Version control and error detection by hashing

[NotMyFault]

Affinity earned some bad reputation caused by corrupted files.

this has been improved by recent changes, e.g. lock files.

to further improve consistency and allow early detection of file corruption:

• allow non-printable metadata, e.g. version history. This should automatically add a log record every time the document is saved, including time stamp and name of device and user (optionally). Benefit: users can reproduce what content (edit status) is kept in files, helpful if cloud sync got wrong and you have several files sharing identical name, but maybe differ in content.
• add checksum for every bitmap layer. When opening or saving a file, optionally compare data content to checksum and warn if corruption id detected.
• Allow to export data, both good and damaged, every layer in a separate file, to simplify recovery and spot repairs.
• allow to import data for all or specific layers once corrupted data is repaired (externally)
• export / import / repair function may stay separate from regular apps, as specialist tool.

[Bound by Beans]

The file format needs to be completely replaced with something up-to-date. Serif, and now Canva, have hit the ceiling with this gamer-inspired and horribly version-dependent file format that drags the entire suite down in multiple simultaneous catastrophic and limiting ways. They actually hit the ceiling the moment they chose it. It was outdated and unfit even before Affinity was released. Of all the bad choices that were future-disaster-proof, this was the worst.

You might as well dream about restoring as much as you can from half-corrupted ZIP files. You can salvage some fragments of some fragments.

Serif hasn't even actively communicated that this format often crashes in an epic way, and that customers should avoid cloud-synced drives (tragicomic and laughable in 2025), but instead leaves it to customers to discover the file format’s vulnerability once their files are lost. It's actually an insulting and cold practice.

Some nerdy warning mechanism benefits maybe ten customers at most, and is essentially just as useless as the Titan submarine's grotesque crack detection system.