Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 21, 2016. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Serif needed five years of development time to release the software ready for production—but the features of the inexpensive program are impressive. It was developed specifically for the needs of image-editing professionals: RAW files can be edited with an extesive toolset, and work can be done in any color space (RGB, CMYK, LAB, grayscale. Complete CMYK workflow with ICC color management and editing options of 32 bits per channel). OpenColorIO is also supported.
Alongside .psd files, all other common formats such as .png, .jpeg, .tiff, .pdf, and .svg are supported by Affinity, and cross-platform work is possible. Version 1.5 also added support for macros, new freehand selection methods, live perspective projection, HDR and focus merging, the ability to edit 360-degree images, and the import and export of OpenEXR documents.
Availability
Anyone already convinced can order the software package ten euros cheaper until tomorrow. After that, it costs 50 euros. OS X 10.7 64-bit or newer or a current version of Windows is required.
On Serif’s website, you can find all further information about Affinity.
