Since Canva announced its surprise acquisition of Affinity in March 2024, we've been wondering what the company had planned for the platform. Now we have an answer.
First, Affinity is seeing the release of a big new update, version 2.5, to its Designer, Publisher and Photo software, the first since the multi-million dollar purchase of Canva and, according to Affinity, “represents a continued commitment to adding new updates clue”. characteristics” even under a new administration.
Second, announced at this year's Canva Create, comes news that the line of graphic design software, like Canva Pro, will be available for free to schools and nonprofits.
What's new in Affinity 2.5?
Affinity promises a range of new editing options for professionals. This includes a QR code creator and variable font support for text layout across apps. Designer desktop publishing software comes with a new stroke width tool for editing the pressure profile of curves, as well as improvements to the Pencil tool for smoother curves.
“Affinity 2.5 introduces another batch of new features and fixes to improve workflow. Continuous updates remain at the core of the Affinity ethos and we are already hard at work on the next set of additions,” said Ashley Hewson, CEO of Affinity. The message here is: everything remains the same.
The software can now also boast of being “the first creative software with native end-to-end ARM support”, offering full native support for the Snapdragon X Elite chip. Affinity users with access to machines that include the new processor are promised a more responsive experience when working on basic editing or multi-layered documents. Highlighting work like painting, pixel editing, and document rendering, according to Hewson, “the benefits will be particularly noticeable when working on documents with thousands of vector objects.”
Price continued to be the main issue for users, who defend Affinity's one-time rates over subscription plans like those offered by Adobe and Canva. Buy it once and have it for life. An attractive proposal, which so far both companies have guaranteed in a joint statement published shortly after the acquisition.
In that sense, there have been no important changes for most users. Affinity's beloved perpetual licenses remain, the threat of subscription plans is ever-present. But there is a big change for charities and academia.
Starting today, teachers, schools, and nonprofits can join a waitlist to get Affinity for free. There are no details on when the licenses will be available, although Canva said they are expected in the coming months.
Affinity Version 2.5 is now available for free to all existing users.
