Canva

[R C-R]

35 minutes ago, loukash said:

It definitely wasn't meant personally…  

FWIW, I did not mean for my comment to be directed at any particular person either.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, albertkinng said:

I revisited the latest posts and was astounded to find that this forum has already reached the stage where Adobe is set to acquire Canva. How did the forum evolve to reach such a critical juncture?

The forum has not reached any such stage. It is just a few alarmists that apparently think Adobe is so big it can buy whatever it wants without concern for the anti-trust issues that have already been problematic for the company in both the US & UK.

[Laura Ess]

6 hours ago, JGD said:

They could, however, have reasons to kill products that compete with Canva. huge win for us all as consumers. 🤷‍♂️

Well this is what a lot of the big businesses do. Microsoft, Adobe, Facebook and Google have all done that to some degree or another. Software gets bought to be incorporated in some project or app they've been developing themselves.  The worst thing of this is that we have to wait to see what happens.

I'd never heard of Canva before the acquisition. I thought it might have been a later version of Canvas, a vector editing app I tried a long time ago 😛 I've only briefly looked at Canva's website, it looks like it's full of apps/services to run/promote businesses. I suspect if that's the case the apps might only go so far in complexity, whereas the Affinity range is rather specific in what each app does and the complexity of each gives better results. So Canva is upping their game by including  Affinity in it's offering, and maintaining the availability of stand-alone / perpetual versions would be a smart move because then there's an extra cash flow, and possible way of gaining clients say, if being on a paid subscription also gives someone access to Affinity. 

But we have to wait and see. It might take a year or more to see how this develops. At worse I'll still have apps I enjoy using without being sucked dry by subscription schemes; at best we might just start to see lots of features (like vector tracing and customised transparency grids) finally in the pipeline of improvements.  Wait and see.

[Westerwälder]

46 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Wirklich! Ich würde sehr gerne wissen, von welcher Marke Sie eine Kristallkugel haben, was sie kostet und wo ich mir eine kaufen könnte.

So jetzt denke ich auch einmal: In Deutschland sagt man: „Abwarten und Tee trinken“. Affinity als Marke gibt es noch, wieso sollte ich mich an negativen Befürchtungen beteiligen!
Zur Vorsorge habe ich mir aber mal das Upgrade von PhotoLine gekauft, damit war Ich bin bevor Affinity zufrieden. Trotzdem kann Affinity einiges besser, aber auch einiges nicht so gut wie PhotoLine!
Adobe ist keine Alternative, zu Alt und zu sehr immer auf neues aufspringen und dann einstellen.
Ich hoffe, dass Afinity niemals auf Künstliche Intelligenz aufspringen wird , Denn die beziehen sich auf ihre Daten nur aus schon lange bekanntem Internet!
Die Probleme die PDF hat, sind immer noch Adobe Probleme! Die Dateiformate von Adobe wie zum Beispiel *.PS sind kaum mit anderen Programmen lesbar
.

So now I'm thinking: In Germany they say: "Wait and drink tea." Affinity as a brand still exists, why should I participate in negative fears!
As a precaution, I bought the PhotoLine upgrade, which I was happy with before Affinity. Nevertheless, Affinity can do some things better, but also some things not as well as PhotoLine!
Adobe is not an alternative, too old and always jumping on something new and then discontinuing it.
I hope that Afinity will never jump on artificial intelligence, because it only gets its data from what has been known on the Internet for a long time!
The problems PDF has are still Adobe problems! Adobe file formats such as *.PS are hardly readable with other programs.
Typical American espionage programs.

 

[Patrick Connor]

On 3/28/2024 at 5:44 PM, Patrick Connor said:

To other readers

..... I would appreciate you not quoting their posts either, or I may have to hide them

This is still true and moderators will hide disagreement between users, whilst not stopping discussion 

[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, Westerwälder said:

Affinity as a brand still exists, why should I participate in negative fears!

I suspect a few people just want to get as many other people as possible to jump on the FUD bandwagon about this because for some reason they just enjoy churning the waters with dubious information. Not exactly the same thing as trolling but close.

[Archangel]

17 minutes ago, Laura Ess said:

Well this is what a lot of the big businesses do. Microsoft, Adobe, Facebook and Google have all done that to some degree or another. Software gets bought to be incorporated in some project or app they've been developing themselves.  The worst thing of this is that we have to wait to see what happens.

I'd never heard of Canva before the acquisition. I thought it might have been a later version of Canvas, a vector editing app I tried a long time ago 😛 I've only briefly looked at Canva's website, it looks like it's full of apps/services to run/promote businesses. I suspect if that's the case the apps might only go so far in complexity, whereas the Affinity range is rather specific in what each app does and the complexity of each gives better results. So Canva is upping their game by including  Affinity in it's offering, and maintaining the availability of stand-alone / perpetual versions would be a smart move because then there's an extra cash flow, and possible way of gaining clients say, if being on a paid subscription also gives someone access to Affinity. 

But we have to wait and see. It might take a year or more to see how this develops. At worse I'll still have apps I enjoy using without being sucked dry by subscription schemes; at best we might just start to see lots of features (like vector tracing and customised transparency grids) finally in the pipeline of improvements.  Wait and see.

You mean Deneba Canvas. I had a version (6?) with a cover disc on a PC magazine. It also did DTP as well as Vectors which made it quite unique as a package. It supported very good text handling, even better than Serif's PagePlus at the time.

Having said that it was a magazine cover disk which got me to try PagePlus out and I became a Serif User using their Legacy range. Now I am with Affinity and the next step forward. Let's hope that the Canva deal allows the software suite to progress and develop into a viable alternative to the Adobe monopoly and still offers a non-subscription pathway for user who would like to own their copy of the software and use it in perpetuity.

[SrPx]

- Edited as I was breaking the rule of no quoting, (that it is recommended not quoting, if I got it right), I just realized it- 

- Edit 2: Oh, it was "in disagreement" quoting. It was not in this case. But I just removed the quoting, anyway.

About what is the trend of the thread, I don't think there is one.

"Some" of us reached a certain conclusion (in any case... nobody knows, though!). Although, have to say, it all (the conversation as a whole) sounds to me a bit ridiculous, though... here, in a forum with some hundreds posts in this thread, by very few individuals in the grand scheme of things (for whether positive or negative views on the whole matter), not representative (reliably, in any way) of 3 million users, neither written by any market expert (at least, that we know), and without any first hand solid info about the matter, other than from Affinity team members, which statements I happen to be guilty of trusting (as I trust the individuals). That conclusion is due to certain data, and was/is the opposite to an Adobe->Canva buyout; at least, from recent, new (for us) data. And that the most likely scenario, due to Australian regulation, and some other factors -detailed in several recent posts from a few members- is, besides not really looking probable such acquisition, it is indeed quite possible that Canva just wants to compete (even more) in certain areas and niches, grab more market from Adobe (and I believe Adobe might start -already is, surely, we know of some apps (Adobe Express, maybe?) doing this already- producing and releasing products to counter that. In any case, I still see an enormous difference between the two, in size and even in market. But there's some overlap for the less experienced users, hobbyists, small business, marketing specialists, and everything that matches that skill level in graphic work, in my opinion.  Not expecting the Canva buyout from Adobe is mostly due to what has been mentioned about Australian regulation (but you never know). About the trend of the thread, there is probably none, IMO. There are almost as many theories as people, here . We can read and write until humanity creates a functional base on Mars, but, besides that's not going to move or change "the big events", only time and reality (proof and facts, in whatever direction; and I don't see only two) will convince people of one thing or the other, IMO. Meanwhile, I kind of like the idea of keep making my graphics in Affinity (and my other gazillion graphic tools  , as I never saw it as an exclusive thing, and so, zero problems). 

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, SrPx said:

About what is the trend of the thread, I don't think there is one.

Admittedly, it isn't a very strong trend but I think recently there has been a gradual easing of concerns about Affinity's fate.

[nickbatz]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Admittedly, it isn't a very strong trend but I think recently there has been a gradual easing of concerns about Affinity's fate.

It was the follow-up announcement written in straightforward language that eased my concerns - along with its content, of course.

I found the first one terrifying - corporate words appropriate for an audience of suits, not users of creative programs who (hopefully) have individual personalities.

[B064RT]

why the news hurt me so deep.... ?! 
its just like seeing David being stepped down by goliath...

hope the SUBSCRIPTION option never exist here.. 

[debraspicher]

7 hours ago, AffinityMakesMeSad said:

This reply from Patrick is really funny…

Why shouldn’t the head of Flourish have nothing than positive things to say about Canva?

He’s not neutral, he’s part of this konglomerat Canva International (soon to be bought by Adobe Inc.)…

I don't know that it was "funny" per say, but you make a very good point. I don't know that it means that the deal won't work out for the better in the grand scheme of things (for customers)... of course Canva has to protect its own interests first as the buyer forking over hundreds of millions.

Also I hope Adobe tries to buy Canva, so that it can also fail and more money can be wasted at their own expense.

5 hours ago, Westerwälder said:

I hope that Afinity will never jump on artificial intelligence, because it only gets its data from what has been known on the Internet for a long time!

That ship has sailed, because they are already looking into it. You might have missed it because it was buried inside an image.

1 hour ago, B064RT said:

why the news hurt me so deep.... ?! 

It's the same reason people freak out when Affinity took so long in-between updates during/after V1. Our memories of an evil corporate betrayal start kicking in. It's practically muscle memory if you spend too much time examining changelogs wondering why your favorite software hasn't become better and faster than Adobe yet.

[Alfred]

50 minutes ago, debraspicher said:

6 hours ago, Westerwälder said:

I hope that Afinity will never jump on artificial intelligence, because it only gets its data from what has been known on the Internet for a long time!

That ship has sailed, because they are already looking into it. You might have missed it because it was buried inside an image.

 

Quote

Principal risks and uncertainties

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (Al) increasingly has many consequences for the company's creativ professional customer base and for the types of tools they will demand to be available to them in the future.

This quickly evolving area naturally introduces some uncertainty into the creative sector that did not exist before. However it is also a big opportunity for Serif to champion and support human creativity. The company is making significant R&D investment in these areas and, with the company's agile processes and culture, Serif well placed to move quickly in producing innovative solutions harnessing these new technologies.

This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf.

 

[mehdy]

8 hours ago, AffinityMakesMeSad said:

soon to be bought by Adobe Inc.

Idk why I have a feeling this will happen but not soon maybe next 5-10 years.

I love affinity I wish Canva hold stronger keeping thier promises as ash mentioned, otherwise We will have a story to tell for future designers.

[Catshill]

I wonder if the Affinity suite will simply come to a natural end in the same way as the old Serif suite ceased to be. Meantime it will be announced that the developers that transferred across to Canva have been working on a completely new suite of software that will be announced with a fanfare. 

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, Catshill said:

I wonder if the Affinity suite will simply come to a natural end in the same way as the old Serif suite ceased to be. Meantime it will be announced that the developers that transferred across to Canva have been working on a completely new suite of software that will be announced with a fanfare. 

I don’t think the ‘Plus’ products and the Affinity range are remotely comparable in technology terms. The former are not just for Windows only, but also heavily dependent on specific Windows components (so difficult to update, and well nigh impossible to port to other platforms). The brains behind MoviePlus left to join Microsoft Research, and the brains behind WebPlus left to run a vegan restaurant.

[Insider]

Let's hope that this somewhat overhyped suite will change. After over a decade of slow and lazy development, maybe it's time to abandon the sinking ship before Canva sinks it completely. Unless the new owner is able to reform the development and easy going. Skilled people are in demand everywhere and don't have to worry about losing their jobs. The weather is also better in Australia, but not as nice as in California.

[Alfred]

13 minutes ago, Insider said:

Unless the new owner is able to reform the development and easy going.

Easy going what?

14 minutes ago, Insider said:

The weather is also better in Australia, but not as nice as in California.

That’s entirely subjective, of course, but also an awkward comparison. California is only a state (albeit a large one) but Australia is a whole continent.

[William Overington]

5 hours ago, debraspicher said:

That ship has sailed, because they are already looking into it. You might have missed it because it was buried inside an image.

Some readers might like to have a look at some threads about generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) that are in Alfred's forum.

https://punster.me/serif/viewforum.php?id=11

In particular the following posts, the second and fourth of which shows an image produced by me using Affinity Designer patched into an image generated using AI.

https://punster.me/serif/viewtopic.php?pid=4119#p4119

https://punster.me/serif/viewtopic.php?pid=4123#p4123

https://punster.me/serif/viewtopic.php?pid=4124#p4124

https://punster.me/serif/viewtopic.php?pid=4141#p4141

William

 

[William Overington]

28 minutes ago, Insider said:

 Skilled people are in demand everywhere and don't have to worry about losing their jobs.

Losing one's job can be a very difficult experience.

William

 

[AffinityMakesMeWonder]

41 minutes ago, Insider said:

Let's hope that this somewhat overhyped suite will change. After over a decade of slow and lazy development, maybe it's time to abandon the sinking ship before Canva sinks it completely. Unless the new owner is able to reform the development and easy going. Skilled people are in demand everywhere and don't have to worry about losing their jobs. The weather is also better in Australia, but not as nice as in California.

The only thing to complain about concerning Affinity Suite is two things:

1. Very very basic functionalities has still not be seen in this Suite after so many years - why?

2. Why have Serif Ltd holding off several new features to iPad, but released on Mac and Windows?

Bad priorities…

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, AffinityMakesMeSad said:

The only thing to complain about concerning Affinity Suite is two things:

Hmm… 

[Insider]

11 minutes ago, William Overington said:

Losing one's job can be a very difficult experience.

William

 

For those affected in any case. I've never made rash and hasty restructuring decisions, you have to be careful that it doesn't affect the wrong people. But without Hire & Fire, renewal is hardly possible.

[mogsie]

1 hour ago, AffinityMakesMeSad said:

2. Why have Serif Ltd holding off several new features to iPad, but released on Mac and Windows?

Bad priorities…

Correct priorities actually. Serious work is done on a desktop computer.

[William Overington]

22 minutes ago, Alfred said:

Hmm… 

Pedantry rides again.

(Yes, a malapropism on a 1939 movie! 😁 )

William