Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer
Affinity Designer 1.6 on OS X Yosemite
Developer(s) Serif Europe
Initial release 1 October 2014 (2014-10-01)
Stable release
1.6.1 / 1 March 2018 (2018-03-01)
Operating system macOS, Microsoft Windows, iOS
Available in 9 languages
List of languages
English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Russian
Type Vector graphics editor
License Proprietary
Website affinity.serif.com/designer/

Affinity Designer is a vector graphics editor developed by Serif for macOS, iOS, and Microsoft Windows. It is part of the "Affinity trinity" alongside Affinity Photo and the yet-to-be-released Affinity Publisher.[1] Affinity Designer is available for purchase in the Mac App Store, iOS App Store, and the Microsoft Store.

Functionality

Affinity Designer has been described as an Adobe Illustrator alternative.[2][3][4] It is compatible with common file formats, including Adobe Illustrator (AI), Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Adobe Photoshop (PSD), Portable Document Format (PDF), and Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) formats.[5] The application can also import data from some Adobe FreeHand files (specifically versions 10 & MX).[6]

Affinity Designer's core functions include vector pen and shape-drawing tools, support for custom vector and raster brushes (including the ability to import Adobe Photoshop (ABR) brushes), dynamic symbols, stroke stabilization, text style management, and vector/pixel export options.[4][7][8]

Affinity Designer provides non-destructive editing features across unlimited layers, with pan and zoom at 60fps, and real-time views for effects and transformations.[9] It supports the RGB, RGB Hex, LAB, CMYK and Grayscale color models, along with PANTONE color swatches and an end-to-end CMYK workflow with ICC color management, and 16-bit per channel editing.[10][8]

Development

Affinity Designer began as a vector graphics editor solely for macOS. It was developed entirely from scratch for this operating system, allowing it to leverage core native technologies such as OpenGL, Grand Central Dispatch, and Core Graphics.[11]

The first version was released in October 2014, making it the first of the Affinity apps to be released by Serif (and their first macOS release).[12] At that time, Serif's vector graphics application for Windows was DrawPlus; however, following the release of Affinity Designer for Windows, this product has now been discontinued.[13]

Version 1.2, released in April 2015, introduced new tools and features, such as a corner tool and a pixel-alignment mode for GUI design tasks.[14] In December 2015, version 1.4 then introduced new features for managing artboards and printing.[15] With version 1.5 in October 2016, the application received multiple new features, including symbols, constraints, asset management and text styles.[16]

The application began branching out to other platforms in November 2016, when it first launched for Microsoft Windows.[17]

Version 1.6 was released in November 2017, introducing performance improvements and alternative GUI display mode.[18]

The first release of a separate iPad version of Affinity Designer took place in July 2018.[19]

Reception

Affinity Designer was selected as a runner-up in Apple's "Best of 2014" list of Mac App Store and iTunes Store content in the macOS app category.[20][21][22] It also won the Apple Design Award 2015.[23]

In 2018, the Windows version of Affinity Designer won 'Application Creator of the Year' at the Windows Developer Awards (part of Microsoft Build 2018), where it was described as "the fastest, smoothest, and most precise vector graphic design software available".[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ellis, Cat (November 22, 2016). "Serif Affinity Designer arrives on Windows". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Why I Use Affinity Designer Instead of Illustrator for Motion Design". School of Motion. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  3. ↑ "Affinity Designer vs Adobe Illustrator CC 2018 Comparison | FinancesOnline". Financesonline.com. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  4. 1 2 "Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: can Designer replace Illustrator? - 99designs". 99designs. 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  5. ↑ Martin, Keith (November 27, 2014). "Serif Affinity Designer". Expert Reviews. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Import and export file formats - Affinity Designer Help". affinity.help. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  7. ↑ "Affinity - One Year Review". Cargo Creative. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  8. 1 2 "Affinity Designer - Complete Feature List". affinity.serif.com. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  9. ↑ "Illustrator rival launches on Windows". Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  10. ↑ "Graphic Design App 'Affinity Designer' Launches for iPad With Apple Pencil Support". Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  11. ↑ "Serif releases free alternative to Adobe Illustrator". Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  12. ↑ "Affinity Designer is a new graphics design suite available for Mac". iMore. 2014-10-02. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  13. ↑ "Digital Craft: Serif discontinues its Pageplus, Drawplus and Photoplus designing software to focus on its(Serif) new Affinity range of Professional graphic design software - ANINO". ANINO. 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  14. ↑ "Affinity Designer gets first big update". Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  15. ↑ "Top new features in Affinity Designer 1.4". Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  16. ↑ "Affinity Designer 1.5 released | Webdesigner Depot". Webdesigner Depot. 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  17. ↑ "Affinity Spotlight - Photography, Design & Illustration". Affinity Spotlight.
  18. ↑ "Affinity Photo 1.6 released: faster processing, new features, and free stuff". DPReview. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  19. ↑ "9to5". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  20. ↑ Spencer, Graham (December 8, 2014). "Apple Posts "Best of 2014" App Store and iTunes Store Lists". MacStories. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  21. ↑ May, Tom (December 10, 2014). "Affinity Designer is number 2 Mac app of 2014". Creative Bloq. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  22. ↑ Calimlim, Aldrin (December 8, 2014). "Apple announces the App Store's Best of 2014 for iPhone, iPad and Mac". AppAdvice. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  23. ↑ Panzarino, Matthew (June 8, 2015). "Fantastical 2, Workflow, Robinhood Among Winners At Apple Design Awards". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Windows Developer Awards - Build 2018 - Windows app development". developer.microsoft.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-08-14.

Further reading

Affinity Designer Workbook. Nottingham: Serif Europe Ltd. 2016. ISBN 9781909581036.

Official website


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