000

I'll be straight with this. I've been too many years in the creative media to hear this and not feel alarmed. Using a product means that we build our pipeline and our archival with projects based on proprietary formats, which then become useless (or very expensive in time to convert) if we need to switch to another toolset. The affinity platform uses a closed proprietary format, so the amount of licenses sold is already definining this power of holding clients that Canva might have seen as a prospective market to tap into. Apart from the nice words about how we all want to make a better world, your products are still tools that are used in production and this is important to have in mind.
My fear is that Canva will try to sneak in subscriptions one way or another and this seems to be the case if you read between the lines of the four pledges email that we got recently.
I don't want the pricing model to change. If AI features are introduced, they should not be part of a subscription cloud service, but offered to run on my computer as part of the perpetual license model like they do in DaVinci Resolve.
The fifth pledge that I would like to see is: "Affinity will always run on your desktop. We will never make this a SaaS platform by introducing AI or other cloud services in the desktop editor." If you need to run something heavy on processing then you should offer a cloud SaaS solution but also leave the option for any users that want to run the same tools using their own computer power. DaVinci Resolve does that. Adobe doesn't, and this is why I don't use their tools.
Other than that, I really wish that this is a good choice for Serif and that the future will be bright for them and for us using their platform. If not, alternatives will always be there in a free market and I can keep my current version forever or until it's not compatible with my OS anymore.

Good first use case for AI 🙂

Any time marketing-speak like "empower everyone", "vast range of templates", "anyone can take an idea and create something beautiful" and such gets thrown around, run the other way. It's just code for, "we're dumbing down the product". Anything worth using is worth learning. I'm not advocating needless complexity but, e.g., you can't write an operating system with batch files (to reference another area).

...and usually free versions aren't worth using. You have to pay anyway. As someone already pointed out, TANSTAAFL. That's one of the big points here -- Affinity is at serious risk of being dumbed down for general consumption, rather than being enhanced for professional (level) usage. There are plenty of free tools already.
But despite the damage control follow-up announcement, I'll believe it when I see it. That's just SOP during takeovers -- Promise nothing will change, then pull the rug out. I hope I'm wrong, but Serif's trust level right now is near absolute zero.

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".

This is just Ashleys damage control over yesterday show that was a mess..
And, don't be too optimistic - can't see any benefits of this in the future...

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".

Another "Joined Yesterday" club member. 😁

Yea its funny a hell. I am happy 99% of people here aren't as dumb to believe in a "happy" Canva family future they are leading us to.

The difference is its Canva. Its a soulless corporation for amateurs designers moms to make some medias. Its not Serif anymore, we all trusted before. If Serif said they need money most people will buy suit again, or even except the subscription for reasonable price, like $9.99 USD/month easily.

Everyone knew Adobe only bought Macromedia for two reasons.. 1) to acquire Dreamweaver and Fireworks (they didn't have a competing product), and 2) to kill off the rest of the competing product lines.

Of course Serif was in business to make a profit but they had....affinity(ok bad pun) with their users. The investment people behind canva couldn't care less about users of Serif programs. And talk about macromedia I mean as a company who once had great products but eventually faded out. The macromedia users were not at all happy when they were aquired.

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".

Considering how many “funds” Canva has “raised” in the past few years and how many venture capital campanies are involved, I have a VERY bad feeling about this.
The forced marketing speech (“joining the family”, yeah, sure) in the announcement doesn’t halp.
I guess that it’s probably a good way for all Serif employees to get a nice retirement in 3 to 5 years, but it’s a buckshot in the face for me as a happy user and supporter of an independent company that makes professional software I use every day.

I've seen this happening a few times before with other software companies and have already started looking for alternatives to Publisher. Not going to switch immediately, but based on experience I know it's time to start evaluating other software as V2 is probably going to be last I have bought.
Unfortunately, me switching software won't change anything: Everyone who currently works at Serif will have their retirement secured (congrats by the way, you deserve it!) and considering how many users Canva has, it doesn't make a difference to them if a few Affinity users jump ship.
I'm only sad to see another company I really used to like and trust (trust that has been completely obliterated with just three simple lines of marketing hogwash) "go to the money". Surely it makes perfect sense financially, but morally and ethically it is just. not. OK.
This is, however sad it may be, the world we live in and the world mankind has created for themselves. It's not about happy trusting users anymore, not about having a nice niche, but only about engagement, growth at all cost and a number at the bottom of the spreadsheet.
To be honest: If I had the choice to cater to175 million non-pro users and buy my private island in the carribean or to cater to 3 million pro users who's trust I have, I don't know what I would do. I get the decision, but don't like it. At all.
Gonna have a beer now, see what other software is available and probably delete my forum user account. Because ... well ... it's done. Serif has lost me as a "friend" and created a "faceless customer" that isn't loyal anymore but will vote with their wallet and go away as soon as things change too much in the wrong direction.

Considering how many “funds” Canva has “raised” in the past few years and how many venture capital campanies are involved, I have a VERY bad feeling about this.
The forced marketing speech (“joining the family”, yeah, sure) in the announcement doesn’t halp.
I guess that it’s probably a good way for all Serif employees to get a nice retirement in 3 to 5 years, but it’s a buckshot in the face for me as a happy user and supporter of an independent company that makes professional software I use every day.

Considering how many “funds” Canva has “raised” in the past few years and how many venture capital campanies are involved, I have a VERY bad feeling about this.
The forced marketing speech (“joining the family”, yeah, sure) in the announcement doesn’t halp.
I guess that it’s probably a good way for all Serif employees to get a nice retirement in 3 to 5 years, but it’s a buckshot in the face for me as a happy user and supporter of an independent company that makes professional software I use every day.

Considering how many “funds” Canva has “raised” in the past few years and how many venture capital campanies are involved, I have a VERY bad feeling about this.
The forced marketing speech (“joining the family”, yeah, sure) in the announcement doesn’t halp.
I guess that it’s probably a good way for all Serif employees to get a nice retirement in 3 to 5 years, but it’s a buckshot in the face for me as a happy user and supporter of an independent company that makes professional software I use every day.

Considering how many “funds” Canva has “raised” in the past few years and how many venture capital campanies are involved, I have a VERY bad feeling about this.
The forced marketing speech (“joining the family”, yeah, sure) in the announcement doesn’t halp.
I guess that it’s probably a good way for all Serif employees to get a nice retirement in 3 to 5 years, but it’s a buckshot in the face for me as a happy user and supporter of an independent company that makes professional software I use every day.

I've seen this happening a few times before with other software companies and have already started looking for alternatives to Publisher. Not going to switch immediately, but based on experience I know it's time to start evaluating other software as V2 is probably going to be last I have bought.
Unfortunately, me switching software won't change anything: Everyone who currently works at Serif will have their retirement secured (congrats by the way, you deserve it!) and considering how many users Canva has, it doesn't make a difference to them if a few Affinity users jump ship.
I'm only sad to see another company I really used to like and trust (trust that has been completely obliterated with just three simple lines of marketing hogwash) "go to the money". Surely it makes perfect sense financially, but morally and ethically it is just. not. OK.
This is, however sad it may be, the world we live in and the world mankind has created for themselves. It's not about happy trusting users anymore, not about having a nice niche, but only about engagement, growth at all cost and a number at the bottom of the spreadsheet.
To be honest: If I had the choice to cater to175 million non-pro users and buy my private island in the carribean or to cater to 3 million pro users who's trust I have, I don't know what I would do. I get the decision, but don't like it. At all.
Gonna have a beer now, see what other software is available and probably delete my forum user account. Because ... well ... it's done. Serif has lost me as a "friend" and created a "faceless customer" that isn't loyal anymore but will vote with their wallet and go away as soon as things change too much in the wrong direction.

Considering how many “funds” Canva has “raised” in the past few years and how many venture capital campanies are involved, I have a VERY bad feeling about this.
The forced marketing speech (“joining the family”, yeah, sure) in the announcement doesn’t halp.
I guess that it’s probably a good way for all Serif employees to get a nice retirement in 3 to 5 years, but it’s a buckshot in the face for me as a happy user and supporter of an independent company that makes professional software I use every day.

I know it's not of much use, but why don't we all change our profile picture to the "angry cat" emoji to show how we feel?

Considering how many “funds” Canva has “raised” in the past few years and how many venture capital campanies are involved, I have a VERY bad feeling about this.
The forced marketing speech (“joining the family”, yeah, sure) in the announcement doesn’t halp.
I guess that it’s probably a good way for all Serif employees to get a nice retirement in 3 to 5 years, but it’s a buckshot in the face for me as a happy user and supporter of an independent company that makes professional software I use every day.

Canva is aiming to go public soon. And no, for me personally it is not about the price and the subscription, it's about the "soul" of the software that I use every day and the fact that it was (currently still is) to chat with the developers directly.

I know it's not of much use, but why don't we all change our profile picture to the "angry cat" emoji to show how we feel?