Pre-purchase questions

[RodrigoVWB]

Hi guys!

After watching several videos about the products (Designer and Photo), I am very interested in buying both.

But before making the purchase I need to know some things.

I appreciate if you can help me.

1) If I buy the software through the Windows Store, is it the same as if I buy it here?

Is there no difference in the software itself or in the support offered by Serif?

Are software updates pushed with equal frequency?

2) What is the life cycle / license policy of the product?

To explain myself better:

When I see software that has been for a long time in a version (in this case version 1) my question is what will happen if come out a version 2.

There are people who bought this software in 2015 and if the company develops a version 2, i don't know how will be the upgrade or if the owners of a 1.x license don't will receive an upgrade.

It's an honest question. I don't want to buy a software in the end of his cicle of life.

But perhaps you have an excellent update policy and can confirm that buying the product now, then I can update to future versions without problems.

Thanks a lot!

[emmrecs01]

@RodrigoVWB

Welcome to the Affinity forums.

There is no difference between the version sold on the Windows Store and that sold directly by Serif.  If you purchase via the store, your installation is tied to your Store Account and no serial key is needed.  Additional downloads (for other computers which you own/control) will also be possible from your store account.  Updates will be downloadable from the store as they are made available by Serif and Microsoft.

If you purchase direct from Serif, you will be given a serial key for installation and you will automatically have a Serif Store Account, from which you can redownload your software if you ever need to, e.g. to install it on another computer which you own/control.  Updates will arrive either "automatically" or via download from that store account.

As to costs of upgrades: all upgrades to version 1 are free.  When version 2 is released, quite likely not for some years yet (based on the length of time - several years - since the first iteration of version 1 was released) it will be a paid upgrade but users will clearly have the option to not buy the upgrade is they do not wish to do so.  Version 1 will continue to "work" for as long as the operating system allows it to, i.e. until Microsoft make some major change which renders version 1 of any Affinity app unusable.

HTH

Jeff

[walt.farrell]

23 hours ago, emmrecs01 said:

If you purchase via the store, your installation is tied to your Store Account and no serial key is needed.  Additional downloads (for other computers which you own/control) will also be possible from your store account. 

For downloading to computers that use a different Windows Store account (e.g., family members' PCs) it will (I think) be easier to download/install on the additional PCs if the Serif products are purchased from Serif directly, rather than from Microsoft.

Also, if one wants to be able to revert to an earlier version of the product, that may not be possible unless one has purchased directly from Serif.

Finally, I do not know what the refund policies are with the Windows Store, but with purchases from the Serif Affinity store you have a 14-day, no questions asked, return policy that will give you a full refund on your purchase price.

Overall, I recommend buying directly from Serif.

[RodrigoVWB]

Thanks a lot!

[Moonraker]

Hi. I'm only new here and posted my first pre-order question yesterday. So I hope I am in the correct forum for asking this question now.

I am interested in purchasing  the Neptune Illustration Kit by Frankentoon. In the description, it says that it is suitable to use on the Desktop and iPad, but the description talks about the brushes being touch sensitive: being responsive to pressure and velocity.

1. Do I need to have a touch screen monitor or will the brushes in the Neptune kit work just as well on a non-touch screen laptop or regular computer monitor? I don't have an iPad.

2. Can they be used if using a drawing tablet connected to my computer via USB? I plan on getting a drawing tablet in a few months.

2. Can these brushes be used in Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher, OR are they just meant to be used in Affinity Design?

I now have Affinity  Photo, and Affinity Design, and Affinity Publisher. Bought yesterday.

I am ready to buy the Neptune Illustration kit from your Affinity store, so any advice you can offer is appreciated. Thank you.

[walt.farrell]

3 hours ago, Moonraker said:

Hi. I'm only new here and posted my first pre-order question yesterday. So I hope I am in the correct forum for asking this question now.

It's an acceptable forum, I think. It might have been better to start your own topic, though, rather than using someone else's topic.

For pressure sensitivity you need an input device that supports that function, which could be a touch-screen or a tablet/stylus (e.g., Wacom or others).

If you look at the Neptune Illustration Kit in the store it tells you the application compatibility:

So, it is compatible with Designer and Photo. It also tells you that raster brushes are provided, which means that for Designer it is only usable in the Pixel Persona.

(Technically, it should also be compatible with Publisher but only if you own Photo, where you would be able to install the brushes into Publisher's Photo Persona._

[Moonraker]

To Walt. Farrell. Thank you for your assistance.  After realizing I wrongly posted my question in someone else's thread, I didn't know how to remove it, so I created a separate thread of my own and posted my question there. It's all a learning experience. :(

Thanks for the information, Walt.  I already have A. Photo, A. Designer, and A. Publisher, so I will now go ahead and order the Neptune Illustration kit.  May get a drawing tablet in May.  Thanks again.

[walt.farrell]

You're welcome, @Moonraker

Removing a post: You can't do that. However,

• if it's not the first post in a topic, you may have an Options button at the bottom that will allow you to Hide it. Or you could Edit the post and remove the content.
• if it is the first post in a topic, and no one has replied, you may have a Moderation button at the bottom that will allow you to Hide it.