Illustrator Affinity Designer

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Optimized for the latest tech on Mac, Windows and iPad, Affinity Designer is setting the new industry standard in the world of design. Best in class for creating concept art, print projects, logos, icons, UI designs, mock-ups and more, it’s already the top choice of thousands of professional illustrators, web designers, game developers and other creatives who love its silky-smooth combination of vector and raster design. Affinity Designer is a vector graphics editor developed by Serif for macOS, iPadOS, and Microsoft Windows.It is part of the 'Affinity trinity' alongside Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher.Affinity Designer is available for purchase directly from the company website and in the Mac App Store, iOS App Store, and the Microsoft Store. Affinity Designer is a powerful graphic editor that works both with vector and raster graphics, therefore it is more universal. Illustrator is a professional program for working with vector graphics. It has a huge set of tools, so many software developers try to imitate its features.

Illustrator
Affinity Designer
Developer(s)Serif Europe
Initial release1 October 2014; 6 years ago
Stable release
1.9.3 / 13 April 2021; 8 days ago[1]
Operating systemmacOS, Microsoft Windows, iPadOS
Available in9 languages
English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Russian
TypeVector graphics editor
LicenseProprietary
Websiteaffinity.serif.com/designer/

Affinity Designer is a vector graphics editor developed by Serif for macOS, iPadOS, and Microsoft Windows. It is part of the 'Affinity trinity' alongside Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher. Affinity Designer is available for purchase directly from the company website and in the Mac App Store, iOS App Store, and the Microsoft Store.

Functionality[edit]

Affinity Designer serves as a successor to Serif's own DrawPlus software, which the company discontinued in August 2017 in order to focus on the Affinity product range.[2] It has been described as an Adobe Illustrator alternative,[3][4][5] and is compatible with common graphics file formats, including Adobe Illustrator (AI), Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Adobe Photoshop (PSD), Portable Document Format (PDF), and Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) formats.[6] The application can also import data from some Adobe FreeHand files (specifically versions 10 & MX).[7]

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.[5][8][9]

Affinity Designer provides non-destructive editing features across unlimited layers, with pan and zoom at 60fps, and real-time views for effects and transformations.[10] 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.[11][9]

Development[edit]

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.[12]

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).[13] 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.[14]

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.[15] In December 2015, version 1.4 then introduced new features for managing artboards and printing.[16] With version 1.5 in October 2016, the application received multiple new features, including symbols, constraints, asset management and text styles.[17]

The application began branching out to other platforms in November 2016, when it first launched for Microsoft Windows.[18]

Version 1.6 was released in November 2017, introducing performance improvements and alternative GUI display mode.[19]

The first release of a separate iPad version of Affinity Designer took place in July 2018.[20]

Version 1.7 was released in June 2019 adding some key features such as HDR support, unlimited strokes and fills to a single shape, new point transform tool, new transform mode in Node tool, Lasso selection of nodes, new sculpt mode added to pencil, and also some big performance improvements.[21] Version 1.8, released in February 2020, added the ability for users to define their own document templates and keyboard shortcuts, and a built-in panel for adding stock images.[22]

Reception[edit]

Illustrator File Affinity Designer

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.[23][24][25] It also was one of the winners of the 2015 Apple Design Award.[26]

In 2018, the Windows version of Affinity Designer won 'Application Creator of the Year' at the Windows Developer Awards (part of Microsoft Build 2018).[27]

See also[edit]

Reddit

References[edit]

  1. ^'Affinity Designer for Windows - 1.9.0'. Affinity Forum. Retrieved 2021-02-04.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. ^Ogunjobi, Anino (2017-08-10). '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. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  3. ^'Why I Use Affinity Designer Instead of Illustrator for Motion Design'. School of Motion. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  4. ^'Affinity Designer vs Adobe Illustrator CC 2018 Comparison | FinancesOnline'. Financesonline.com. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  5. ^ ab'Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: can Designer replace Illustrator? - 99designs'. 99designs. 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  6. ^Martin, Keith (November 27, 2014). 'Serif Affinity Designer'. Expert Reviews. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  7. ^'Import and export file formats - Affinity Designer Help'. affinity.help. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  8. ^'Affinity - One Year Review'. Cargo Creative. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  9. ^ ab'Affinity Designer - Complete Feature List'. affinity.serif.com. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  10. ^'Illustrator rival launches on Windows'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  11. ^'Graphic Design App 'Affinity Designer' Launches for iPad With Apple Pencil Support'. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  12. ^'Serif releases free alternative to Adobe Illustrator'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  13. ^'Affinity Designer is a new graphics design suite available for Mac'. iMore. 2014-10-02. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  14. ^'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.
  15. ^'Affinity Designer gets first big update'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  16. ^'Top new features in Affinity Designer 1.4'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  17. ^'Affinity Designer 1.5 released | Webdesigner Depot'. Webdesigner Depot. 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  18. ^'Affinity Spotlight - Photography, Design & Illustration'. Affinity Spotlight.
  19. ^'Affinity Photo 1.6 released: faster processing, new features, and free stuff'. DPReview. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  20. ^'9to5'. Twitter. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  21. ^'Affinity Designer and Photo for Mac updated to version 1.7 with multi-GPU and HDR display support'. 9 to 5 Mac.
  22. ^Benjamin, Jeff (2020-02-26). 'Affinity Photo, Publisher, and Designer updated to version 1.8'. 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  23. ^Spencer, Graham (December 8, 2014). 'Apple Posts 'Best of 2014' App Store and iTunes Store Lists'. MacStories. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  24. ^May, Tom (December 10, 2014). 'Affinity Designer is number 2 Mac app of 2014'. Creative Bloq. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  25. ^Calimlim, Aldrin (December 8, 2014). 'Apple announces the App Store's Best of 2014 for iPhone, iPad and Mac'. AppAdvice. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  26. ^Panzarino, Matthew (June 8, 2015). 'Fantastical 2, Workflow, Robinhood Among Winners At Apple Design Awards'. TechCrunch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  27. ^'Windows Developer Awards - Build 2018 - Windows app development'. developer.microsoft.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-08-14.

Further reading[edit]

Affinity Designer Workbook. Nottingham: Serif Europe Ltd. 2016. ISBN9781909581036.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Affinity_Designer&oldid=1017580272'

Adobe Illustrator is hands-down one of the best design apps you’ll find. Since being released over 30 years ago, it’s become the industry standard for vector graphic design. But it also has plenty of worthy competitors, including CorelDRAW and Sketch. They might not be able to unseat the reigning champ, but some of these alternatives have gained faithful followings.

Vectornator Vs Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer has made waves ever since it joined the fray. Despite being much cheaper than Illustrator, it’s packed with similar features.

Illustrator

But can it really compete? When you pit Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator, does Affinity Designer really stand a chance?

The Contenders: Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, a huge suite of applications for professionals and amateurs. It shares that honor with the likes of Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom, and After Effects. Adobe has dominated the creative software market for years, and it’s hard to see that changing any time soon.

Affinity, meanwhile, first appeared on Mac in 2014. But it comes from Serif, a British software company that’s been making design software since the 1980s. As well as Affinity Designer, Serif is responsible for Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher.

Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: Price

Affinity

The most obvious difference between Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator is the cost. At full price, Designer is $49.99—and that’s for a lifetime license with free updates. Even better, it’s regularly reduced by up to 50 percent, frequently coming in at just $24.99.

With Illustrator, like most Adobe products, you have to pay a subscription fee. Stop paying, and you lose access to the software. Pricing varies depending on which apps you want, and the pricing tier you choose. The cheapest individual Illustrator license is an annual prepaid plan that costs $239.88 a year, which works out at $19.99/month. The rolling plan costs $31.49/month.

In Illustrator’s defense, its subscription includes apps for both macOS and Windows. Designer, in comparison, has separate licenses for each operating system, so you need to buy it twice if you want to use it for Mac and PC.

Affinity Designer Illustrator Compatibility

Winner: Affinity Designer wins it by a mile. Even at full price, it’s cheap, and you never have to pay again.

Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: Interface

Both Affinity Designer and Adobe Illustrator have fairly cluttered interfaces. That’s simply because they pack in so many features. There are tons of different tools, menus, toggles, and more, that you can use when building images. And it’s easy to pull out and rearrange panels in both Designer and Illustrator, to get the interface just how you like it.

Probably the biggest difference is there’s just a lot more of everything in Illustrator. Because Designer has slightly fewer features, it might seem like it has a more intuitive interface. But they’re actually pretty similar. The menus are structured slightly differently, but most Illustrator keyboard shortcuts also work in Designer, and the toolsets look similar to each other.

One small advantage Designer’s interface has over Illustrator’s is color. Illustrator’s tools and menus are all monochrome, while Designer has color icons. This seemingly minor difference can make it much easier to find what you’re looking for when you’re deep in the middle of a design.

Winner: Affinity Designer, but only by a small margin.

This is one area where Adobe’s experience comes to the fore. When it comes to tools in Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator, there’s a clear winner: Adobe.

It’s not that Designer is light on tools. It’s just there are more tools in Illustrator, and some of them make a huge difference when you’re trying to create vector graphics.

Related: Affinity Photo vs. Photoshop: Which Should You Choose?

One big one is Illustrator’s Shape Building Tool. This enables you to make complex shapes out of simpler shapes, using an intuitive click-and-drag method. In comparison, all Designer has is something equivalent to Illustrator’s Pathfinder options. These allow you to select two or more shapes and then click a button to do things like combining or subtracting parts of them.

Designer also lacks anything like Illustrator’s automatic tracing tool, and you can’t apply distortion or warp effects either. But those aren’t the only features it lacks compared to Illustrator. Serif is adding new stuff to Affinity Designer all the time, but it’s definitely on the back foot here.

Winner: Adobe Illustrator. If you’re coming over from Adobe’s software to Affinity Designer, you’re probably going to miss a few things.

Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: Compatibility

There are a couple of ways to look at the issue of compatibility. First, both Affinity Designer and Adobe Illustrator are available for macOS and Windows. There are also mobile apps for both, but those are very much separate products.

Another important facet of compatibility is file type support. What kind of vector files can you work with in Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator? Both can import and export a wide variety of file formats, with Illustrator supporting slightly more.

Notably, Designer can open Illustrator’s AI file format, but Affinity’s file types don’t work in Illustrator or anywhere else. And you can even import Illustrator brushes into Designer, although they need converting. Illustrator does have some support for competing formats too: it can open files from CorelDRAW and save AutoCAD files, for example.

Winner: It’s a tie. Both apps support the majority of common file types, and they can run on multiple operating systems.

Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: Learning Curve

If you’re not familiar with vector design software, it would be difficult to simply pick up either Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer and start using it. To get the most out of either program, you need to read and watch tutorials.

Having been around much longer, there are far more online resources for Illustrator. These include Adobe’s own tutorials and user guides, but there are countless more all over the web, from professionals and amateurs.

Serif also provides its own guides, and it has a growing community too. But as you’d expect, the number of tutorials for Designer pales in comparison with Illustrator.

What Affinity Designer does have in its favor is that it’s not quite so packed with features as Illustrator. That might make it a little less confusing to begin with.

Winner: Adobe Illustrator. With both apps, you need to put the legwork in. But as the industry standard for vector design, there’s just way more guidance for Illustrator.

Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: Overall Winner

As much as you might want to root for the underdog, Affinity Designer falls short of Adobe Illustrator in several key areas. Considering the vast price difference between the two, that’s to be expected, but some of the missing features are essential to many designers.

If you can live without those things, though, the massive financial savings are hard to ignore. A whole lifetime’s use of Affinity Designer costs about the same as a single month of Adobe Illustrator. For amateur designers with a limited budget, Designer makes infinitely more sense.

Affinity Designer Vs Illustrator

But when it comes right down to it, Illustrator is the better software. It does more, it’s better supported, and it makes working with vectors easier. If you’re happy to pay for the subscription, you won’t be disappointed.

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