Panic abort by Affinity Photo

[BLUStudios group]

Selecting "Export" from the "File" menu causes Affinity Photo to abort.

Reboot of iMac (2015 17" 8GB memory, hybrid drive) does not resolve this problem.

Looking to download a replacement copy I found that my license for Affinity Designer & Affinity Photo seem to have disappeared from my account as well.

Slightly inconvenient there ...

Update: [Reset user defaults] resolved this problem export now works fine, but I'm still missing two licenses on my profile.

Edited July 27, 2021 by BLUStudios group
Partially resolved.

[Chris B]

Hey BLUStudios group,

I will ask someone who handles account issues to contact you. Thanks for updating us about the issue you were having with the app.

[StevenS]

Hi BLUStudios group,

The way that the free content appears on your account suggests that Designer and Photo were purchased through the App Store and not through our own website.

If your Affinity app purchase was made through the Mac App Store it is tied to your Apple ID, and will also not require a Product Key. If you need to install it again, run the Mac App Store ensuring that you are signed in with the same account/credentials used to complete the purchase and the button which usually says "Buy" should instead say "Install", click on it to begin the installation of the program.

[BLUStudios group]

Well that broken system presents a problem for me as I generated infrastructure based on the premise that Serif would create the appropriate records and maintain those on our behalf. I'm concerned that this particular method hasn't been well thought out.

Perhaps we need to re-purchase licenses direct from Serif to satisfy our paper trail. Not a big deal but stupidly inconvenient and quite surprised you ceded control of your own clients to a third party, but that's your business decision.

Thanks for a good product just the same.

J.

[Alfred]

20 minutes ago, BLUStudios group said:

I generated infrastructure based on the premise that Serif would create the appropriate records and maintain those on our behalf

Serif can’t create records based on information that they don’t have! If you purchased through the MAS the vendor is Apple, and they respect your privacy by not sharing individual customer details with Serif (or anybody else).

[BLUStudios group]

Thank you Alfred for your input, but - as software engineering is well and truly within my remit - I venture to suggest that this is an entirely trivial problem to solve.

Your confidence in Apple's integrity is beyond my understanding but good luck with your endeavours.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, BLUStudios group said:

Perhaps we need to re-purchase licenses direct from Serif to satisfy our paper trail.

I'm not sure what "paper trail" you're referring to, but all you should need to do is sign-in to the Mac App Store with the same account you used for the purchase, and you'll find records there of the programs you purchased from Apple.

[BLUStudios group]

We are a broadly diversified group - segregation creates issues for us and I do understand the mechanics of the Apple application store. 

Once the vendor "Serif" is entered into the system it is assumed that all its products may be found under that same heading. 

Difficult? Perhaps, but not for me.

Employee: "I'm looking for information on a Serif product that I've got but can't find it in the system"

Executive: "Try looking under "Apple".

Can you see it now?

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, BLUStudios group said:

Employee: "I'm looking for information on a Serif product that I've got but can't find it in the system"

If you are business, rather than an individual, the business itself should be purchasing the licenses, and it is unlikely that a business would purchase them from the Mac App Store as they would get a better discount (and other benefits) by purchasing from Serif's corporate sales office directly. Also, that allows for the license to be used by other employees, if the original employee leaves or their machine is given to someone else.

 

[BLUStudios group]

Are you telling us how to run our business?

A discount? From $49.99 ? 

Give me a break.

ROFL.

[walt.farrell]

28 minutes ago, BLUStudios group said:

Are you telling us how to run our business?

A discount? From $49.99 ? 

Yes, you can get it for less, in bulk quantities. You can also get licenses that are usable on either Mac or Windows, through the Corporate Sales office.

And while I don't want to tell you how to run your business (and obviously can't), as a user I am familiar with the EULA. In my opinion, an employee should not be purchasing on their own, because if they do then they own the license, not the company, and no one else can legally use it on their computer for business purposes.  Nor can anyone use it at all if the employee leaves. The software must leave with them. Of course, I suppose that's OK if the employee also owns the computer, or if the computer is completely reset when the employee leaves.

But in any case, if the employee did purchase it on their own, then they know they got it from the Mac App Store.

[BLUStudios group]

BLUStudios employees buy, register and own their own computers for which they receive an advance. They take it with them when they leave.

All ancillary infrastructure like software - ditto - up to a cost of around a grand.

Because it comes out of petty cash they need to enter it into the system as it is a tax deductible expense and therefore needs to be expensed appropriately.

Relief staff that comes in to cover for sick leave, maternity leave, holidays and so forth need to know what is where and how to operate it.

[walt.farrell]

9 minutes ago, BLUStudios group said:

BLUStudios employees buy, register and own their own computers for which they receive an advance. They take it with them when they leave.

All ancillary infrastructure like software - ditto - up to a cost of around a grand.

Because it comes out of petty cash they need to enter it into the system as it is a tax deductible expense and therefore needs to be expensed appropriately.

Thanks for the clarification.

10 minutes ago, BLUStudios group said:

Relief staff that comes in to cover for sick leave, maternity leave, holidays and so forth need to know what is where and how to operate it.

That gets into some interesting gray areas with respect to the EULA. But I trust that your software licensing attorneys have satisfied themselves as to the legality of that, as well as use/ownership of the software when the employee leaves the company.

Companies I have worked with have centralized software purchases to ensure licensing (nd tax) issues were properly handled, so I don't have any direct experience with a setup like yours.

[BLUStudios group]

It is fair use.