AI generative Fill in Affinity

[Alfred]

2 minutes ago, GarryP said:

What is it about this release schedule which suggests to you that there’s “not even regular updates anymore”?

You’re arguing against yourself, Garry! One month and then three months — and then one month and one month and then two months — is pretty frequent. However, it’s anything but regular. 

[Andy05]

2 minutes ago, Alfred said:

You’re arguing against yourself, Garry! One month and then three months — and then one month and one month and then two months — is pretty frequent. However, it’s anything but regular. 

I interpret "regular updates" more like "several updates per year", which has been a consistent pattern for years now.

[Alfred]

5 minutes ago, Andy05 said:

I interpret "regular updates" more like "several updates per year"

So do I, Andy! Hence the emoticon to indicate that my comment was ‘tongue in cheek’.

[PaulEC]

25 minutes ago, Juan Garcia said:

I won't be buying the next version and to be honest I doubt there will be a next version anytime soon. There's not even regular updates anymore...

Well, v2 isn't that old, and I doubt if many people want to pay for a new version "any time soon"! As far as updates go, it seems about right to me. If there were more updates than every month or two, I'm sure there would be people complaining about "having to" update too frequently!

You can't please all of the people all of the time, and whatever they do, Serif won't be able to keep all of their customers happy, all of the time!

[Juan Garcia]

Apologies. There ARE frequent updates. We are missing my point. The lack of AI in Affinity Photo, and the lack of tools like morphs and merges in designer has provoked for me not to use them anymore. Insomuch that it has fallen into irrelevance. I was not even aware of the new updates.

46 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

You can't please all of the people all of the time, and whatever they do, Serif won't be able to keep all of their customers happy, all of the time!

 Serif can hide under a rock and make excuses. Their products are falling into the 90s feature wise. Pixelmator Pro and other tools have replaced them as a viable option to Photoshop. It seems Serif is too small to have the developers to add all the features that their customers are demanding. You cannot even select the subject in Affinity, you cannot morph or do 3D in Designer ... I have the feeling that they do not offer a subscription model because no body would subscribe compared to Photoshop.

Seriously. Try Pixelmator Pro, and you will see the difference. 

[KarinC]

20 minutes ago, Juan Garcia said:

Seriously. Try Pixelmator Pro, and you will see the difference. 

It only works on a Mac.

[PaulEC]

 

57 minutes ago, Juan Garcia said:

Seriously. Try Pixelmator Pro

36 minutes ago, KarinC said:

It only works on a Mac.

Not much of an alternative for Windows or iPad users then! 

[Juan Garcia]

11 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

Not much of an alternative for Windows or iPad users then! 

It works on iPadOS too. 

Affinity is a Mac first company anyways. If you are into Photography Mac with Apple Silicon provides a better alternative than Windows with Intel. 

[spacemishka]

47 minutes ago, Juan Garcia said:

Apologies. There ARE frequent updates. We are missing my point. The lack of AI in Affinity Photo, and the lack of tools like morphs and merges in designer has provoked for me not to use them anymore. Insomuch that it has fallen into irrelevance. I was not even aware of the new updates.

 Serif can hide under a rock and make excuses. Their products are falling into the 90s feature wise. Pixelmator Pro and other tools have replaced them as a viable option to Photoshop. It seems Serif is too small to have the developers to add all the features that their customers are demanding. You cannot even select the subject in Affinity, you cannot morph or do 3D in Designer ... I have the feeling that they do not offer a subscription model because no body would subscribe compared to Photoshop.

Seriously. Try Pixelmator Pro, and you will see the difference. 

Negative,... i am on Windows 11. Respect that not everyone have have devices from the lemon squeezers of Cupertino. 

 

2 hours ago, Juan Garcia said:

I bought PixelMator Pro, and I am finding myself not using Affinity Photo at all. I won't be buying the next version and to be honest I doubt there will be a next version anytime soon. There's not even regular updates anymore...

Complete wrong. There are about 10 Updated per year, as a software developer i can say, this is pretty challenging. Big thanks for their efforts.

 

 

[PaulEC]

11 minutes ago, Juan Garcia said:

Affinity is a Mac first company anyways. If you are into Photography Mac with Apple Silicon provides a better alternative than Windows with Intel. 

I'll take you word for it! But I'm not about to drop Windows and move to Mac just so I can try out a particular piece of software! 😁

[spacemishka]

17 minutes ago, Juan Garcia said:

It works on iPadOS too. 

If you are into Photography Mac with Apple Silicon provides a better alternative than Windows with Intel. 

Not when real GPUs are involved...especially when comparing value for the money. 

 

[Juan Garcia]

16 minutes ago, spacemishka said:

Negative,... i am on Windows 11. Respect that not everyone have have devices from the lemon squeezers of Cupertino. 

 

6 minutes ago, spacemishka said:

Not when real GPUs are involved...especially when comparing value for the money. 

It seems that you are a hobbyist rather than a professional. Also that you have owned ZERO Apple products.

iPads have "real GPUS" now with M1 and soon M3 chips. 

Regarding "value for the money" it depends on how much "money" you can make of your tools. Even as a hobbyist sometimes you can make some money aside.

I know Windows *very* well. It is not quality and easy of use what is made for. It is made for specific corporations and to start selling Microsoft products and cloud via ads and popup messages. Windows 11 will be end of new features at the second half of this year. There are rumours that Microsoft will start selling Windows 365. A subscription Windows.

 

If you are serious about photography try to get the best tools. Affinity unfortunately is just not it. AI have taken over and Apple processors do a far better job than Wintel. That's a fact. Gaming and 3D with multiple nVidia GPUs goes to Windows, mostly because Nvidia, not a Windows or Intel merits by themselves. But design and photography is not. It is a cheaper solution. With all that implies. That's it.

[GarryP]

2 hours ago, Alfred said:

You’re arguing against yourself, Garry!

Yeah, my ‘inner pedant’ was outside on a smoko when I was writing that.

[spacemishka]

14 minutes ago, Juan Garcia said:

If you are serious about photography try to get the best tools.

The best Tool for me is my old F2 which was build in 1978...and is older than me. and M-Series are just like AMD APU/ Intel IGP-Garbage.

AI needs GPU-Power..so currently there is no way around NVIDIA locally or somekind of Cloud-Service.

Wonder why a pro is using Affinity and not Adobe,..especially when money is no problem. 

[Juan Garcia]

31 minutes ago, spacemishka said:

The best Tool for me is my old F2 which was build in 1978...and is older than me. and M-Series are just like AMD APU/ Intel IGP-Garbage.

AI needs GPU-Power..so currently there is no way around NVIDIA locally or somekind of Cloud-Service.

Wonder why a pro is using Affinity and not Adobe,..especially when money is no problem. 

You lost me buddy. You don't have much idea what are you talking about... but that's ok. 

Regarding Adobe. The main issue even professionals find is that they cannot even open their files if they cancel the subscription. You can be a professional and still don't agree with Adobe policies. 

I'll let you live in the 70s. I need to work.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, Juan Garcia said:

Seriously. Try Pixelmator Pro, and you will see the difference. 

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.

[Potsufusutsu]

Following this post a long time. So I guess this is never going to happen in Affinity Photo? Meanwhile even with Windows you can do this with Microsoft Paint! Yes, you heard that correctly.
I just want to have a cute little API to my OpenAI account, so that I can use Dall-E, in Affinity Photo, that would be so cool. Or even to local A.I. tools like Fooocus. Of course I can copy & paste everything to make this work, but it's inconvenient as hell.

[shayneo]

I profoundly hope it does not. SOME of us actually depend on people hiring us to do creative work, and AI is putting us out of work. For a lot of people I know they have left Adobe in protest against the disrespectful inclusion of AI in the product (and then having the nerve to charge rent for it). Affinity is the light at th end of the tunnel for people looking to ensure there is still integrity and ethics in graphic design.

[spidermurph]

Ignoring AI won't make it go away. We have to use it within our workflow. Used correctly it will improve your productivity and creativity.

Having embraced it, our studios have benefited greatly.

[oliverberger]

 

1 hour ago, shayneo said:

I profoundly hope it does not. SOME of us actually depend on people hiring us to do creative work, and AI is putting us out of work. For a lot of people I know they have left Adobe in protest against the disrespectful inclusion of AI in the product (and then having the nerve to charge rent for it). Affinity is the light at th end of the tunnel for people looking to ensure there is still integrity and ethics in graphic design.

People with an attitude like this should be put out of work IMHO. You have to adapt, technology won't wait for you nor does it care about you not being ok with its existence.

Edited March 24 by oliverberger

[KarinC]

2 hours ago, oliverberger said:

 

You have to adapt, technology won't wait for you nor does it care about you not being ok with its existence.

Sadly, true. In my 45 year illustration career I've been made obsolete about 4 times. Each time I take a big breath, adapt, and succeed with whatever the new technology is at the moment, then I get made obsolete again. AI will make artists of all kinds obsolete. 

[spidermurph]

Well. As of today, Affinity has been purchased by Canva. I think this will mean much quicker developments and updates.

Canva are already strong players in the generative AI field. So, we should see the features we are missing be added soon.

[WMax70]

1 hour ago, spidermurph said:

Well. As of today, Affinity has been purchased by Canva. I think this will mean much quicker developments and updates.

Canva are already strong players in the generative AI field. So, we should see the features we are missing be added soon.

I had the same thought.
But take care, the license model of Canva is different. It's about 110 Euro per year.
Not sure what this will mean for Affinity over time. Nevertheless, I think both can learn from eachother. 
Canva, is powerfull, but a bit chaotic, Affinity is powerfull, really Intuitive (except the ipad app) but lacking the video and AI options like canva. 
I think it's can be a very positive development. Let's see what it brings.

 

[Juan Garcia]

18 minutes ago, WMax70 said:

I had the same thought.
But take care, the license model of Canva is different. It's about 110 Euro per year.
Not sure what this will mean for Affinity over time. Nevertheless, I think both can learn from eachother. 
Canva, is powerfull, but a bit chaotic, Affinity is powerfull, really Intuitive (except the ipad app) but lacking the video and AI options like canva. 
I think it's can be a very positive development. Let's see what it brings.

 

I think you hit the nail in the head. Canva bought Affinity, not the other way around. I can see Affinity getting AI if the code allows it, but make no mistake there will be a subscription model. This is more of an exit for Affinity stakeholders than anything else.

I do not think for a moment that Affinity developers are dumb or stupid and the fact that there has not been AI is because the code did not allow it and would be a major rewrite. 

If you look at this video you will see the body language of the CEO where our V2 will keep being perpetual but he did not look at the camera while saying this. He knows  that things will change for the worse for us. More in line with Canva than Affinity. That means Perpetual licenses will be gone and so will be the CEO after two years as is normally the case. 

Affinity only makes sense because its perpetual license. For a subscription model Adobe is king. It doesn't matter that it might be cheaper if it has far less options and less standard than Adobe.

R.I.P. Affinity. Enjoy your exit package. 

Edited March 26 by Juan Garcia
addendums

[Juan Garcia]

On 3/24/2024 at 11:45 AM, KarinC said:

Sadly, true. In my 45 year illustration career I've been made obsolete about 4 times. Each time I take a big breath, adapt, and succeed with whatever the new technology is at the moment, then I get made obsolete again. AI will make artists of all kinds obsolete. 

I tend to disagree. Again, if you adapt, like you said, you can use AI as an apprentice and then remove the clues that it has been created by an AI. Since AI doesn't generate anything on its own, as it has to have models that exists I think even stock image photographers will soon sue and AI vendors will have to create a compensation system like streaming services do.