Affinity Designer Now FREE with All features can be used, except for AI.
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We all have histories with different software. My own history has lead me to VectorStyler. That is after decades of loving a true vector approach. The combination of value and quality keeps me working with VectorStyler. Free and lacking is lacking.
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@Kumr Happy to upgrade to new major versions when there's good value in it, but once whatever software goes into subscription model, no matter what pricing, I'm gone. I don't rent software. And I'm sure many others won't like that either. That's the biggest reason most of us left Adobe.
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Affinity has a mesh feature now, but it's not as good as Illustrator's Gradient Mesh. I think Affinity Studio can handle highly-complex vector artwork and a lot of text, but it still lacks Gradient Mesh and Live Paint for advanced vector illustration
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Who expects a much cheaper tool, which is now free, to
compete with Illustrator? I've always been surprised that so
many people touted it as such.
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@Subpath said in Affinity Designer Now FREE with All features can be used, except for AI.:
Who expects a much cheaper tool, which is now free, to
compete with Illustrator? I've always been surprised that so
many people touted it as such.If Affinity Studio had Illustrator's Gradient Mesh and Live Paint, it could've killed Adobe's vector illustration software. Unfortunately, it's closed-source, so it might become an abandonware as happened to Quixel Mixer after having been purchased by Epic Games
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There's a simpler and more ethical way to make money that propels that development forward without falling into outright subscription.
You can allow users to buy individual features. That's it. Features that they need can be bought once and used forever as a part of their version. All future improvements to that feature is free. For instance, if I have say, Alignment Fixing as a feature. I can buy it for the price of a coffee (say £2) - say 1000 people buy it, that is £2000 pounds for one feature. £2 for me. I will have it in my version forever. All future improvements or additions to this feature are free. This means that I can skip features that I don't need - allowing for a bloat-free software. This will also ensure that I don't need to buy a whole new version at the end of the version cycle.
This is essentially a plug-in based architecture from day one, which Vectorstyler already has. Every feature is a module. You can build your own version of VS. There's also the other possibility:
Core bundle (£15-30): Essential tools everyone needs - basic drawing, layers, export
Feature packs (£2-5): Grouped related features - "Typography Pack", "3D Tools", "Advanced Export"
Premium features (£5-10): Truly advanced, niche capabilitiesThe only problem is if I have to share a file with someone who does not have a feature that I do that I have used in my document. I don't have a solution here. Maybe @VectorStyler does. Maybe there will be a prompt to buy it? I don't know.
We develop a piece of software which does exactly this. It is one-time implementation fee + buy features you want. Tier-based pricing. It works. We make a ton of money. But it is a different line of business.
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@gotanidea: Affinity's Mesh fill is NOT a true Mesh fill gradient. It is essentially a clipped square onto which a mesh gradient is applied. This means that if you were to expand the shape beyond the limits of the mesh square, the gradient won't scale, leaving gaps. Mesh Gradient works exactly like any other gradient. It scales with the shape. If I have to recreate and reapply the fill, then it's pointless. Useless. If you've used Serif DrawPlus you'll know this problem has existed for ages.
For 25 years.
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There's also the even more democratic way of product development where you allow community to crowdfund features. And then release the feature for free. But this only works if its a huge community. In tens of thousands. If not hundreds of thousands. I don't know how many users VS has.
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@Daniel said in Affinity Designer Now FREE with All features can be used, except for AI.:
@gotanidea: Affinity's Mesh fill is NOT a true Mesh fill gradient. It is essentially a clipped square onto which a mesh gradient is applied. This means that if you were to expand the shape beyond the limits of the mesh square, the gradient won't scale, leaving gaps. Mesh Gradient works exactly like any other gradient. It scales with the shape. If I have to recreate and reapply the fill, then it's pointless. Useless. If you've used Serif DrawPlus you'll know this problem has existed for ages.
For 25 years.Yes, Affinity's Mesh is a very poor way to imitate Illustrator's Gradient Mesh. I bet Affinity developers still can't find the algorithms of the superior Gradient Mesh
However, I'm impressed with Affinity's smooth performance when dealing with thousands of points, lines, shapes and words
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@gotanidea said in Affinity Designer Now FREE with All features can be used, except for AI.:
However, I'm impressed with Affinity's smooth performance when dealing with thousands of points, lines, shapes and words
Well, i am not sure but as Affinity Designer is a vector/raster graphics mix.
I always suspect a bit of raster graphics magic behind that smoothness.
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Loss leader strategy is a game for the big companies that have deep pockets to finance it. And it doesn’t work through free versions with pro upgrades. VectorStyler is Pro by nature, so that suggestion makes no sense anyway.
Affinity didn’t become free because Canva are great humanitarians whose hearts bleed for the small creators.
