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Affinity products for Linux


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1 hour ago, SrPx said:

Not like those non professional losers that earn just like us, or more, with Blender, doing architectural renders, intros, VFX or whatever.

I know this is meant to be satiral, but Blender is used in some professional settings and has big companies throwing money at it to make it as good as it is, a lot of people use it because they think is a better than the paid alternatives. So no a good comparison. 

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34 minutes ago, SomeDev said:

I know this is meant to be satiral, but Blender is used in some professional game studios and has a big companies throwing money at it to make it as good as it is, a lot of people use it because they think is a better than the paid alternatives. So no a good comparison. 

I was being ironical but in another sense...  (I'm a Blender user (on Windows), not for only joy, but $) : As quite some people only see the professional label on freelancers if the app(/s) in their arsenal costed quite, or do tax them quite, monthly. And while it coincides in being so, often, there are too many exceptions of very efficient tools in the middle cost (even low cost) range, one time fees (licenses purchases) and even some of the free tools accomplishing pro level in good hands (firmly proved in network,development and other areas...and in 2D/3D graphics (many mid/low cost apps in Mac/Win/linux), just those high quality results instances not being widely known). More rarely as a broad and general package like Blender, and more often like a myriad of extremely good specialized tools. Professional level and estimation of it, specially in freelancing (the conversation was going more in that direction) should be more about output, results. Not necessarily if you pay more or less in your regular bills for software, or if is it one time fee or rented. If I understood well your paragraph, I believe you took it in the opposite direction.

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11 hours ago, wonderings said:

The Adobe software is not falling apart. In fact I would say Adobe CC was a good move in one way, I no longer worry about clients using the same version as I am. Everyone has the latest, swapping files and back and forth is a breeze with zero compatibility issues. Do I like the subscription? No, down right hate it. But the product is still good. Are you saying you cannot afford the $80 a month for CC? Small dollars to what you should be making if your business is profitable. 

I would be paying $300/month actually. can I afford it yes (rather save it for mortgage/rent etc). Can I make make business profitable without it? Yes Thanks to Affinity. And a tiny bit of Adobe CS5. 

"Adobe falling apart" meaning: The Adobe programs starts to work less and less well with every upgrade of MacOS. Uninstalling completely and reinstalling doesnt help. Photoshop crashes automatically after opening new file. And quitting normally generates a crash error. Nothing wrong with Adobe software per se. The MacOS upgrades is what screw things up. And it happens so frequently that things become obsolete faster. Sometimes new OS upgrades are necessary for security or additional features but they make more things incompatible.

I know Adobe programs work well. With that much money poured into it compared to affinity, I'm sure it helped.

But I'm actually doing well without Adobe. If I can do the same thing without paying more, why not?

Now I want to get away from Apple too (fine software / hardware though it is)

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4 minutes ago, Framelynx said:

I would be paying $300/month actually. can I afford it yes (rather save it for mortgage/rent etc). Can I make make business profitable without it? Yes Thanks to Affinity. And a tiny bit of Adobe CS5. 

"Adobe falling apart" meaning: The Adobe programs starts to work less and less well with every upgrade of MacOS. Uninstalling completely and reinstalling doesnt help. Photoshop crashes automatically after opening new file. And quitting normally generates a crash error. Nothing wrong with Adobe software per se. The MacOS upgrades is what screw things up. And it happens so frequently that things become obsolete faster. Sometimes new OS upgrades are necessary for security or additional features but they make more things incompatible.

I know Adobe programs work well. With that much money poured into it compared to affinity, I'm sure it helped.

But I'm actually doing well without Adobe. If I can do the same thing without paying more, why not?

Now I want to get away from Apple too (fine software / hardware though it is)

In my experience, under Windows, the latest Photoshop CC + Lightroom started to intensively scan my disks, without asking me. They've confirmed it tries to find images to feed LR's libraries, even though I've installed LR, without trying to open it ever. It takes so much resources doing this, so I can't tell it works fine. It does that by default, from the start, even though I don't work with Photoshop or LR at that time.

May be your case too.

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On 10/2/2017 at 1:56 AM, JFisher said:

Hi corsseir,

Welcome to the forum. :)

This is something that has been requested before but we have no plans to develop Affinity apps for Linux i'm afraid.
 

 

Has Affinity tried to get crowdfunding for Linux development before? I would happily contribute!

I read somewhere that you guys need $500,000 or so to break even? That means if only appx.2000 users buy all 3 Affinity programs. I'll buy 2x for my worker so now you only need 1998! =D

Some Linux distros/flavours are just so much quicker and agile than Mac and Windows, and so much more stable! Mac has been getting more and more unstable recently even when freshly bought!

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4 hours ago, Framelynx said:

Has Affinity tried to get crowdfunding for Linux development before? I would happily contribute!

I believe they have said they are not interested in crowdfunding for this.

4 hours ago, Framelynx said:

I read somewhere that you guys need $500,000 or so to break even? That means if only appx.2000 users buy all 3 Affinity programs.

That was a guess at one point in time. And that would be 3,333 users buying all 3 applications.

But costs have risen, and in any case that $500,000 was, I think, just for development. I think it did not cover ongoing costs for maintenance once the programs are developed for Linux.

Nor did it account for the impact to the continued development of the existing applications on Windows, Mac, and iPad. Nor the impact to development of other new applications for Windows, Mac, and iPad that Serif may want to undertake. Nor the impact to development and maintenance costs for other new applications when they have to be developed for 4 platforms rather than 3.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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5 hours ago, Framelynx said:

I would be paying $300/month actually. can I afford it yes (rather save it for mortgage/rent etc). Can I make make business profitable without it? Yes Thanks to Affinity. And a tiny bit of Adobe CS5. 

"Adobe falling apart" meaning: The Adobe programs starts to work less and less well with every upgrade of MacOS. Uninstalling completely and reinstalling doesnt help. Photoshop crashes automatically after opening new file. And quitting normally generates a crash error. Nothing wrong with Adobe software per se. The MacOS upgrades is what screw things up. And it happens so frequently that things become obsolete faster. Sometimes new OS upgrades are necessary for security or additional features but they make more things incompatible.

I know Adobe programs work well. With that much money poured into it compared to affinity, I'm sure it helped.

But I'm actually doing well without Adobe. If I can do the same thing without paying more, why not?

Now I want to get away from Apple too (fine software / hardware though it is)

Great if you can get by without Adobe programs, I would do the same thing if I did not need Adobe CC.

Are you saying Adobe CS5 is harder to run with every MacOS update? CS5 is 10 year old software, there can be no expectation that it is going to be supported for 10 years.

You may want to get away from Apple and Windows, but as they have said they are not interested in a Linux version, they are not interested in crowd funding for development. So if you need the software you will have to stick with Apple or Windows. Windows can be much more affordable as you can get pretty amazing hardware for less then what you get with Apple. I prefer MacOS over Windows 10, but Windows 10 has come a long way and is a good OS as well in my opinion. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

 
Anyway I am a Web and a Graphics Designer I thought that I will see some good software other then Inkscape & GIMP on Linux but I think I have to use those for more than a while I try to get these working with CrossOver however.
I went though only 3 pages and people have huge misconceptions with Linux and I wanted go though all of the page but Meh!! 

On 10/17/2017 at 5:58 PM, toltec said:

You could fly across the Atlantic on a scheduled Airline on a Jumbo Jet or an Airbus for a "reasonable" price, or you could go for free by Linux Airlines. The plane would be made by anonymous groups of people working in their bedrooms using secondhand parts. There may or may not be a qualified pilot, but someone would turn up, eventually. You would have to load your own luggage into the hold and cook you own meals. It would fly sometime next week. Probably.

hahahaha nice joke this sounds like a Arch Thing of doing every thing your self but since you said you had mint so I am not gonna believe it and tell the may or may not be a qualified pilot thing there on the Arch forum and they will eat you alive

  

On 10/17/2017 at 5:33 PM, toltec said:

I had the same problem with NVIDIA cards. I was setting up a Linux machine for someone and had to try 4 Linux versions before I got one to work.

 

Took me a day and a half.

you are either stupid or making things up because it never takes 4 or 5 linux version WHAT IS A LINUX VERSION BTW? they are all the same ubuntu, mint, pop os, elementary are most easy and likely to be used and are based on Debain so all you had to do was for example ubuntu or mint all you had to do was

sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall 

  what took you one and half day???

On 10/17/2017 at 3:51 PM, toltec said:

P.S. Blue screens are usually hardware issues, what happens with a hardware issue on Linux ?

not everytime on windows it happened to me like every once in a month now it's been 6 months and not a single issue running like fighter jet

  

On 10/17/2017 at 3:51 PM, toltec said:

Many professional users would expect the supplier to come and fix the computer on site. In fact, that sort of warranty is often bought along with a new machine. Where do you buy that for a Linux machine ? In fact, who do you even buy a Linux PC from ?

Dell XPS? System76? Purism? Slimbook? TUXEDO Computers? Vikings? Ubuntushop? Minifree? Entroware? Juno Computers?

  

On 10/17/2017 at 3:51 PM, toltec said:

So basically, if your computer doesn't work, use your computer to go online and figure out how to fix it yourself. How does that work ? ;) I would have to buy a second machine, just to keep Linux working. 

Ever heard of smart phones??

  

On 10/15/2017 at 4:45 AM, toltec said:

 

That's what I found. I got there eventually but it is absolutely useless for professionals. They can't afford to waste that much time just on an OS and anyway, a lot of them aren't necessarily that technical. Many still don't even understand DPI !!!

 

For a professional, it is much more cost effective to buy something that you plug in and use, with back-up and training. Fiddling around with Linux would be a financial disaster.

 

It's also about training and backup. Where do you go to learn Linux (even if you should have to) and which version of Linux? And where do you go when you get the equivalent of a blue screen ?

 

As I said, Linux is basically a toy for geeks. 

 

like what kind professionals we are talking about here?

training & backup?? ever heard about R-Sync? YouTube? Documentations? Forums? No? I guessed so well this point I think you made up the Linux Mint part.

hahaha toy for geeks? Thank God you "installed mint" I wonder what would have happened if you had tried ARCH you wouldn't have been calling it a toy

 

On 10/3/2017 at 5:35 PM, toltec said:

As I said, I experimented with Linux but there was so much missing. No printer drivers ( Mitsubishi dye sub printer) no green screen software, no internet design software, no DAM, no colour management software. The list was very long . . . . .

Are you kidding me you are using mint and can't install printer driver, I used to work for a trading company I never had issues with any printer or fax machines in the office and I use ARCH! The
Do It Your F**king Self distro.

  

On 10/12/2017 at 3:12 AM, toltec said:

I have nothing against Linux, I have a PC running Mint but Linux is not a "professional" environment, or maybe that should be commercial ?

hahaha lol I wish you asked this question today. btw ask Microsoft if you want

On 10/12/2017 at 3:12 AM, toltec said:

Aren't there forums for that sort of thing ? Do Linux users not use the Internet ;)

 well ask this question to the 96.3 percent of the top 1 million web servers are running Linux

Edited by Yasir Rehman
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33 minutes ago, MeatRadiator said:

Are Serif still not sure if they will port their software?

Serif seems quite sure that they will not port it to Linux, at least anytime soon.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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On 5/22/2020 at 3:54 PM, msdobrescu said:

In which case, I'd suggest heading over to the free and open source image editor and image organiser that is Fotoxx (infos available at kornelix{dot}net). That Linux-only software can do photo stitching and panorama creation and Fotoxx ought to be more widely known about.

 

EccellenteFotoxx.jpg

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13 minutes ago, Snapseed said:

In which case, I'd suggest heading over to the free and open source image editor and image organiser that is Fotoxx (infos available at kornelix{dot}net). That Linux-only software can do photo stitching and panorama creation and Fotoxx ought to be more widely known about.

I am, but I miss one thing for now: a boundary warp tool to adjust the panorama. Is there some tutorial or showcase on stitching in Fotoxx?

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17 minutes ago, msdobrescu said:

I am, but I miss one thing for now: a boundary warp tool to adjust the panorama. Is there some tutorial or showcase on stitching in Fotoxx?

What I'd suggest doing is looking online for Youtube videos and and forum requests and answers - Good luck!

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2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Serif seems quite sure that they will not port it to Linux, at least anytime soon.

I fully agree with you and the Serif staff have been quite adamant that there is not going to be a Linux version of their softwares because it's just not economical to do that. Despite that, the whining goes on and it will achieve absolutely nothing.

These days, I mostly use native Linux Nomacs and Pixeluvo (= Photoshop Elements equivalent) and there are now quite a few other image/photo editors available for Linux both in and outside of the formal software centres. Some of that software is actually Windows software that's been bundled with Wine to make a Snap (Photoscape, Irfanview, etc).

If anyone wants even more choice than that, there are versions of Photoshop and Paintshop Pro that work well with Wine (see Wine HQ at winehq{dot}org) and the developers of PhotoLine (like Fotoxx, that software ought to be more widely known about) go out of their way to ensure that their software works well Wine so that Linux users are not unduly disadvantaged. Then there are the numerous online image editors to use as well.

Finally, and just for the record, I am a full time Linux user:

 

 

Screenshot-23-Feb-2020.jpg

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On 3/7/2020 at 9:37 PM, Elbowes said:

Greetings,

I have discovered a propriety, pro-level, cross-platform DTP application in the form of VivaDesigner:

http://www.viva.us/en/products/desktop-publishing/vivadesigner-desktop-version

It's not priced as competitively as Affinity Publisher. The personal version is priced £99, though this version misses key features.

The commercial version costs £280, which pushes us back into InDesign territory. There is a free version, but it is very limited. 

In any case, it may prove a viable alternative for serious Linux users desperate for Affinity-quality apps on their platform (particularly if someone else is paying the bills).

^ That is an excellent and helpful post and PageStream is also available for Linux although it does have an old school interface. That said, the full professional version is cheaper than VivaDesigner.

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6 hours ago, Snapseed said:

Despite that, the whining goes on and it will achieve absolutely nothing.

Calling whining someone requesting or discussing a software they want to buy is not the smartest choice of words. How else do you expect people to show their interest on the software if they don't talk about it?

If the software you have works for your use case, congratulations. But that won't be the case for everyone. 

 

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On 6/1/2020 at 9:01 AM, Snapseed said:

Despite that, the whining goes on and it will achieve absolutely nothing.

An entire demographic eagerly requesting a product with cash in hand doesn't strike me as whining... but hey, one man's noise is another's music.

Eventually, someone will sing to the tune and take all that cash with them. 

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Linux desktop market share above 3% for second month in a row now, rising to 3.17%.

Considering MacOS is consistently around 9-10%, I wonder at what point Affinity might become interested. Would Designer have been made for MacOS if it only had 6% market share in stead of 9? What about 3%?

https://netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?options={"filter"%3A{"%24and"%3A[{"deviceType"%3A{"%24in"%3A["Desktop%2Flaptop"]}}]}%2C"dateLabel"%3A"Custom"%2C"attributes"%3A"share"%2C"group"%3A"platform"%2C"sort"%3A{"share"%3A-1}%2C"id"%3A"platformsDesktop"%2C"dateInterval"%3A"Monthly"%2C"dateStart"%3A"2019-05"%2C"dateEnd"%3A"2020-05"%2C"plotKeys"%3A[{"platform"%3A"Linux"}%2C{"platform"%3A"Mac OS"}%2C{"platform"%3A"Chrome OS"}]%2C"segments"%3A"-1000"}

I'm guessing people in lockdown are giving linux another try due to all the new releases with preinstalled video drivers, and are surprised to find that many Windows games play smoothly for both the Steam and Epic launcher. Combined with Epic's every week a free game marketing, it's tempting.

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For a long time now I have wanted to switch to Linux as Windows is buggy and it's kind of a rule, that you have to reset your PC every few years as Windows just crashes. Mac has it's tight ecosystem I do not want to be a part of as it's expensive and I like the control over my hardware and software. Linux would be perfect solution - It's a stable and customizable OS where I can use my hardware power on exactly what I intend to (not a bazillion background processes Windows style). Only issue... Adobe programs do not work on Linux and they have no plans to make them work. So obviously I start looking for alternatives - here I am with only alternative, that seems to be capable enough to be replacement for me, but the main issue am trying to solve still stands. Linux is untouched by graphic design world - there is Gimp, and Gimp is cool and free, but it isn't on professional level. It's a risk for developers, but in my opinion, it's a platform in need of a professional grade vector and raster editing software and the biggest reason you don't see artists on Linux machines is that there aren't any tools there. Of course I understand that there is a huge investment to be made by developers, but I believe it is worthwhile to make yourself a monopoly in that uncharted land.

Long story short: I want to change to Linux, but can't because devs who make the tools I need think that no artist would use Linux.

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That's basically the sentiment: it's a chicken and egg problem. Few graphic designers use Linux because there's no good design tools in Linux. Companies won't develop design tools for Linux because graphic designers don't use Linux. This is all in spite of the fact that many other creative disciplines and studios that heavily integrate with graphic designers already use Linux: 2D animation, 3D animation, software development, video editing, and so on.

Given current events, I think it's also important to think about how to improve the lives of people in disadvantaged and underprivileged communities. This is a problem I've been trying to work out for a while, and it is why I'm teaching Affinity products over Adobe products for my design courses. How do you get those communities the tools they need to have better opportunities? By making them them more accessible. A highly-capable computer for creative work could cost 20% more if you buy Windows 10 Home (and I don't recommend getting the cheaper Home edition). Linux also performs better on older hardware, which is why—as a graphic designer and illustrator—I run Linux on my older machines instead of Windows for creative work.

Subscription-based software is death for underprivileged creatives. Increasing the cost of entry through a $140-200 operating system only makes it more difficult for them to get started. Affinity software is certainly making it easier for disadvantaged artists by not requiring them to pay monthly, but it is still requiring them to pay another software company just for the privilege of being able to use a computer.

There's no denying that there's one operating system that is better for marginalized people. I'm hoping that as the world becomes more aware of the problems that minorities still face today, and that software companies will start to do the same.

Graphic design, software development, and education for underestimated creatives. Squirrel Logic

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Chiming in (more petrol for the fire)...

Affinity is currently the no. 1 application preventing me from ditching the Windows 10 installation here that causes me increasing grief every day. There is indeed a chicken/egg situation with Linux regarding graphics tools and users. I think it is the only tool I use on a regualar basis I've got that isn't available for Linux.

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On 6/3/2020 at 12:47 PM, Redsandro said:

Linux desktop market share above 3% for second month in a row now, rising to 3.17%.

Considering MacOS is consistently around 9-10%, I wonder at what point Affinity might become interested. Would Designer have been made for MacOS if it only had 6% market share in stead of 9? What about 3%?

https://netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?options={"filter"%3A{"%24and"%3A[{"deviceType"%3A{"%24in"%3A["Desktop%2Flaptop"]}}]}%2C"dateLabel"%3A"Custom"%2C"attributes"%3A"share"%2C"group"%3A"platform"%2C"sort"%3A{"share"%3A-1}%2C"id"%3A"platformsDesktop"%2C"dateInterval"%3A"Monthly"%2C"dateStart"%3A"2019-05"%2C"dateEnd"%3A"2020-05"%2C"plotKeys"%3A[{"platform"%3A"Linux"}%2C{"platform"%3A"Mac OS"}%2C{"platform"%3A"Chrome OS"}]%2C"segments"%3A"-1000"}

I'm guessing people in lockdown are giving linux another try due to all the new releases with preinstalled video drivers, and are surprised to find that many Windows games play smoothly for both the Steam and Epic launcher. Combined with Epic's every week a free game marketing, it's tempting.

 

It might also be the case that quite a few people are using their home Linux computers to do their normal work on as opposed to their work-based Windows PCs. In any event, for Serif to consider porting over their software to Linux, the Linux desktop  market share would have to be broadly comparable to the macOS market share. Until such time as that happens, I fully expect Serif staff to keep on confirming that their rather good software will not be available on the Linux platform.

There has also been an interesting development today in the form the news that Apple are now expected to announce their plans for ARM-based Macs at their WWDC and that the transition away from Intel to ARM will begin in 2021. I am already seeing a lot of concern from professional and creative users of Macs about this move, e.g. what happens to their very useful software and how will they be able to use Windows beside macOS on these new ARM MacBooks. If this transition is handled badly by Apple management then that could very well result in more converts to both Windows and Linux, i.e. Linux desktop market share going up for an additional reason (it might also mean a lot of hackintosh users needing a new home to go to).

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