Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer is a professional, high-performance vector and raster graphics application developed by Serif, and now owned by Canva. It is a powerful competitor to Adobe Illustrator, known for its speed, comprehensive feature set, and cross-platform availability.

The Evolution of Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer was part of the original Affinity creative suite (along with Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher).

As of late 2025, Affinity has been rebranded and its core functionality has been integrated into a single application called simply "Affinity," which is now available for free.

This new single app combines all three previous applications into "studios":

• Vector Studio (formerly Affinity Designer)

• Pixel Studio (formerly Affinity Photo)

• Layout Studio (formerly Affinity Publisher)

Key Capabilities (Vector Studio)

The core functionality that was formerly Affinity Designer is the Vector Studio, which is used for creating scalable graphics:

• Vector and Raster in One App: This is a major selling point. You can seamlessly switch between creating crisp, scalable vector graphics (logos, icons, illustrations) and applying texture, painting, and detailed pixel-based edits (raster) without leaving the application.

• Precision Vector Tools: Features professional-grade vector tools for illustration, including a powerful Pen Tool, Node Tool, and Boolean Operations for combining shapes.

• Unlimited Artboards: Design multiple pages, screens, or assets within a single document.

• Advanced Typography: Offers pro features like ligatures, stylistic sets, and support for variable fonts.

• Real-time Performance: Built for speed, it uses GPU acceleration to handle complex documents, high zoom levels, and live effects instantly.

• File Compatibility: Excellent support for industry-standard files, including opening and exporting PSD (Photoshop), AI (Illustrator), PDF, and SVG files.