thomas.dahl

Worth a read: https://newsletter.failory.com/p/canva-gets-130m-visitorsmo-acquiring-startups

I think you have hit the nail firmly on its head. We have seen the same thing happen in many industries. Personally in the medical industry, I have seen many small companies get sucked up into huge impersonal profit-orientated mega companies. Its is all about PROFIT where the customer becomes the product and not the other way around. Shame to to see Serif go the same way. I feel sorry for the staff and programmers at Serif as they will see many changes and lay-off sooner or later. I would not be surprised of the the whole code base gets shifted somewhere cheaper. Financial Review (https://www.afr.com/technology/canva-s-billion-dollar-bet-on-a-37-year-old-nottingham-company-20240321-p5fea0): Serif’s accounts lodged with the UK Companies House show a highly profitable business under no pressure to sell. It had revenue of £31 million ($60 million) in the 2022 calendar – the latest year for which figures are available, up 33 per cent over 2021 – while profit rose 19.5 per cent to £16.4 million. Canva chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht would not confirm an exact price for the Affinity acquisition, but indicated it was significantly more than a £400 million estimate based on Serif’s financials. That would likely put the price above $1 billion, paid for with a mix of cash and Canva stock. Asked why Canva, with about 4000 staff globally, did not build similar software to Affinity, Mr Obrecht said: “While essentially anyone with enough resources and top talent can build anything, we feel the headstart they have and the quality and speed of their product were unmatched.” Canva has made several acquisitions in the past but is building up to an eventual public listing in late 2025 or 2026, where it will be measured against companies like Microsoft and Adobe, which can bundle numerous products together for enterprise customers.

I am also being driven nuts by the need to always have to export an image after I have worked on it... How many times have a opened a .png file, done a quick crop, pressed save and then closed affinity photo (AF). Later when I need to use the image I find it has been saved as .aphoto format. I then need to open up AF again, open the image and then go through the whole export thing. The program knows what format the original was in so why can it not remember to save it as a .png? Yes I will loose the options to mess with the "export" settings, but honestly most of the time I do not want to. I just want to do a 4 click adjustement. There could even be a quick "are you sure" dialog if Affinity want to force me to pay attention. Thomas

I get that, but this was a requested made by many users and a long time ago.. Other features keep getting added which are less interesting for me. I actually put these buttons in a category of basic functionality. Yes, it might make Affinity product seem less like Adobe by adding convenience in a complex product, but this used to be the reason why the Serif products were so popular back in the day. It seems Serif has lost sight of their heritage in the rush to give Adobe a run for their money. Do not misunderstand me, I like the Affinity range and use the products, I just wish they were easier to use for the periodic user. If you live in the Affinity space all day long it makes no difference as you know all the shortcuts and adjustments. I would be happy to pay a bit more for Affinity products in exchange for some of that convenience. They are inexpensive so it is tempting to purchase purely for that reason, but how many casual users actually continue to use them after a week or so.. How many are prepared to go through the steep learning curve to simply adjust a few photos or make a "lost cat" poster. An other example I could mention is the "right click" menu. For example when a text box in Publisher is selected why are its settings not an option when right clicking on it. You have to go hunting elsewhere for this. It actually took me ages to find the first time. Simple "undo" and "redo" buttons are great for seeing the affect of changes you have made. This really helps when learning the tools and other processes within the product. The same goes for "Save" button - it would be a great convenience and a comfort to have.

I am searching for the request entry calling for undo/redo/print/print preview buttons to be added but when I try to search for this I end up with a set of search results for the WHOLE forum and not just the "feature request" section. So, I have to create a new feature request even if it has already been added as I cannot find if it has already been added. Sorry about this. And, I have now seen that someone from Serif wrote in the forum that this request has been a priority since 2020. Can we please have these buttons as option? I beg you!

It seems a large number of people would like these buttons to be available. They could be disabled by default to satisfy the nay sayers. I am not clear why they care if the option is there, or not, if they are not subjected to them by default. Seriously Serif, please just add them.. How hard can it be as the functions are already there but buried behind menus and keystrokes. I get that PagePlus files might be tricky to import. I can live with this limitation although it is a little annoying.

So Serif want us to keep the history panel open and on top of any other panels. This is really annoying. Page Plus was much easier to work with from this perspective. Ctr-Z is useful, but it means letting go of the mouse. Just because Photoshop denies us this function does not mean that Serif has to follow suit. I keep wondering what it is about the software that prevents this feature to be available. The history panel is able to store all actions so it should be possible to make this work with two icons. Is there some logic behind this that I have missed? Or is it some GUI designer's personal peeve that we do not deserve the function? Surely this could be a "customisation" option for the tool bar so that the designer will not be offended by seeing them.

So Serif want us to keep the history panel open and on top of any other panels. This is really annoying. I completely agree with the previous post that Page Plus was much easier to work with from this perspective. Ctr-Z is useful, but it means letting go of the mouse. Just because Photoshop denies us this function does not mean that Serif has to follow suit. I keep wondering what it is about the software that prevents this feature to be available. The history panel is able to store all actions so it should be possible to make this work with two icons. Is there some logic behind this that I have missed? Or is it some GUI designer's personal peeve that we do not deserve the function? Surely this could be a "customisation" option for the tool bar so that the designer will not be offended by seeing them.

so where are they?

Alright! I bought Affinity Publisher when it was first launched and it has many new enhancements over the original PagePlus series. I immediately complained to Serif about the lack of Undo/Redo buttons and was told it was on a list of requested improvements. I really do not mind if I have to "customize" the toolbar to get them to appear. I have been waiting ever since and still it appears to be neglected. I have yet to hear an argument as to why they are missing. After all, if you don't want them, then you should be able to remove them. I agree that Ctr-Z is an alternative, but not if I have my mouse in my hand. It also needs to be there to help photoshop users who have been using it since birth. I want to be able to click on an icon to undo a change and then click on another icon to redo the change. click click. simple and easy and I do not need to let go of my mouse. Having a history panel is a useful enhancement to the undo button... but it is not a replacement. As a result of this failing I am still using PagePlus X9 until such a time as Affinity takes care of this.

So remove the menu entry so that you do not feel overwhelmed and add the undo/redo buttons as optional.. I have gone back to Page Plus until they are available in Affinity Publisher. What are the developers thinking?

It has now been nearly a year and it looks like Serif still have not gotten around to adding the undo/redo buttons. Surely I am not the only one waiting for them? How do I enter a request for this to be pushed up the todo list?

And this is the issue..! These products are good enough for professional users.. but also accessible to amateurs and casual users like me. By all means make these things optional! But it would certainly help me.

Why not use the code from PagePlus to create a function that exports a .ppp file as .pdf and then automatically imports it as a PDF into a .afpub file into Affinity Publisher. All this code exists May not give perfect results, but would save a shit load of cutting and pasting..

I loved all the Serif products and will miss their simplicity and power. I am now learning the Affinity range. I have two request: 1. Simplify panning and zooming. Why is there no zoom slider bottom right on the UI? So many applications have this that it is almost a requirement. 2. The same goes for undo/redo buttons. I love these buttons with a passion. Why are they missing in all the Affinity products. This makes zero sense to me. 3. I would really like to see an "import" capability for importing files from the older Serif products (Publisher Plus etc.). I know the new products are not compatible and this is fine. I do not want to go backwards. However it cannot be rocket science to import graphic elements and place them in a new document format. Editing and saving would be in the new format. I am having to cut and and paste now. If this works then importing should also work. It is nothing more than automated cutting and pasting. Thanks and keep up the good work! Thomas

I have been searching everywhere on how I can add the typical undo and redo icons on the tool bar. Where are they? And please.. do not tell me that they do not exist. This would be a big issue for me. Thanks

I have to agree. There are many things about the affinity products that drive me a little nuts. The lack of "save as" file format options and "redo and undo" buttons are pretty fundamental gripes. I know I know, serif now has an export button etc. but I am old school.. The lack of "redo and undo" does however make me crazy.. I keep finding myself going back to Photplus to get things done as I cannot find things in Affinity Photo and the help system is pretty useless. I usually end up looking in YouTube and this takes way to much time..

I think Affinity Photo has great potential and I will continue to use it and ditch Photoshop. But, it is a little rough in places. 1. Why can we not have "back" and "forwards" buttons? I know that the History tab is there, and yes it is cool, but there are times when I just want to go back a couple of steps without having to open and close tabs. They do not need to be there by default, but I would love to be able to add them. I liked them in PagePlus, WebPlus etc. 2. The painbrush tool "brush size"n only shows the mouse pointer with the correct diameter after you click somewhere else.. Why not have it change in size automatically as you adjust it.. I have to go back and forwards to get it to the right size. A little thing, but it is annoying and shows a lack of polish in the application. 3. Why can I only save in Affinity's own format? I found the "export" option eventually, but it makes no sense to me to leave the option out of the "save as" menu. I am asking to "save as" and as such I am indicating that I want to save under another name and usually another format. Again, a bit rough.. Oh, and when I export and the location dialog comes up "affinity format" is the selected format although I chose "jpg"... 4. Many of the Adjustment tools have eratic and confusing dialogs. When I try to adjust "Exposure" I see several preset options. Where is the rest of the settings such as a slider? Very strange.. 5. Why are the "sharpen" filters not adjustment layers? And why are there no setting for unsharp mask? Many such issues which make the product a bit annoying to work with. I am looking forward to more "usability" improvements. The other Serif products are so much easier to use, but of course they have been around much longer. Thomas