Affinity products for Linux

[Mark Ingram]

It's not up to us to get it working on Linux - as far as we're concerned, it's an unsupported platform, regardless of whether that's native, or via WINE or anything else. 

With regards to the canvas flickering, it uses Direct3D11 to present the document to the screen (separate to the UI rendering in hardware, which is done by WPF/Microsoft). You may have more luck by changing the renderer to WARP in the Preferences, if that is detected (WARP is a software rasteriser for Direct3D).

[1stn00b]

Still flickers on menu appearing over canvas even with WARP on :

 

and also : >

[Renzatic]

18 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

Still flickers on menu appearing over canvas even with WARP on :

Out of curiosity, what changes have you made to my base configuration? I still can't access the Preferences panel.

Also, switching to a Wayland session does lead to a slightly less flicker filled experience.

[1stn00b]

I didn't change anything to your configuration, in fact i couldn't even install it before - it was complaining NET 3.5 was not enabled, the Bottles Runtime option enabled in configuration did the trick - i never use it ; >

My GPU uses the included open-source Mesa drivers - changelogs here : https://docs.mesa3d.org/relnotes.html and feature matrix here : https://mesamatrix.net/ , in your case u should check Nvidia forums they post Linux problems from time to time : https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/wayland-information-for-r515-beta-release/214275 - from what i see there Wayland is no go for Nvidia GPUs

L.E. Also you might wanna check this blog post : https://blog.froggi.es/bringing-vulkan-raytracing-to-older-amd-hardware/ by Joshua Ashton from Valve that works with Bas Nieuwenhuizen from Google on Mesa drivers

[Renzatic]

7 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

I didn't change anything to your configuration, in fact i couldn't even install it before - it was complaining NET 3.5 was not enabled, the Bottles Runtime option enabled in configuration did the trick - i never use it ; >

The only way I've managed to get past that is to create a bottle tailored to applications. It installs Mono automatically, which seems to fix the .Net 3.5 issue. Of course, that limits you to only using Caffe 7.5.

When I try creating a custom bottle with another runner, it always fails to grab its own version of Mono. Installing it from the dependencies does nothing. Installing dotnet35 fails to complete, and, well, it seems my options are limited. Changing the runner manually in the yml file doesn't seem to do much of anything at all.

Shame this isn't a big game everyone wants to play. We'd have a fully running version by now if it were.

[Kamei Kojirou]

Please post your findings on the WineHQ website as well. https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=18332 it will help narrow down where the work needs to be done. If the Vulkan Child dll issue isn't required this could be a viable path to a working setup.

[1stn00b]

Made a video of running Affinity Photo on my Fedora Workstation 36 thru Bottles

Sorry for lower quality just installed OBS Studio Flatpak and run the auto-configuration wizard at start.

 

 

[chiddekel]

https://usebottles.com/

[1stn00b]

@chiddekel

They just need to setup flatpak on the distro used (ChromeOS included) using quick guide here : https://flatpak.org/setup/ and then use software manager to get it :

They need to update description since the app have already been ported to GTK4 and libawaita so no more legacy windowing : >

 

 

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, 1stn00b said:

@chiddekel

Forum hint: To tag another user, you must:

1. Type an @ sign, then
2. Start typing their username (no pasting allowed; must be typed), then
3. Select their username from the popup list that appears. Then you will get something that looks like @1stn00b and if they have chosen to be notified of mentions, they will be notified.

[walt.farrell]

15 hours ago, 1stn00b said:

and also : >

You will not be able to enable Hardware Acceleration unless both those conditions are met. This is not related to the value you choose for Renderer.

[1stn00b]

10 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Forum hint: To tag another user, you must:

1. Type an @ sign, then
2. Start typing their username (no pasting allowed; must be typed), then
3. Select their username from the popup list that appears. Then you will get something that looks like @1stn00b and if they have chosen to be notified of mentions, they will be notified.

My intention was never to spam anybody with useless notifications , i am just simply pinpointing who i'm responding to without filling my posts with tons of quotes like u see here.

Also without quoting your 2nd post : you don't really know what we will be able to do or not do in the future with or without Serif help. Last time i checked Affinity software didn't come with transparency or shader effects on closing windows like u see in my low quality recording ; >

[Frozen Death Knight]

Question to Linux users, what's the Linux equivalent of Windows Ink/WinTab API for drawing with tablets? How well supported are Wacom tablets?

[1stn00b]

Wacom Leads the Way with Drawing Tablets for Linux : >

Everything works out-the-box without u having to install anything, since they are included in the Linux Kernel like AMD or Intel hardware. There is even a Wacom section in Settings if u have a tablet :

 

 

 

[Frozen Death Knight]

@1stn00bCool! So, how well does the API for drawing with high precision input work with Affinity? Is Linux able to translate over Windows Ink to something that works, since that's what Affinity supports on Windows?

[1stn00b]

Since Serif doesn't support the Linux platform and some of us already posted the Affinity in a Bottle experiences on this forum, i don't think that is a question worth answered at this moment in time. A valid one would be how good is the Wacom experience with Krita, Blender etc but that is just a search away on the web. 

I would check the improvements from time to time when there is a major new Wine release or an Affinity software update, but i don't intend wasting my time with this software in the current form. It's just a stressful unpleasant experience when everything else just works : >

[Snapseed]

48 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

Since Serif doesn't support the Linux platform and some of us already posted the Affinity in a Bottle experiences on this forum, i don't think that is a question worth answered at this moment in time. A valid one would be how good is the Wacom experience with Krita, Blender etc but that is just a search away on the web. 

I would check the improvements from time to time when there is a major new Wine release or an Affinity software update, but i don't intend wasting my time with this software in the current form. It's just a stressful unpleasant experience when everything else just works : >

Have you been able to try it out yet using a VM within Linux and, if so, how did it work? Thanks (l'm guessing that you might have 32GB RAM?).

[1stn00b]

Sadly i don't  do Windows VMs, only Fedora Silverblue, since i intend to fully upgrade to that in the future (not ready yet for my setup) and next Fedora versions before hitting the Upgrade button. For my other needs i use Podman containers managed before by Fedora Toolbox and now by Distrobox.

Last time i tried Windows in Boxes was 17 june 2021 when that W11 leak gone out : That non-removable Recommended ADs sections is still there 1 year later so yeah nope.

But then again old Windows is still one F11 press away at PC Boot to chose the 250GB nvme it's rotting on, if i really really need to run something there which i don't since is just an inferior experience : >

[walt.farrell]

13 hours ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

@1stn00bCool! So, how well does the API for drawing with high precision input work with Affinity? Is Linux able to translate over Windows Ink to something that works, since that's what Affinity supports on Windows?

Affinity supports both Windows Ink and WinTab, I believe. I would guess that WinTab is more likely to be supported in Wine,

[Frozen Death Knight]

18 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Affinity supports both Windows Ink and WinTab, I believe. I would guess that WinTab is more likely to be supported in Wine,

If that is supported it means that once Affinity works properly through stuff like Proton and/or Wine, it is then possible to paint with high precision tablet input, which is a necessity for high quality art.

Considering how much progress Valve have been making with SteamOS and Proton, it is probably just a matter of time before Linux is able to run all the software I require to work. This video shows the potential of SteamOS. Once Valve officially releases a downloadable desktop version along with proper Nvidia driver support (another hurdle that Nvidia has started to fix with the help of open source drivers being in the works), I will give Linux and Proton a go to see if I can get it to work with my workflow.

As it looks like right now, Windows 10 likely will be my last Windows OS considering how utterly atrocious Windows 11 is both from a user experience standpoint and from a security standpoint. The push for ads in their OSes is something I will not tolerate in any paid for retail product.

[1stn00b]

You don't need SteamOS to run games under Linux. You just install Steam, Lutris, Bottles,  etc and you are good to go, unless you own an Nvidia GPU :

from official Valve Proton

The experience is seamless, and if it wasn't for the pop-up that inform you the game runs thru Proton the 1st time you install it and start it , u wouldn't even know it's not native. Also if a game i play doesn't work nice with custom GE Proton that has latest updates i can switch the the ones provided by Valve

I play all my games on Linux, in fact beside the Windows allocated SSD all other storage is EXT4 formatted

[msdobrescu]

@1stn00b, how did you peek on my computer? 🙃

 

[Ruben_]

Serif, please. Windows has gone down the drain. Davinci Resolve runs on Linux. With Affinity we'd have a complete professional software stack for multimedia creation on linux, free of subscription based nonsense. It would mean the world to us.

[Renzatic]

39 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

You don't need SteamOS to run games under Linux. You just install Steam, Lutris, Bottles,  etc and you are good to go, unless you own an Nvidia GPU

Nvidia GPUs don't really have any problem in Linux, besides flaky Wayland compatibility, and having to go a little above and beyond to install the drivers for them. I don't think I've used the Hide Nvidia GPU proton flag once in my entire life.

[MattyWS]

On 7/2/2022 at 9:09 AM, 1stn00b said:

Made a video of running Affinity Photo on my Fedora Workstation 36 thru Bottles

Sorry for lower quality just installed OBS Studio Flatpak and run the auto-configuration wizard at start.

 

 

You mentioned you would rather not use it in this state as it's stressful but at least it's seemingly fully featured. This goes a really long way. I'm glad it seems possible now and this gives me hope that Wine devs can bring this up to standard.

I wonder if Serif would allow people with MS Store purchases to transfer their licenses to use the downloadable installation from their store (or maybe we already can?). Either way if I have to buy it again from their website after it works perfectly on Linux I definitely will. ^^