nezumi

@SrPx Yeah man, it is always concern but look - up to this point Canva has 175 MILLIONS of users. Many more prestigious 😉 Prompt Masters are working hard in home to take your job ("in five years, you will see" 🥱 ) . Did they manage to take jobs from you? If somebody is in the business of making leaflets promoting local "Nail Salon LATISHIA" or making logo for well known "Halal Chicken" shop on the corner then it is concerning. Not going to lie - that 16 years old owners nephew can snitch that job, taking a 10 minutes break from generating boobs in the latest and greatest Stable Diffusion. But if you left that sort of jobs behind already and you make anything that needs personal touch and originality I dont see much more competition to be honest. There always was tons of people who think they can do the job themselves with little help of template, who didnt wanted to pay already low price for our designs. Let them.
 More people is listening to some mindbogglingly stupid rap songs then to symphony orchestra, much more people is watching tiktok videos then reading books, many more is worrying if they can update i-phone to the latest model with 9 cameras so they can share video of them shaking their booty in the kitchen, then expand their skill set, learn something new. We are living idiocracy and masses will follow trends. Now its AI. As sad as it is - we cant change it.
But there are clients who will appreciate your work. Just dont look for jobs in that garbage filled with "I want fast and cheap and I dont care if it has extra arm!". You have to be elitist when it comes to jobs. And yes - you are always starting from the bottom. But think about it this way - you can take their job just as easily as they can take yours. The difference is - if you are trained, you have skill and knowledge - you will go up. Prompters will stay on the same level, perpetually fighting between themselves who can generate that "Ladys Night - 50% off!!!" leaflet quicker.
We are 2 years in that AI revolution. And the more time passes the less I am afraid of it. The threat is always years away somehow 😉
BTW, if you are using Paint - take a look at new software InstaMAT https://instamaterial.com/ . Its really mindblowing whats it is capable of and best of all - its free for people who earn less then 100K a year. And its like whole Substance package in one. Quite capable.

@SrPx Yeah man, it is always concern but look - up to this point Canva has 175 MILLIONS of users. Many more prestigious 😉 Prompt Masters are working hard in home to take your job ("in five years, you will see" 🥱 ) . Did they manage to take jobs from you? If somebody is in the business of making leaflets promoting local "Nail Salon LATISHIA" or making logo for well known "Halal Chicken" shop on the corner then it is concerning. Not going to lie - that 16 years old owners nephew can snitch that job, taking a 10 minutes break from generating boobs in the latest and greatest Stable Diffusion. But if you left that sort of jobs behind already and you make anything that needs personal touch and originality I dont see much more competition to be honest. There always was tons of people who think they can do the job themselves with little help of template, who didnt wanted to pay already low price for our designs. Let them.
 More people is listening to some mindbogglingly stupid rap songs then to symphony orchestra, much more people is watching tiktok videos then reading books, many more is worrying if they can update i-phone to the latest model with 9 cameras so they can share video of them shaking their booty in the kitchen, then expand their skill set, learn something new. We are living idiocracy and masses will follow trends. Now its AI. As sad as it is - we cant change it.
But there are clients who will appreciate your work. Just dont look for jobs in that garbage filled with "I want fast and cheap and I dont care if it has extra arm!". You have to be elitist when it comes to jobs. And yes - you are always starting from the bottom. But think about it this way - you can take their job just as easily as they can take yours. The difference is - if you are trained, you have skill and knowledge - you will go up. Prompters will stay on the same level, perpetually fighting between themselves who can generate that "Ladys Night - 50% off!!!" leaflet quicker.
We are 2 years in that AI revolution. And the more time passes the less I am afraid of it. The threat is always years away somehow 😉
BTW, if you are using Paint - take a look at new software InstaMAT https://instamaterial.com/ . Its really mindblowing whats it is capable of and best of all - its free for people who earn less then 100K a year. And its like whole Substance package in one. Quite capable.

Ok, after going through 3 pages of doom, gloom and "if there will be subscription I will go to Adobe" and some repetitive blathering about  "in five years AI will decimate industry" (which I hear for the last two years and its still 5 years somehow... ) I jumped to the last page - which is 14 at the moment.
There is a great video on Youtube called "Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things" and I guess answer could summarized as "because they want to".
I dont know if I am intelligent enough to find enough mental agility to convince myself that its all going to be fine and dandy, but I'll try my best.
Sure, I dont like that corporate talk with buzz words like "thrilled" and "democratizing" and "join family"... It sounds generic, I have seen it with many apps before. XSI/Softimage joined the Autodesk family and was discontinued shortly after. Mudbox joined the same family and stagnated to the point that (LITERALLY) updates consist of changing splash screen and updating pricing. Maya is doing OKish. ZBrush "joined Maxon family" and its subscription based now, but at least is being worked on even if much slower. I dont recall any software being just as good or better after being bought but some prevail.
I didnt switched to Affinity from Adobe because of subscription.
Sure it was fantastic bonus but I simply like Affinity better. Its not cluttered and bloated with cheap, shiny, latest bling bling like "You dont like how your child looks? We neither! Add the smile on this sad face using our AI "SMILEY" tool!!!". In general I dont need AI because I am capable of making my own designs and so far I dont see all that "prompt masters" taking my job 🤪 Maybe because they are stuck in the perpetual "you'll see in five years!" - they want to grab my job, but they are always five years away from doing so. But I digress..
My main concern is stupidification of Affinity. Canva really is made for... I dont want to be offensive.. Lets say "less capable of intelligent thought" people. Million templates with really simplistic tools. Of which I would only find useful "Magic Expand". Its better then AI because its MAGIC powered! 🤣If Affinity team keeps control over the look, feel and content of the software and price is right - I am staying on board.
PS.
And I blame for it all of you freaking AI whiners - "oh, but if Affinity will not have AI will become irrelevant! Boo Hoo!".. All of you "In-Five-Years" technoptimists that cant make their own design without prompt... Its at least partly your fault. So now you have it. You will have "AI Powah!". Enjoy.
 

Yeah, they don't have to pay professionals to do it. The interns will. It's "good enough" because it's cheap enough. 

That is the core issue nowadays, instead of developing Canva into a product professionals would use w/o alienating casual users they buy a small software house as a short cut. They are not the first and won't be the last but many good companies dissappear because of this. (PowerPoint was bought by Microsoft, Photoshop was bought by Adobe)

You must leave, now take what you need
You think will last
But whatever you wish to keep
You better grab it fast   Yonder stands your Canva with his gun
Crying like a fire in the Sun
Look out baby, the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, affinity blue   The Cloud Sub is for gamblers
Better use your sense
Take what you have gathered
From coincidence

Canva itself makes a distinction on their page, saying:
"While our last decade at Canva has focused heavily on the 99% of knowledge workers without design training, truly empowering the world to design includes empowering professional designers too."
Thats why they bought Affinity in a first place. To have something for professionals.
Well, absolutely. Just like not everybody makes Citizen Kane - many more just make idiotic videos for TikTok. Its up to you what work you would rather do. Youre into making garbage - certainly there are tools for it too.
 
It doesnt have to be belittled. It is what it is. Its simply stating a fact. Fact that Canva recognizes as well. I know now in fashion is not to hurt anybodys feelings but reality is - you are either professional or you are not. I am riding a bike occasionally but I am not arguing with professional cyclists that my ride to shop is just as valid as Tour de France because... many more people is riding to shops.. Or something. 🤣

Canva itself makes a distinction on their page, saying:
"While our last decade at Canva has focused heavily on the 99% of knowledge workers without design training, truly empowering the world to design includes empowering professional designers too."
Thats why they bought Affinity in a first place. To have something for professionals.
Well, absolutely. Just like not everybody makes Citizen Kane - many more just make idiotic videos for TikTok. Its up to you what work you would rather do. Youre into making garbage - certainly there are tools for it too.
 
It doesnt have to be belittled. It is what it is. Its simply stating a fact. Fact that Canva recognizes as well. I know now in fashion is not to hurt anybodys feelings but reality is - you are either professional or you are not. I am riding a bike occasionally but I am not arguing with professional cyclists that my ride to shop is just as valid as Tour de France because... many more people is riding to shops.. Or something. 🤣

Ok, after going through 3 pages of doom, gloom and "if there will be subscription I will go to Adobe" and some repetitive blathering about  "in five years AI will decimate industry" (which I hear for the last two years and its still 5 years somehow... ) I jumped to the last page - which is 14 at the moment.
There is a great video on Youtube called "Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things" and I guess answer could summarized as "because they want to".
I dont know if I am intelligent enough to find enough mental agility to convince myself that its all going to be fine and dandy, but I'll try my best.
Sure, I dont like that corporate talk with buzz words like "thrilled" and "democratizing" and "join family"... It sounds generic, I have seen it with many apps before. XSI/Softimage joined the Autodesk family and was discontinued shortly after. Mudbox joined the same family and stagnated to the point that (LITERALLY) updates consist of changing splash screen and updating pricing. Maya is doing OKish. ZBrush "joined Maxon family" and its subscription based now, but at least is being worked on even if much slower. I dont recall any software being just as good or better after being bought but some prevail.
I didnt switched to Affinity from Adobe because of subscription.
Sure it was fantastic bonus but I simply like Affinity better. Its not cluttered and bloated with cheap, shiny, latest bling bling like "You dont like how your child looks? We neither! Add the smile on this sad face using our AI "SMILEY" tool!!!". In general I dont need AI because I am capable of making my own designs and so far I dont see all that "prompt masters" taking my job 🤪 Maybe because they are stuck in the perpetual "you'll see in five years!" - they want to grab my job, but they are always five years away from doing so. But I digress..
My main concern is stupidification of Affinity. Canva really is made for... I dont want to be offensive.. Lets say "less capable of intelligent thought" people. Million templates with really simplistic tools. Of which I would only find useful "Magic Expand". Its better then AI because its MAGIC powered! 🤣If Affinity team keeps control over the look, feel and content of the software and price is right - I am staying on board.
PS.
And I blame for it all of you freaking AI whiners - "oh, but if Affinity will not have AI will become irrelevant! Boo Hoo!".. All of you "In-Five-Years" technoptimists that cant make their own design without prompt... Its at least partly your fault. So now you have it. You will have "AI Powah!". Enjoy.
 

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.

 

https://x.com/affinitybyserif/status/1570728566350020608?s=20

Hi All,

I am thrilled to announce that Affinity is joining the Canva family.
This is a moment of great excitement, anticipation, and profound gratitude for all of you who have been part of our story so far. 
We know that those of you who’ve put your faith in Affinity, some since we launched our very first Mac app, will have questions about what this means for the future of our products. Since the inception of Affinity, our mission has been to empower creatives with tools that unleash their full potential, fostering a community where innovation and artistry flourish. We've worked tirelessly to challenge the status quo, delivering professional-grade creative software that is both accessible and affordable. 
None of that changes today.
In Canva, we’ve found a kindred spirit who can help us take Affinity to new levels. Their extra resources will mean we can deliver much more, much faster. Beyond that, we can forge new horizons for Affinity products, opening up a world of possibilities which previously would never have been achievable. 
Canva’s revolutionary approach to design democratisation and commitment to empowering everyone to create aligns perfectly with our core values and vision. This union is a testament to what can be achieved when two companies that share a common goal of making design accessible and enjoyable for everyone come together. 
I want to express my deepest gratitude to our incredible Affinity team. Your passion, dedication, and relentless pursuit of excellence have been the driving force behind our success so far, and I can’t wait to continue this journey with you all. 
To our loyal users and the creative community, your support and feedback have been invaluable. You’ve inspired us to push boundaries and continuously improve, and we’re excited to embark on this new chapter together. 
The future is bright, and I am incredibly excited to continue our story together and create a world where design is within everyone's reach.
With heartfelt thanks,
Ash
For more information...
We have included some FAQs at the bottom of the announcement article here. A video message from me with some more background is on YouTube here.  

Additionally we will be setting up a Q&A session about this acquisition in a few weeks time. More info on how to take part in this will be sent on email and posted on this forum in the coming days.

Thank you @Dan C, thats fine with me.

There's no direct option for this within the Affinity app - however you can copy your Adjustments.propcol file from one system to another to transfer these.
On Windows, these can be found in the following folders:
Affinity Store (MSIX) & Windows Store: %USERPROFILE%\.affinity\Common\2.0\user\
  Affinity Store (EXE) : %appdata%\Affinity\Common\2.0\user\ On macOS, this file is found under:
~/Library/Group Containers/6LVTQB9699.com.seriflabs/v2/user/
I hope this clears things up

Along with the the 3 Affinity apps, I own Pixelmator Pro but I rarely use it because to me its UI seems unintuitive & clunky compared to Affinity & it takes me longer to get things done with it. And of course, it lacks many of the features that the suite of 3 integrated Affinity ones offer via 'edit in' & StudioLink.
Each to their own, I suppose.

Great example of AI superiority when it comes to cropping. One click and done.
If you dont needed that hat and leg that is... 🙃

F hell mate... I feel like I am taking crazy pills when I read this forum sometimes... What is this, kindergarten? "I need to press alt? Ow no! not possible to remember!". 😶 
Dont ever try to use some 3D software if this is too much for you to remember. Sorry to be harsh but that sort of things are taking me by surprise. So maybe they should stop adding new functionalities because you know - new things to remember... "Oof" indeed.
BTW - great option indeed.

I do have layer panels open at all times. I do not hear that screaming if you know what I mean

I've well adjusted to <Image> being the default and having to use Rasterize (but not often?) and like @fde101 mentions, it's mission critical to the living data concept behind the programs. It's just that I wish that they had a proper pixel-hinting algo, or at least some real way to control how our images are displaying in the viewport that matches export.. and ACCURATELY without export checks (Layer by layer resample settings hurray?), etc... but I can live with the <Image> default. I just wish it would scream at me more when I go to do something that I find doesn't work on that layer and then go, oh it's an Image Layer... that's why...

I do have a problem I am tracking where Images blur out when I open or include them (and no not a grid issue). I haven't figured out the main cause or if its yet another bug related to DPI scaling on my system... so that would be my main gripe with Images, is that they don't always display reliably, at least on my machine.

I agree wholeheartedly with @nezumi that I don't want to return to Adobe... it's on another level of reliable, sure, but it feels so ancient. Illustrator in particular was like being in an abusive marriage. I reinstalled them recently and realized I do not miss any of this...

Personally I dont need it as default. I just want it as an option. I make it default for myself and happy days I wouldnt want to screw it up for people that do find it useful.

@Bit Arts I really dont want to start thread that is bashing Affinity devs. Call me fanboy 😆 No, but for real - I enjoy a lot using Affinity software. Lot more then I was using Photoshop in its last versions before Affinity showed up for PC. And I used it daily for over 20 years.. Since version 4.0. At the beginning I felt in love with it but it lost appeal to me along the way. Stupid Adobe decisions - and I dont mean dreaded subscription - just got into me. Bloating Photoshop with stuff like video editing, useless (because slow as hell and extremely simple) 3D. At one point they even added 3D printing to Photoshop (which is of course what we are all looking for in photo manipulating software 🤣). At the same time it took 20 years for Adobe to add symmetry - option that I had in Deluxe Paint on Amiga in 90s... Stuff like that.
When I tried Affinity for first time it was so fresh to me - and I still love it for its simplicity. Yes sometimes I am lacking something but I do like more streamlined software. I dont know how is it now in Adobe package - but when I was leaving it jumping from Illustrator to Photoshop meant half of your vectors was rasterized... In Affinity I go back and forth, keeping vectors and the same look. Its brilliant. Also make a test - save the same content in both Adobe and Affinity. Check size of files - Affinity has the very same content saved in much smaller file. It was like this last time I tried it which was couple of years ago but I doubt it changed. I like it, I have thousands upon thousands of files.
Also I had many conversations with somebody representing Affinity, many of things I have asked for was actually added. I dont know if it was even remotely connected to fact that I asked for them but it feels nice when you ask for something and down the line somewhere it actually is added to the software. When it comes to Adobe you were lucky if you got automatic response "our team is working hard on resolving problems and we thank you for sharing that information". Or some other corpo-nonsense.
HOWEVER... 😏
I still dont understand some decisions behind Affinity. Admittedly very few. Like that export thing or incredibly useless for me "image" thing which only stays in the way of faster work. I want to think its useful for photographers - which I am not. So I dont want to judge whole usefulness of it based only on my personal needs, but I would like Photo to fit bit better into my daily routine where I am dragging different pictures from other software or copy-pasting them into one document etc. And that "image" mode is only standing in the way. Thats all. If possible I would love to see that. If not I will go back to...! Nah, just joking 😁 If not then I will still keep on clicking that bloody "rasterize", asking myself:
 

Don't worry, I guess we all have our individual "Affinity pet peeves".  

@Bit Arts I really dont want to start thread that is bashing Affinity devs. Call me fanboy 😆 No, but for real - I enjoy a lot using Affinity software. Lot more then I was using Photoshop in its last versions before Affinity showed up for PC. And I used it daily for over 20 years.. Since version 4.0. At the beginning I felt in love with it but it lost appeal to me along the way. Stupid Adobe decisions - and I dont mean dreaded subscription - just got into me. Bloating Photoshop with stuff like video editing, useless (because slow as hell and extremely simple) 3D. At one point they even added 3D printing to Photoshop (which is of course what we are all looking for in photo manipulating software 🤣). At the same time it took 20 years for Adobe to add symmetry - option that I had in Deluxe Paint on Amiga in 90s... Stuff like that.
When I tried Affinity for first time it was so fresh to me - and I still love it for its simplicity. Yes sometimes I am lacking something but I do like more streamlined software. I dont know how is it now in Adobe package - but when I was leaving it jumping from Illustrator to Photoshop meant half of your vectors was rasterized... In Affinity I go back and forth, keeping vectors and the same look. Its brilliant. Also make a test - save the same content in both Adobe and Affinity. Check size of files - Affinity has the very same content saved in much smaller file. It was like this last time I tried it which was couple of years ago but I doubt it changed. I like it, I have thousands upon thousands of files.
Also I had many conversations with somebody representing Affinity, many of things I have asked for was actually added. I dont know if it was even remotely connected to fact that I asked for them but it feels nice when you ask for something and down the line somewhere it actually is added to the software. When it comes to Adobe you were lucky if you got automatic response "our team is working hard on resolving problems and we thank you for sharing that information". Or some other corpo-nonsense.
HOWEVER... 😏
I still dont understand some decisions behind Affinity. Admittedly very few. Like that export thing or incredibly useless for me "image" thing which only stays in the way of faster work. I want to think its useful for photographers - which I am not. So I dont want to judge whole usefulness of it based only on my personal needs, but I would like Photo to fit bit better into my daily routine where I am dragging different pictures from other software or copy-pasting them into one document etc. And that "image" mode is only standing in the way. Thats all. If possible I would love to see that. If not I will go back to...! Nah, just joking 😁 If not then I will still keep on clicking that bloody "rasterize", asking myself:
 

Well actually it depends on how one includes/places images here, aka if via the menu option "File -> Place ...", or drag'n'drop. - If one uses the drag'n'drop procedure, then it depends where one drags to and releases, aka ...
when dragging and dropping directly into the boundaries of a document area/canvas, then an image will be placed as an "(image") layer. when dragging and dropping outside the boundaries of a document canvas, then a new doc will be created with a "(background pixel") layer. You would still have to copy/paste that new doc layer then over into your working doc. ... see also related ...
https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/GetStarted/openDocument.html?title=Opening documents and images  
Though I agree, that some setable option for the handling of photo placements as (image) versus (pixel) layers would make sense to have here. Or to have some "File -> Place as Pixel Layer..." menu option. And/or some drag'n'drop shortcut (Alt-Drag ... etc.) capability in order to distinguish when releasing (drop) between the wanted layer placement type methods (image vs pixel layer) here.
 

@loukash Yeah. One. Problem is that often I have need to bring into one composition say 20 different pictures. If I had to open 20 different pictures and then have to copy/paste 20 of them into one composition - its easier to place them and rasterize in mass. And the whole issue is - I dont want to be forced to additional, frankly unnecessary clicks for option I never need.
@Bit Arts - or should I say "Bit Harsh" 😉
I have Affinity from the very first day on PC. I really love using it and I have abandoned Photoshop for it didn't looked back. But this "image" thing is really driving me mad from the very beginning. And I understand that somebody, somewhere, somehow has use for that "image" thing. I honestly cant imagine single use for it in what I do. Not one. I will never need it it seems. All it does for me personally is annoying me. I dont want to take it away from those who find it useful but I would be so happy not having to put up with it. Option to choose. I even used to weirdness of "export" instead of "save as...". Although I still miss click at times  😆.
@Old Bruce I do appreciate help man, I know I could make shortcut. The whole thing is I would love to be able to avoid that completely useless for me "image".