Canva

[bestman 8]

7 minutes ago, Terry Brooks said:

That's a shame, I was looking forward to the day that Affinity introduced AI selection methods for sky, people etc (not interested in AI creation of parts of a scene) but I'd guess if that ever happens now it will be after Canva have introduced a subscription pricing and that's when I'll go back to Adobe.

scripting should make that possible.
i really hope that scripting will be released 

[Senjaz]

Add me to the list who will drop Affinity like a hot potato if Canva turn it into a subscription model. I don't care how good the software is. The transition from Adobe to Affinity apps wasn't without pain but I did it on principle. I will do the same again.

[Henric]

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325965656/en/Canva-Acquires-Design-Platform-Affinity-to-Bring-Professional-Design-Tools-to-Every-Organization/

[SreckoM]

Honestly Ash this is not first time I am seeing this, and none of what you say now, really kept. All of the software that I use, and that were purchased like this, end up as only subscription model, and their development pace was cut half. Same talk. Same promises and wishes, and outcome is always the same. It would be huge surprise for me that different happens to Affinity.

[Daniel Gibert]

6 minutes ago, Ash said:

There are genuinely no plans for us to remove the availability of our apps to purchase as a perpetual licence.

I want to believe you. But also I want you to know that at this instant moment, you are haemorrhaging your trust and credibility at the creative community on Mastodon. I can see nothing but despair and deception on my timeline.

[nblackburn]

I have been trained when ever I read "An exciting announcement" that bad news is coming as someone that depends on that thing. The truth is, we have seen this story time and time again and know it very rarely winds up being a good thing.

[Site]

Sounds like “hello subscription, goodbye freedom”. 

[jacekl]

It's time to make a copy of the available installers, in the next ones maybe they will put "fixes" that will "encourage" a permanent relationship through the wallet.

 

ps. capitalism is the biggest blight.

[Metalhead]

I'm pretty sure that Macromedia and Freehand also saw a bright future on the horizon...

 

So yeah, a subscription based V3 is just around the corner.

[Corgi]

20 minutes ago, Ash said:

There are genuinely no plans for us to remove the availability of our apps to purchase as a perpetual licence.

I completely believe you and your sincerity.

At the risk of speaking for others, the concern isn't that there are immediate plans to move to a subscription model. It's that the transition to a subscription-only model is now inevitable.

What we would love to hear is, "The Affinity suite will continue to be developed with enthusiasm, and Canva and Serif commit that you will absolutely never be forced to subscribe to receive updates or new versions of our products." But, even then, we'd be skeptical, given what other companies have done after similar promises.

[Intuos5]

21 minutes ago, Ash said:

There are genuinely no plans for us to remove the availability of our apps to purchase as a perpetual licence. I will say it is possible in the future there may be an optional way to have them via a Canva subscription plan (which could also include other integrations with Canva / cloud services which you would not get with the perpetual version). But it’s very early days and there isn't a firm plan on that.

I honestly think you'll all be pleased with the outcome of this. With the additional financial backing we have no pressure at all to release a V3 anytime soon, so can be 100% focused on ploughing all our efforts into free V2 updates for the foreseeable future - and we've got some great updates in the works. 

Realise this announcement has come as a surprise and I understand the feeling of uncertainty which is brings, but I do think it's all very positive for the company and our customers. 

I have seen too many pieces of software die after acquisition by market giants, whether that's Adobe killing off services, Autodesk or any other billion dollar giant really. I sure hope Serif put lots of legal agreements in case that prevent Canva from pulling a big cash grab that screws with existing or future customers. I don't want future tools integrated in a web app, which, to be frank, Canva will eventually do as a cloud based platform. I have zero interest in that, the desktop based Affinity should continue to be developed, but I do fear Canva wanting to make a return on its investment is going to affect users. Even if the goal is to increase market share, price hikes are an important strategy in that business model.

[loukash]

At first I thought this is an April 1st joke that accidentally fired off too early.

[Tommy Turtle]

1 minute ago, Corgi said:

I completely believe you and your sincerity.

At the risk of speaking for others, the concern isn't that there are immediate plans to move to a subscription model. It's that the transition to a subscription-only model is now inevitable.

What we would love to hear is, "The Affinity suite will continue to be developed with enthusiasm, and Canva and Serif commit that you will absolutely never be forced to subscribe to receive updates or new versions of our products." But, even then, we'd be skeptical, given what other companies have done after similar promises.

I think the problem is worse than that - it's just that - I wouldn't necessarily mind a subscription if it was priced competitively - the worst outcome are that the apps just become a platform for Canva upsell, full of adverts, nags and bloat. That's genuinely worse case for me. As they are, they are not perfect, but they are well designed and slick, but the future just seems not as bright. 

[Greengestalt]

12 minutes ago, Terry Brooks said:

That's a shame, I was looking forward to the day that Affinity introduced AI selection methods for sky, people etc (not interested in AI creation of parts of a scene) but I'd guess if that ever happens now it will be after Canva have introduced a subscription pricing and that's when I'll go back to Adobe.

I'd think AI would be where they could offer a subscription service - AI is so rapidly changing the old school premium $ (several hundred) for one time software doesn't work - it changes weekly or less.  So they could offer subscription to an AiEngine and make various claims (hopefully true) of "Our stuff is 100% legit sourced" as if a RL human artist doesn't do openly what they whine about in AI including stealing styles which are not copyrightable.  The public domain + art gulags + lawyers could make a sourced AIart engine combined with users dropping their own training modules for their own work (individual, no responsibility, no direct involvement if issue) and privacy if subscribed with NO censorship vs Midjourney and other public Ai would be an edge and something I'd pay for as long as the base software remained pay for version / upgrade once in a while at worst.

"One Man's Opinion" and tinfoil hat on but I think the AiArt as we know it was prompted by Adobe - they have a huge piracy % and their own ELUA has allowed scraping for a decade + including pirated software.  Having to log into a server it's easy to tell if anyone is a paying customer and make them subscribe.

 

The important thing is the Luddites are on full freak out mode over AI.  But they'd benefit very little scraping user data to add/sell without permission. So easy to make it clear and solid and problematic if they break it that it's Opt in, not part of the main package and again 100% opt in, don't have to use it + privacy and takes personal LoRa's too.

 

Again Adobe has had this - and it's been noticed.  Serif didn't.  I emailed them, went over the details.  I love AIart - use Affinity photo to correct kooky Finger things and ADD my own on top of AiArt (a tree, character, some sparkle) so if it's stolen I can take 'em to court - not for AI but for the tree I painted and slipped in.  But I gladly promoted Affinity software to the screaming luddites because if by the luck of not getting around to it they didn't have it or scrape data.  Note again Photoshop has been SUPER pirated for decades as most digital artists needed it but couldn't afford it - then the full priced version could crash and it'd take weeks to reach the right tech support.  But the ELUA allowed them to scrape...

 

SO - this new company could put in an AI option but:

A - subscription since AI is and will be too edgy for old school models for years

B - Opt in 100%

C - NOT affect previous versions

D - allow personal LoRa Drop

E - No censorship vs open commercial

F - NO data scraping.  IMO not worth it but 100% opt in and in the letter.

 

I've had some vehemently worried about Ai people who WERE pros who could draw good (think sci-fi Barlowe rip off with evolved space slugs) say they'd be for AIart IF a model can be made that's 100% ethical since they use high tech tools in modern computers.

 

For reference Adobe's issue - I'm posting this to remind the new owners the EDGE they have.  For now it's "Never had it...likely never will" so huge AiPhobe magnet.  Later it could be a contract with an "Ethical" AI and opt in and personalization to justify a NON-connected to core software subscription.  The luddites get assured they don't have to touch it that their "Furry" art that'd make Carpet Sample look like the late Frazetta won't EVER be scraped.

 

[Intuos5]

Also, most of the reasoning in the announcement on why it felt right to join Canva really don't have anything to do with the users of the Affinity software.

[NotMyFault]

Very sad news for the old user base. All the best to the Affinity team. 
 

The latest big news (before this) from Canvas was about AI based features.

On December 7, 2022, Canva launched Magic Write, which is the platform’s AI-powered copywriting assistant.^[30] On March 22, 2023, Canva announced its new Assistant tool, which makes recommendations on graphics and styles that match the user's existing design.^[31] On January 11, 2024, Canva launched its own GPT in OpenAI's GPT Store.^[32]

Acquisitions

In 2018, the company acquired presentations startup Zeetings for an undisclosed amount, as part of its expansion into the presentations space.^[38]

In May 2019, the company announced the acquisitions of Pixabay and Pexels, two free stock photography sites based in Germany, which enabled Canva users to access their photos for designs.^[39]

In February 2021, Canva acquired Austrian startup Kaleido.ai and the Czech-based Smartmockups.^[40]

In March 2024, Canva acquired UK-based Serif, the developers of the Affinity suite of graphic design software.^[41]

[mogsie]

33 minutes ago, Ash said:

Realise this announcement has come as a surprise and I understand the feeling of uncertainty which is brings, but I do think it's all very positive for the company and our customers. 

For Surprise, read SHOCK.

[Bit Disappointed]

Everything said here today means nothing; it's what happens in the future that matters. I'm taking it easy but starting to move my eggs to another basket.

There aren't many eggs - as far as the program trio is concerned, it has never looked like a good long-term investment due to the company's operations and the products' algorithms.

But today, the seeds have been sown for quite significant uncertainty for the customers, regardless of what is said and how it is wrapped in business nonsense, so please take your precautions out there as adults, and let any fanboys sit and recite their self-comforting monologues - in shock. They were wrong.

[Thomas Bohn]

This won't end well for us as users. Maybe it won't be as bad as what is currently happening to VMware or what happened to Filmic Pro or even Flickr but it won't be good. One of my reason why I bought Affitnity and upgraded early to 2.0 is that Serif was an independent company and not some huge corporation. It doesn't matter if nothing really changes, it is no longer a small independent company I like to support. Aquisitions are never a good idea, they always have consequences and most of them are not good. The focus will shift.

[SvS]

I really hope that Canva never applies their pricing model to Affinity...

It's actually quite a shame that they haven't learned from the history of other software. Thinking of Aldus Pagemaker in the late 80s, acquired by Adobe = it no longer exists shortly afterwards, and there are many more that could no longer keep the name and identity afterwards.
 

[MJaP]

Don't delude yourself, the majority of your user base are here because Adobe embraced the morally bankrupt Software as a Service model and they looked for a perpetual license alternative, and for no other reason. You touted perpetual licenses front and centre, and as someone who works for a multi-national software and services company I know that if you betray your customer base's trust they do not forgive and they do not forget lightly.

I dropped Adobe like a stone the moment they went Software as a Service, the model of "rent your software, pay for eternity, spend thousands, and the moment you stop paying you have NOTHING". I will never RENT my software, software ISN'T a service, it's an end product.

I dropped Abode and never looked back, I dropped Cinema 4D like a stone when they went to a subscription model (after saying they would offer both perpetual and subscription models together... which lasted all of 2 years) and never looked back.

Rest assured I, and quite likely a very large percentage of your user base, will drop you like a stone and move on should Affinity go to a subscription model, because your perpetual licensing is the only thing that attracted us to your software over Abode.

The fact that you sold yourselves (didn't even go into partnership) after only two months of starting a conversation rings alarm bells, you are now a subsidiary, you are no longer the master of your own destiny, you are a servant, only able to doff your cap and say "yes sir" at Canva's command.

Excuse the cynicism, but we have lived this software story FAR too many times before, and it has never ended well. I hope this will be the exception to the rule. Actions speak louder than words. We shall wait to see what SaaS company Canva's actions turn out to be.

Perhaps a written declaration, a "verbal contract" if you will, between yourselves and your customers that your software will NEVER drop its perpetual license model, and that its pricing will never be inflated to such unreasonable levels to try and force people on to a future parallel subscription service?

Edited March 26 by MJaP

[RichardMH]

I'm probably the odd one out but it doesn't worry me. Software is a pretty low proportion of what I spend on photography. More concerned that Affinity Photo hasn't been keeping up. Hopefully this will remedy that.

[benhughes89]

As with other Affinity users, I'm not at all convinced this is a good move. The wording in the FAQ saying there are no planned changes to the current price model 'at this time' is very concerning. That wording has been chosen by Serif as they cannot guarantee that this will not change.

If there is any inkling of a change to a subscription model, Affinity will lose me. I have used Affinity and recommended it to other people on the primary basis it was a professional package from a smaller, more independent company, not restricted by subscription pricing. As a designer, I have never looked at Canva as being on the same level as Serif professionally. Canva is a tool for non-professionals so the combining of the two companies to me feels like a dumbing-down of Affinity.

Unfortunately, my initial impression of this sale is that Serif have sold themselves out for a mess of pottage...

Edited March 26 by benhughes89

[RH3]

Like many I’m greatly disappointed at this announcement and reeks of Adobe all over again trying to say how much a benefit the changes are for the customers (those that helped financially build this company).

Businesses have one purpose in life and that is to make money. Anything that improves the bottom line is taken advantage of. The appalling subscription services prevalent everywhere in life nowadays is a cancer on society and especially on software.

Any business sell out/buy out/takeover has only one purpose and that is to boost profits. The likes of Adobe couldn’t care less about non-professional users, they make a substantial profit from their enterprise customers. CEO’s very quickly forget that it is the smaller scale users that paid for the company’s development before attracting professional and enterprise customers. In most cases that is a result of the individuals recommending the product to their seniors and those holding the purse string.

I seriously hope I’m wrong but watch this space - another Adobe style sell out is on the way.

 

 

[lineweight]

44 minutes ago, Ash said:

With the additional financial backing we have no pressure at all to release a V3 anytime soon, so can be 100% focused on ploughing all our efforts into free V2 updates for the foreseeable future - and we've got some great updates in the works. 

It's a bit hard to understand what's in it for Canva.

Surely they haven't paid an enormous amount of money, to enable you to carry on making upgrades for existing users for free.