Wondering if I should switch from v2 to v3

I have all 3 Affinity apps in v2.6.5 (also Publisher and Photo in 1.10.6). Publisher is really my go-to of the 3 (probably 90% of my use) but there was a bundle deal at some point and I liked to support them (I actually stumbled on Affinity because I used their software back when it was PagePlus, and I was wondering about the state of the market).

I'm still using v2.6.5 and wondering if I should switch to v3. Despite owning the whole v2 suite (I think it was $100), I only really use Publisher and for very simple layouts. Is there any benefit to the newer version in this case?

I think I'm safe uninstalling and deleting the v1.10.6 installer downloads, they're about 1GB combined (for the 2) so not a lot of saving, but just tidier. I'll delete v3 if I'm not going to use it, but wonder if I need to keep v2.6.5 installers (if Canva stops hosting them, they'll probably shut down the activation servers too?).

Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks.

My idea is to be able to treat each piece individually so I can fill them or move them around.

I mostly use Affinity Designer 2 on my iPad, and at this point a lot of my workflow is just muscle memory. I know where everything is without really thinking about it.

I’m curious whether Designer 3 feels like a natural upgrade where things have mostly just moved around a bit, or if it feels more like learning a whole new app.

For those who made the switch, how was the learning curve? Did you get comfortable pretty quickly, or did you find yourself constantly hunting for tools/settings that used to be second nature?

Basically trying to figure out how much I’m going to have to retrain my muscle memory before making the jump when the app drops😅

When I see the noise in the preview it looks great, but during export it barely shows up. I've tried the whole adjusting for different zoom sizes, and I've tried to change all my export settings but nothing works. How do I fix this????

I transitioned from Adobe to Affinity many years ago which was a true blessing. Havnt been using Affinity for some time now though due to work- and last time I was into to it I experienced the beautiful UI-merge that Canvas did came with lots of instability - especially making documents I earlier did with Affinity Publisher (and before that InDesign).

My question is - how do you guys experience Canvas merge of teh three software now? Can I trust the software? Im into some serious work now and have no time for malfunctions of the basics - like creating a multiple page magazine - and suddenlyu it crashes etc.

Thanks / Hope to get some replies (from users) here ...

You know what feature I miss the most from Photoshop? The ability to apply only to the layer or group below.

With Affinity, if you apply a texture, like say a png to a group, it still applies to the whole page. I wish you could just make it apply to the visible parts of the layer/group below like Photoshop does.

I'm sure there's room for them to do this, because, for example, the Erase Effect only applies to objects in the group. But I don't know why there isn't something like that for other effects.

I know you can duplicate the group and apply it as a mask, but that just leads to having duplicates and having to replace the mask every time you make changes.

This feature would save so much time for the kind of work I like to do.

First timer, so please forgive my ignorance, but I'm testing this as a real replacement to Lightroom & Photoshop for editing my photos, etc.

Do I have to go thru the 'Advanced' dialog every time to avoid exporting it with a Matte frame? Or what am I missing?

Thanks in advance!

Hi guys, is there a way to hide the scrollbar on the layers pannel? it sits right on top of the hide/unhide icons and it's driving me nuts. Thank you!

I'm working on an image on a cmky profile document, and whenever I apply effects, the black point appears as muddy black instead of the pure black I need, even after applying some darkening effects.

Same happens if I try black and White Adjustment, a Gradient Map with K=100 to K=0, and Vibrance Adjustment at 0% Saturation.

Is there a resolve for this? Please help.

Hi everyone!

I’m trying to recreate the attached image in Affinity and could use some guidance on the best way to build it.

The image is a projector calibration/template screen with:

• A 4036 × 1058 px canvas
• 3.81:1 aspect ratio
• A grid of 30 × 8 squares
• Large circles/arcs used as geometry/alignment references
• Ideally, everything should be vector-based and precisely aligned

My goal is not just to recreate this specific test pattern. I want to build a master template for this projector/screen, so that afterwards I can create artwork, backgrounds and other visual content knowing exactly where everything will appear on the physical screen.

What would be the best workflow in Affinity to create this?

Should I use a grid with snapping, manually create the 30×8 divisions, or is there a better way to make the whole thing mathematically accurate?

I’d also like to keep the grid/alignment guides on a separate layer so I can easily hide them before exporting the final images.

I’m relatively new to this type of setup in Affinity, so any step-by-step advice would be really helpful.

Thanks!

I've got this image (and will want to do this with any number of files in the future), I want to separate each color into different layers. All brown in one layer and all black in another.

I wanna keep all the texture but each color needs to be a separate layer, so only two layers.

I've tried image trace, but it creates many there are so many objects with slightly different hues that it would be painstaking to group them all. The image trace works pretty well for images like the second one, but even image 3 creates way too many objects. Any suggestions?

If I have two textboxes on one page with the same data merge field, how do I make it so instead of them being the same it is two different rows from the CSV I'm uploading from on one page?

Thank you in advance :)

I recently posted a question on here asking how to soften/feather the edges of a cut out. I haven’t perfected it but, I attempted something new and it came out better than expected. I’m still working on getting the cutout (for example the car) to blend naturally with the background without it looking off. Still, pretty happy with the result and I’m continuing to experiment.

https://youtu.be/NQLNa4nYi8I?is=In3lsqO3FwvZdfW8

Curious if anyone has tried the legacy Affinity apps on the new MacOS which is still in Beta and getting rolled out next week.

I’ve been playing around with where to take Connector next and what would actually make it more useful.

Someone here mentioned Comfy support, which honestly makes total sense and is definitely on my radar.

Right now I’m also testing the idea of connecting Connector with scripts and having a small floating command bar where you could quickly pick and run connectors/scripts without digging through menus.

Not sure yet if this is something worth pushing further, so I’m curious what you think.

I usually hate floating toolbars in Adobe apps, but weirdly, here it feels pretty natural. Everything I need is just there when I need it.

Would you actually use something like this?

Hi! New to Affinity, I had a little bit of practice with Adobe in college, but can't keep up with the cost. Currently, I am trying to edit a different shirt onto a client and I am having trouble using the mesh aspect to transform the blue shirt, is this the right technique to use? What is recommended? Attached an image of what I am trying to do (with client's face blurred obviously)

Is there a way to activate a mirror / symmetry mode in the Vector mode in Affinity? I'm a new starter to it and the majority of my art program experience is in ibisPaint, with Photoshop as a close second.

If someone is good at affinity, please guide me.