Be interesting as to what this leads to with Affinity being taken over by such a big aggressive firm.
integrated AI within Affinity (free and paid version) i supposed like their AI platform, let see where it goes.
Initial reaction to this announcement is 100% negative:
looks like Adobe is about to get a batch of new customers!
If Affinity goes subscription then switching to an Adobe subscription feels like a no-brainer.
They state that they have no plans “to remove the availability of our apps to purchase as a perpetual licence”
Although there might be an optional subscription solution.
Let’s hope that’s the truth.
True but their statement is very carefully worded. They could introduce a subscription model as of v3 and not contradict anything they’ve said.
Yes indeed!
That is the model that ON1 use. Buy for a one off, plus updates for a year, then carry on till you can’t install on an OS anymore (without updates), or pay yearly / monthly via subscription for ever.
If Canva want to rake in subs AND keep the current user base, that would be the way to go…
Time will tell I guess.
They published a “statement” to this effect (i.e., they intend to retain perpetual licensing) with some additional aspirations. Apparently, this announcement was authored by the current Affinity “team.”
I found this encouraging. That said, I’ve lived through a few “acquisitions” and have seen how quickly the purchasers have replaced “teams” that do not play according to the new owner’s playbook. Typically the purchasers know or care nothing about the business they have just acquired—any more than the shark cares about the habits or needs of the tuna it is about to devour. So it goes with this generation of robber-barons: pump and dump trumps innovation and good intentions every time.
Not least the debt piled up that has to be covered
Another one bits the dust. Shame.
Not necessarily. They have given further assurances but it’s too early to say.
Like all on the forum of theirs, no one trusts them. Someone commented very accurately. The company they sold it to, is all about subscriptions. Affinity, used to be popular not because of its features which were lacking compared to Adobe, but because it was non subscription alternative to Adobe. That was the main reason people went to it. Now Affinity sold itself to a company that has no interest in being alternative to Adobe, but a Adobe copycat and get on the subscription gravy train. Canva is all about AI + Subscriptions + Mergers and Acquisitions = Profit. IT might as well be selling used cars, because people behind it has no interest in the users or creatives whatsoever. Its painfully obvious, much like Adobe. You can read the comments of Affinity provided in the link of the original post here, no one buys this sell off. Everyone knows what it means. Just like when they sold off Capture One to a firm that pushes DEI and ESG. Everyone who is paying attention knows what that means. RIP. It was fun while it lasted.
There is GIMP. Version 3 will include non-destructive filters and adjustments.
This is already possible with a current development version:
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It is difficult to argue with what you say so no one, myself included, will be surprised if it does all unravel. Meanwhile, the tone of feeling on the Affinity forum has calmed down a bit now and appears to have concluded the ship will be steady until V3 is released.
While GIMP is nice for some things, in many pro workflows its severely lacking. But it may end up being the last bastion of hope some day.
Well, if the company truly cared about its users, I would imagine they would announced it well in advance or ask the users what they want. Instead they did the secret deal and than announced it with classical corporate double speak about how they are excited and nothing will change etc. Everyone’s knee jerk reaction is the correct one, because the gut feeling is that they will gut the perpetual license and focus on creatives as soon as they deem its profitable to get away with it.
And to prove my point I just went to Canova website and as expected you have all the classical red flags.
“Designing a more sustainable future Canva’s sustainability practices and goals.”
Beyond Net Zero
“Canva’s Australian operations have been carbon neutral since 2020. As of 2021, our entire global operations, including print and subsidiaries, are also carbon neutral. We’ve now entered the Beyond Net Zero phase, where we focus on regeneration, building our impact and healing the planet.”
Canva’s communities
"We’re deeply committed to creating a culture where every Canvanaut feels that they truly belong.
So whether it’s people living with disability, women, or LGBTQIA+, Canvanauts with shared experiences and identities across the globe connect through our communities.
These communities, and many more like them, help ensure Canvanauts have a dedicated space to support each other, share and learn, and are heard and considered when it comes to making key decisions."
Your contribution
“We’re driven by our simple 2 step plan: to become one of the most valuable companies in the world and to do the most good we can. And with the vast majority of our founders’ equity (almost 30% of Canva) donated directly to the Canva Foundation, you’ll contribute to one of our leading values - be a force for good - every day.”
What is Canova Foundation? Its a globalist NGO for social justice or climate justice. In other words, Communists. We have seen this king of thing many, many times before. You dig deep enough you find BlackRock and Clinton Foundation and similar usual suspects. So far removed from anything relating to fixing your photos, that you can be sure, now that Affinity has been devoured they will assimilate it into the “saving the planet” ESG agenda as soon as they can get away with it.
- We joined Pledge 1%
"In 2019 we embodied our value ‘be a force for good’(opens in a new tab or window) and joined Pledge 1%(opens in a new tab or window), a global initiative where companies pledge 1% of their time, profit, product, or equity to have a positive impact. We pledged all four. We do this day-to-day by donating our time through volunteering(opens in a new tab or window), donating funds through partnerships with organizations such as GiveDirectly(opens in a new tab or window), and empowering close to half a million nonprofits(opens in a new tab or window) and over 45 million teachers and students(opens in a new tab or window) with free access to our Canva Pro(opens in a new tab or window) product.
In 2021, we took this 1% even further with the announcement(opens in a new tab or window) that we’re committing an additional 30% of Canva towards doing good in the world. Today, more than 30% of Canva’s value has been pledged towards making a difference."
If you don’t know what that means. Pledge 1% | Building a Movement of Corporate Philanthropy
“Pledge 1% founding partners include Salesforce, Atlassian, and Rally, three companies that know first-hand how pledging a small portion of future success today can have an enormous impact tomorrow. In 2014, they came together with the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado to accelerate a shared vision of every business around the globe integrating philanthropy into its corporate DNA. In 2016, Pledge 1% became a special initiative of Tides, a leading global philanthropic partner and non-profit accelerator.”
And what all that means is that if they promote ESG scheme they get access to credit. Their stocks go up. Not because they care or help someone, but because those who control the access to credit, the big hedge funds are using ESG type scheme to extort smaller companies and control what they do and virtue signal about. That is where credit for Canova comes from to buy the likes of Affinity for what is in grand scheme of things , peanuts. I think it was some $300-400 mil.
Pledge 1%: Why has Rock Content committed to donating 1% of its shares to Social Impact Initiatives?
Through Pledge 1%, Rock Content donates 1% of its social capital to social impact initiatives and projects.
Equity Pledge Commitment. What is the Equity Pledge?
The Equity Pledge commitment means setting aside 1% of Rock Content’s equity (i.e., the company’s shares) to invest in social impact.
Pledge 1% February 23, 2016
Founded: 2014
Mission: To make the community a key stakeholder in every local business.
About the Organization: Launched in 2014 on #GivingTuesday by Atlassian, Rally, the Salesforce Foundation, and the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, Pledge 1% is a corporate philanthropy movement aimed at changing the world through early–stage corporate philanthropy. The organization challenges entrepreneurs, executives, founders, venture capitalists, and companies to support nonprofits in their local communities by donating 1 percent of their equity, product, or employee time — or all three (1/1/1). To that end, the organization provides a turnkey solution that includes tools, best practices, and information aimed at making it easy for early-stage companies to incorporate philanthropy into their business model from the outset.
To date, more than five hundred companies ranging from small startups to post-IPO companies have joined the Pledge 1% movement, with 59 percent of participants pledging equity, 54 percent pledging employee time, 39 percent pledging product donations, and 18 percent pledging a portion of their profits.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently released an open letter to CEOs where he details the key long-term investment and ESG trends he sees coming in the future. 02-17-2022
Overall, Larry Fink argues that companies that a clear view of purpose will succeed while those without will struggle. This philosophy manifests itself not only in a company’s market strategy, but also within their employee and stakeholder relations and environmental/ESG practices.
The bottom line is. If you don’t support this ESG extortion racket and play good communist, you don’t get access to capital and whole range of other privilege’s. The gatekeepers like BlackRock makes sure of that and if you play the ESG game, they not only offer credit access they make sure speculation bubble blows in your direction. That is what happened to Capture one and now Affinity. They could not keep up unless they play the game, so the bigger fish, with more credit access simply bought them, not because they care about anything related to tools, but to make sure its in their portfolio so Wall Street can bet on it.
That is what happened. Affinity and capture one are RIP. Dead as a doorknob. Some people just haven’t realized it yet. Let us hope DXO does not go the same direction.
This is true. However often enough situations arise in professional environments where some image editing needs to be done but there’s access to Adobe’s tools. Being able to use GIMP in such situations can save days or even more in a project.
After downloading and trying out the development release, I think a lot more people will start using GIMP when 3.0 is released. In comparison to commercial tools, it’s still far from other production tools available for free like Blender or Resolve compared to their paid-for counterparts.
I’ll likely keep playing with the development release and also use GIMP 3.0 to be able to decide it if it’s good enough for my personal use when/if Affinity Photo becomes unusable.
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Fair enough.