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In the same way that Adobe (pantomime boooooooooo) does their acredited certification for Photoshop/Illustrator etc, does Affinity have any plans in the future to do their own 'Affinity Certified' certificate? You could have a foundation, intermediate and advanced level. I would most definitely be interested!

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  • 1 year later...
On 7/19/2019 at 11:49 AM, Kiarian said:

In the same way that Adobe (pantomime boooooooooo) does their acredited certification for Photoshop/Illustrator etc, does Affinity have any plans in the future to do their own 'Affinity Certified' certificate? You could have a foundation, intermediate and advanced level. I would most definitely be interested!

Just checking back in on this topic as a new starter - I think this is a really good idea, not only to learn but also to help with CV's and job applications. How do we raise this higher?

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Welcome to the forums @Word!

How would having certification for the Affinity products help you?
To put that another way, if you don’t know that the company you are applying to uses Affinity software, what use would having a certificate saying that you have reached a certain standard in using it be?

If you do have such a certificate and the company doesn’t use the Affinity software then part of what you are doing is saying: “Hey, I’m really good with this software that you don’t use so I may have to be re-trained to use whatever you have.”

People with certificates for both Adobe and Affinity products may be better off than those with neither but, currently, just having Affinity certification probably won’t help much.

Isn’t it better just to have a good portfolio so people can actually see what you can do, rather than have a piece of paper saying that you have been through the same standard training process as lots of other people?

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Well yes of course, however it depends on what sort of job you are applying for.

Overall, it demonstrates that you have another skill set, have successfully attended a course and received the official accreditation, and more than likely if the company doesn't use Affinity software, that you'll be able to pick up whatever they do use, quickly.

Not everyone who uses Affinity or Adobe are professionals in the field of, say, graphic design, however knowing how to use the programs might just give you an edge over someone else as there maybe an element of it in the role.

At the end of the day, it's hardly a big issue is it? Merely something the company could arrange so that new learners have a course to use to learn how to use the program, and receive a certificate at the end of it. Just a small, positive thing.

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I have no problem with Serif having some kind of official certification process, and doing so might actually give the software a bit more ‘visibility’ in the graphic illustration world. I just wonder how useful it might be at the moment.

I wonder if there are any clients/employers out these who can say that they would have preferred such certification from prospective contractors/employees.

I can’t fully agree with your statement that (and I’m paraphrasing) people who know one piece of software will be easily able to pick up another similar one and use it just as well.
I’ve seen plenty of long-time Adobe users come to these forums frustrated in being unable to get used to a different way of working.
Cries of: “I could do this in Photoshop in a couple of seconds but I just can’t get my head around how to do it in Photo” are littered all around these forums. Getting ‘muscle memory’ to work differently can be very difficult.

Also, certification isn’t just a small thing. It needs to be carefully monitored and regulated by the certification company to make sure, at least, there are no bogus certificates floating around and that takes time and money, on top of someone creating courses and keeping them up-to-date on a (probably) full-time basis. Basically, there’s more to it than knocking some presentation slides out and printing some fancy-looking bits of paper.

In the end, I’m not that fussed either way, I’m only saying that I don’t think it would be particularly useful just yet, but maybe later perhaps.

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I did ask 'does Affinity have any plans in the future'.
I'm not saying it's something anyone needs right now. We have Affinity Photo/Designer/Publisher, an entire suite. So we now have all the core software in a complete form. Of course a portfolio trumps any piece of paper, isn't that obvious? As for how would certification help you, clearly it would help you in the job market - Autodesk and Adobe do it specifically for this reason, but yes at the moment it would take a lot of time and money to set up and organise.
I'm only a hobbyist, but I have worked in other areas/disciplines, and in those areas being Autodesk Certified for example is like having a massive stamp on your CV saying that this person knows their stuff. Saves the client the risk of hiring someone who has absolutely no idea about the software (which does happen).

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  • 3 months later...
On 2/4/2021 at 11:15 AM, GarryP said:

I have no problem with Serif having some kind of official certification process, and doing so might actually give the software a bit more ‘visibility’ in the graphic illustration world. I just wonder how useful it might be at the moment.

I wonder if there are any clients/employers out these who can say that they would have preferred such certification from prospective contractors/employees.

I can’t fully agree with your statement that (and I’m paraphrasing) people who know one piece of software will be easily able to pick up another similar one and use it just as well.
I’ve seen plenty of long-time Adobe users come to these forums frustrated in being unable to get used to a different way of working.
Cries of: “I could do this in Photoshop in a couple of seconds but I just can’t get my head around how to do it in Photo” are littered all around these forums. Getting ‘muscle memory’ to work differently can be very difficult.

Also, certification isn’t just a small thing. It needs to be carefully monitored and regulated by the certification company to make sure, at least, there are no bogus certificates floating around and that takes time and money, on top of someone creating courses and keeping them up-to-date on a (probably) full-time basis. Basically, there’s more to it than knocking some presentation slides out and printing some fancy-looking bits of paper.

In the end, I’m not that fussed either way, I’m only saying that I don’t think it would be particularly useful just yet, but maybe later perhaps.

I am a big supporter to official certification systems dedicated to affinity. 

I understand that mostly all the members of this forum are graphics and designers, and like it was pointed out, to convince a client to start a specific job, it is more useful showing a good portfolio than some kind of certification. 

But, there are jobs where this isn't right, and instead showing a certification is preferred to showing a good portfolio ( as strange as it may appear ). This is what happens in selections for schools and universities. I teach at the university and in this environment, while being good in your own right is always appreciated, for many positions the main interest is that the one who applies know very well specific software. In this case having certain certification is a huge boost, because the main goal is not to produce something for clients, but to be able to use very well specific tools and also to be able to teach them to the studens. I understand that a good portfolio is fantastic, but not always a good portfolio is also a good evidence of a deep mastery of a certain software or specific workflow. To produce good art it's not mandatory to know every little detail of a software. I know people who did graphics for 20 years and still don't know the math behind the blending modes; but when you teach it, I think that knowing as much as possibile of everything ( even at the cost of possessing a less exciting personal portfolio ) is way better. Ones students will not necessarily do the same works as their teachers, and they deserve to be supported as much as possible to find their own path in the industry, and this often means that the teacher needs to be able to know a bit of everything, answer different kinds of questions or at leat guide the students to a proper answer though other means ( books, megazines, other professors, internet sources and so on ).

Certification usually evaluate this fact, not that one person is particulary good at some specific operations, but that overall he can move in the software environment, and also has a decent grasp over different theoretical aspects of it. It is not a final goal to say "I know graphics. I know everything", but a starting point to say "ok I have a solid foundation, and I also have a proof". From this point one can show more proofs like personal projects and more, acquiring more credibility as a teacher.

Also I think that concerning this the more the merrier, and even if affinity may be perceived as less famous than others, it could still increase the "points" of a particular curricula. Also if teachers starts to teach affinity in schools and universities more often, this could also increase the user base over time. 

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  • 6 months later...
On 2/4/2021 at 12:07 PM, Kiarian said:

I did ask 'does Affinity have any plans in the future'.

No. Serif maybe, but Affinity certainly isn't :-) 

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

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On 5/24/2021 at 1:56 PM, Theodoren said:

for many positions the main interest is that the one who applies know very well specific software. In this case having certain certification is a huge boost, because the main goal is not to produce something for clients, but to be able to use very well specific tools and also to be able to teach them

As far as Affinity is concerned, a serious certificate might currently also require pointing out the not insignificant number of certain issues (missing features or bugs) and their possible workarounds, if the certificate is to be considered as some kind of guarantee that a possible new member will actually work. This aspect may influence Serif's desire to develop a certification process at this time.

Also, for decades I experienced employers and clients who didn't really care about water-proofed skills of designers because they couldn't assess them and/or imagined efficiency as a creativity-killer, while some employers charged their clients per hour, not per efficiency and therefore could profit from not optimized workflows.

Possibly anybody will develop an Affinity certificate and offer this as a commercial certification service – consider the increasing range of "quality" labels, certificates & promises around the world which often seem to have a main focus: to finance the labeling company.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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