Canva

[mliving]

1 hour ago, dominik said:

I do support wholeheartedly your words. Thanks.

d.

Comparing Canva/Affinity to Apple and Steve Jobs is an absolute JOKE. Not even in the same league let alone universe. PLEASE!

[OldSubSailor]

Actually I switched to Affinity Photo to get away from Adobe when processing my RAW photos. 
Then I found DXO PhotoLab and have not used Affinity all that much except for iPhone shots. So I suppose that the current V2 will suffice for those; or out of pure frustration/payback go find the Adobe Affinity subscription replacement when it comes out. 

[Chills]

Someone has just sent me a [ripped off] corporate licence for Microsoft Publisher with a gif of a laughing monkey!

I had been promoting Affinity to a group of people who want to set up some  magazines and newsletters for some local groups. IT was one of them who sent it to me. 
We are going to have to re-think the strategy.

[kaffeeundsalz]

13 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

And GIMP has no Adjustment Layers, so no non-destructive editing.

As of GIMP 2.99.18, that's not true anymore. Granted, it's a developer preview, but non-destructive adjustments are already fully implemented.

[Chills]

5 minutes ago, mliving said:

Comparing Canva/Affinity to Apple and Steve Jobs is an absolute JOKE. Not even in the same league let alone universe. PLEASE!

Canva yes, but affinity was getting there.
Now the mere link with Canva has sunk Affinity.

[Thomas Bohn]

I think the biggest question is, why does Canva need to compete with Adobe?

[debraspicher]

8 minutes ago, mliving said:

Inkscape (all platforms including Mac Intel and Apple Silicon)

Scribus (most platforms including newer Mac Intel and Apple Silicon)

GIMP (All platforms including Mac Intel and Apple Silicon)

Krita (All platforms including Mac Intel and Apple Silicon)

We all have choices. You can choose to spend your money in shareholder/VC driven company or you can invest your money in Open Source.

Sure the features may not match your current expectations but I doubt 90% of Affinity users ever used 60% of the features (that is if they worked as advertised)

Start migrating now. Pick a small project you've already completed and redo it with Open Source offerings. You may be surprised.

Best of luck to all!

My software journey: Ventura Publisher (Xerox GEM), Photo Publisher, Corel DRAW, Corel Ventura, Inkscape, Scribus, Adobe CS, Affinity Suite...

I've been learning Inkscape on the side as a "watch this space" Open Source vector app since Affinity has strayed too far for production work. I do not like the document creation part of it as it is quite limited there, but it can handle simple tasks. (as well as having image trace tools)

Adobe has a monopoly on professional output for many reasons, much is which is irrelevant for many here whose needs don't require that much overhead. I write code and design for web, so many of my tasks I could mostly do without it, but with the bugs that eat up my time even on simple jobs, I'm quite done with the broken promises of Affinity.

Clip Studio Paint, I will mention, because though they do offer a sub model, they still sell perpetual licenses. They just do not come with the .x portion of that. It's accessible with a yearly fee, but they've already released the next version which I purchased in a little over that time. I feel that's as good of a compromise as we can get, as the industry is clearly moving fully towards subscription. We could pay a yearly sub, or pay a perpetual license about as often... that's about how it used to work anyway: we get a few years and then paid upgrades...

[gguillotte]

27 minutes ago, mliving said:

Scribus (most platforms including newer Mac Intel and Apple Silicon)

GIMP (All platforms including Mac Intel and Apple Silicon)

If these in particular served the purposes or were responsive to users, we probably wouldn't be here using Affinity products. These have been around, and considerably inferior, for decades, and not coincidentally have been the most opaque or outright hostile to contributions from non-developers.

Krita and Inkscape have done better, but it would take a Blender-scale effort to turn Scribus from what it is now into a comparable tool.

[Chills]

5 minutes ago, Thomas Bohn said:

I think the biggest question is, why does Canva need to compete with Adobe?

It isn't competing with Adobe and doesn't need to.  THAT is the problem.
I think it is more likely to take Affinity down to it's level rather than rise up to Affinity's [now previous] aspirations. 

[iconoclast]

1 minute ago, kaffeeundsalz said:

As of GIMP 2.99.18, that's not true anymore. Granted, it's a developer preview, but non-destructive adjustments are already fully implemented.

OK, that sounds cool. I think, GIMP 3.0 will come soon. I'm very curious about it. I'm a GIMP-user for about 20 years. But will it have CMYK-support? For some reason, GIMP still doesn't have it. And I don't really understand that, because Krita has it since many years. And as far as I know, Krita once was a spinoff of GIMP. If you ask for CMYK in GIMP or Inkscape forums, they suggest to convert your images to CMYK in Scribus. And that is really unprofessional bullshit. Not Scribus itselves, but this workflow.

[AffinityMakesMeWonder]

How could Serif Labs be in such a financial situation when the last three years have ended in 45 million pounds in real profit?

Todays bad new have a lot of information to reveal...

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02117968

[lphilpot]

6 minutes ago, gguillotte said:

If these in particular served the purposes or were responsive to users, we probably wouldn't be here using Affinity products. These have been around, and considerably inferior, for decades, and not coincidentally have been the most opaque or outright hostile to contributions from non-developers.

I've been a low-vis supporter of GIMP for years, but eventually moved to Affinity for those very reasons. It appears possibly things are changing now a bit (more openness, more acknowledgement of the Real World, less semi-snarky "it'll be ready when it's ready" attitude). I'd love to be proven wrong, but I think in the current context GIMP may have done relatively too little for far too long to claw it's way up to being a viable alternative for even advanced amateurs, much less professionals (at least in the photo editing space). Again I'd like to be wrong, but ...

[000]

I've seen this happening a few times before with other software companies and have already started looking for alternatives to Publisher. Not going to switch immediately, but based on experience I know it's time to start evaluating other software as V2 is probably going to be last I have bought.

Unfortunately, me switching software won't change anything: Everyone who currently works at Serif will have their retirement secured (congrats by the way, you deserve it!) and considering how many users Canva has, it doesn't make a difference to them if a few Affinity users jump ship.

I'm only sad to see another company I really used to like and trust (trust that has been completely obliterated with just three simple lines of marketing hogwash) "go to the money". Surely it makes perfect sense financially, but morally and ethically it is just. not. OK.

This is, however sad it may be, the world we live in and the world mankind has created for themselves. It's not about happy trusting users anymore, not about having a nice niche, but only about engagement, growth at all cost and a number at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

To be honest: If I had the choice to cater to175 million non-pro users and buy my private island in the carribean or to cater to 3 million pro users who's trust I have, I don't know what I would do. I get the decision, but don't like it. At all.

Gonna have a beer now, see what other software is available and probably delete my forum user account. Because ... well ... it's done. Serif has lost me as a "friend" and created a "faceless customer" that isn't loyal anymore but will vote with their wallet and go away as soon as things change too much in the wrong direction.

[jacekl]

Champagne corks are popping at Adobe today.... finally they can raise the subscription price, the only competition is gone!

[Patrick Connor]

2 minutes ago, Jens Krebs said:

see what other software is available and probably delete my forum user account. Because ... well ... it's done. Serif has lost me as a "friend" and created a "faceless customer".

please don't. Your presence, as with many expressing their opinions here, is valued

[iconoclast]

1 minute ago, lphilpot said:

I've been a low-vis supporter of GIMP for years, but eventually moved to Affinity for those very reasons. It appears possibly things are changing now a bit (more openness, more acknowledgement of the Real World, less semi-snarky "it'll be ready when it's ready" attitude). I'd love to be proven wrong, but I think in the current context GIMP may have done relatively too little for far too long to claw it's way up to being a viable alternative for even advanced amateurs, much less professionals (at least in the photo editing space). Again I'd like to be wrong, but ...

I think, the problem is that there are to less developers working on GIMP. E.g. I remember that some years ago there was only one developer for the MAC-version. And he suddenly somehow disappeared, and there wasn't a new MAC-version for weeks, even the Linux- and Windows-versions were already published. It seems to be a general problem with Open Source that they are much too less supported by the public..

[000]

2 minutes ago, Patrick Connor said:

please don't. Your presence, as with many expressing their opinions here, is valued

If I say "please don't sell out", will you listen?

[Manny_va]

R.i.p. Adobe alternative ..... was good while it lasted ...... I really liked the workbooks when the program initially started..... kind of wish they continued it in version 2.... but fell short by saying that no workbooks will be available.... I felt that the workbooks was a good addition to this platform..... with canva acquiring this I have little hope left in the company..... I would have much rather this gone to capture 1 before canva..... this was not really thought out by the higher ups because this software was for photographers and designers..... canvas does not even fit anywhere in that motto for the platform that you have created..... you basically ruined the brand by giving into canva..... I sadly have lost hope in the company with this disappointing news our days are numbered with this program at this point

[blackstone]

With this announcement, you have really hit many users over the head. For me, this is a marketing disaster.

[gguillotte]

3 minutes ago, Patrick Connor said:

please don't. Your presence, as with many expressing their opinions here, is valued

If customers were valued remotely as much as Canva's offer, this acquisition likely would not be happening.

[Medical Officer Bones]

25 minutes ago, Bad_Wolf said:

I use Canva mainly to convert WEBp files coming from Dall-E (AI) into png. Subscription for Canva Pro is 11 euro/monthly, which is not too bad for the services which are delivered.

? Why would you use Canva for webp conversion when that can be done for free in https://squoosh.app/

...and if you download the source code from their GitHub, Squoosh runs in a local LAMP such as Mamp or Xampp as well - basically, off-line.

And you gain AVIF support! WebP can't compare to AVIF.

[OldSubSailor]

30 minutes ago, Chills said:

Likewise. DxO is good, I have used it for years,

Interesting and now sad that Affinity beat DXO to processing iPhone RAW photos. 
 

DXO told me to submit a help request/suggestion for them to add iPhone RAW to their  list. 
 

I will still hold on to Affinity to they finally "cave in". 

[OhItsStefan]

Really, I just bought a V2 universal licence last week!

Canva and Affinity are too different to be compatible. I suspect the reason for siding with Affinity over Adobe will soon be void. I chose with Affinity because of a one time payment and the option to upgrade outside a subscription model. The incredibly vague and standard language used in the statements and FAQ have me increasingly worried about the future of the software.

[kenmcd]

The beginning of the end.

Makes me think of...

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

[Thomas Bohn]

And just today I noticed that I made a mistake when setting up 2FA  for my Serif account and made another mistake not disabling it, now I'm locked out and support only gave me a useless link which said that I should sent an email to support. This day is really awful.