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Not a Question, but a concern, regarding potential hard times in serif (linked video)


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tl,dr: Serif may be going through some tough times, may sell.  The lack of significant updates, company silence are sculpting thoughts into this direction of thinking.

 

I personally hope Serif is doing well.  I LOVE affinity photo on my iPad. It’s been a blessing for me. I would love for it to continue to grow and evolve. I have no problem paying for updates, extra ui tools… whatever, to support this wonderful app. I hope what the video expresses is not true!

That said, this video did a good job in my eyes laying out some, strong points that had me thinking (does the community or mods agree with any of these points expressed?)

 

it’s not a negative video, it’s objectively expressed:

 

 

The discussion in the video, stems from this comment: (screen-capped from video)

F5A023BD-3A56-49E4-8BDC-587E5F10F851.thumb.jpeg.ffe04b7c9cab6b029d4ec5d9692de52a.jpeg

Specs:

  • iPad Pro 12.9 (2020 Model

— —- - - — - - - ——- - - —- - - - —- - - - - 

My Affinity Photo iPad Creations:

Urban Ninja vs. Drone || Folded Space || 1st Revolt

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13 minutes ago, Catshill said:

According to https://uk.globaldatabase.com/company/serif-europe-limited in 2019 the company had 74 employees.

hmm… I’m not sure if from a corporate product, service software standpoint , if that’s good or not.  Though, my illiterate mind on such a subject, tells me that’s a good amount of employees, seems healthy to me. I hope this is still the case. 

Specs:

  • iPad Pro 12.9 (2020 Model

— —- - - — - - - ——- - - —- - - - —- - - - - 

My Affinity Photo iPad Creations:

Urban Ninja vs. Drone || Folded Space || 1st Revolt

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According to one of the commenters in the video I linked above, we may be in for a surprise on June 6th (Apple’s WWDC). I hope this comment is TRUE!! I highlighted some interesting bits:

 

DCADF0E6-4938-4BE5-8AA4-B6A44430D754.thumb.jpeg.668de5f0ca866807a62265dbbb08fc8d.jpeg

 

Specs:

  • iPad Pro 12.9 (2020 Model

— —- - - — - - - ——- - - —- - - - —- - - - - 

My Affinity Photo iPad Creations:

Urban Ninja vs. Drone || Folded Space || 1st Revolt

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  • Staff

None of your fears are correct.

In the last two years, Serif have had their two biggest years in our 30 year history. Our staff team is extraordinarily stable and has been growing at about 10% for the last 3 years. 

Anyone who sells anything like our software knows you make far more money when you have a sale on than when you don't, and we quite like that.

IMG_20220530_083323.jpg

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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To illustrate @Patrick Connor's point about sales being good for business…  I'm a Mac user through and through. But I've just purchased a Windows Publisher licence to better help mentor several Windows-using colleagues at work who are going to be starting use it.  I'd not have done that from my own pocket at full price (even though it's an inexpensive, one-off purchase) - but taking 50% off?  That made it much easier to decide.

—— Gary ——

Photo/Designer/Publisher: Affinity Store, v2.1.1 release

Mac mini (M1, 2020), 16GB/2TB, macOS Ventura 13.4.1(c) • MacBook Pro (Intel), macOS Ventura • Windows 10 via VMware Fusion • iOS: current release

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I didn't watch the video, because interwebs silliness. It's interesting to note in the transcription the first thing mentioned is a competitor. That's telling in itself. Jealousy, probably. Nothing more than that. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Edited to add: Okay, so I broke down and quick-marched through the video. Is this guy passive-aggressive or what? Oh, and the software mentioned is 95 bucks, so there's that, too.

I also went to the aforementioned software Bugs forum. It would appear all is not so well there, either.

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11 minutes ago, Twolane said:

I didn't watch the video, because interwebs silliness. It's interesting to note in the transcription the first thing mentioned is a competitor. That's telling in itself. Jealousy, probably. Nothing more than that. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Especially if the competitor takes more than the double price as Affinity's normal price. He probably knows why he hides it on his cart-site.

On the other hand, the software looks interesting. But too expensive for me.

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Well, Serif are the only real competition for Adobe, so hope they’re around for a long time. And I don’t know if I’ve sung it’s praises enough, but the last major update to Designer for iPad was excellent, a truly portable piece of design software👌, streets ahead of the Illustrator app

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On 5/30/2022 at 6:45 AM, Twolane said:

I didn't watch the video, because interwebs silliness. It's interesting to note in the transcription the first thing mentioned is a competitor. That's telling in itself. Jealousy, probably. Nothing more than that. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Edited to add: Okay, so I broke down and quick-marched through the video. Is this guy passive-aggressive or what? Oh, and the software mentioned is 95 bucks, so there's that, too.

I also went to the aforementioned software Bugs forum. It would appear all is not so well there, either.

Vectorstyler is a vector power-user program that offers more tools and features than the competition. I've tested it for the last couple years and made it my primary vector design program I use for daily professional work. As many have discussed in this thread and elsewhere, affinity has taken years to add features and we're still lacking enough to use their products without relying on other programs for the missing features as tools. That will hopefully change if the rumors are true that 2.0 will be released at the WWDC this week. After years of waiting and little to no word from the affinity team, I'm more than excited to see 2.0 come to fruition. 

I've used vectorstyler first as a way to fill in for the many tools lacking in affinity designer 1.0. I've transitioned to using vectorstyler for most work as occasionally using affinity, usually on the iPad. Affinity had set the expectation of cost very low to the point some feel the 95 dollars for vectorstyler is "expensive ", despite it offering many times the number of features and options affinity designer offers. Spending 95 dollars to have all the missing tools in affinity seems like a steal. How quickly we forget adobe charging more than fifty dollars per month with no option to use them afterward.

The vectorstyler forum is an active space where issues, ideas and bugs  get discussed and fixed quickly. Most bugs discovered are fixed within a week or two. Vectorstyler is also built on newer code than affinity or adobe and so it's understandable that there would be bugs. The developer welcomes critiques, new ideas, criticisms, etc. 

I love affinity and own every product on every platform. I've rooted for affinity and I continue to do so. Being primarily a vector design artist, I see affinity designer as a simpler semi pro program that can meet the needs of many. I can see vectorstyler being the primary option of higher use vector designers and keeping affinity around for occasional use. There are great aspects of affinity that vectorstyler cannot beat, such as the raster/vector combination, the integration between the three affinity apps and the iPad programs. 

I don't see vectorstyler in direct competition with affinity, I see it as another effective tool. With vectorstyler being a more advanced program, there are advantages to owning it alongside affinity. I don't foresee affinity ever offering as many features as vectorstyler, but I didn't think being a powerhouse vector program is their goal. There are times the simplicity of affinity, the raster crossover and iPad functionality can come into play even if you own vectorstyler. If you're a professional designer, I can see owning both and using them as needed. 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Boldlinedesign said:

if the rumors are true that 2.0 will be released at the WWDC this week

Hi,

Where did you get those rumors from? There are some (?) signals that Studiolink will be announced tonight for iPad (probably tied with the iOS 16 release date, so months away still) but I heard no rumors of 2.0. 

StudioLink 256gb 11’ M1 iPad Pro

iPadOS 17 Public Beta 1

iPad Magic Keyboard

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I'm sure Serif is fine -- my personal take on the recent sale is that they want to get as many people on the Affinity software before the (paid) version 2 upgrade which is scheduled for "this summer".

Serif has been in the software business for more than 20 years and they know what they are doing.

There also have been big updates every 4–6 months for the past six years.

Please provide actual sources and proof before spreading rumors like this.

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On 6/5/2022 at 9:10 PM, Boldlinedesign said:

That will hopefully change if the rumors are true that 2.0 will be released at the WWDC this week. After years of waiting and little to no word from the affinity team, I'm more than excited to see 2.0 come to fruition. 

Was there any announcement from Affinity at WWDC? Or will there be in the coming days? Any news on the subject?

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On 6/6/2022 at 6:10 AM, Jens Krebs said:

…my personal take on the recent sale is that they want to get as many people on the Affinity software before the (paid) version 2 upgrade which is scheduled for "this summer".

Many software companies provide a free upgrade grace period (~3-12 months) for recent purchases. I'm curious if v2.0 is released in the coming months how Serif will handle 'recent' purchases (and expectations) in terms of free/discounted/paid upgrades. If folks who just recently purchased the apps are again asked to pay for them (even at a discounted rate) after only a few months I'm sure there will be no shortage of complaints.

Anyway, regardless I'm still looking forward to seeing what v2.0 brings with it, whenever it arrives.

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  • Staff
44 minutes ago, DesignerUSA said:

Was there any announcement from Affinity at WWDC? 

No there was not

44 minutes ago, DesignerUSA said:

Or will there be in the coming days? Any news on the subject?

Sorry no news yet.

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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16 minutes ago, Twolane said:

These guys just don't stop advertising on a competitor's site. Must be desperate for the biz over there any way they can get it.

I don't see vectorstyler so much as a competitor, but another option to achieve the results from tools still lacking in affinity designer after all these years. Let's not forget it's been literally years of waiting for affinity to add basic professional tools. Customers are entitled to be bothered and considering alternative solutions after so many years and almost complete radio silence from serif. 

Honestly, anyone who realizes affinity is not currently capable of doing the majority of professional work had most likely already turned to a"competitor"  to fill the need. Like myself, they still love affinity and root for its success, but face the reality of needing to get work done. Why not make people aware of vector options besides adobe? I'm still going to keep supporting and buying affinity updates even as I have several vector editing programs. I don't think I'm the only one

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...
On 5/30/2022 at 3:19 AM, Affinity iPad Student said:

tl,dr: Serif may be going through some tough times, may sell.  The lack of significant updates, company silence are sculpting thoughts into this direction of thinking.

 

I personally hope Serif is doing well.  I LOVE affinity photo on my iPad. It’s been a blessing for me. I would love for it to continue to grow and evolve. I have no problem paying for updates, extra ui tools… whatever, to support this wonderful app. I hope what the video expresses is not true!

That said, this video did a good job in my eyes laying out some, strong points that had me thinking (does the community or mods agree with any of these points expressed?)

 

it’s not a negative video, it’s objectively expressed:

 

 

The discussion in the video, stems from this comment: (screen-capped from video)

F5A023BD-3A56-49E4-8BDC-587E5F10F851.thumb.jpeg.ffe04b7c9cab6b029d4ec5d9692de52a.jpeg

Great video! Sounds like a great offer

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9 minutes ago, oldschooler said:

Sounds like a great offer

It certainly was a great offer! The Affinity Trinity x3 ( or was it x2.75?) for Apple and Windows both was a great offer. One and done. Too bad, so sad if anyone listened to that tired old video and missed out on January 25 because someone was wrong on the interwebs. xkcd lives!

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Indeed, it was great value while it lasted - and it may come up again at some point in the future.

In the meantime, a new Content Sale has just kicked off: "Unleash Your Creativity With 50% Off All Add-Ons" https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/store/

—— Gary ——

Photo/Designer/Publisher: Affinity Store, v2.1.1 release

Mac mini (M1, 2020), 16GB/2TB, macOS Ventura 13.4.1(c) • MacBook Pro (Intel), macOS Ventura • Windows 10 via VMware Fusion • iOS: current release

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Just now, Alfred said:

For those who don’t understand the reference: https://xkcd.com/386/

A classic!  Followed up by this recent 'sort of' reference: https://xkcd.com/2736/

—— Gary ——

Photo/Designer/Publisher: Affinity Store, v2.1.1 release

Mac mini (M1, 2020), 16GB/2TB, macOS Ventura 13.4.1(c) • MacBook Pro (Intel), macOS Ventura • Windows 10 via VMware Fusion • iOS: current release

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3 hours ago, GaryLearnTech said:

a new Content Sale has just kicked off: "Unleash Your Creativity With 50% Off All Add-Ons"

What a great offer. Those Dreamphography brushes at the very end of that page are phenomenal. I have used them more than a few times.

IAMRENSI has a plethora of amazing brushes all in one great collection also (but his aren't free, and no, I am not shilling). For a guy like me who has absolutely no graphics ability whatsoever, I find those two collections to be more than adequate. On the other hand, for those more graphics capable, there are some collections that I'm certain are much more interesting.

In the Brushes hamburger, I have unticked Show as list, and an image, albeit small, appears of every brush in a category (only one of many tips I have picked up in these forums).

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I know I shouldn't, but sometimes, as some of you may have noticed, I can't quite resist. 😁

Only Serifs

I can't seem to get that font to install. It worked in v1. Or, it seemed like it worked in v1, as far as I can remember. Is there some reason that font won't install in v2? I want a refund.

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