[Affinity is joining the Canva family. RIP ?]

And just like that, uncertainty made it really difficult to continue recommending the Affinity software to friends and colleagues.

I switched from Adobe a couple of years ago. And even though it came with a few compromises, I felt happy to say farewell to their subscription-based model and a company that I didn't resonate with anymore.

Affinity felt like the perfect choice. I bought all 3 apps, even though I only needed Photo, just to show my support. It felt good to regain trust in a company with good values.

I know this was a very brief announcement from Serif, but it was enough to make me (and apparently many others) feel quite uncomfortable. Suddenly I don't know if I should start looking for alternatives right away, or wait a little bit to see if a much more comforting follow-up statement is coming that makes it 100% clear that the current Affinity spirit will continue far into the future.

The next move is Serif's/Affinity's.
I will act accordingly.

Still crossing my fingers for good things to continue.

 

[Optical Kerning]

7 hours ago, kenmcd said:

Most text fonts targeted at the "office" market have tabular lining figures as the default figures. But many of these fonts also include proportional lining figures as a OpenType feature - where the spacing on the one for example is more appropriate - and that option can be selected in the Typography panel. Some (better) fonts put a foot on the tabular lining one so it looks better optically. But in most running text the more appropriate choice is old style figures - which are proportional by default.

Better text fonts do not need optical kerning to look good.

As true as that may be, clearly we are many who find it very useful (including Adobe).
I miss it a lot. But I dislike Adobe even more, so I will remain loyal and hope for the best.

[Optical Kerning]

I love the Affinity concept and made the switch from Adobe a few months ago. I bought all three programs (but have only installed Photo so far... guess I should have waited and bought the 2.0 bundle instead).

The only thing that is a real problem for me is the lack of optical kerning.
It might appear as a small thing to some, but this really makes text designs unnecessarily time consuming. And no, it's not just poor fonts that benefit from this.

I kept going with 1.0 because I wanted to give it an honest chance. Also, I was really hoping that this basic feature would be implemented in 2.0. Unfortunately it apparently wasn't a priority. This is the only reason why I am in doubt about updating - and consider switching back to a company I don't even like. Just because I the current workflow is too slow and uninspiring.

I'm crossing my fingers that this will be included in an update very soon (Photo, Designer and Publisher).

I would love to be able to become a long time Affinity user and supporter.
So many things are great with this company.

[optical kerning?]

Unfortunately I don't see any info that optical kerning is added to Affinity Photo 2.0. A shame really, I would have updated without thinking twice about it, if it was included. Maybe I'm missing something and there's already another solution with a different name? If so, I would love to know about it. This is the only major thing I miss from my previous software. It was such a time saver. I've seen it being discussed in various forums since many years. Maybe it's really difficult to implement and that's why?

[Anchor Point]

Wonderful. There it is
Thank you very much. That was very helpful.

[Anchor Point]

I can't find a way to set a custom anchor point for scaling and rotating. This is extremely useful and something I used frequently when working in Photoshop. Maybe there's something similar in Affinity Photo (under a different name), but I can't find it.

[optical kerning?]

Switching over from Adobe because I really prefer the Affinity concept.
I got Photo, Designer and Publisher to do a full replace (and to show my support).

There's a bit to get used to, but more often than not it turns out great.

So far, I have only installed Photo (which will be my main program). Great software.

However, optical kerning is something I definitely miss. I'm actually surprised how much of a difference it really made. It's a huge time saver and it's quite annoying to spend so much extra time doing everything manually. I'm sure it might even be a deal breaker for some (I had the thought, but will remain hopeful).

Therefore, a massive +1 from me.