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You got my heartfelt 'like' for the AI comment (would have gotten the purple one if I weren't slightly disagreeing in other points). The 2.0 was a bump in the road, yep... But I reacted by helping with user workarounds (like there was no tomorrow, lol), as many other did (Walt, Alfred, etc, etc) while the devs progressively went fixing everything. Any software is at that state in the "machines room" while doing it... and if released too soon, that is what you see. Having worked at regular software companies and game studios quite intensively, I knew I was just looking at it "from inside", not something going particularly wrong, but maybe (I could be wrong) released too soon. Just that. You wouldn't imagine how some games are plagued with bugs while development. Or even office related software. But with experience being a beta tester for many apps, I did not mind it, found the workflows and tricks for my own usage and shared all what I could here, researched issues of others, specially for those who found A or B a show stopper for their needs. Helped as much as I could. But I can understand the pain. To me, even with the bumps in the road, and this "surprise", these apps are way, way worth it, compared to what it's out there, and also the style of doing things of this team (team which, for all I understood, is gonna be kept to continue the development). It is an unique combination (even rare), and it is very much worth it preserving it. And I foresee it will stay so, and better (more resources, by far). About... progress... I guess varies from field to field... 2.x , I don't know the technicalities or reasons why, but the brush engine is more fluid, in Affinity Photo. 1.x very latest and perfected/patched version is almost as fluid, and super functional, but, in my machine (and it could be a single case, yet I doubt it, for how I configure things... it's also this way in my laptop) the brush flows more fluid, better response in every 2.x version compared to the best 1.x. I'm talking painting fluidly with large brushes, large canvases (which is taxing in ANY app, I've done deep research), Adobe RGB color space files, working with 16bits/channel, and using brushes that mimic traditional media. This was not so in the past versions of 1.x (again, a lot was improved in the latest 1.x). In the old past there was even brush lag. Also, many UI improvements related to brushes library and settings, a gazillion bugs fixed in all the apps, in the following 2.x versions (2.4 runs really smooth here). I do more than painting, and I have not found a "show stopper" in my workflows, but like with any software and brand, I'm sure there always are. Adobe being on its own (speaking now about the "going back to Adobe" that you mention) is a HUGE price to pay and a situation we (imo) must not admit (except those willing to work as part of staffs, learning and heading for a specific job profile, or only having freelance market clients that require Adobe apps pipelines, formats, integration. Adobe is the industry (many industries) leader). Meaning, if Adobe is again "left alone", to eat "all the pie", that's really bad news (renting prices augmenting, random decisions way easier for them, no need to offer better deals or competing apps for certain niches, etc, etc). We need competition (it's actually great for Adobe users), even with these "bumps". I'm fluent with open source apps, and for low-mid range that should be enough, but a lot of people keeps finding difficult certain UIs . In reality, a lot of that is the bad image from the past, more than recent versions' reality, but difficult to fight against that concept. So, Affinity is a need, with Canva or with whatever behind it. Plus, I believe people are seeing things way to much one-sided. It's not like I don't see the bad sides, but to me, only AI is the real bad one, but artists are alone in this (people are getting nervous with AI in other profiles, like coders, but imo they shouldn't... yet) and it's an unavoidable tech (although there's over hype, too, for increasing VC funding), which as you say, can only be kept under control by regulation (I'm hopeful that it will). But the other reasons, which most people are worried about (subscriptions, continued development, etc), I am seeing more and more that these should be less of a concern, some aspects are not given the same weight as the negative possibilities, is what I am finding. BTW, not trying to demonize Adobe. I love its apps. Photoshop for me is more natural than my tooth brush, but a monopolistic situation has been detrimental for all of us (including Adobe users), IMO, as tends to be with consumers, we need competition. This is not the easy path, the easy one is Adobe, one must have it clear (you can't have it all...). But I am not that convinced that (for a freelancer/independent business, again, not for a career in the industry) sticking with the "giant" is necessarily the safest route... as indeed, I have friends that saw how sticking with Adobe "no matter what", ended having to close an entire small business line with Muse (specially as many of those chose that business line because they can't do web code, any programming at all, but their service was making websites with Muse) , Fireworks, Freehand, etc, all similar stories. Microsoft has done that a lot, too (acquired many software studios). These people (The A-team ) have a different style and different model than Adobe or MS. Not only Affinity team (I'm not saying "Serif", you know what I mean), as IMO, while with a very different motto, it is also in Canva's main interest to push up Affinity apps, not the opposite, from what we are seeing that seems to be the big market motivations. I can easily see that they want to grab a bigger chunk of Adobe's market, but "just that". I think they are smart enough to know that in higher tiers Adobe will keep undisputed (but the casuals (and now aiming for a middle ground too, with Affinity) are a huge market... mainstream always is very big). Even that very sole reason is reassuring, which, BTW, is very materialistic itself (for the realism lovers ), just markets stuff, and quite an argument to realize that the outcome of a more powerful Affinity suite is more than probable, beyond of course being ensured its permanence.

Thank you very much for all the accurate information. It is indeed quite a positive aspect of the whole thing. As you say, at least one concern less to have. ( and I deeply apologize for the mistake with "Sydney"... I just edited it... In that case I can't put the blame on my broken English )

Thank you (Alfred)

I'm curious... One of our Australian forum members, MikeV, discards this possibility, due to Canva's HQ happening to be in Sydney, Australia, and how Australian regulators are tending to deal with this sort of thing there : " Adobe takeover One of the concerns raised in this thread is the potential for Adobe to buy Canva – given the mood and direction of Australian competition regulators I think this is so unlikely that it does not figure in my calculations. " After what has happened with Figma (Adobe tried to acquire it recently), apparently this is not such an automatic thing to expect, these days. There are some articles about it : https://www.afr.com/technology/no-one-can-buy-canva-now-other-start-ups-beware-20231220-p5esr8 Edit: Ouch, sorry. It seems that article is partially behind a paywall... I could read it completely, but it seems for some reason it only shows up full when searching some stuff in Google, not accessing it directly... (I am not familiar with that site, BTW). But one of the key points of it is that Australian companies have it pretty hard to do such operation now, due to regulation (what MikeV described). What I am finding more in Google goes more in the lines of several sources expecting more of a competition from Canva against Adobe, grabbing more market from Adobe in the low, to low-mid end. Obviously Adobe will keep non challenged in the very high end, not just as its apps are immensely more advanced and professional, but -almost more important- because many industries (not only the game and film industries) have their pipelines, workflows, custom solutions, trained teams, tightly tied to Adobe. But a huge pie of the market is the low end (175 millions of users in Canva is no small thing) and part of a bit higher tier. Even more the case when our skills are less and less needed (and I can't understand why people don't realize that this is the biggest danger for artists, designers, photographers, etc, but not just from Canva, but any apps with full AI art and design generation, like MidJourney , Dall-E, etc), so, the low end users can finally do a lot of work without our services (in Canva, and similar solutions), and then, the "pie" that canva can grab is significantly bigger than what it was the potential Canva's user base before. WAY more the case if they start implementing Affinity's tech inside Canva solutions (to an extent... I don't see a lot of their user base getting super technical! It's not that profile), and also keeping the branch of Affinity's standalone suite. As in, I think it aspires to way more than the social media graphics and fast stuff for marketing people and small business owners saving bucks on designers and artists that it was its market till now. This challenges a large chunk of Adobe's user base. And from what I am digging out there, it seems I was not the only one suspecting that Canva's thing is not to be bought, but to compete with the giant, as at this point, well, it's a giant itself and it has a lot to win. I am not saying this to challenge your opinion. I am genuinely curious about all this matter, and I might be wrong, as I'm just barely reading about these things now, pretty ignorant in finances stuff, and English is not my first language, but seems to be there quite a bunch of articles supporting this theory and right now I am not finding anything suggesting the possibility of an Adobe--> Canva buyout. But who knows.

Philosophical theories apart, there's clearly a good chance for the future of Affinity and its users of being bright, more than before, now with a strong company behind it. And from what MikeV told us, it seems to be a better actor than those that tend to make these big operations, and also from what he explained, the possibility of an Adobe buyout is unlikely due to Australian regulation (as was said in the initial video, Canva is an Australian company, HQ in Sydney, if I'm not wrong). Yet so, it doesn't harm to be training in other tools as well (I might have like 40 tools graphics related installed, lol), it will expand everyone's knowledge, and for some, it would probably cure their anxiety. I understand that those not being solo freelancers (hello), neither hobbyists, but having the responsibility of a full organization (even if it is only a few workers) have quite less margin, more compromises and responsibilities, and so, more reasons to be anxious. But till some extent they might be able to apply a bit of this, hopefully. Anyway, I've got a good feeling about the whole thing.

I got it in that sense (even with the difficulties of a Spaniard always "thinking in Spanish"), and even so, in my experience, things often work better hoping for the best, in practically every matter. In my opinion, it's so much better for "building" stuff (and in personal relations, and etc). This does not mean being naive, or not taking certain measures (like, also counting on other tools, a flexible plan in that sort of thing also helps in learning much better the general concepts (2D, 3D, design... ), IMO). But even so, making your mind too much towards a negative outcome, affects one's perception, and finally, one's actions. But ok, this is more philosophical than anything... a bit off topic.

I very much understand what you mean, and it's true for many situations... but... (and this is personal for each individual) if I focus on the latter, it becomes very difficult to keep doing the former.

Well... I already said I was optimist about this (a bit after being shocked at a first moment, just by giving it a second read and a second video watch), many, many pages ago. There are like 15 pages or more that I have not been able to read (yet.. And I thought I was THE compulsive writer, here, all these years ). But after the latest post from Ash (7 hours ago) in this thread, I have no doubts. Zero. This is really a very good thing for Affinity and its users. I had my doubts due to the initial wording, before the pledge (but a lot of that can be due to my language barrier! ) of the initial announcement, but now it has been very clearly explained. And it being other way... it wouldn't really make sense in relation to a bunch of aspects. He's being sincere and now I don't have a single doubt that 3.x and beyond will be offered as perpetual licenses (while at the same time being there a subscription option, just like I mentioned it happens, and successfully, with years to prove it, with Celsys' Clip Studio and Corel's suite) for whoever prefer the subscription flavor, which I guess there won't be many around here, for the nature and origin of this community, me included. But a portion will, from what I have read from people in threads during the years (even if that's a minority). Not only that, I also believe it is also true that they will be able to develop with quite less pressure, this resulting in good quality code, and therefor, user experience. Bright future to come. These three apps have allowed me to get very functional workflows and high quality work, in several fields. And for those still thinking about fleeing... the grass not only ain't greener out there, as, being the "compulsive software collector" that I am, I always keep an eye... "out there" it looks pretty bad, lol (with the exception of FOSS, open source software, which I have always loved, deeply). I'm eager to check the new improvements to come in 2.x. Eager but not in a hurry! I absolutely love 2.4, which allows me not only to do anything DTP, game and illustration related, but also at this point it is a remarkable pleasure to digital paint with Affinity Photo, the brush engine and system performing great, with the overall functionality and flexibility in image editing that I had years ago in Photoshop, but with an UI and UX that I prefer, despite having used PS for decades and knowing it upside down. And Designer is a joy for anything vectors related, for any flavor of graphic design. I use Publisher less just because I get fewer gigs (and I'm way less experienced in publishing tasks), that's just due to my circumstances; but I love that app, too. I hope many of you will stay. I think it's very much worth it.

Old thread, but in case you still have the problem. Do you have Open CL hardware acceleration selected.... It makes a great difference having it disabled. Even with a 3060, if I leave it on, it will lag. Also, it works better for me to NOT use 'Windows Ink' setting in preferences/tools, but instead, "high precision", and also disable in your Wacom (or other brand) panel (outside Affinity, on Windows) , in the profile you created there for Affinity (whichever the app, this works the same for the 3) , specifically in the "proyection" tab (in Wacom's), where it might be checked "Windows Ink". The brush typically goes more fluid for me by doing so, and more importantly, the software is more stable and with no glitches, once I disable that. YMMV, as this issue that's not happen in every system, but it's a good measure to try. The Open CL acceleration is IMO better turned off in most cases. Fast note: I was able to get fluid painting with just a dirty cheap nvidia 1650. the key is that AMD GPUs don't play well with Affinity, and is not Affinity's fault, but bugs on the AMD's drivers, as has been discovered. My advice is to use though a 3060. They are kind of cheap now, and in my 3900X (becoming old, now.. single CPU scores are much higher with just a Ryzen 5600) with a nvidia 3060 provides me with absolutely fluid painting, even with large and complex (oil, etc) brushes in Affinity Photo. Some settings in the brush can slow it down (this is not unique of Affinity, but very noticeable) a lot. Like... careful with the"spacing" value. The bigger the value, the faster. But careful not to be it so much that you start seeing the dotted line or patter repeating strokes. Certain dynamics in the brush tab for that might affect, too. Playing with that is how you can achieve ultra fast brush painting, provided you first took care of what I mentioned above. I paint with no lag in Adobe RGB color space (wider gamut), 16bits/channel (as gives better gradients, better transitions, but it is taxing for a mid range machine like a Surface Pro really is -compromise for being portable and everything-). Many apps are using GPU these days for the brush. So many... Photoshop, since a while, is almost useless without a 2GB VRAM video card and with certain benchmark, below that you are painting with lag. PaintTool Sai (extreme performance with large canvases and large brushes, best in that) and ClipStudio use the CPU for almost everything. That's the difference you notice, as the Surface Pro doesn't have a real GPU. Corel Painter and PaintStorm Studio use very heavily the GPU. Corel Painter even makes you run a benchmark just first time you run the program, to let you know if you are going to able to paint or not, depending on your hardware... But I think you can try all that and get fluid painting in The 2.x Affinity apps.

I have no issues with "AI" features (content aware stuff, filters, etc). Only with full illustration generation from scrapping art all over internet (without permission to use it to build the tools). Not really excited about such features, anyway, as it's usually a loss of control while a lot of that is better made with good techniques, and these AI features also so often make people skip achieving the best skills, but that's just an opinion.

My latest messages of yesterday had a drastic turn (not that I saw it so negatively as a few did, at least not so much, but I initially thought that it was not looking good), before these statements and important clarifications being published. This confirms that bit of light I saw yesterday, finally. That after a first negative impression, I started realizing that this is not what we have seen happening to other companies (as many as I have seen fall). Meaning, I quite started seeing that the communication was made in good faith (at least the part that comes from Affinity team), and that the good plans for the future are honest and real (call it intuition, but I think he was sincere). Yes, this needs a leap of faith, or call it "trust", if you prefer, but I am convinced that they have gained this trust, with all what they have accomplished to this point (with whatever the bumps in the road, as they were always a small company). One way or the other, they have provided us with a fabulous suite, and I have personally been able to do professional work with it for years, like many of you have, too. And others have been able to practice their loved hobby, with very powerful, easy to handle, flexible tools and an amazing UI. BTW, Canva has mostly its market in very casual users, much more than Affinity's (professionals and advanced hobbyists), in the large numbers. We're talking about two quite differentiated user targets, different markets. One of the reasons (but not the main one) why I think it does not make sense for any company to stop the Affinity line. I bet the user base (future consumers of next perpetual license upgrades!) is pretty large at this moment. And its name is strong in many reviews, publications, tutorials, courses, etc. And knowing how this mass of people got here fleeing from the subscriptions, it only makes sense that also perpetual license (as an option) is here to stay. Corel and Celsys (Clip Studio developer) understood that, and they kept both the product line and the type of license (as an option). The "optional" thing is pretty smart. Why lose those sells? As the number of people disliking subscriptions is pretty large. Companies can have both. I am convinced Affinity is not going anywhere, as in, not stopping being updated, neither becoming "subscription-only". As I mentioned yesterday, this is what Clipstudio made, and like a week ago or so I updated to 3.0. Despite everyone and their dog saying it'd become full subscription, back in the day, with CSP 2.0 release, when things changed there, too. And as I also mentioned, this also has kept happening with Substance 3D Painter (even now being Adobe's) on Steam. Corel does this since a very long time, although their perpetual license of the Corel Draw suite is many times more expensive than Affinty's suite (and I would argue that Photo-Paint (or even PSP) is way below in the feature set (and UI) compared to Affinity Photo). But they have kept that for many years, now. And this team (Affinity team) and company has proved to be ethical, in many of their actions (during the covid, with constant help for designers and artists, etc). So, I believe all people liking the Affinity tools should stick around, this is here to stay, and improve (a lot). I firmly believe it. [ I for one keep having the huge issue with Canva having a generative AI tool (full illustration generation from scrapped artwork. I'd be totally fine with just AI features), among other more standard functionalities and the heaps of stock art (that's fine, IMO... artists were paid to provide with those! ), it has the equivalent to a "Midjourney" or "Dall-e" inside of it: The only ONE reason why I might leave here (yet to decide it, though). If so, was good to know all of you, people. My one remaining issue is that aspect of Canva (but "it is what it is", that can't change), due to principles, as an artist, not with the Affinity team. Neither with their plans about Affinity; I think they are being sincere ]. I hope people stay, or a big portion at least, and you all keep doing work with these great tools and helping (I promoted Affinity for years, everywhere , and helped here all I could with the 2.0 bumps in the road) a true professionals and advanced hobbyists alternative to "the cloud". There are times when personal commitment is more important than a cold contract, in my opinion. That and all what they have provided with for many years. My 2c.

@nezumi Very solid points (even more than the previous). It's super late here and my energy is depleted 😁, so, pardon for being somewhat brief. Yep! from Spain! . Traditional painter (where it all started) and with so many other suits.... (but it comes also due to being on earth a bit more than half a century, heh...and having way too much curiosity) Yep, I saw many folks (some friends, even) already switching careers (some that ONLY have painted, their entire existence, they can't code to save their lives, so, I neither see the point...). I switch constantly, almost with every gig, since always. But not going to stop digital painting, ever, and even less the case with traditional painting and drawing. It's about passion. To stay a bit more on topic (sorry, it's my bad): Here's me hoping (and even believing) that it all go well, and we'll keep having Affinity with a perpetual license model (as an option; for sure there will be also a subscription model...it's Canva) for a very long time. I might be a dumb optimist (I am, in general), but, despite the first impression, I now suspect things will go that way. The user base is too large, now, and too tied to the perpetual license concept, and they'd move on (to open source or other apps), otherwise. Even if nothing has been firmly assured for 3.x versions and beyond. Really, the part which I most dislike is the collaboration with a software and company which main thing in the late months has been its illustration AI "generation" tool (while I agree with you that the current "AI" -whatever the brand- is pretty dumb). I might move to doing art with other tools, but for that reason (matter of principles), not for the other reasons mentioned in this thread. For most Affinity users, though, I think all will keep the same, even better, as I do believe that the Affinity apps are going to improve faster, now. Reading more between the lines, and noticing some extra details do make me think like this, now. But we'll see! [ And more important than anything, I really hope your kid is doing well, now. In any case, I believe we all should go to therapy at some point, even being perfectly fine. I've yet to go once (my generation is like you described yours, yep...). ]

Agreed in everything, so, not much to discuss Although, I am afraid that a lot of younger artists (reading gazillions of posts and comments everywhere about AI and art) are feeling a lot of struggle (I was not expecting so much impact in their mood, honestly), not having certain "psychological defenses" and experience (both of which come with age) to avoid 'panicking', and I can't really tell them much to change their mood. And, crazy as it sounds, I have found some in severe depression due to this (or so they say...but some things are clear symptoms) ... I can say some inspiring words, but in those cases I tell them to go to therapy, ASAP. As, obviously, they have additional problems. Even having to learn an entire new job profile and in a drastically different field (I've done it so many times already, lol) ...even in such context, that should never happen, not solely for that reason, at least. But definitely, the whole situation doesn't help. BTW, I see it more complicated that AI would replace graphic designers (and developers). We've been always using tools to apply our composition, color and etc (serving to function, all that puzzle) in the most productive and smartest way, yet keeping a coherence and style; this seems like another iteration. But illustration (honestly, I identify more with this field even if I have worked a lot more as a designer at companies) would be more wrecked. I've seen several writers -even some that dealt with me in the past- that are now generating their book cover illustrations "for free". Less so with interior pages illustrations, as for now, iterations with a same character, many poses, really varied yet keeping the character through all the story, adding subtle personality details... (heck, even a same environment/building in different angles) this is a bit of a struggle yet with AI (for now). Mostly due to the seed mechanism and that it can't really "understand" what it is doing (again, for now. With AGI, we'd see). That and copyright/regulation/etc. But I am seeing already a percentage of "replacement". It's never going to be a 100%, I agree on that. And all that of "people need people", etc. But I am seeing already a lot of newbies and pros moving to other job fields. Through the years, I've always been "switching". From doing 3D, illustration, game art (and in there, everything from pixel art, to low pol to sculpting, UI art...), web design, graphic design, teaching or web coding. Depending on opportunities (long ago, but I've even worked in tech support, lol), or on if the thing dries up a bit in this or that, or etc. So it's not a drastic change. But... in artwork the things are more severe. In digital painting, as... traditional is even stronger, now! Time to go back to my oils 😅. I will check that new tool now. Surprisingly, I had not even heard about it. I use Substance 3D Painter less now, as I have been focusing mostly on 2D. 3D for game miniatures, 3D printed, if anything (isolated gigs that don't require texturing). Looking at that site right now, it looks interesting. Specially for those producing an indy game (or for triple A studios), as it seems to focus a lot in automation, procedural stuff... and with the number of assets even an indie game needs today, it looks convenient.

Sorry for going slightly off topic (my first post about this), but a bit about the recent move from Adobe, towards making "easy tools for graphics" for everyone and their dog (being or not necessarily their first entry), for people without (or almost) skills, and competing with Canva by doing so... would that be tied with the AI eruption? I mean.. these users now can generate "art" that takes decades to master (anatomy, perspective, composition, color theory) with a text prompt (indeed, they can, in Canva ). They just need a tool to place it somehow (actually the design part, but super simplified and with tons of automatic help), put some nice text around it and then everyone can start devouring the designers and artists' market, for a side income besides their whatever job. And so, there goes the major part of the average freelance artists and designers market. Of course, for higher end work, you still need a "curator", an artist, graphic designer or photographer with the actual skills (but only one, for the work of many, before), and for very high end work, AI is discarded (copyright issues, artifacts, bad reputation, the need of a human behind the work; a creator, for connection, etc). The ugliest part of it is that new and even relatively advanced artists and designers first have to survive in that market before going for higher end clients. This is a much bigger problem than subscriptions, IMO. It would make sense financially (not talking about ethics), as typically the mainstream, the casuals, make a much larger market. Just wondering about the issues very globally. As in... if would actually design and art software for professionals or advanced hobbyists still be a business as it was before (or if at all), with AI, in the very next future. In that scenario, operations like this make sense (not saying that I like it!). But who knows. Clip Studio has kept a permanent purchase version (I'm fine with it, even without the updates. 3.0 is lovely) after going for subscription models, as also Substance painter did (although a bit hidden, on Steam) after Adobe acquired the company. I have it too, and it keeps working well.

Sorry! I got it messed up with other user that indeed has a CAD channel in Youtube. (I was checking several works in the art gallery) Yep, the conversions CMYK- RGB or sRGB <-> Adobe RGB can degrade color pretty badly... It happened to me in the past with a commercial project, it was painful (but it was a mistake made at the print company, they made a bad conversion). And I only was able to realize when I received the product, months later.... :/. Luckily, most people did not notice.

Nice work. About the uploading issue (color quality loss?), to both Pinterest and here... Maybe I am saying something super obvious that you already considered, but just in case: When I work with wide gamut, like in Adobe RGB color space, as many browsers are still limited to sRGB (color space which often doesn't have certain intense colors for certain neon lights, etc), they display the uploaded image poorly. What I do is I carefully convert the "flattened" image to sRGB (leaving an intact (Affinity file) master in Adobe RGB, of course), as this typically does its best to preserve a bit of the color richness (there's loss, of course, but better handled), or a "not too bad solution". I mean, it ends better than if leaving it to a browser or external app to compensate or convert/assign. Surely you already did this, though. PNG does not carry color profile info, but with the previous (to export) conversion, the color range is anyway limited, so I guess it is fine if you convert first to sRGB in the Affinity app, and then export as PNG. Surely also if setting the sRGB profile at export time...but I like to control it, sometimes even edit it a bit once as sRGB, to fix a bit some areas. Solely for a web export, of course. In a similar way than I do sometimes for work that in the final export has to be CMYK, when it is not typical graphic design for corporate image or etc. I mean, doing the conversion at the end, and so ensuring how it will look in the target screens or whatever media. Again, apologies if the problem is another, or much more complex than just this. Ehm... disregard the advice... I saw in your youtube channel that you are or have been a CAD freelancing professional. The issue must be a different one. :).

I replied to you in the other thread (I think it's related). I might be wrong with my "theories", though. Edit: And I also agree with what Walt says. But I am not very savvy about how it really works, internally.

But... why the need of rasterizing so often? Usually it its better to keep working without doing it even once (Affinity treats things like Photoshop's Smart Objects, but it lets you work with a bit more flexibility than PS), specially if you are going to do many layer transforms, rotates, etc. I would rasterize if I am only going to solely paint with a brush for the rest of the project... and even so... I might not have a need to rasterize. Indeed, I mostly rasterize as a fast way to flatten a complex group of layers...if anything. The video has quite some compression (the menu options can't almost be read), so, it is difficult to see if there's clearly less resolution or not... but one old problem (I would recommend you to work with the latest 2.4 of all Affinity apps, indeed... they are very solid now, and much better, in my opinion, than 1.x) is that the internal engine does a lot of "viewing" optimization, to allow you to work fast. For a painter, this is not always an advantage, so, if you want to really be sure about if resolution is lost, or if some blur is happening, but all happening "virtually" (not in the real pixels that get saved to disk), to check that I would do an export to a TIFF, PSD or PNG, with resampling on and with a good method: Lanczos 3 separable or non separable. One is a bit too sharp, and the other method is a bit too soft... so, depends on your type of project (I tend to prefer the soft, and then do my own sharpening externally), to chose one or another. Then look at the exported files in an external viewer like Irfanview or XnView (both have free versions), as those don't have a view optimization engine... but disabling (at least in Irfanview) "resampling" in zooming and fit (top menu, under View/Display Options) as that can be doing a similar thing, maybe not convenient if you want to see the pure pixels. For line work, line art, though, like that shown in the video, I would recommend you to a) work in vectors (Affinity Designer), which eliminates this issue or, b) if like me you prefer Photo for drawing and painting, then for line art like this you might want to work at very high resolution (much higher than in the video), and then reduce the size only when needing a final export. This would let you work without any worries about blur or detail lost. Provided you make all transforms and everything while at high resolution, the reduction being only the previous step to export the final thing. And even so, I'd keep my rule (had it with Photoshop, also) of doing the fewer operations possible that would degrade the image quality. Llike multiple scaling, etc, specially AFTER rasterizing. Indeed, the multiple, constant scaling, rotation and etc in Affinity can be lossless in a way , due to how Affinity treats it as a smart object, but... I might be wrong.. the moment you rasterize, you are doing it the "photoshop way" (when it is not a smart object). Then it stops being a lossless procedure. And just like with any "lossy" operation, you are degrading the image quality each time. So, do not constantly hit the rasterize button (in my opinion). Keep it for only a really needed operation (which is in rare occasions). And I might be wrong, but what Tomasso is saying sounds very accurate to me. Having forced pixel align on also allowed me to see better "the pixel". When you then move layers, the movement is slightly different, but perfectly fine for this use case, IMO. If I am totally wrong, anyone, please do jump in...

Nice that the trick worked for you, too

So... It happens when you drag the color picker tool, or when you double click on the color circle that is besides the tiny color picker in that right panel ? Sorry if I am too dense, today. It used to crash for me when having Windows (not the affinity app) at a 110% scaling (in Windows Settings --> Screen ), solved by setting a different scaling. But never when dragging the color picker, or using the color picker (the eyedropper tool) itself. Indeed, is the first report I hear about crashing for using it (but a lot that had the crash I had by double clicking the color circle).

Very nice illustrations. And a lot of work! Edit: Also, I have visited your link, and while these shown here remind me a lot the Bosch's detailed art pieces... the internal pages (hey, you show all the book there! Isn't that a bit risky? or maybe I am too cautious in those cases) are absolutely gorgeous, I like them even more. Edit: ...Or maybe it's not all the book (I believe there are no 96 pages loading there) , but a really generous preview, nonetheless! Edit : Also, I have never written a book (only short comics) but I have made (illustration and design) book covers for authors that published on Amazon, and "Amazon KDP" help pages are OK-ish in detailing how you need to prepare the cover for them, in what is all the specs. They could have gone in more detail, and some choices in such specs are a bit strange (for printing) but quite fine, though. No idea about what site has more traffic or sells potential, if Amazon or Ingram Spark. In writers' forums I've often read that it is Amazon (due to its massive traffic in general), but I don't know if that is really so. That's the one aspect I'd like to know more about.

I believe it is enough to have done it with one Affinity app and show it here. I mean, it's not a requirement to do further...

I have made now a test setting the two windows (chrome web browser and Affinity Designer) in mosaic mode, side to side, with a text frame with a bunch of text. Even losing the focus by clicking on the browser, no blur happens on the Affinity Designer's text. Indeed, it works great also with Retina rendering: Auto. I have tested that the other two modes work as well without producing text blur. Still, in your case I'd do the test setting "high quality", just in case. I am using 2.0.3 yet, haven't done the update to 2.0.4. But for this matter it's surely the same. Also, I don't notice any slowing down/lag in typing in a text frame in Designer, even with a bunch of text in it (and I have gazillions of fonts in my system). My guess/bet would be the card's graphic driver. You are using a 1060... This is very old.. Are you forced to use a very old driver version for some other stuff to work well ? An old driver could be the culprit... (again, even if everything else on the planet works well in your machine; Affinity is kindda picky...But this aspect made me discover some stuff that wasn't as correct as I thought, in my system. So, there's that, too).

Some people having graphic glitches have solved the problems by fully uninstalling the nvidia drivers using a free tool (the link is in some forum post here) as in some cases the simple uninstall is not clean, and the installing the newest drivers (I use the nVidia "Studio" version), as sometimes is an issue with the graphic driver.

I have a laptop with those specs (the one in my signature), and Affinity seems to work very fast in it. In the matter of disk, any SSD will be fast in a DTP app (Indeed, I work fast saving in HDDs yet, no problems). Yep, I never thought your case would be due to hardware (a 5950X (the most efficient (frame per watt, not render speed) PC CPU for rendering, including the new 7000s) with 128GB RAM should find barriers in nothing), there's a lot of people around working (with Affinity) with even laptops with APUs and iGPUs, no discrete cards, 16GB RAM, even being low consume "U" CPUs, yet they don't have the typing issue. There's something going on there, but it's surely software/config or the like. That yep, it happens more with Affinity than other apps. I don't have any issues now, but I have needed to heavily cure (not meaning that I should have...) my system to reach this point. I know some fonts give problems (did happen to other ppl too, in the forum and they also solved it so), not necessarily being a complex/fancy font. But it can also be issues with the .NET libraries (.NET version installed on the system), or some other system files, etc. That is only a part of the reasons why I recommended trying it on another system, be it a laptop or a more vanilla PC. As it is a way to determine that there's something in that system that is not playing well with Affinity (even if every other app on earth gives no problems at all).