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Let’s get technical

Mac display showing a vibrant under-the-sea illustration with glowing neon details

Mac

Hardware

  • Mac Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini
  • Mac with Apple silicon (M1/M2/M3) chip or Intel processor
  • 8GB RAM recommended
  • Up to 2.8GB of available hard drive space; more during installation
  • 1280x768 display size or larger

Operating System

  • macOS Sequoia 15
  • macOS Sonoma 14
  • macOS Ventura 13
  • macOS Monterey 12
  • macOS Big Sur 11
  • macOS Catalina 10.15
Windows display showing artwork featuring pink, yellow and blue buildings and a green jeep parked on a palm-tree-lined street

Windows

Hardware

  • Windows-based PC (64-bit) with mouse or equivalent input device
  • Intel, AMD or ARM64* processor
  • Hardware GPU acceleration**
  • DirectX 10-compatible graphics cards and above
  • 8GB RAM recommended
  • 1GB of available hard drive space; more during installation
  • 1280x768 display size or larger

Operating System

  • Windows® 11
  • Windows® 10 May 2020 Update (2004, 20H1, build 19041) or later

iPad

Hardware

  • Compatible with…
    • iPad Pro (all models)*
    • iPad Air (2, 3, 4 & 5)*
    • iPad (2017 onwards)
    • iPad mini (5 & 6)

* M1-equipped iPad models are recommended for more memory-intensive design

Operating System

  • iPadOS 15 or later

Full feature list

2.5 New Features

All Platforms

  • Stroke Width Tool for freehand pencil and pen drawing:
    • Edit pressure profiles on the page
    • Works in unison with Pressure chart
    • Locking of line widths and pressure points
    • Optional snapping control
  • Variable fonts
  • QR Code Tool
  • Pencil tool improvements:
    • Smoother drawing results
    • No node clean up or reshaping needed
    • A sharp corner node is added when the stroke changes direction sharply
    • Auto Close offers proximity-based visual indication of closure
  • Easier updating of modified text style
  • Visual indication of rescaled text frame
  • DWG polylines import improvements

Desktop only

  • Native Windows ARM64 support
  • Set grid preset as default
  • Typography dialog becomes a dedicated Typography Panel
  • Transform by absolute sizes using Transform Objects Separately

iPad only

  • Mask to Below and Release now added to Layers Panel

2.4 New Features

  • Layer states for controlling design variations (for desktop only):
    • Create show/hide queries based on layer tagging, type, name, lock status and/or visibility
    • Make layer selections based on current query
    • Capture current layer visibility states
    • Set a scope to be your document, selected artboard or layer selections
    • Dedicated States Panel for states management
  • Set selection box for rotated multiple selections
  • Double-clicking (tapping) an object switches from the Node Tool to Move Tool
  • Lock insertion targets
  • Use Spacebar as keyboard modifier for Lock Children
  • Space horizontally/vertically considers key object
  • Size or rotate objects to same
  • Import/export 32-bit HDR PNGs
  • Use filename variable in path and output file naming in Export Persona (for desktop only)
  • Export DWG/DXF

2.3 New Features

All Platforms

  • Spiral Tool:
    • Choice of styles including Linear, Decaying, Fibonacci and Plotted
    • Optional straight-line edges
  • Place and export password-protected PDFs, including the ability to individually allow:
    • Document printing
    • Content modification
    • Content copying
  • Export PDF files to PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000-2) standard, with optional password-protected AES-256 encryption
  • Optionally deselect pencil strokes after creation
  • Pixel grid as design aid for UI/icon design (can be switched on/off and coloured)
  • Change Assets Panel background colour

iPad only

  • Optionally deselect shapes after creation

Desktop only

  • Move data entry enhancements:
    • Scale option to resize by a given percentage
    • Insertion Mode options to insert duplicates in front of or behind the original object
    • Edit object properties as you transform
    • Improved Number of copies slider behaviour
  • Brush names show by default on the Brushes panel
  • Create new documents from assets by dragging from panel to title bar
  • Create shapes of same type and properties from an existing shape selection

2.2 New Features

All Platforms

  • Greyscale and Hide Effects options for view modes
  • Holding a tool shortcut temporarily activates the tool*
  • Change guide colour
  • Divide Boolean operations can be performed inside groups
  • In-dialog renaming of brushes
  • Use numeric keyboard keys to set brush flow, hardness and strength*
  • Add selections to new layer
  • Optionally prompt for group and layer names on creation

iPad only

  • New Settings (Preferences):
    • Decimal place control for measurement unit types
    • Keep or clear selection after delete
  • Shift-drag on RGB/CMYK sliders to change tint/intensity only**
  • Scrolling Studio panels and context toolbars (except 12.9" Pro)
  • *For iPad, use hardware keyboard
  • **For iPad, use Command Controller or hardware keyboard

Desktop only

  • Object data entry for creating precise shapes and artboards
  • Move data entry for moving/duplicating objects
  • When editing curves, delete a node via right-click
  • When deleting node(s), optionally retain curve smoothness
  • Select All On Current Layer via the Select menu
  • Create Symbol via the Layer menu
  • Add (+) cursor indicates continuance of pencil stroke when sculpting
  • Vector Brush Tool offers a crosshair cursor when using caps lock

2.1 New Features

Vector Flood Fill Tool

  • Flood with solid colour, gradients and bitmaps
  • Drag-and-drop swatches from Swatches panel (for desktop only)
  • Flooding with assets or stock images
  • Takes stackable semi-transparent fills and bitmap fills with alpha
  • Intelligent flooding to visibly contrasting edges or object outlines/paths

Vector warp junction snapping

  • Global snapping aware
  • Snap options to align intra-group junction(s) when dragged
  • Lasso/polygon selection with Alt modifier

Enhanced Brushes panel

  • Show brush names
  • Show brushes as thumbnails
  • Highlights the active brush
  • Indicates modified brush settings
  • Auto-scroll to last used brush when reusing brush tools (intra and inter-category)
  • Alt-click on a new brush keeps your current brush width*
  • Update Brush and Reset Brush if modified

Assets panel

  • Expand All/Collapse All subcategories (for desktop only)
  • Sort assets by name
  • Modifier-free reordering of asset subcategories (for desktop only)

Layers panel

  • Alt-click to Expand/Collapse All (child layers)*
  • Step-through renaming of layers and export slices with Tab key (for desktop only)
  • Rename layers via the Layers menu, with shortcut (for desktop only)
  • Hide layer type icons

Guides improvements

  • Double-click any guide to open Guides Settings
  • Drag distance (delta) shows in on-screen readout
  • Drag a guide from rulers will switch on guide visibility (if set to off)
  • Clone guides with -drag (Ctrl-drag)*
  • Delete guides with Alt-click*
  • Snap guides to ruler units based on the spread origin with Shift-drag*
  • Snap guides to drag distance (delta) based on ruler units with Shift-Alt-drag*
  • Snap to original guide position when moving guides
  • Snap to original guide when cloning guides
  • Nudge guide values with mouse wheel/arrow keys*
  • Link margin or X/Y spread origin values in Guides Settings

*For iPad, use Command Controller/hardware keyboard

  • Distort placed images and documents using non-destructive Live Mesh Warp or Perspective filters
  • Rename artboards directly on the pasteboard
  • Disable auto-selection with Move Tool, plus -click (Ctrl-click) override*
  • Keyboard shortcuts for layer and brush blend modes
  • Adjust stroke width using Node Tool or shape tools using [ or ] keys
  • Balanced dashed lines plus more dash pattern sequences
  • Clear arrowhead settings
  • PDF document properties (metadata) are retained on import
  • Show special characters
  • Search Bar for searching add-on content in your Account
  • V5 PANTONE® Solid, Process Coated and Uncoated update
  • One-click bitmap fill creation from assets or stock images
  • Create bitmap fills by drag-and-drop from Finder/File Explorer to Colour or Swatches panel (for desktop only)
  • Paint with bitmap textures drag-and-dropped to Colour or Swatches panel (for desktop only)
  • Close All to close multiple open documents plus Apply to All option (for desktop only)

Designer iPad

  • Style Picker Tool offers a dropper-based transfer of object styles
  • Rulers
  • Reset canvas rotation in Navigator Panel with double-tap
  • Double-tap Zoom option to Zoom to 100% in Navigator Panel
  • PDF passthrough
  • PDF Options offered on opening PDF files
  • Create compounds via long press on Geometry menu options
  • More hardware keyboard shortcuts:
    • Select Next, Previous, Top and Bottom
    • Opacity
    • Zoom options and other design aids
  • More select options added to Quick Menu
  • Command controller modifiers/keyboard support for Select Object
  • Apple Pencil: double-tap to open Quick Menu
  • Show in Files on the Home screen (Live Docs) locates your saved file
  • Disable brush preview for Apple Pencil Hover and peripheral devices
  • Edit warp groups more easily by tapping warp group layer thumbnail
  • Workflow improvements:
    • Drop-down menus with checkable options no longer auto-close
    • Less tapping needed for menu navigation
  • Lock or rename layers, plus swap compound type, via left-swipe
  • Double-tap to reset Opacity and Blend Mode to 100% and Normal, respectively (Layers panel)

2.0 New Features

General UI

  • Redeveloped UI, tool and button icons
  • New monochromatic iconography via Preferences (User Interface)
  • High-contrast UI settings
  • Drag document tabs to new windows (Mac)
  • Restyled Studio panels via the Window menu (for desktop only)
  • Redesigned Export dialog offers “always on” export preview
  • Command Controller for improved modifier-driven workflow (iPad)
  • Quick Menu for context-sensitive access to commands (iPad)
  • Compact Mode for Layers and Brushes Studios (iPad)

New document dialog redesign

  • Easier preset management plus preset previews and favourites
  • In-dialog access to new document presets, templates, samples, and your account details
  • Recent documents (grid or list) are searchable and support pinning (for desktop only)
  • “Always on” Document summary panel (for desktop only)

All new Layers panel

  • Much clearer drop zones for masking, clipping and reordering
  • Parent bar to easily collapse parent items and drop layers above/below current parent group
  • Unlimited levels of cropping/masking layers
  • Identify layer types by icon (curves, shapes, text, pixel, mask, adjustment)
  • Hide/show all other layers
  • Copy layer effects (FX) from one layer to another
  • Hover-over lock icon toggle (for desktop only)
  • Drag-down Visibility icon to turn on/off multiple selected layers (for desktop only)

Content link

  • All Affinity apps on a device can now share brushes, styles, assets, application palettes and more
  • Avoids unnecessary exporting/importing of content between apps on the same device
  • Migration of custom 1.x content on upgrade (for desktop only)
  • Link custom content to share with other apps

New tools

  • Vector Warp applies a mesh warp to any vector object non-destructively
  • Shape Builder Tool for interactively adding and subtracting shapes and curve segments
  • Knife Tool for cutting up shapes, curves and text
  • Measure Tool displays scaled distances between any two points
  • Area Tool shows the area and perimeter length of objects and constructions
  • Style Picker Tool offers a dropper-based transfer of object styles (for desktop only)

Selections

  • More Select Same/Select Object options with modifier support for multi-object selections
  • Select Next/Previous/Top/Bottom/Parent via right-click menu (for desktop only)
  • Move Tool option for automatically selecting inside groups
  • Align multiple objects to a nominated Key Object

Graphic design essentials

  • Drawing scale for real-world projects (different scaling per artboard)
  • Pencil Tool creates auto-closed or straight-line pencil strokes
  • Change stroke width with [ and ] keys; Shift key increases/decreases by an absolute amount
  • Scale multiple objects’ stroke widths using formula input (e.g., 200%)
  • X-ray (Wireframe) view mode shows semi-transparent fills to inspect document construction and aids hidden object selection
  • Multiple shadow, outline and overlay layer effects per object
  • Force scale of stroke width, layer effect radii, corner radii and text frame content on object resize

Redeveloped Boolean operations

  • Accurate results
  • Divide can use an open curve to slice a shape or split another open curve
  • Divide will punch out holes using a fully overlapping object
  • Nominate a Key Object to subtract from using the Alt key
  • Fill holes and remove inner curves

Curve drawing and editing

  • Red line indicator on all curve selections shows winding direction
  • Node Tool offers Split Curves, adding a new node in the geometric midpoint of a selected curve segment

Placing content

  • Resource Manager for controlling placed image and document resources (iPad)
  • Quick Grids (for desktop only)
  • Layer visibility override for placed files (PDF/DWG/DXF)—turn off layers you don’t need
  • Place linked web images using their URLs via Ctrl+drag-and-drop (for desktop only)
  • Dropbox API integration to retain placed resource linkage across multiple devices

Raster brush improvements

  • Improved raster brush quality and accuracy
  • Distance controller changes brush characteristics with stroke length
  • Brush tip interpolation for improved tip quality
  • Wet edge support for more brush-based tools
  • Recently used brushes can be seen and reselected for each raster layer (for desktop only)
  • Paint Brush Tool now has its own B keyboard key shortcut
  • Brushes panel can display brushes as either nozzle thumbnails or strokes

Import/export/packaging

  • WebP file import and export
  • JPEG XL file import and export
  • AutoCAD DWG/DXF import, place and edit (maintaining layer structure and scaling)
  • HIF file import (HDR 10 bit PQ encoded) produced by newer Canon cameras
  • Drag/drop stock photos for new document (for desktop only)
  • PDF export will export hidden Affinity vector layers that have child layers as invisible layers
  • Resave packages with auto-update of resources (for desktop only)

Some important extras…

  • Import Affinity and Adobe® Swatch Exchange (.ase) palettes (iPad)
  • Drag-and-drop bitmap fill creation with intelligent scaling
  • HSL Colour Wheel has ‘box’ wheel type and offers recent colours and hex code readout/input
  • Convert artistic text to frame text, and vice versa
  • Paste Style support for copied text selections
  • Isolation (Solo) mode offers better group control
  • Rasterise selected layers simultaneously
  • Normals adjustment for editing normal maps from material and texturing workflows
  • Preference to Limit initial zoom to a maximum of 100% for icon designers

Overview

It’s Fast—Really Fast

  • Pan and zoom at maximum refresh rate (ProMotion support for latest Mac displays)
  • Live previews of transforms in the correct Z-order
  • Real-time gradients, effects, blend modes and adjustments
  • Always fast, whatever the complexity or size of your artwork
  • 64-bit multi-core optimisation and hardware acceleration

Display support

  • Regular, Retina and expanded gamut DCI-P3 (Mac)
  • Wide colour gamut (Display P3) (Windows)
  • HiDPI
  • EDR (Mac)
  • HDR (Windows; >400 nits recommended)

Beautiful By Design

  • Built from the ground up for creative professionals
  • Designed by designers… stylish and uncluttered interface

Highly Customisable

  • Light or dark user interface (for desktop only)
  • Create and save your own custom keyboard shortcuts
  • Create your own toolbars and toolbar layouts (for desktop only)
  • Reorganise on-screen panels, float or dock as preferred (for desktop only)
  • Create and save Studio Panel (and toolbar) presets (for desktop only)
  • Tweak UI tool size and choose monochrome or coloured buttons (for desktop only)
  • Use Preferences to set up Affinity Designer to your taste
  • Work in pixels, points, picas and physical document units

Naturally Easy to Use

  • Follows industry conventions for the most popular shortcuts
  • Use generic multi-button/wheeled mice and graphics tablets (for desktop only)
  • Check the Hint Line and Context toolbar for help with current actions (for desktop only)
  • Quickly hide all tools and panels for a bigger design preview
  • Work with multiple designs and multiple displays
  • Document presets or save your own custom document setups
  • Create new documents from delivery-ready presets
  • Create custom document setups and templates

Mixed Discipline Design

  • Task-focused design spaces create a clean, efficient environment
  • Switch between vector, pixel, and export modes
  • One Affinity file format is compatible with all Affinity suite apps

Over 1,000,000% Zoom

  • Zoom way beyond 1,000,000% — smoothly and quickly
  • See a reassuringly CAD-like level of precision
  • Instantly switch between favourite zoom levels

Rich History

  • Instantly undo/redo over 8,000 History steps
  • Store document states as Snapshots
  • Save History so you can undo steps later even on different computers
  • Undo actions performed in other Affinity suite apps
  • Cycle Futures feature prevents history loss after editing from undos
  • A seamless AutoSave protects against unexpected shutdowns

Professional Samples

  • Peek into the minds of other illustrators with professional samples

Learning Made Easy

  • Access our video tutorials on our YouTube channel - created by our dedicated Product Experts and inspirational pro users
  • Comprehensive in-app product Help
  • ’At hand’ Hint Line for help with current actions (desktop only)

No Subscription

  • No subscription charge! Designed for pros, priced for everyone
  • Buy through Affinity.store website, Mac App Store or Windows Store
  • Updates available as we improve

Licence Activation, Registration and Account Access

  • Single licence or multi-app cross-platform Universal Licence
  • In-app activation of licensing using your Affinity Store’s Affinity ID*
  • Create Affinity ID and account during in-app purchase
  • In-app purchase and registration (optional) via Mac App Store, iPad App Store and Microsoft store
  • In-app access and viewing of your Affinity account
  • Affinity Store content synchronisation
  • Auto-install of free and purchased Affinity Store content (brushes, assets and more)

Registration and Account Access

  • In-app registration (optional)
  • In-app access and viewing of your Affinity account
  • Affinity Store content synchronisation
  • Install free and purchased Affinity Store content (brushes, assets and more)

Languages

  • English (US and UK)
  • German
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Portuguese (Brazilian)
  • Japanese
  • Italian
  • Chinese (Simplified)

Pro Vector Illustration

Rock Solid Pen Tool

  • Instinctively and quickly create what you want with fewer clicks
  • Change node types on the fly without interrupting your flow
  • Switch between Pen and Node tools with a key press
  • Apply pressure, scaling, drawing, mitre and line end settings for organic strokes
  • Create single polycurve from multiple curves
  • Snap control handles to geometry, node, grid or guide
  • Arrowheads (and tails)

Curve and shape editing

  • Multi-node selection using polygon/freehand lasso drawing
  • Align/distribute multi-node selections
  • Transform multi-node selections using Selection Box
  • Match active node’s geometry to that of another curve’s node geometry (for desktop only)
  • Construction snapping for finding control handle’s angles and distances (for desktop only)
  • Straighten or delete a curve’s segment
  • Set precise straight line lengths using Transform Panel (for desktop only)

Tool and Mode Switching

  • One tool flexibly selects, moves, rotates, scales, and skews
  • Switch to the Move tool any time with a key press (for desktop only)
  • Toggle between popular tools and temporarily change modes (for desktop only)
  • Intuitively edit objects within groups without ungrouping
  • Optionally move parent objects without their child layers

Artboards

  • Create multiple artboards within one document
  • Use separate canvases for different versions of icons and other web/UI elements
  • Create stationery variants all in one design
  • Output artboards as separate pages in exported PDFs
  • Name artboards (including using emojis)
  • Apply custom grids and guides per artboard
  • Print artboards on separate sheets

Symbols

  • Simultaneous and automatic editing of repeating design elements
  • Create symbols via easy access Symbols Panel
  • Replicate symbols as individual symbol instances
  • Synchronisation across instances by default
  • Switch off synchronisation for isolated edits
  • Edit distinct object properties independently of each other

Constraints for UI Design

  • Avoids time-consuming design rework
  • Auto-layout on differently sized device artboards
  • Scale and/or anchor design elements to their ‘parent’ container
  • Select object edges to be constrained
  • Max/min fit for fixed aspect ratios

Corner Tool

  • Neatly round and soften corners on shapes and lines
  • For single and multiple nodes

Pencil Tool

  • Draw lines with an intuitive balance of accuracy and smoothing
  • Adjust weight automatically based on velocity, pressure, or use fixed width
  • Use stabiliser for super smooth pencil strokes
  • Sculpt mode for repeating and continuing strokes
  • Arrowheads

Live Gradient Fills and Transparencies

  • Draw gradients live in your design, instantly and smoothly
  • Apply colour and transparency gradients to fills and outlines
  • Easily adjust the nodes and rates of change for gradients
  • Use solid, linear, elliptical, radial, conical gradients and apply bitmaps
  • Aspect ratio control (bitmap fill/transparency only)
  • Linear and radial gradients respond to object scaling/shearing with skewed fill handle editing

Textured Noise

  • Add noise to object fills and outlines, also as a gradient

Live Boolean Geometry

  • Join, intersect, subtract, divide and combine shape outlines
  • Boolean operations are editable (Compound Shapes) without using Undo

Editable Shapes

  • Regular shapes are naturally smart with unique editing nodes
  • Easily customise shapes, achieve neat results with snapping geometry
  • Create perfect squares and circles by constraining primitives
  • Apply special and rounded corners as absolute or % values
  • Customise cogs, stars, arrows, pies, and 14 other smart shapes
  • Presets for shapes or save your own shapes (for desktop only)

Advanced Layers and Masks

  • Organise using layers, groups, stacks and layer naming
  • Seamlessly mix vector and raster layer types
  • Thumbnail sizing - Small, Medium and Large
  • Isolate, rename, lock, hide and merge layers with easy shortcuts
  • Unlock all locked objects simultaneously
  • Show all hidden objects simultaneously
  • Clip and mask by dragging and dropping, masks remain editable
  • Apply multiple masks for complex transparencies
  • No limits on number of layers, masks, groups, or hierarchy of layers
  • Limit the affect of adjustments and layer effects by drag and drop
  • Auto-scroll jumps to selected object in Layers Panel
  • Colour tagging (retains PSD layer colours)

Clipping

  • Add artwork within shapes and layers using Insert Inside and Paste Inside
  • Also Insert Behind and Insert Above the current layer

Convert to Curves

  • Convert primitives, imported vectors, and text to editable curves
  • Optionally convert some objects to curves at export time

Multi Stroke and Fill

  • Appearance Panel for all multi stroke/fill management
  • Stack strokes and fills like layers
  • Any stroke can have its own stroke width
  • Any stroke or fill can have its own blend mode and colour gradient
  • Save as custom Style for later use
  • Place stroke in front or behind fill

Expand Stroke

  • Detach outlines from vector objects to create new shapes
  • Add new outlines to expanded strokes

Contour Tool

  • Offset a curve or shape’s outline and stroke
  • On-page radius control
  • Fill control: Auto close, Force open or Force close

Power Duplicate

  • Duplicate objects and repeat transforms all in one go
  • Create geometric patterns or repeating, scaling, rotating designs

Layout Grids

  • Create standard square and rectangular grids
  • Create axonometric grids (isometric layouts and more)
  • Isometric Panel (desktop) or context options (iOS) for easier grid creation, transforms and plane switching
  • Transform objects directly onto grid planes
  • Custom grids (Triangular, 2-axis and 3-axis)
  • Cube mode for custom grids from transformable cube
  • On-page draggable grid origin with grid axis scaling and angle adjustment
  • Snap grid to object angles to reconstruct useful grids from finished artworks or sketches
  • Snapping and constraining axis (for desktop only)
  • User-definable axis subdivisions for intermediate angles (for desktop only)
  • Change grid colour and opacity
  • Snap to standard and custom grids for accurate designing
  • Presets for Grid & Axis Manager or save your own grid

Selecting, Aligning and Distributing

  • Drag-over marquee selection
  • Easy selection of overlapped and grouped objects
  • Select multiple objects by type, colour, stroke weight, transparency, and more
  • Align to left, centre, right, top, middle, bottom
  • Works to selection bounds, spread (artboard), margins, first/last selected
  • Automatically distribute objects horizontally or vertically
  • Distribute to your choice of spacing
  • Alignment handles for precise alignment of a selection to a position on page
  • Change object Z-order

Transforms

  • Accurately position and scale objects to specific values
  • Use functions like +50% to scale objects (for desktop only)
  • Apply transforms about an anchor point selected in the Transform panel
  • Rotate using dedicated lollipop handle
  • Set a custom centre of rotation
  • Reposition objects by their custom transform origin
  • Skew using on-screen controls or the Transform panel
  • Flip objects with handy buttons
  • Point Transform Tool scales and rotates about a chosen point
  • Transform selected objects separately

Assets for easy access to stored design elements

  • Dedicated panel for asset storage
  • Store any object to a custom subcategory
  • Import/export assets

Styles

  • Save combinations of fill, line and effects settings for reuse
  • Apply styles for design consistency, e.g. your favourite letterpress
  • Optionally scale styles with objects
  • Search for styles by style name

Embed and Place Artwork

  • Embed PSDs, Affinity Designer files and others as part of larger designs
  • Double-click to open and edit embedded designs and PSDs
  • Place regular artwork and edit in-situ as normal
  • Use embedded document’s artboards selectively
  • Maintain embedded contents as vectors on export

Program Defaults

  • Apply your preferred object settings as defaults

Work the Way You Want

  • Tailor tool behaviours and UI settings in Preferences
  • Zoom, select, nudge and more the way you like

Design Aids

Snapping

  • Better snapping performance with complex geometries
  • Snap to grids, guides, canvas edges, margins, gaps and more
  • Tailor for different use cases or choose task-based presets
  • Force Pixel Alignment snapping option for UI and web design
  • Snapping candidate control (last six selected or layer based)
  • Dynamic alignment works smoothly on snapping candidates
  • Save favourite snapping settings as new presets (for desktop only)
  • Snap to pixel selection bounds

Ruler, Ruler Guides and Column Guides

  • Switch on vertical/horizontal rulers that use document measurement units (for desktop only)
  • Create guides in any measurement unit or by percentage
  • Spread origin repositioned from ruler intersection
  • Multi-column guide support
  • Customisable bleed and margin colours

Misc Design Aids

  • Inter-object measurement guides
  • Clip to page/artboard canvas

Live Pixel and Outline Views

  • See in standard and retina qualities in Pixel view—while still editing
  • Wireframe Outline view distils your shapes and line art

Live Split Screen

  • Split the screen to show Regular and Pixel or Outline views together, live
  • Drag the splitter across your design in real time
  • Continue designing, the view is totally live

Switch Views

  • Save favourite view settings in the Navigator Panel
  • Quickly switch from one part of a document to another at different zoom

Multiple Views (for desktop only)

  • See the same design, live, with different pan, zoom, or view modes
  • Work on objects close up separately from the parent design
  • Work on website and UI elements as part of a larger mock-up

Canvas Rotation

  • Rotate the page like you would when using paper to sketch
  • Maps to popular graphics tablet and keyboard controls (for desktop only)
  • Disable canvas rotation to prevent accidental use
  • Rotate document view (canvas) with /Ctrl+mouse scroll wheel

Raster Design Tools

Apply Raster Techniques to Vector Art

  • Switch to the Pixel persona, select a brush, and start shading or texturing
  • Finesse artwork with Dodge, Burn, Smudge and Sharpen brush tools
  • See a live preview at the brush tip before you apply your stroke (for desktop only)

Pixel Selections

  • Isolate parts of your design to constrain raster retouching
  • Use regular shapes, pixel-width regions, freehand lasso, and selection brush
  • Select regions based on colour and tonal ranges
  • Grow, shrink, feather, smooth and outline selections

‘Magic Wand’ Selection Brush

  • Create selections quickly using a smart selection brush
  • Automatically grow regions to detected edges, whether raster or vector

Refine Selections

  • Select fine detail like hair and fur with advanced refining
  • Set refinement border width, smoothness, mode, and feather size
  • Output refinement as a selection, mask, new layer, or new layer with mask

Resources

Add External Content to Your Designs

  • Stock Panel to access free and royalty-free image resources
  • Place content and scale non-destructively
  • Treat images as objects or as pixel-based layers
  • Multi-file placement click-by-click (for desktop only)
  • Linked resources (for desktop only)
  • DPI/scaling control for placed images and documents (for desktop only)
  • PDF passthrough for absolute output fidelity (for desktop only)

Packaging (for desktop only)

  • Share projects easily
  • Original document remains unaffected
  • Include fonts and linked images
  • Show restricted fonts on package opening

Resource Management

  • Missing resource alert on document load
  • Linked/embedded placed image policy at document setup
  • Dedicated Resource Manager for image/document management
  • Display placed image (or document) status
  • Convert resources from embedded to linked (and vice versa)
  • Recursive resource links are honoured
  • Collect linked resource into a ‘sidecar’ folder for project portability
  • Relink multiple missing ‘same folder’ images in one operation

Professional Typography

Pro Font Support

  • Create elegant text with OpenType, Type 1, and True Type fonts
  • Use advanced OpenType features including Ligatures
  • Insert placeholder text while constructing designs
  • Insert special characters and symbols
  • Copy and paste style between objects
  • Font fallbacks

Live Font Previews

  • Fonts are previewed instantly while creating or customising text
  • Access fonts by collection for efficiency (for desktop only)
  • Browse recent, used or your favourite fonts (for desktop only)

Live OpenType Feature Previews

  • Typography Panel shows live feature previews
  • Easily select the right Stylistic Set every time
  • Preview Ligatures, Contextual Alternates, Swashes and more

Glyph Browser

  • Quickly insert special characters into your text
  • Display in glyph or Unicode order
  • Filter by font subset, e.g. cyrillic
  • Search for phrase, glyph value or Unicode value

Character and Paragraph Panels

  • Style text with on-screen panels you can dock, move, and resize
  • Adjust kerning, tracking, shear, baseline and other character attributes
  • Easily set leading, indents, tab stops and justification
  • Optical character alignment (hanging punctuation)
  • Comprehensive bullets and numbering (for desktop only)

Art and Frame Text

  • Adding scalable art text is perfect for quick headlines and callouts
  • Add body text to designs using frames as containers
  • Create containers of any shape
  • Control alignment, justification, character and paragraph settings
  • Optionally scale text content when scaling the parent text frame
  • Vertically align frame text
  • Fit text frame to contained text
  • Live spell checking

Text-on-a-Path

  • Type text along a custom curve or shape
  • Control start and end points
  • Set text on both or either side of lines
  • Convert shapes to text paths
  • Control all the normal text attributes including baseline

Text Styles

  • Ensure text appears consistent
  • Apply character and paragraph styles
  • Easily update styles cross-document
  • Design from scratch or from text selection
  • Style hierarchies
  • Style groups

Professional Colour, Compatibility, and Output

Professional Colour

  • CMYK professional workflows
  • RGB, RGB Hex, LAB, CMYK and Greyscale colour models
  • PANTONE® colour swatches
  • ICC colour management profiles supported
  • Seamlessly jump between colour modes
  • Lock to prevent colour mode switching (for desktop only)

Pantone® Colour Matching

  • PANTONE® Goe
  • PANTONE® GoeBridge
  • PANTONE®+ Formula Guide Solid (V2)
  • PANTONE®+ CMYK
  • PANTONE®+ Color Bridge (V2)
  • PANTONE®+ Metallic, Neon, and Pastels
  • Coated and uncoated variants

PSD Support

  • Accurate opening/saving of Adobe® Photoshop® PSD files
  • Open very large PSB files
  • Maintain layers, groups, gradients, blend modes, paths, masks and more
  • PSD flattened image representation

Open Files from Other Apps

  • Open PDFs, Adobe® Illustrator® files containing a PDF stream
  • Edit objects in their native form—shapes, text, images
  • SVG and EPS supported for vector designs
  • Illustrator objects, groups and effects maintained where possible
  • Open and edit Adobe® FreeHand® files (versions 9-11)

PDF and PDF/X compatible

  • Save designs as PDF for sharing
  • Edit and save PDFs for round-trip app compatibility
  • PDF passthrough for absolute display/output fidelity
  • Create and edit CMYK PDF/X files for pro printing
  • Compatible with PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, and PDF/X-4

Professional Printing

  • Full CMYK handling and ICC profiles
  • Spot colours (for desktop only)
  • Overprint controls (for desktop only)
  • Trim, bleed and crop marks
  • Bleed preview

Open and Save SVG and EPS

  • Open, edit, and output industry standard EPS and SVG files

Smart Colour Picker

  • Dedicated Tool for Designer and Pixel Persona
  • Accurately pick colour using a magnifier over any part of your display
  • Point or colour averaged sampling
  • Sample from current or all layers
  • Grab in the source colour space including CMYK, RGB and LAB colour
  • Simple panel-based Colour Picker as alternative

Palettes and Swatches

  • Use colours and palettes based on all the available colour models
  • Automatically create palettes based on document colours
  • Import Adobe® Swatch Exchange (.ase) files
  • Display palettes created in other apps using Apple System Colour Palettes (desktop macOS only)
  • Create complementary, analogous and other colour chords
  • Generate palette from any image (for desktop only)

Global Colours (for desktop only)

  • Update objects in your document when their base colour changes
  • Tint levels are retained when base colour updates
  • Use as solid colours or in gradients

Advanced Rendering

  • Blend ranges (Blend options)
  • Per-object gamma blending
  • Per-object hierarchical antialiasing
  • Use some adjustments across colour modes
  • Live wireframe and pixel views
  • Split screen views

Full Open or Import List

  • Adobe® Photoshop® PSD
  • Adobe® Photoshop® PSB
  • Adobe® Illustrator® AI (containing PDF stream)
  • PDF
  • SVG
  • EPS
  • Adobe® FreeHand® (versions 9 to 11)
  • PNG
  • TIFF
  • JPG
  • GIF
  • EXR (Open EXR)
  • HDR (Radiance)
  • Affinity Photo native file
  • Affinity Publisher native file (includes page navigation)
  • Extensive RAW import library (auto-process on import)
  • DNG
  • HEIF with depth map (as separate layer)

Full Save or Export List

  • Affinity template (.aftemplate)
  • Adobe® Photoshop® PSD
  • PDF
  • SVG
  • EPS
  • TIFF
  • PNG
  • JPG
  • GIF
  • EXR (Open EXR)
  • HDR (Radiance)
  • Affinity common file format

Export document

  • Export as entire document or current selection
  • Exclude background from selection
  • Resampling
  • File size calculator

Retina @2x/@3x Web and UI Assets

  • Output standard and retina resolutions in one go
  • Retina versions are auto-named with @2x and @3x suffix
  • Create complete icon or sprite sets within one document
  • Prototype whole web pages or create individual web graphics
  • Deliver UI asset designs easily
  • iOS Application/Universal icon presets
  • Batch Builder for multi-slice imagesets (Xcode asset JSON) (for desktop only)
  • Xcode path templates (for desktop only)
  • JSON export for Spine
  • Export to absolute sizes (for desktop only)

Export Presets

  • Create your own export presets for consistency across projects
  • Use popular presets that are supplied with Affinity Designer
  • Set your default export format

Slices

  • Output individual pages/artboards, objects, groups, layers as slices
  • Draw custom slices from scratch or modify from object slices
  • Automatically create slices from layer contents
  • Auto-name exported files using layer/slice names
  • Slice presets for popular image formats and for UI design (for desktop only)
  • Apply slice presets to selected slices (for desktop only)
  • Multiple export setups, formats and resolutions per slice (for desktop only)
  • Hide layer contents during export process
  • Exclude layer content from export
  • Export at multiple resolutions in one operation (for desktop only)
  • Output all slices at once, just one slice, or selected slices
  • Export image sizes individually (for desktop only)
  • Copy/paste export setups and formats between selected slices (for desktop only)

Advanced Scaling and Resampling

  • Optionally scale content when resizing documents
  • Mixed format artwork scaled intelligently for highest quality
  • Lanczos 3, Bicubic, Bilinear and Nearest Neighbour resampling methods

Efficient Affinity File Format

  • Compact and fast native file format
  • Fully editable in Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher

16-bits per Channel Support

  • 16-bits per channel mode for accurate colour processing
  • Works on all supported hardware and macOS versions without limits

Live Blend Modes, Adjustments and Effects

Non-Destructive Editing

  • Apply to any object, layer, group—whether vector or raster
  • See effects, blend modes and adjustments instantly with no lag
  • Completely finish designs without switching to another app
  • Edit any time—all effects, adjustments, and blend modes are non-destructive
  • Set blend modes for strokes, layers, objects, groups, and masks
  • Blend modes work on masks and adjustments
  • Selectively recolour artwork and designs without laborious reworking

Live Adjustments

  • Levels
  • White Balance
  • HSL (with hue colour ranges and colour picker)
  • Recolour
  • Black and White
  • Brightness and Contrast
  • Posterise
  • Vibrance
  • Exposure
  • Shadows/Highlights
  • Threshold
  • Curves
  • Channel Mixer
  • Gradient Map (with global colour support)
  • Selective Colour
  • Colour Balance
  • Invert
  • Soft Proof
  • 3D LUT (3D Look Up Table for complex adjustments)
  • Lens Filter
  • Split Toning

Live Effects

  • Gaussian Blur
  • Outer Shadow
  • Inner Shadow
  • Outer Glow
  • Inner Glow
  • Outline
  • 3D
  • Bevel/Emboss
  • Colour Overlay
  • Gradient Overlay
  • Layer Effects (with global colour support)

Live Blend Modes

  • Normal
  • Darken
  • Darker Colour
  • Multiply
  • Colour Burn
  • Linear Burn
  • Lighten
  • Lighter Colour
  • Screen
  • Colour Dodge
  • Add
  • Overlay
  • Soft Light
  • Hard Light
  • Vivid Light
  • Pin Light
  • Linear Light
  • Hard Mix
  • Difference
  • Exclusion
  • Subtract
  • Divide
  • Hue
  • Saturation
  • Luminosity
  • Colour
  • Average
  • Negation
  • Reflect
  • Glow
  • Contrast Negate
  • Erase

Professional Sketch, Paint and Texture Tools

Paint and Design Professionally

  • Give curves, lines and outlines a natural weight with graphics tablet support (for desktop only)
  • Create paintings at any size, you’re not limited to HD, 4K, 8K etc.
  • Use tablet shortcuts and controls to switch tools and control Affinity Designer (for desktop only)
  • Control size, pressure, and speed interactivity with live brush settings

Stroke stabilisation

  • Enable Stabiliser for super smooth brush strokes
  • Rope or Windows mode for different smoothing behaviour

Edit Pressure Profiles

  • Add style to lines manually with a built in pressure graph
  • Store pressure profiles for reuse

Flexible Vector Brushes

  • Natural media vector brushes include watercolour, ink, paint and pastels
  • Edit vector brush strokes, pen lines and pencil lines any time
  • Separate head, body and tail sections, plus corner treatments
  • Change path, weight, colour, fill, pressure gradient, opacity, and blend mode
  • Non-pixel aligned head/tail offsets when dragging

High Quality Raster Brushes

  • Brushes are responsive and natural, whether painting with a pen, mouse or pad (for desktop only)
  • Add easy shading and highlights using a standard pixel brush
  • Paint with added depth using photo-quality scalable nozzle textures
  • Pick up brush colour as you paint
  • On-page brush preview sets width, hardness, nozzle spacing and rotation
  • Customise opacity (accumulation), hardness, spacing, flow, shape, rotation, luminosity, and texture scale
  • Pressure responsive (Jitter) to above brush properties
  • Wet edge support with customizable ramp profiles
  • Multi-brushes
  • Brush symmetry (up to 32-way) and optional brush mirroring (up to five-way reflections)
  • Brushes with multiple nozzle textures can set their own nozzle controller/ramp
  • Wet edges and accumulation now on colour brushes/brushes with HSL variance
  • Nozzle rotation using left and right arrow keys (before and during stroke application)
  • Paint straight strokes constrained to X or Y axis
  • Create image brushes from any pixel selection
  • Create intensity brushes from any mask’s pixel selection

Custom Brushes

  • Create completely custom vector and raster brushes using your own textures
  • Choose behaviour for pressure and velocity variance, corners, repeating areas and many other controls

Combine Raster and Vector Art

  • Seamlessly mix vector and raster design and art techniques
  • Apply blend modes, opacity and colour changes to achieve a perfect finish
  • Drag and drop in the Layers Panel to control where and how brushwork is added to your vectors
  • Preferences let you fine tune how vector and raster techniques behave
  • Resize documents with or without resizing your artwork

Fill and Erase Tools

  • Solid colouring regions is simple with a raster flood fill tool
  • Create shapes for smooth gradient fills
  • Erase selectively without destroying vectors

Incredibly High Quality

  • Native vectors and gradients are output at any size with no loss of quality
  • Mixed media artwork is intelligently scaled and resampled

Input Devices

OS X/macOS

  • Pressure-sensitive graphics tablet and pen
  • Force Touch and regular Trackpad
  • Touch Bar
  • Mac keyboards
  • Magic Trackpad and Magic Trackpad 2
  • Magic Mouse and Magic Mouse 2
  • Generic multi-button and wheel mouse
  • Dictation offered by OS X

Windows

  • DirectX 11 and Direct 2D rendering with Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP) fallback
  • Hardware accelerated for smooth panning/zooming and rendering
  • Optimised for Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book (including support for detachable screen)
  • Surface Studio with Surface Pen/Surface Dial
  • Generic multi-button and wheel mouse
  • Wacom (and other WinTab devices) support
  • Uses Microsoft Concurrency Runtime to fully utilise/scale across modern CPUs
  • High DPI support across multiple monitors
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