License Activation & Registration Explained

Types of Affinity License

If you have bought an Affinity app, you will have bought a perpetual license to use that app. A perpetual license means that you can use your Affinity app forever.

There are four types of perpetual license:

1. An Affinity V2 Universal License: A single license covering all three Affinity applications (Designer, Photo, and Publisher) on all three operating systems (macOS, Windows and iPadOS). You can buy this from the Affinity Store, the Mac App Store, or Microsoft Store (via in-app purchase).
2. A single application license for macOS: one for each application — Designer, Photo and Publisher. You can buy these from the Affinity Store or the Mac App Store (via in-app purchase).
3. A single application license for Windows: one for each application — Designer, Photo and Publisher. You can buy these from the Affinity Store or the Microsoft Store (via in-app purchase).
4. A single application license for iPadOS: one for each application — Designer, Photo and Publisher. You can only buy these from the iPad App Store (via in-app purchase).

All downloads are free and will offer a 7-day trial on start-up, as well as the option to purchase a perpetual license. For each application, Designer, Photo and Publisher, you can only have one free trial of our software on any desktop OS and a free trial on iPad.

Activating Affinity Licenses

Activating Affinity V2 Universal Licenses

An Affinity V2 Universal License allows you to use any Version 2 Affinity application (Designer, Photo and Publisher) on any supported operating system, including Windows, macOS, and iPadOS.

If you have purchased an Affinity V2 Universal License from the Affinity Store, your license will already be registered in your Affinity Store account so all you need to do is log in with your Affinity ID to activate your license.

If you in-app purchase an Affinity V2 Universal License through either the Mac App Store or the Microsoft Store you will also need to register that Affinity V2 Universal License in your Affinity Store account, or else you can’t receive any of the multi-app cross-platform benefits. After purchasing a license, you will be prompted to register your license. Registration can be skipped but will be available again in the Account panel in the application. Learn how to create an Affinity ID in the last section of this guide.

When you next start a different Affinity Version 2 application, you can immediately sign-in to your Affinity ID to activate your license, or you can start a trial and sign-in later. Activating a license will then change the trial into a retail version. That is true no matter which store you downloaded the Affinity software from (the Affinity Store/Mac App Store/Microsoft Store/iPad App Store). If you don’t sign-in to your account, you will be prompted to purchase again, even though you have technically bought a license. This is due to limitations with the Mac App Store/Microsoft Store that are beyond our control. However, by registering your Affinity V2 Universal License in your Affinity account it will then allow you to use your license on any Affinity V2 application on any operating system, including iPadOS.

Activating Affinity single application Licenses

If you have purchased a single application License from the Affinity Store, that license is already registered in your Affinity Store account, all you need to do is to log in with your Affinity ID to activate your license.

If you buy a single application license from a 3rd party app store—such as the Mac App Store, iPad App Store or the Microsoft Store—creating an Affinity ID and registering your app with Affinity is optional, though recommended.

Registered & Licensed Software

Registering can be done after the initial in-app purchase, or later using the Account option in the application. Once you have registered your software you do not need to remain logged in to use the software or receive updates.

Any registered desktop software license also allows you to use the registered Affinity software on other desktop computers running on the same platform, whether downloaded from the Affinity Store, Mac App Store or the Microsoft Store.

Volume Licensing

Business & Education licensing may be sold with Version 2 Activation Passwords which determine the terms of the license, from extended trials to perpetual licenses. You can use the Activation Password within the application to activate your license. Contact the sales department support team if you need assistance with this.

Updates of Licensed Products

Once you purchase a perpetual license, the application works indefinitely on your computer. It does not matter which store you buy from; they all serve the latest release builds on that platform. We release updates to our software regularly, and all version 2.x updates are free for version 2 licensed customers.

Create an Affinity ID

For users who have bought a license through a 3^rd party app store—such as the Mac App Store, iPad App Store or the Microsoft Store—to register your software with Affinity, you will be prompted to create a new account and register after the initial in-app purchase, or if that stage is skipped, you can later use the Account option in the application to create an Affinity ID or sign-in to an existing Affinity ID. There are a few benefits to registering your license, including:

• Stream add-ons bought from the Affinity Store straight to your apps
• Stream free content from us, such as these brushes
• Choose whether to stay informed about our news and offers

Registration can be accessed from within each Affinity app via the Account button on the New Document dialog or by selecting Account on the Toolbar (desktop only).

From the window, you can sign in using an existing Affinity ID or create a new one by following the on-screen prompts.

To register a new Affinity ID using Affinity V2 applications:

1. Select/tap Create free account.
2. Across the next few pages, provide your email address, first and last names and country.
3. You’ll be asked to create a secure password to protect your Affinity ID. After entering it, select Show to confirm what you typed, then select Continue.
4. After revealing what you typed, you can copy it to the Clipboard and paste it into your password manager.
5. Choose whether to stay informed about news and offers, and confirm you’ve read the terms and conditions and privacy policy.
6. Select Create Affinity ID.
7. In the email that confirms your account’s creation, select Verify email address.
8. If the email does not arrive, return to the registration window. After a period of inactivity, it will present options to resend the verification email or change your account’s email address, e.g. in case you made a typo.
9. Return to the registration window, which will confirm your registration is complete. Select/tap Go to My Account.

If you want to find out more about how to use the Account feature to install and manage add-ons, please read our guide How to install add-ons using My Account.