The Anne-Marie Concepción of Affinity

Some real gems, here, Colleen! So incredibly helpful and succinct, as are all your educational tuts and tips. Thank you for sharing your gifts with the community! Curious... sounds like you use JPGs in RGB format for your 300dpi print files and then let the PDF export do the conversion, is that right? I have always brought original JPGs into PSD, set to 300dpi, converted to CMYK, and saved as TIFs for use in InDesign.

I don't trust their promises flaunted to the four winds about not having a generalized subscription plan for everybody, because, when that happens, it generally means nobody's going to keep their promises but I want to stay positive, so I wait and see.

Excellent advices.....

I don’t mind having a subscription as an option. I would have a problem with subscription being the only option

Really enjoyed that guys - very valuable. Have been self employed like 17 years and have experienced all the same things.

2:25 Why would it bother designers that non designers are using a product? Someone creating a news letter for their local pottery club doesn't have any interest in over spending for a professional designer, but they shouldn't have access to the same tools?

I'm wondering if I use a font, let's say form Adobe for a logo, and at some point I no longer subscribe, can I still use that logo all over the place with no limits?

oops, I was looking for the “Design Bondage” channel.

Hey thanks for covering this :)

"for the purposes of improving our services and software" includes Firefly generative AI... which is specifically trained on LICENSED and public domain content

If they change the Affinity pricing/ upgrade model, I'll find something else. At what point do we draw the line with these corporations?? It's time to speak up with your wallet.

" An easy walk", more like a crawl, "Litigation takes a while", the objective by crafty lawyers at Adobe. It gives them time because humans will be involved in the access of "private" data. To understand their historical mindset, review the early days of PostScript (now PDF).

The real threat are the Canva investors and their push to always squeeze more money out of customers to increase their dividends. Parasites.

What about accessibility to people who don't want to be on one of the predatory OS's (Apple, Google, Windows)? Linux being the main one after that. But not the only option. THIS would be accessibility every bit as much as price or disability accessibility. But still as distinctly different as they are to each other. I agree, mergers are almost never good. The world is getting more and more spiritual monopolies (including duopolies, etc). which is leading towards a lot of poor treatment of the population. I bought the Affinity Suite recently, and now I see why it went on sale. On the fence about keeping it, but mostly for accessibility reasons. Thanks for much for this info!

Personally, I have had Canva and Affinity since the very beginning and I love them both. Canva has grown so much from when it first started and I have seen it evolve in an amazing way. There is a plethora of potential here. I am a self taught designer, and I am looking forward to see what this merger has to offer. I agree that these tools should be at the hands of everyone who loves to be creative. It's going to open up the path for many to learn new software and that's always exciting. It's going to be interesting to see how this expands.

The biggest winner in Adobe's license debacle is Canva, who just recently bought out the Serif/Affinity suite. What timing. Affinity software will now sell thru the roof and reap tons for Canva. I'm sure there's a lot of celebrating at the Canva headquarters. Prediction: Adobe BUYS Canva.

So many years ago when Adobe first went to the subscription model I was pissed. I knew I would be paying them monthly for the rest of my life. This was in the early 2000's. I had already been using the software for my business for years and there was no alternative for graphic designers on a mac. I don't think I will change now, but I have never initiated my free cloud storage. I learned that lesson when those celebrities got their iphones hacked with their nude pics on the cloud. I am dating myself, but we need to pay attention in life! That was a great lesson learned!

As you already suspect, this was just another hate campaign against adobe. These campaigns have been going on for over 10 years, but for some reason, this one about Adobe stealing and spying caught on and went viral. I'm not a laywer but it took me around 30 seconds to read sections 2.2 and 4.4 (I'm speaking from memory) and realize they are pretty much the same as any other software legal terms. Of course, if I strip away parts of the text and reorder the words to my liking, then I could deduce that Adobe forces us to accept the most outrageous things. But that would be on me. Even without referring to the terms of use, just out of common sense, I find it utterly ridiculous to believe that a company as big as Adobe (and as scrutinized as they are) would start happily stealing intelectual property and spying on people. Not to mention training their generative AI on customer content, when precisely the main distinctive trait of their generative model (Firefly) which Adobe proudly shows off is that, unlike most, it has been trained as ethically as possible only with stock contributors contents and public domain works. This doesn't mean Adobe are all saints and "good-deed-doers" - one must maintain some level of mistrust. But what I've been hearing and seeing these days is pure nonsense and makes me realize how easy it is to misguide public opinion. Thanks for this video.

Adobe has inadvertently fed oxygen to a smoldering issue (overpriced live service) with their updated EULA, and a possible solution might be perpetual licenses with OPTIONAL live service, at least with regard to the primary design apps. Anything short of that will probably result in Affinity becoming the Trinity.

I did not appreciate having to agree to the new user agreement or not being able to use the software. I think terms of service should not be unilateral. I still don't trust Adobe. Are you sure you are not being naive?

We should give canva the benefit of the doubt. If things gets worse, we can always keep our perpetual license, so it's not like we're taking a huge risk!

I think will go a long way towards competing with Adobe. Interesting!

Back to GIMP

its still can't fucking compete with Adobe.

When I read about this annoucement, I wanted to cry. As I said in another comment, I love Affiinity for its affordability and feature rich software. If they go to subscription model, it only serves to confirm coporate wants over the lone designer needs continues.

Excellent points. As someone who switched to Affinity years ago, I am concerned going forward. I’m keeping my v2 Affinity apps as long as possible.

Canva needs the input of designers and illustrators to train AI. They will convert affinity into a cloud app to have access to this valuable information, trying to imitate what Adobe has been doing since adobe cloud

Despite the reassuring words, these acquisitions normally are a bad thing. I have still never forgiven Adobe for buying Macromedia. Despite reassurances that nothing will change, Adobe absolutely destroyed the software I loved. They had to buy Macromedia because the software was so much better, and Adobe could not compete. I particularly loved Fireworks and used it every day. Adobe first dumbed it down to Adobe level, took away everything that gave us reason to use it, and then once users were forced to abandon it because it was no longer useful, discontinued it, supposedly because of lack of interest. No. They sabotaged it. No forgive-ness for that, ever. We are now seeing Nikon taking the wrecking ball to RED cinema cameras after its purchase by getting rid of the Californian people who developed the cool cameras that we all loved, and replacing them with Japanese bean counters. Presumably to make RED cameras as soulless as current Nikon cameras. Let us hope that Canva does not own a wrecking ball.

I think it is going to be good for the Designer! Why? Simply because the Affinity Suite is lacking some advanced features - including AI. Recently, the Affinity Suite has been updated with some of the aspects you talked about, .e.g the Font Variations. It can now also generate Barcodes, which is such a handy feature! I would imagine that the Affinity Suite will subscription, which will extend to the Canva Pro account. For those who might not find the Canva Pro account useful, Affinity users should still be able to purchase the Affinity Suite outright. The reason why I believe Affinity Suite won't be exclusively subscription based in the future is because they are affordable to just about anybody. A subscription model would most likely mean a big price hike! Serif, have always been against costly Design applications. Its ethos is 'Design for Everyone'. We'll see... In any event, I am looking forward to future updates of the Affinity Suite as there is loads to be done still! For example, Publisher needs to output to Digital formats: Website, PowerPoint-like Presentation, Interactive Presentations (as you'd find on kiosks), Epub, and Interactive PDF - complete with customisable audio and video players, etc.

I din’t like Canva so this is not good news to me. Looks like I’ll be honing my Photopea skills.

I'm in the "mergers are bad" camp. If Affinity wants to compete with serious design apps of Adobe, which are standard, I don't see how it can cater to both Canva users and power users. I just don't see that.

Now Affinity needs to be able to import and export Adobe file types and it's freaking Game over for Adobe. When Affinity and Canva are made to work seamlessly together and can import and export Adobe file types, watch out graphics world.

Don't be evil, Serif

Affinity Designer will eventually degrade from an art/illustration tool to an advertising trash mass production tool.

from now on it's Open Source for me, Affinity couldn't give a **** about customers and there were big players using affinity

Maybe Affinity Photo will finally provide a photo browser. The one big weakness of Affinity photo is that no other browser displays .Ap files. Using AP reminds me of driving a car with no windscreen

Hopefully Canva doesn't turn Affinity into a subscription model...That's one of the biggest reasons I"ve used Affinity for years.

BeFonts? I was caught years ago when a font I had *_purchased_* didn't have the @ in the email address. It was an old suitcase font and printed out the bitmap version of the @ on the laser proof but being small it didn't show that it was only bitmap. Costly error in all the client's stationery..

Oh well… just my opinion, but if I Have to pay for a subscription, I’ll go back to Adobe. Better, stronger, well established software, in my mind. Even if I don’t need all of it, I’ll pay a subscription for Adobe before I pay for Canva. I have never been able to use their software as an app, so I have no desire to use Affinity if they start messing with it. Kinda like paying for Straight Talk rather than Verizon. Just my .02

Well I was hoping for Adobe acrobat thing from Affinity Serif, because I really need somthing that can edit pdf ´s on the ipad pro. Since apple didnt make a preview on the ipad os. Plus on pc the store for pdf edit software is completely bloated, one for compressing, many who does the same as the free adobe acrobat but for money etc. But a dreamveawer from Affinity that was an angle I never thought about, since people use…. Atom? for graphic coding their homepages and programs/appllications maybe

Canva is Publisher ; just saying.

I always enjoy the personal anecdotes that support your discussion topics. Another great video, Colleen!

Quark XPress 4.11 was a monster for productivity, although it did lack quite a bit of refinement in layout and functions. Quark fixed that in what was a copybook absolute corporate f@#$up. Both alienating its users whilst taking away virtually everything that was good about Quark XPress. So much so that a few years ago I was offered a free licence by Quark and I declined because I was not going to either waste my time or put my work in a format I was not going to support. Many of your minuses for Affinity Publisher, especially accessibility, don't apply anymore. (Current version is v2.5).

Maybe Canva offered the team at Affinity/Serif residency and eventual citizenship in Australia.

I use Affinity because I don't like the hard prices and rent from Adobe. Sadly The market command and make the rules.

I was using DxO. I paid for it and expected it to be supported, at least for a year or two. Instead each year they release a new version that you have to buy (you get a token discount if you had the previous version but not much). They also moved all the key features out and sell them separately as add-ons which also have to be repurchased every year. At least a subscription model, unpalatable as it is, is transparent. If Canva/Affinity follow the DxO business model that's just bait and switch.

Ok but be serious Adobe products are miles ahead. I use both but but Affinity are good apps that can produce also pro level works, Adobe can do much more with more tools in a very better way. Only generative fill is a game changer. Last thing. My experience says that this kind of acquisition are NEVER an advantage for the costumer. I hope to be wrong since I use affinity suite on iPad Pro very often and on IPad Os it is simply the best!

I think my main reaction is suspicion. Like many designers, it seems, I like the non-subscription model (for personal financial reasons) and I like the similarity with the Aldus PageMaker and Freehand applications. (Aldus was purchased by Adobe.) I also appreciate the 'Made-for-Mac' ease of use on MacOS. I appreciate that many non-designers use Canva and may feel happy that their platform may be getting an 'upgrade', The next year will show Canva's intention towards Affinity. I really hope the Affinity team retain their independence and that the Affinity suite remains the superb software it is.

I like the way your work space is set up.