Scungio

I am not really surprised by the news. If you use software for any length of time, you see this happen all the time, it is normal. 
I started out with Freehand and we know how that worked out. My first animation software was Moho, which got bought by a company named Smith Micro and they really did not treat it very well, but then years later the original creator Mike Clifton bought Moho (Anime Studio) from Smith Micro and has been introducing really great features with each new release. Sometimes there is a storybook ending, sometimes companies do uphold their principles and values, although Mike Clifton took a roundabout way to finally get back to what was really important.
In terms of a partnership or merging with Canva giving Affinity users a bad name?? Sorry to break it to some people but that ship sailed long ago, it was baked in from the beginning. When you tell somebody you use Affinity Designer, Photo, Publisher, the usual response is one of disdain or disgust. Far too often you are put down if you don't use Adobe software.
I am looked down upon because I choose to use Moho over Toon Boom Harmony.
I am looked down upon because I choose to use Blender instead of something like Maya.
I got back into doing printmaking, doing wood cuts, linocuts and rather than have a fancy conventional press, I instead went the route of having a Slama press which is a handheld baren that has 150 stainless steel balls, and also a Ritualis Press. These two were not cheap and I probably could have bought a second hand etching press for the total cost but I really enjoy the more intimate/hands on nature of the presses that I chose. Yet there are those that would belittle me for the choices that I have made.
This is a constant in my life and it does not faze me one bit, does not bother me at all. Oh, you still use Micro 4/3rds cameras?? Yeah, I have a pretty sweet collection of old Olympus lens and cameras that are still fine by me. So, I don't care about some slights that people may lob my way for using Affinity products that are now associated with Canva.
One last thing that I might add, I always am on the lookout for new software because I know how things can suddenly change for the worse. That is why I have ON1 Photo Raw in addition to using Affinity Photo. That is why I have VectorStyler and Patternodes and Vectoraster in addition to Affinity Designer. That is why I have Nomad Sculpt and Plasticity in addition to Blender. I have Moho but also bought Procreate Dreams. Yeah, you can have a 401K, stocks and bonds but also Bitcoin. Redundancy is a good thing.
 

I am not really surprised by the news. If you use software for any length of time, you see this happen all the time, it is normal. 
I started out with Freehand and we know how that worked out. My first animation software was Moho, which got bought by a company named Smith Micro and they really did not treat it very well, but then years later the original creator Mike Clifton bought Moho (Anime Studio) from Smith Micro and has been introducing really great features with each new release. Sometimes there is a storybook ending, sometimes companies do uphold their principles and values, although Mike Clifton took a roundabout way to finally get back to what was really important.
In terms of a partnership or merging with Canva giving Affinity users a bad name?? Sorry to break it to some people but that ship sailed long ago, it was baked in from the beginning. When you tell somebody you use Affinity Designer, Photo, Publisher, the usual response is one of disdain or disgust. Far too often you are put down if you don't use Adobe software.
I am looked down upon because I choose to use Moho over Toon Boom Harmony.
I am looked down upon because I choose to use Blender instead of something like Maya.
I got back into doing printmaking, doing wood cuts, linocuts and rather than have a fancy conventional press, I instead went the route of having a Slama press which is a handheld baren that has 150 stainless steel balls, and also a Ritualis Press. These two were not cheap and I probably could have bought a second hand etching press for the total cost but I really enjoy the more intimate/hands on nature of the presses that I chose. Yet there are those that would belittle me for the choices that I have made.
This is a constant in my life and it does not faze me one bit, does not bother me at all. Oh, you still use Micro 4/3rds cameras?? Yeah, I have a pretty sweet collection of old Olympus lens and cameras that are still fine by me. So, I don't care about some slights that people may lob my way for using Affinity products that are now associated with Canva.
One last thing that I might add, I always am on the lookout for new software because I know how things can suddenly change for the worse. That is why I have ON1 Photo Raw in addition to using Affinity Photo. That is why I have VectorStyler and Patternodes and Vectoraster in addition to Affinity Designer. That is why I have Nomad Sculpt and Plasticity in addition to Blender. I have Moho but also bought Procreate Dreams. Yeah, you can have a 401K, stocks and bonds but also Bitcoin. Redundancy is a good thing.
 

I would never want it implemented on a full-time basis. The way it is set up right now is perfect in my opinion. One of my biggest pet peeves in other software is that I was always having to turn down or turn off the smoothing (Flash). I don't want software auto correcting the line that I put down, unless I specifically want it to. Smoothing is not the same as the Stabilizer but they are both trying to assist you in the line that you are trying to make.  I find that the stabilizer is good for some things in terms of getting specific types of lines but will slow you down in other cases. If it was implemented all the time, then you would have people like me requesting the option to turn it off. This will differ from person to person, but at the end of the day, I think it is best to have the stabilizer as an option that you can turn on or off.

I have been using StreamDeck with Affinity Designer and Photo and will eventually get Publisher in on the fun too. To me the only way to go with the StreamDeck is to go big if you will, make it personal, develop your own shortcuts, icons, etc, don't rely on others to come up with a solution because it will always come up short in the end.
On the Mac, I went into the package contents of Designer and copied the icons that the app uses, then created these rounded squares with said icons and text and use these in SteamDeck. I have the XL version, the one with 32 buttons. You are not limited to just 32 buttons, as you can make a folder that when clicked will take you to another screen with 32 buttons. I have 10 screens set up this way, and there is overlap, some tools and commands will repeat and I have color coded some tools, commands and try and position some of these so that they stay consistent, to help with the muscle memory, etc. Anyway, here is a screenshot of me setting up the shortcuts/icons in Designer:

 
It goes by pretty fast once you get the hang of it. StreamDeck allows you to save the shortcuts you set up, export, import, etc. for each app. I am finding that it is important to not think too much at first when setting this up, just get something done and then do iterations of it as you learn what works or doesn't in actual use.
I got the StreamDeck XL because I am lazy and don't really want to learn/remember shortcuts for half a dozen apps or more. I also don't feel like contorting my fingers to reach multiple keys on a regular keyboard either. 
Here is a quick photo, a closeup of the buttons on the StreamDeck.

One of the cool things you can do with the TourBox is to take advantage of the ability for it to have multiple presets for a single application.
Like I will have a main Designer Preset, and then a Designer [Paint] preset which is tailored specifically when I am using the Pixel Persona. You can set up a button that switches to the other presets.
As an example, the Dial in my Designer Preset is set up to Cycle Node Forward and Backward, this also will increase or decrease the stroke. I click the Dial and it brings up a custom menu of tools. But the Dial in my Designer [Paint] Preset has it set up to Rotate Left and Rotate Right the canvas and when you click the Dial it resets the rotation.
Another idea for scrolling through the tools is setting up a custom menu to a button. You click the button, the menu pops up and you either pick the tool with your mouse or stylus, OR you use the TourBox Scroll to move up and down the menu of tools and can press the Tall Button to choose the tool.

I have been using StreamDeck with Affinity Designer and Photo and will eventually get Publisher in on the fun too. To me the only way to go with the StreamDeck is to go big if you will, make it personal, develop your own shortcuts, icons, etc, don't rely on others to come up with a solution because it will always come up short in the end.
On the Mac, I went into the package contents of Designer and copied the icons that the app uses, then created these rounded squares with said icons and text and use these in SteamDeck. I have the XL version, the one with 32 buttons. You are not limited to just 32 buttons, as you can make a folder that when clicked will take you to another screen with 32 buttons. I have 10 screens set up this way, and there is overlap, some tools and commands will repeat and I have color coded some tools, commands and try and position some of these so that they stay consistent, to help with the muscle memory, etc. Anyway, here is a screenshot of me setting up the shortcuts/icons in Designer:

 
It goes by pretty fast once you get the hang of it. StreamDeck allows you to save the shortcuts you set up, export, import, etc. for each app. I am finding that it is important to not think too much at first when setting this up, just get something done and then do iterations of it as you learn what works or doesn't in actual use.
I got the StreamDeck XL because I am lazy and don't really want to learn/remember shortcuts for half a dozen apps or more. I also don't feel like contorting my fingers to reach multiple keys on a regular keyboard either. 
Here is a quick photo, a closeup of the buttons on the StreamDeck.

Yeah, don't understand the gripes about pricing. I own the Mac, Windows and iPad versions of Designer and Photo and with Publisher I only had the Mac version of it.
I was thinking before November 9th, wow, that is 7 installers in all for the apps that I have and did not look forward to how much that would all cost to upgrade.
Then I wake up on November 9th, check for news, and see the pricing. Universal License for $99.99 that gives me 9 installers, each app for each platform? Sold!!!
How is that not the ultimate upgrade price? I bought Designer version 1, when it was on sale, so the Mac, Windows desktops apps cost me something like $35-40 a piece and I bought the iPad app for $15. You add those 3 purchases and the price comes out to $90-95.
With this Universal License I am able to get that upgrade cost to version 2 of Designer down to $33. With Photo down to $33. With Publisher down to $33.
Version 1 of the Affinity line that I had cost me something like $230, but now with this Universal License I have version 2 for $100. And it gave me two things that I did not have, Publisher for Windows and Publisher for iPad.
I guess for some people they can't see the forest for the trees. This Universal License is one of the best deals I have ever seen, it is almost like I have to pinch myself, still in disbelief. 

Yeah, don't understand the gripes about pricing. I own the Mac, Windows and iPad versions of Designer and Photo and with Publisher I only had the Mac version of it.
I was thinking before November 9th, wow, that is 7 installers in all for the apps that I have and did not look forward to how much that would all cost to upgrade.
Then I wake up on November 9th, check for news, and see the pricing. Universal License for $99.99 that gives me 9 installers, each app for each platform? Sold!!!
How is that not the ultimate upgrade price? I bought Designer version 1, when it was on sale, so the Mac, Windows desktops apps cost me something like $35-40 a piece and I bought the iPad app for $15. You add those 3 purchases and the price comes out to $90-95.
With this Universal License I am able to get that upgrade cost to version 2 of Designer down to $33. With Photo down to $33. With Publisher down to $33.
Version 1 of the Affinity line that I had cost me something like $230, but now with this Universal License I have version 2 for $100. And it gave me two things that I did not have, Publisher for Windows and Publisher for iPad.
I guess for some people they can't see the forest for the trees. This Universal License is one of the best deals I have ever seen, it is almost like I have to pinch myself, still in disbelief. 

Well, the issue I have with the current trash/delete icon being at the top right when deleting nodes, is that it isn't accessible when one is holding the iPad and working with it in portrait mode if you will. I was swiping, trying to find something to allow the right most icons, specifically the trash/delete icon to come into view and did not have any luck.
I would love if it were relocated back to the old spot or even below the question icon on the right side.

Whether you are browsing on a phone or tablet or desktop computer the intro to Universal License is there and it clearly states that you can get the ENTIRE Affinity suite on all your devices, across macOS, Windows and iPadOS.
If the argument is that a phone is a device, sure, but does it run macOS, Windows or iPadOS? Of course not, if you have an iPhone it runs iOS. An Android phone does not run any of the platforms stated either. 
Now, yes, I did check the link on my iPhone and the checkboxes don't show in that section, for whatever reason, sometimes you have websites that will present differently depending on devices viewing it, but still the Introducing the Universal License section is there, is clear and should put an end to this discussion.

Yeah, don't understand the gripes about pricing. I own the Mac, Windows and iPad versions of Designer and Photo and with Publisher I only had the Mac version of it.
I was thinking before November 9th, wow, that is 7 installers in all for the apps that I have and did not look forward to how much that would all cost to upgrade.
Then I wake up on November 9th, check for news, and see the pricing. Universal License for $99.99 that gives me 9 installers, each app for each platform? Sold!!!
How is that not the ultimate upgrade price? I bought Designer version 1, when it was on sale, so the Mac, Windows desktops apps cost me something like $35-40 a piece and I bought the iPad app for $15. You add those 3 purchases and the price comes out to $90-95.
With this Universal License I am able to get that upgrade cost to version 2 of Designer down to $33. With Photo down to $33. With Publisher down to $33.
Version 1 of the Affinity line that I had cost me something like $230, but now with this Universal License I have version 2 for $100. And it gave me two things that I did not have, Publisher for Windows and Publisher for iPad.
I guess for some people they can't see the forest for the trees. This Universal License is one of the best deals I have ever seen, it is almost like I have to pinch myself, still in disbelief. 

Yeah, don't understand the gripes about pricing. I own the Mac, Windows and iPad versions of Designer and Photo and with Publisher I only had the Mac version of it.
I was thinking before November 9th, wow, that is 7 installers in all for the apps that I have and did not look forward to how much that would all cost to upgrade.
Then I wake up on November 9th, check for news, and see the pricing. Universal License for $99.99 that gives me 9 installers, each app for each platform? Sold!!!
How is that not the ultimate upgrade price? I bought Designer version 1, when it was on sale, so the Mac, Windows desktops apps cost me something like $35-40 a piece and I bought the iPad app for $15. You add those 3 purchases and the price comes out to $90-95.
With this Universal License I am able to get that upgrade cost to version 2 of Designer down to $33. With Photo down to $33. With Publisher down to $33.
Version 1 of the Affinity line that I had cost me something like $230, but now with this Universal License I have version 2 for $100. And it gave me two things that I did not have, Publisher for Windows and Publisher for iPad.
I guess for some people they can't see the forest for the trees. This Universal License is one of the best deals I have ever seen, it is almost like I have to pinch myself, still in disbelief. 

Yeah, don't understand the gripes about pricing. I own the Mac, Windows and iPad versions of Designer and Photo and with Publisher I only had the Mac version of it.
I was thinking before November 9th, wow, that is 7 installers in all for the apps that I have and did not look forward to how much that would all cost to upgrade.
Then I wake up on November 9th, check for news, and see the pricing. Universal License for $99.99 that gives me 9 installers, each app for each platform? Sold!!!
How is that not the ultimate upgrade price? I bought Designer version 1, when it was on sale, so the Mac, Windows desktops apps cost me something like $35-40 a piece and I bought the iPad app for $15. You add those 3 purchases and the price comes out to $90-95.
With this Universal License I am able to get that upgrade cost to version 2 of Designer down to $33. With Photo down to $33. With Publisher down to $33.
Version 1 of the Affinity line that I had cost me something like $230, but now with this Universal License I have version 2 for $100. And it gave me two things that I did not have, Publisher for Windows and Publisher for iPad.
I guess for some people they can't see the forest for the trees. This Universal License is one of the best deals I have ever seen, it is almost like I have to pinch myself, still in disbelief. 

I have been using StreamDeck with Affinity Designer and Photo and will eventually get Publisher in on the fun too. To me the only way to go with the StreamDeck is to go big if you will, make it personal, develop your own shortcuts, icons, etc, don't rely on others to come up with a solution because it will always come up short in the end.
On the Mac, I went into the package contents of Designer and copied the icons that the app uses, then created these rounded squares with said icons and text and use these in SteamDeck. I have the XL version, the one with 32 buttons. You are not limited to just 32 buttons, as you can make a folder that when clicked will take you to another screen with 32 buttons. I have 10 screens set up this way, and there is overlap, some tools and commands will repeat and I have color coded some tools, commands and try and position some of these so that they stay consistent, to help with the muscle memory, etc. Anyway, here is a screenshot of me setting up the shortcuts/icons in Designer:

 
It goes by pretty fast once you get the hang of it. StreamDeck allows you to save the shortcuts you set up, export, import, etc. for each app. I am finding that it is important to not think too much at first when setting this up, just get something done and then do iterations of it as you learn what works or doesn't in actual use.
I got the StreamDeck XL because I am lazy and don't really want to learn/remember shortcuts for half a dozen apps or more. I also don't feel like contorting my fingers to reach multiple keys on a regular keyboard either. 
Here is a quick photo, a closeup of the buttons on the StreamDeck.

I put together a quick video that can get you started but is by no means a comprehensive tutorial. I do go over using Add Noise and Levels.
 
 

I am just beginning to explore the macros you can set up in StreamDeck too. For example, in that one button I have called Flatten, which is next to the Pencil/Vector Brush button, that was my solution to create a workaround for a Blob Brush. I use the Vector Brush to quickly fill in shapes/areas and then I select all of those curves and hit the Flatten button. That is a macro that performs an Expand Stroke, then a Boolean Add and then chooses the Node Tool. With the Node Tool I then will use Smooth command on it and then will further delete points here and there.
What is cool about getting into the StreamDeck realm is that you can choose to go with their Stream Deck Mobile. You can use your phone or if you have an extra phone, or a tablet, iOS or Android, it allows you to use that device in place of a physical StreamDeck product. It is limited to 15 buttons and you have to pay a monthly/yearly sub, $3 a month, or $25 a year. This is the route I went originally, tried the trial and then set up an 8 inch Android tablet I had lying around. Loved the experience but as I said earlier, either go big or go home, I wondered what 32 buttons would be like. So, I managed to get a good deal on the StreamDeck XL and it is one of the best purchases I ever made. That StreamDeck Mobile option though is a very good deal and ends up being one tenth the price of the XL, and how many of us have a drawer filled with old phones, tablets, etc?

I have been using StreamDeck with Affinity Designer and Photo and will eventually get Publisher in on the fun too. To me the only way to go with the StreamDeck is to go big if you will, make it personal, develop your own shortcuts, icons, etc, don't rely on others to come up with a solution because it will always come up short in the end.
On the Mac, I went into the package contents of Designer and copied the icons that the app uses, then created these rounded squares with said icons and text and use these in SteamDeck. I have the XL version, the one with 32 buttons. You are not limited to just 32 buttons, as you can make a folder that when clicked will take you to another screen with 32 buttons. I have 10 screens set up this way, and there is overlap, some tools and commands will repeat and I have color coded some tools, commands and try and position some of these so that they stay consistent, to help with the muscle memory, etc. Anyway, here is a screenshot of me setting up the shortcuts/icons in Designer:

 
It goes by pretty fast once you get the hang of it. StreamDeck allows you to save the shortcuts you set up, export, import, etc. for each app. I am finding that it is important to not think too much at first when setting this up, just get something done and then do iterations of it as you learn what works or doesn't in actual use.
I got the StreamDeck XL because I am lazy and don't really want to learn/remember shortcuts for half a dozen apps or more. I also don't feel like contorting my fingers to reach multiple keys on a regular keyboard either. 
Here is a quick photo, a closeup of the buttons on the StreamDeck.

I bought heavily into Ryzen and have a Ryzen PC, Ryzen Laptop and a Ryzen Server. But I am also a long time Mac User and love Apple Silicon and have M1 powered iPad Pro, Mac Mini and the MacBook Air.
The M1 MacBook Air is the best laptop I have ever owned. Just the base configuration, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD, and it has one less GPU core, got it for $800. A definite steal at that price point and it is amazing how it punches above its weight. No fan, stays cool even when I stress it, battery life is insane.
I think one thing people need to reassess is specs and what is truly needed. I have 32 GB in my Ryzen PC, 3200 DDR4 RAM but the memory bandwidth and speeds are really pokey compared to my MacBook Air. This unified memory that Apple is pushing, there may be some truth that 8 GB may be equivalent to 16 GB in Windows, that 16 GB might be closer to 32 GB in Windows. The M1, is using 128 bit memory bandwidth and 4200 DDR4X RAM? It appears that they want to take the memory bandwidth and ram specs of Graphics cards and bring it to the whole system, not just the GPU. These new Apple Silicon chips may have 256 Bit memory bandwidth, or 320, 384? And may be using DDR5 RAM? DDR6 RAM? Or something similar? That Unified Memory is accessed by all components, big fat pipes for everyone, GPU, CPU, Neural Engine, etc.
I get real excited by Apple and their chips because they, to me, are really being innovative and pushing boundaries. As much as I like tinkering and building systems, I also sometimes just want something that is fast and is pain free with no maintenance.
 

I bought heavily into Ryzen and have a Ryzen PC, Ryzen Laptop and a Ryzen Server. But I am also a long time Mac User and love Apple Silicon and have M1 powered iPad Pro, Mac Mini and the MacBook Air.
The M1 MacBook Air is the best laptop I have ever owned. Just the base configuration, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD, and it has one less GPU core, got it for $800. A definite steal at that price point and it is amazing how it punches above its weight. No fan, stays cool even when I stress it, battery life is insane.
I think one thing people need to reassess is specs and what is truly needed. I have 32 GB in my Ryzen PC, 3200 DDR4 RAM but the memory bandwidth and speeds are really pokey compared to my MacBook Air. This unified memory that Apple is pushing, there may be some truth that 8 GB may be equivalent to 16 GB in Windows, that 16 GB might be closer to 32 GB in Windows. The M1, is using 128 bit memory bandwidth and 4200 DDR4X RAM? It appears that they want to take the memory bandwidth and ram specs of Graphics cards and bring it to the whole system, not just the GPU. These new Apple Silicon chips may have 256 Bit memory bandwidth, or 320, 384? And may be using DDR5 RAM? DDR6 RAM? Or something similar? That Unified Memory is accessed by all components, big fat pipes for everyone, GPU, CPU, Neural Engine, etc.
I get real excited by Apple and their chips because they, to me, are really being innovative and pushing boundaries. As much as I like tinkering and building systems, I also sometimes just want something that is fast and is pain free with no maintenance.
 

I bought heavily into Ryzen and have a Ryzen PC, Ryzen Laptop and a Ryzen Server. But I am also a long time Mac User and love Apple Silicon and have M1 powered iPad Pro, Mac Mini and the MacBook Air.
The M1 MacBook Air is the best laptop I have ever owned. Just the base configuration, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD, and it has one less GPU core, got it for $800. A definite steal at that price point and it is amazing how it punches above its weight. No fan, stays cool even when I stress it, battery life is insane.
I think one thing people need to reassess is specs and what is truly needed. I have 32 GB in my Ryzen PC, 3200 DDR4 RAM but the memory bandwidth and speeds are really pokey compared to my MacBook Air. This unified memory that Apple is pushing, there may be some truth that 8 GB may be equivalent to 16 GB in Windows, that 16 GB might be closer to 32 GB in Windows. The M1, is using 128 bit memory bandwidth and 4200 DDR4X RAM? It appears that they want to take the memory bandwidth and ram specs of Graphics cards and bring it to the whole system, not just the GPU. These new Apple Silicon chips may have 256 Bit memory bandwidth, or 320, 384? And may be using DDR5 RAM? DDR6 RAM? Or something similar? That Unified Memory is accessed by all components, big fat pipes for everyone, GPU, CPU, Neural Engine, etc.
I get real excited by Apple and their chips because they, to me, are really being innovative and pushing boundaries. As much as I like tinkering and building systems, I also sometimes just want something that is fast and is pain free with no maintenance.
 

Well, here is what I have been thinking lately about some of the major missing features in the Affinity line.
Since Serif is getting very close to the next version 2.0 release of the entire line, isn't it understandable that those missing features will probably debut in the 2.0 upgrades? 
I have Mac, Win and iOS versions of the apps and will be happy to buy the version 2.0s if those features are available. But if they aren't?  Then Serif is going to have a hard time convincing their users to upgrade to version 2.0 of Designer aren't they?? They have to know this, if some sort of bitmap to vector conversion feature is available, if some sort of vector distortion/envelope feature is available, etc, then that will greatly boost sales for a 2.0 of Designer.
That is my hope anyway.
 

Yeah, I jumped at the chance to buy VectorStyler for $75 on the App Store when I saw it was available. 
In a very real sense I view it as an Astute Graphics type of plugin for Designer. Yes, I know it is not a plugin but a companion app but right now it is offering very worthwhile options for me that Designer lacks. The workflow is trivial in terms of getting stuff into Designer from VS. 
So, what would I use VectorStyler for you ask? Well what if I wanted to do a blend between a Square Star and a square over say 30 steps? And in that same blend I wanted the stroke of the square star to morph into the stroke of the square? AND I wanted the fill of the square star to blend into the fill of the square? AND I wanted the stroke color of the square star to blend into the stroke color of the square? AND I want to twist, curve the blend to make a sort of limb, tentacle, horn type of object?
Something like this:

That is VectorStyler on the left and Designer on the right. I copy from VS and paste into Designer. In VS I can select that central line, that spine of the blend and shape it and I can shape both starting shapes to quickly get all kind of interesting objects. 
What if you wanted to blend two lines together to make sort of the basis of a flag, or fabric or a landscape, etc. In VS I can whip together a blend of two lines and copy and paste it into Designer in less than 10 seconds. Like this:

VectorStyler for me, is like my go to Astute Graphics plugin for Designer that lets me do flashier stuff that Designer is not capable of right now. I also use Lost Minds Vectoraster and Patternodes for similar reasons. 

Just a hobbyist animator here but Moho Pro recently, the past year, had the original creator gain back control of the software and put out an update to it. It is now at version 13.5. They have Debut and Pro versions, that cost money, $60 and $400 respectively but those are one time purchases and the upgrades are reasonable. They often times have sales and you will not find a better forum/community in helping you to get up to speed with the software. I have had success working in Designer and exporting out via SVG and then importing those SVGs into Moho to rig and animate.
Spine 2D is what?, $299 but I am amazed at videos I have seen where artists are working in Affinity Designer to create a character and then exporting out by use of JSON, and then are able to rig and animate and with the continuous export of Designer, can make a change in Designer and it updates in Spine in realtime, very cool.
Opentoonz is a free option and more specifically, Tahoma 2D, which is a fork of Opentoonz and has a more polished UI and some additional features. It is free as well. 
I really do think that both Moho and Tahoma would be geared toward more independent freelancers. I don't know, to me, even a program like Moho Pro is very affordable because it isn't like something like say a Toon Boom Harmony where you could pay what, $2,000 for a perpetual license. But then you have to have a $300 support contract if you want to still get updates to it past that first year. That adds up quickly over say 10 years and could cost you $5000. But you buy Moho Pro initially at $400 and then say pay for another two upgrades in 10 years time and maybe you only end up paying $750 over a ten year period for Moho Pro? That ends up being an average of just $75 a year to have Moho Pro for that 10 year period. That to me is a great deal, but your mileage may vary of course.

Just a hobbyist animator here but Moho Pro recently, the past year, had the original creator gain back control of the software and put out an update to it. It is now at version 13.5. They have Debut and Pro versions, that cost money, $60 and $400 respectively but those are one time purchases and the upgrades are reasonable. They often times have sales and you will not find a better forum/community in helping you to get up to speed with the software. I have had success working in Designer and exporting out via SVG and then importing those SVGs into Moho to rig and animate.
Spine 2D is what?, $299 but I am amazed at videos I have seen where artists are working in Affinity Designer to create a character and then exporting out by use of JSON, and then are able to rig and animate and with the continuous export of Designer, can make a change in Designer and it updates in Spine in realtime, very cool.
Opentoonz is a free option and more specifically, Tahoma 2D, which is a fork of Opentoonz and has a more polished UI and some additional features. It is free as well. 
I really do think that both Moho and Tahoma would be geared toward more independent freelancers. I don't know, to me, even a program like Moho Pro is very affordable because it isn't like something like say a Toon Boom Harmony where you could pay what, $2,000 for a perpetual license. But then you have to have a $300 support contract if you want to still get updates to it past that first year. That adds up quickly over say 10 years and could cost you $5000. But you buy Moho Pro initially at $400 and then say pay for another two upgrades in 10 years time and maybe you only end up paying $750 over a ten year period for Moho Pro? That ends up being an average of just $75 a year to have Moho Pro for that 10 year period. That to me is a great deal, but your mileage may vary of course.

Yeah, I jumped at the chance to buy VectorStyler for $75 on the App Store when I saw it was available. 
In a very real sense I view it as an Astute Graphics type of plugin for Designer. Yes, I know it is not a plugin but a companion app but right now it is offering very worthwhile options for me that Designer lacks. The workflow is trivial in terms of getting stuff into Designer from VS. 
So, what would I use VectorStyler for you ask? Well what if I wanted to do a blend between a Square Star and a square over say 30 steps? And in that same blend I wanted the stroke of the square star to morph into the stroke of the square? AND I wanted the fill of the square star to blend into the fill of the square? AND I wanted the stroke color of the square star to blend into the stroke color of the square? AND I want to twist, curve the blend to make a sort of limb, tentacle, horn type of object?
Something like this:

That is VectorStyler on the left and Designer on the right. I copy from VS and paste into Designer. In VS I can select that central line, that spine of the blend and shape it and I can shape both starting shapes to quickly get all kind of interesting objects. 
What if you wanted to blend two lines together to make sort of the basis of a flag, or fabric or a landscape, etc. In VS I can whip together a blend of two lines and copy and paste it into Designer in less than 10 seconds. Like this:

VectorStyler for me, is like my go to Astute Graphics plugin for Designer that lets me do flashier stuff that Designer is not capable of right now. I also use Lost Minds Vectoraster and Patternodes for similar reasons.