Canva

[OzNate]

35 minutes ago, Jens Krebs said:

I know it's not of much use, but why don't we all change our profile picture to the "angry cat" emoji to show how we feel?

 

I support that

[Chills]

43 minutes ago, Jens Krebs said:

I know it's not of much use, but why don't we all change our profile picture to the "angry cat" emoji to show how we feel?

Sounds good to me

[Teddy Ursadorable]

38 minutes ago, Jens Krebs said:

I know it's not of much use, but why don't we all change our profile picture to the "angry cat" emoji to show how we feel?

I'm less angry than disappointed.  What does cause concern for me is the sharing of any of my personal information with Canva, considering how bad they are at securing their customer data, I do not want them having ANY of my information.

[Intuos5]

The two things I'd like to hear out of the Q&A or any updates on the matter are:

1. What reassurances are there that V2 will continue to get new updates beyond 2.5 - most importantly - to make the software as is stable, bug free and devoid of workarounds?

2. How is continuity of Serif assured as we have come to know them? Meaning does Serif hold any leverage over their future plans? Will the mission of creating an Adobe competitor at a low price point (high value for money software aka no user extortion) continue to be pursued?

I have zero interest in a subscription license or integration of tools to Canva, I want to see Serif finish what it started.

[Elian Gonzalez]

Yes, this feels a bit like a pre-obit because it follows a typical pattern: a happy announcement of a merger (read sale), quick assurance that nothing is going to change, followed by a branding change, reshuffling and then the announcement of a new customer model (read subscription). ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Oh well. 

[nik78]

From what I have read here, and based on previous experience, most users agree this software will either go subscription or be integrated in the Canva web software. It could also disappear forever. If they seize the day and actually invest in the software, they could seriously challenge Adobe. But if they go subscription, I'm out.
For professional drawing one could consider Corel draw which is more expensive, but yours to keep.
There is also Corel Painter for realistic stuff.
Also Clip studio, but they also have some perpetual license shenanigans now, where you get v.3, but not the updates to v.3.
Alternatively, I can keep using Adobe CS6 on a partitioned mac ssd.
Of course you could keep using Affinity v.2 as well.

Otherwise, it's back to Adobe.

[Intuos5]

2 hours ago, mliving said:

Why do you have to wait a few days?

If they are such wonderful plans for current Affinity users why not share them in the original announcement?

Please. We're adults and by the sounds of things most Affinity users are ready to move on.

Enjoy the money, cause you ain't getting any more of mine.

Only thing I can think of is that the announcement was (or had to be rushed). Info is pretty scarce atm.

[OldSubSailor]

I keep reading about this 'IF  . . . THEN  could  seriously challenge Adobe . . . "   thing in one form or an other ( challenge, terrify, etc) 

That just sounds like a durn pipe dream to me.  Calling caca del Torro that one; just ain't gonna happen. 

[esto]

13 minutes ago, Intuos5 said:

Only thing I can think of is that the announcement was (or had to be rushed).

Tech companies and bad comms, name a more iconic duo

[nezumi]

Ok, after going through 3 pages of doom, gloom and "if there will be subscription I will go to Adobe" and some repetitive blathering about  "in five years AI will decimate industry" (which I hear for the last two years and its still 5 years somehow... ) I jumped to the last page - which is 14 at the moment.

There is a great video on Youtube called "Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things" and I guess answer could summarized as "because they want to".
I dont know if I am intelligent enough to find enough mental agility to convince myself that its all going to be fine and dandy, but I'll try my best.
Sure, I dont like that corporate talk with buzz words like "thrilled" and "democratizing" and "join family"... It sounds generic, I have seen it with many apps before. XSI/Softimage joined the Autodesk family and was discontinued shortly after. Mudbox joined the same family and stagnated to the point that (LITERALLY) updates consist of changing splash screen and updating pricing. Maya is doing OKish. ZBrush "joined Maxon family" and its subscription based now, but at least is being worked on even if much slower. I dont recall any software being just as good or better after being bought but some prevail.

I didnt switched to Affinity from Adobe because of subscription.

Sure it was fantastic bonus but I simply like Affinity better. Its not cluttered and bloated with cheap, shiny, latest bling bling like "You dont like how your child looks? We neither! Add the smile on this sad face using our AI "SMILEY" tool!!!". In general I dont need AI because I am capable of making my own designs and so far I dont see all that "prompt masters" taking my job 🤪 Maybe because they are stuck in the perpetual "you'll see in five years!" - they want to grab my job, but they are always five years away from doing so. But I digress..

My main concern is stupidification of Affinity. Canva really is made for... I dont want to be offensive.. Lets say "less capable of intelligent thought" people. Million templates with really simplistic tools. Of which I would only find useful "Magic Expand". Its better then AI because its MAGIC powered! 🤣If Affinity team keeps control over the look, feel and content of the software and price is right - I am staying on board.

PS.

And I blame for it all of you freaking AI whiners - "oh, but if Affinity will not have AI will become irrelevant! Boo Hoo!".. All of you "In-Five-Years" technoptimists that cant make their own design without prompt... Its at least partly your fault. So now you have it. You will have "AI Powah!". Enjoy.

 

[SrPx]

13 minutes ago, SKent said:

My conjecture but, from the heel turn in Adobes marketing into pleading mini tutorials on YouTube. They are absolutely _terrified_ at canvas changing of the first app people use when they are getting into graphic design. If canva can present a viable next step into an actual tool, it would be a the first viable competitor to Adobe. If you add in more aggressive feature parity in terms of compatibility and reliability then we might see some actual competition. 

Sorry for going slightly off topic (my first post about this), but a bit about the recent move from Adobe, towards making "easy tools for graphics" for everyone and their dog (being or not necessarily their first entry), for people without (or almost) skills, and competing with Canva by doing so... would that be tied with the AI eruption? I mean.. these users now can generate "art" that takes decades to master (anatomy, perspective, composition, color theory) with a text prompt (indeed, they can, in Canva  ). They just need a tool to place it somehow (actually the design part, but super simplified and with tons of automatic help), put some nice text around it and then everyone can start devouring the designers and artists' market, for a side income besides their whatever job. And so, there goes the major part of the average freelance artists and designers market. Of course, for higher end work, you still need a "curator", an artist, graphic designer or photographer with the actual skills (but only one, for the work of many, before), and for very high end work, AI is discarded (copyright issues, artifacts, bad reputation, the need of a human behind the work; a creator, for connection, etc). The ugliest part of it is that new and even relatively advanced artists and designers first have to survive in that market before going for higher end clients. This is a much bigger problem than subscriptions, IMO.

It would make sense financially (not talking about ethics), as typically the mainstream, the casuals, make a much larger market. Just wondering about the issues very globally. As in... if would actually design and art software for professionals or advanced hobbyists still be a business as it was before (or if at all), with AI, in the very next future. In that scenario, operations like this make sense (not saying that I like it!). But who knows. Clip Studio has kept a permanent purchase version (I'm fine with it, even without the updates. 3.0 is lovely) after going for subscription models, as also Substance painter did (although a bit hidden, on Steam) after Adobe acquired the company. I have it too, and it keeps working well.

 

[KarinC]

1 hour ago, dcgefrenc said:

That happened to me when eon-software was purchased by… oh sorry… when eon-software joined the Bentley family. The Bentley guys took down the license servers and asked users to pay 4 times the original price of the software to “update” the license. I don’t like it, but I went Monkey D. Luffy with that one.

Well, It was fun while it lasted.

I was just thinking about eon a few days ago. I loved working with it. I had wondered what happened to it. 

[KarinC]

58 minutes ago, Teddy Ursadorable said:

Ahh.. the good old days before Adobe bought Macromedia and killed off every competing product except for Flash and Dreamweaver.

That was the day my intense hatred for Adobe began.  If you can't compete, you buy out your competition and destroy them.

They half-way killed Flash. About the only thing you can make with it is stupid games for phones.

[AffinityGhost]

Well, it was nice while it lasted 🫡 So much for sticking it to the subscription man. 

"Not in your plans" is a cop-out, because the second the big boss decides they want more $$, its over for everyone.

Like all the rest, I'll be jumping ship the second the inevitable subscription happens (or they take away the license for V2), because if I am going to be forced to pay a subscription anyways, I may as well pay the devil (Adobe).

[Chills]

22 minutes ago, Intuos5 said:

Only thing I can think of is that the announcement was (or had to be rushed). Info is pretty scarce atm.

Thinking about it.....  I am not sure if it was.  Unusually, Affinity was not at the Photo Video show in Birmingham last week.  You don't just drop out of that at the last minute.  At least not without a footprint as Affinity would have been listed in the pre-show lists. AFAIR it wasn't.

[Walter Stecko]

As with most subscription services I've looked up, Canva doesn't have a good reputation on Trustpilot.com. If the Affinity apps go subscription I'll quit and not look back.

Serif / Affinity seems to have forgotten that most users would not have even heard of them were it not for the perpetual licenses.

 

[nickbatz]

A few months ago I bought licenses to Designer and Publisher just to support the company, since I rely on Affinity Photo (which I use in unique ways for art).

[Teddy Ursadorable]

Welp, apparently today was a good as day as any for me to upgrade my perpetual Clip Studio Paint Pro license from v1 to v3.

I'll continue to use Affinity Designer for now, but at least I have an alternative in my back pocket ready.

[nezumi]

@SrPx Yeah man, it is always concern but look - up to this point Canva has 175 MILLIONS of users. Many more prestigious 😉 Prompt Masters are working hard in home to take your job ("in five years, you will see" 🥱 ) . Did they manage to take jobs from you? If somebody is in the business of making leaflets promoting local "Nail Salon LATISHIA" or making logo for well known "Halal Chicken" shop on the corner then it is concerning. Not going to lie - that 16 years old owners nephew can snitch that job, taking a 10 minutes break from generating boobs in the latest and greatest Stable Diffusion. But if you left that sort of jobs behind already and you make anything that needs personal touch and originality I dont see much more competition to be honest. There always was tons of people who think they can do the job themselves with little help of template, who didnt wanted to pay already low price for our designs. Let them.

 More people is listening to some mindbogglingly stupid rap songs then to symphony orchestra, much more people is watching tiktok videos then reading books, many more is worrying if they can update i-phone to the latest model with 9 cameras so they can share video of them shaking their booty in the kitchen, then expand their skill set, learn something new. We are living idiocracy and masses will follow trends. Now its AI. As sad as it is - we cant change it.

But there are clients who will appreciate your work. Just dont look for jobs in that garbage filled with "I want fast and cheap and I dont care if it has extra arm!". You have to be elitist when it comes to jobs. And yes - you are always starting from the bottom. But think about it this way - you can take their job just as easily as they can take yours. The difference is - if you are trained, you have skill and knowledge - you will go up. Prompters will stay on the same level, perpetually fighting between themselves who can generate that "Ladys Night - 50% off!!!" leaflet quicker.

We are 2 years in that AI revolution. And the more time passes the less I am afraid of it. The threat is always years away somehow 😉

BTW, if you are using Paint - take a look at new software InstaMAT https://instamaterial.com/ . Its really mindblowing whats it is capable of and best of all - its free for people who earn less then 100K a year. And its like whole Substance package in one. Quite capable.

[mb6391]

I have no problem with subscription software provided the so called updates are meaningful. Unfortunately (for me) I'm on the Adobe mailing list and month to month keep getting the latest and greatest offers. I still have my copy of CS6 and although like many probably only use 10-15% of it's functions, if I 'upgraded' to the latest Photoshop then there's very little to be gained apart from myself by now having a wallet that has been seriously lightened.

I fully appreciate that developers have to be paid but

a) I refuse to go cloud based with anything and

b) please ensure that the software has been updated with extra benefits rather than just a change of UI.

Affinity 2.* isn't going to suddenly stop working and will no doubt serve me well for some time to come. But if or more probably when Canva go subscription based anything produced with their subscription software will not be backwards compatible with v2.*. That's certainly how Adobe operate with their InDesign package and I doubt if Canva will be any different.

[wingsline]

I loved Serif the company and been using Affinity since 1.0 and purchased v2 suite to support the company, but i hate Canva with their AI crap and subscription model. Not gonna buy the next version or won't upgrade even the v2 if they add AI into designer. The more we support AI based apps, the less the we support the artists.

Also don't forget ppl, the privacy policy might be changing soon..

[Hofnaar]

If it comes to a crappy AI based canva shit or abo like Adobe in the future, I'll go the same way like in the past and use V2 for ages like my old beloved freehand 10 until today on Windows 11! 😎🤙🏻

But I will never ever subscribe to any abo bullshit!

I also stopped working with capture one for this move last year and will use my latest stand alone as legacy version from now on... 

If the companies and their management only thinking about profit maximizing with TikTok hipster users, ok, but that's not my kind! Im out and say good bye in this case! 

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

11 minutes ago, Hofnaar said:

and use V2 for ages like my old beloved freehand 10 until today on Windows 11! 😎🤙🏻

You won't V2 is ONLINE activated. You can only use V1 this way.

[Bartek]

Ouch... 

Today morning i had mixed feelings. Now, in the evening, after reading your comments, I am certainly already feeling severely depressed. And I think after I'm about to pour my thoughts into this commentary it may be even worse.

Yes, the scenario I have in my mind does not offer great prospects of a bright future for us and the hopes we had for Affinity. For one simple reason: we don't represent any value to Canva. Canva doesn't need aspiring designers, it needs the gray masses (since they themselves declare that they are democratizing design) and Affinity probably will serve them at most as a substructure to perform specific tasks for their own platform (e.g., modifying existing templates for corporate clients intrinsic needs). 
No one will cry for us, we'll be able to go back to Adobe (since you'll have to pay every month anyway), or wherever anyone wants. 

In conclusion, I would like to quote my text, which was supposed to appear as a response to the recent "affinitystories" campaign. I didn't send it for some reasons, but here and now I can paste it as a sad summary of today:

Quote

 

I am a graphic designer with over 20 years experience of being terribly lazy. I love working effortlessly in a consistent, seamless environment that I know has been thoughtfully designed to look after my comfort and mental health. At the same time, I don't like it when someone who takes advantage of their position tries to push their old rubbish on me for rent (you know what I mean).
And this is where Affinity comes in. Convenient, well designed, offering constantly evolving solutions and, very importantly - fair to users.
So - being so lazy and used to what's good over the last few years I'm going to install Affinity on the computers of my third employer already and if I have to, I'll convince the fourth to install it too - for my comfort, his benefit and the glory of Affinity.

Here is more or less "me+Affinity" story.

 

Tonight, all this seems to be a thing of the past. 

Or will there be another morning for us?

Greetings and goodnight to old friends from England and "g'day" to our new friends from Australia (it's probably already the right time for "good morning" for them)?

[GRH]

5 hours ago, Mithferion said:

To me, that's a given. FreeHand will come to many's mind. 

Best regards! 

I still have a working copy of that, many good features on it.