thought I have no problems with aliases (used in FastStone and ImageGlass) but I've just discovered that Huion Tablet driver does not let mi to create profile for AP v2. So the msi version seem to be the only way to use v2 also for me if I purchase it...

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

Wow, even though I found a solutions (custom shortcuts and execution aliases provided by yourself) to most msix problems, that's really great news for everyone that you'll provide classic installers too!

[How many new features will be added and how long V2 will be updated?]

In four FAQ you wrote that new Affinity version are "equipped with a completely redesigned UI, hundreds of timesaving tools and a ton of brilliant new features" and that they are "next-level creative experience". 

Yes, there are some new functions (Quite interesting in AP and almost nothing in AD - for example wrapping as a "mask/filter" instead of a proper vector tool that changes base objects permanently?) but there are only a few. Hundreds? Time-saving? Well... Hundreds?

So do you have any roadmap for the development this time?
Can you guarantee a minimum support period in which updates will be released?

Don't get me wrong - while VectorPainter (it's not designing tool, it has almost no design tools) is not my story I really love AP in terms of it's price and it's relation to quality, I'm really trying to convince myself to purchase but but at this point I don't now what I'm buying. These few changes and new layer options are not crucial to myself, but in the same time I don't know how long I'll have to stick to v1 and in a month the road to cheaper upgrade will be closed for me forever (OK, I can believe that there will be another Black Week sales in the future - still, nothing certain). 

I really love you soft because it's affordable and much better than Krita for example, but this Version 2 - it really seems like anything big now after so many years of development. It's so hard to buy it...  

[V2 Installer NOT GOOD, Please go back to original, MY WORK IS CUTTING AFFINITY BECAUSE OF IT]

I don't like new installer but such posts are starts to became quite funny As a pro you're going to spend a lot more money for another tool even though Affinity was fine only because it does not install where you want even if the problems caused by that fact can be solved (OK, perhaps in your case can't be, I don't know)?

I understand complaints about features, unfixed issues, price policy etc. but it seems that installer is not such a big problem, only their introduction by Serif was poorly conducted...

[Three things you like about version 2]

New welcome screen is great too

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

Guys, I was a bit miss-informed and angry too, but it seems that App Execution Aliases works and solves integration problems.

Quote

 

MSIX hides the install location due to the sandbox, but we use App Execution Alias to enable this scenario. You can find the aliases in the following location:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\AffinityDesigner2.exe

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\AffinityPhoto2.exe

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\AffinityPublisher2.exe

Remembering to replace username with your Windows username. Also, those paths are already in your %PATH% variable so you can often launch them without even specifying the full path, e.g. just AffinityPhoto2.exe. There are bugs in some third-party applications with the App Execution Alias so I'm working on an aflaunch app that will bridge the gap here. 

 

At least for simple picture browser, I don't know what problems you have with professional software.
OK, it's still an unnecessary workaround, but at least partially works.

[affinty v2 instal]

Last point in FAQ

[install v2 parallel to v1 to use both versions]

Exactly, in Windows it uses different folders to store settings, license etc.  Both apps works separately.

[contrast in the new UI is higher, wich makes v2 more distracting]

Hmm, I didn't notice that the value fields are darker too...
Generally you're right - main headers could be darker (or IMHO even remain as they are), while sub-headers and value fields could be brighter...
However it's the most distracting in the character panel, I think that others aren't so clumsy so the color change is less problematic if you rarely edit text

On the other hand I think that slightly darker background (with slightly colder gray?) is OK, so they shouldn't spoil it while tweaking some details.

[Bring back Layer on/off checkboxes]

But difference between active and inactive state is huge... The only problem IMHO can be low contrast between inactive state and the background - that's why adding a contour to inactive dots could be helpful.

[MSI/EXE or refund?]

 You can try and check if everything works or there are still some missing functions etc  

[Bring back Layer on/off checkboxes]

Personally i really like these dots. However perhaps that's right they could have some contour in unchecked state to locate them easier. 

[contrast in the new UI is higher, wich makes v2 more distracting]

IMHO it looks almost the same except a few background bars inside some panels. The difference is really tiny especially if you make background a little bit brighter. Generally v2 seems to look a bit better (but still the difference is barely noticeable - I mean you can see it direct comparison, but you don't think about it while using new version). Perhaps these bars could be made brighter, but I'm afraid they intentionally highlighted them to separate different groups of settings.

[V2 Installer NOT GOOD, Please go back to original, MY WORK IS CUTTING AFFINITY BECAUSE OF IT]

OK, I must apologize Serif staff and admit that with my picture browsers app's execution aliases work well. I was even able to do proper Star Menu shortcut with small icon thanks to them (icons can be found in unpacked installer/perhaps in app folder too?)

But it's still unintuitive and requires some not so obvious workarounds so even if they work (but as we read not for the all apps) - I can't be happy because of their installer format choice.

[Offline activation]

12 minutes ago, Mark Ingram said:

Nope sorry, we prevent moving licences between machines for obvious reasons 🙂

Yeah, that was stupid question But is it possible on the same PC?

[Offline activation]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

And they will be able to run if you have linked a non-Affinity Store purchase to your Affinity account. (That's new, as with V1 you couldn't use a download from Serif if you purchased from Microsoft or Apple.)

But in such case license check will be made on the Serif servers?

[Offline activation]

2 hours ago, Mark Ingram said:

Related: You can activate your licence then remain completely disconnected from the internet. It’s a one-time check. 

So the license file can be copied and used for example on the new machine? Is it stored in C:\... \AppData\Local?

[No .exe, no interest]

Now - don't know why - brushes stopped to work too... So, portable app is not a solution
BTW - it theoretically uses the same .Affinity settings folder in C:\Usders\"UserName" as the installed version and theoretically shares these settings because when I renamed presets category in portable app it was renamed in installed app too. Unfortunately portable app doesn't use brushes and presets...

[Three things you like about version 2]

• Setting layer color in compact menu under RMB
• New settings window
• Copying FX parameters between layers
• Compound layers

[Offline activation]

That's true. And even if other companies do the same things (not only with graphic software but for example also MS with their Office) it would be big advantage of Serif to behave differently.

Especially that - excuse me but that's how things look like - Serif is much more likely to bankrupt one day than Adobe (which disables old version for another reason of course)

[Let's see some ideas for the Export Window! :)]

Then fde101 concept is still better than Serif solution because we don't have to expand the preset list each time we change an export format. But in such case I'd indeed make that left side list similar to the preset list in new document window. Hovewer I still don't think that adding scrollbar to icon bar is worse and I also don't think that Affinity devs want to unify all dialog windows. But the new settings window is better, that's true

[Let's see some ideas for the Export Window! :)]

6 hours ago, dominik said:

But becomes unmanagable if more export formats get added over time (as is actively requested by forum users).

What about horizontal scrollbar?  

[Possible ongoing concerted attack on Affinity 2 on these forums]

Personally I felt like I was stealing when I paid such a low price for that software back in the 2021- but the truth is that as an amateur I wouldn't pay full price (which still I consider fair) for an upgrade because it doesn't represent such a high value for me and I can't plan purchasing it in the future because I don't know whether there will be another offers or another new functions that will justify purchasing for the full price (which is still fair for the new users, it reaches the limit of affordability for amateurs, but they have to balance it if they want target their soft more towards the pro). On the other hand I'd like to support Serif because it's still extremely cheap and to be honest it's the only affordable photo editing software for such people like me.

Perhaps some would say that as an amateur I should rather use Krita nad buy some fancy AI PhotoEditor... but the price would be the same or 2-3x higher

To conclude, as you can se, dear topic author, each story is different  

[Possible ongoing concerted attack on Affinity 2 on these forums]

1 hour ago, Patrick Connor said:

This isn't what has happened. We have sent emails to everyone we could determine had bought in the past few weeks and given them the equivalent V2 for free

And that's a really cool thing. 

BTW aside of that I'd like to add one more thing - ironically I wrote somewhere on this message board a few months ago that in my opinion Serif should rise the basic price by 100% to get more money and to cut the suggestions that they don't have enough funds for further development ... but they should offer some discount for current owners.

Unfortunately there is no upgrade plan or discount, only a limited sale for everyone - as I stated above I think that's the biggest problem.

Perhaps only for amateurs - for professionals even full price for such a tool, paid only once, it's like getting it for free - but still it is a problem, especially that I had an impression that amateurs are also a target of Serif software.