Install two different versions?

[Prrrr]

Hello,

Your latest upgrade to Affinity Designer has broken my ability to update parts of a project I've been working on for three years, and I can't find any way to make the new version do what I need.

I'm using Windows 7; do you know if there's a way to install two versions of Affinity Designer, so that I may transfer recent additions into the old version? I regret upgrading and would like to revert to the stable version, but in doing so I would lose a lot of recent work. So I'd like to have both versions present, for a time.

Thank you.

[Alfred]

49 minutes ago, Prrrr said:

So I'd like to have both versions present, for a time.

I suspect the only way to do this is to wait for the next customer beta, at which point you can replace your current version with an older retail version (downloadable from the Affinity Store) and run it alongside the newer beta version.

[L-K]

Hi
I exported the files I created in the 1.7 version of AD , in another vectorial format (like SVG or EPS). So, I can open them in 1.6.5 version.

[carl123]

I have both the 1.6 and 1.7 released versions on my (Windows 8.1) PC but you really need to have planned this in advance.

First I copied my 1.6 program folder to somewhere else then did the upgrade

To run the 1.6 version I just need to run the .exe file from the folder location I copied it to.

In your case, if you have a backup of your 1.6 program folder you could restore it to somewhere else

Alternatively, you could downgrade your current version then do the same as I did above to have both versions on your PC

 

[alfattal]

On 6/23/2019 at 11:20 PM, carl123 said:

I have both the 1.6 and 1.7 released versions on my (Windows 8.1) PC but you really need to have planned this in advance.

First I copied my 1.6 program folder to somewhere else then did the upgrade

To run the 1.6 version I just need to run the .exe file from the folder location I copied it to.

In your case, if you have a backup of your 1.6 program folder you could restore it to somewhere else

Alternatively, you could downgrade your current version then do the same as I did above to have both versions on your PC

 

This is an old post, but I found it when googling the same issue. Would really appreciate any instructions on how to copy the program folder to somewhere else. I'm having this issue with Affinity Photo as the latest version replaced the way Frequency Separation works and would like to have previous version along with the latest.

[Ron P.]

2 hours ago, alfattal said:

This is an old post, but I found it when googling the same issue. Would really appreciate any instructions on how to copy the program folder to somewhere else. I'm having this issue with Affinity Photo as the latest version replaced the way Frequency Separation works and would like to have previous version along with the latest.

1. What Version of Windows are you running?
2. By latest version do you mean the 1.10 ?
3. Where did you purchase Affinity Photo? From the Serif Affinity Store or the MicroSoft Store?
   1. If from the MS Store I think your stuck, no way to get an earlier version and I think you will not be able to run 2-retail versions.

I think ( I have not tried this), you will need to first uninstall the current release.

1. Uninstall the current release
2. Install the earlier version.
3. Copy or Move the Program Files>Affinity>Photo folder with all it's contents to another place, preferably another hard drive.
4. Install the current release version. If you get a warning, This will update. Stop there, because it update the older version you just moved. I don't think it will since it should not be in the default location.
5. If you manage to get it installed, then all you need to do to run the previous version is run it from the executable file, Photo.exe.
6. To make it easier to launch the earlier version, create a Desktop Shortcut to it. Rename the shortcut to something like Older_Photo.

Like I stated I haven't tried this. I tried a backwards method, where I was going to just install the older version, and tell it where (separate hard drive) to install it. However I was met with the Update warning, so stopped.

[walt.farrell]

If you did purchase directly from Serif, I think there are three files you'll need to make copies of, and to switch between releases I think you'll need to rename all of them because there application will expect the folders to have their standard names.

1. C:\Program Files\Affinity\Photo

2. C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Photo

3. %AppData%\Affinity\Photo

So, if I were setting up 1.10.0 and 1.9.2 so I could choose between them, and I had 1.10.0 installed, I would: 

1. In each of those folders, make a copy of the Photo directory and rename the copy Photo1100

2. Uninstall Photo 1.10, and install Photo 1.9.2.

3. Run 1.9.2 so it updates any needed files in ProgramData and AppData, then close 1.9.2. Note: it is possible you'll lose Assets, Brushes, etc. when downgrading, so be prepared to restore them from a backup.

4. As in step 1, make copies of the three Photo directories, and name them Photo1092

5. Then when you want to run a particular release that isn't the current one, you just make sure the app isn't running, and rename some folders or copy them so they are named Photo rather than Photo1092 or Photo1100, start the app.

Note that this is all theoretical from my end as I haven't tried it yet. 

[Ron P.]

I just tried copying the Photo file from the 1.9 version to another drive. It does run, however not having copied the other folders found in the %AppData% the Assets file was not carried over. So, I'll need to download those again. However not the case with my brushes. They are available in both versions.

Edit

Wasn't as bad as I thought. Since I had downloaded and saved all the assets, I just imported them again, starting with the older 1.9 version. Just took a minute or  two. Then when I launched the current version, I discovered they were there. So right now, I can run either version. I had created a shortcut for the 1.9 version for my desktop, that points to the photo.exe file in the folder had copied to another hard drive.

Be aware, every time you launch the older version, you'll get the nag window, asking if you want to update. Just press OK, not the update button.

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, alfattal said:

I'm having this issue with Affinity Photo as the latest version replaced the way Frequency Separation works and would like to have previous version along with the latest.

Just curious I guess, but what has changed in how Frequency Separation works & what issue are you having with it?

[alfattal]

4 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Just curious I guess, but what has changed in how Frequency Separation works & what issue are you having with it?

The 1.10 version introduced new methods to the Frequency Separation (Gaussian, Bilateral and Median) which all are great improvements, but I used to like the "Feature Protection Tolerance" checkbox in the previous versions when dealing with small details. Many might think that it's already available in the Bilateral, but it is different.

[walt.farrell]

16 hours ago, Ron P. said:

I just tried copying the Photo file from the 1.9 version to another drive. It does run, however not having copied the other folders found in the %AppData% the Assets file was not carried over. So, I'll need to download those again. However not the case with my brushes. They are available in both versions.

You should have to copy the complete folders:

• C:\Program Files\Affinity\Photo
• C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Photo
• %AppData%\Affinity\Photo

All three folders contain critical files that must be in synch for each release. Additionally, it should be necessary to rename the folder copies back to the standard names to get everything to work, because the application has the ProgramData and AppData folder names hard-coded.

[Ron P.]

I agree should, however I didn't, and it still works. 😉

[walt.farrell]

Just now, Ron P. said:

I agree should, however I didn't, and it still works. 😉

I bet it won't if you play with it long enough

[Ron P.]

Just now, walt.farrell said:

I bet it won't if you play with it long enough

I've been playing with it for about a day now, so far no issues. I do agree that I should have problems. I was going to remove, not uninstall since that would remove the current 1.10 version, the 1.9 version. But the Photo folder is on a different hard drive that's has plenty of space. I'll eventually delete it. Then I'll see if I may need to re-install the current version, to get rid of any conflicts that might have been caused.