Features of Affinity Designer

System, performance and compatibility:

• For iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air (2, 3 & 4), iPad (2017 onwards), iPad Mini (5 & 6)
• iOS 12 or later
• Optimised for:
  • Grand Central Dispatch (GCD)
  • Core Graphics
  • Metal
  • 64-bit engine
  • Apple Pencil
  • Retina display
  • Smart/Magic keyboard
• Improved performance (from v1.10) with:
  • Heavily layered documents (faster rendering during panning and text reflow)
  • Placed images
  • Embedded documents
  • Low-memory conditions

Solid graphic design:

• Precise Pen Tool
• Node Tool for fine tuning vectors
  • Multi-node selection using polygon or freehand (lasso) drawing
  • Align, distribute and transform multi-node selections
  • Construction control handle snapping for finding angles and distances
• Freeform Pencil Tool
• Point Transform Tool
• Intuitive Move Tool moves, scales, transforms
• Select multiple objects by type, colour, stroke weight, transparency, and more
• Rotate from movable origin
• Artboards
• Raster finishing without switching apps
• Multiple strokes and fills
• Smooth gradients
• Add noise to fills and strokes as a solid or graduated attribute
• Arrowheads
• Powerful layers management
  • Drag-and-drop layers
  • Non-destructive adjustment layers
  • Use global colours in Gradient Map adjustments
  • Apply adjustments and blend modes at the stack, layer, group, selection or object level
  • Clipping within layers
  • Pixel adjustments and effects on vectors
  • Blend modes
  • Divide blend mode
  • Layer and object Blend ranges (linear and non-linear) and blend gamma control
  • Per-object hierarchical antialiasing
  • Soloing of layers for focused editing
  • Lock child layer positions
  • High-quality layer effects
• Professional object control
  • Symbols
  • Corner Tool
  • Contour Tool
  • Non-destructive 'compound' Boolean operations (Add, Subtract, Intersect, Xor)
  • Convert shapes and text to fully editable curves
  • Duplicate and transform objects with precision
  • Customisable geometric shapes
  • Expand stroke

Design extras

• Assets for object storage
• Sort assets by date in Assets Studio (from v1.9.2)
• Customisable, saveable stroke styles
• High-quality layer effects
• Styles presets

Professional colour support

• 16-bits per pixel colour depth
• Colour formats: RGB (8/16 bit), Greyscale (8/16), CMYK (8), and LAB (16)
• Colour Picker Tool (colour mode aware, colour averaging, layer selection)
• Global colours
• PANTONE® colour support
• ICC colour profiling
• Global colours
• Spot colours
• Overprinting

Text and typography

• Artistic and frame text via Text Studio
• Text on a path
• Flowing text
• Spell checking
• Advanced typography including ligatures
• OpenType font features
• Improved IME text editing for JA and ZH-HANS languages (from v1.10)
• Added support for emojis (from v1.10)

Isometric and axonometric grids

• Transform objects directly onto isometric grid planes
• Easy on-plane editing and plane switching

Painting

• Vector and Pixel (Raster)
  • Multi-category Brushes Studio
  • Sort brushes by date in Brushes Studio (from v1.9.2)
  • Change brush size, hardness, and opacity on the fly
  • Import/export brushes, including ABR file import
  • Create custom brushes (including image-based brushes)
  • Multi-controller support with brush dynamics
  • Pressure sensitivity (for Apple Pencil)
  • Velocity sensitivity
  • Controller-specific brush dynamics
  • Customisable controller ramps
  • Stroke stabilisation for smooth strokes
  • Brushes remember previously used stroke settings
  • Reset modified brushes back to brush default
  • Save current brush stroke as new brush directly
  • Move any custom brush to any category
• Vector only
  • Vector brushes with stretch and corner controls
• Pixel (Raster) only
  • Pixel brushes for high-quality textures
  • Wet Edges support with customisable ramps
  • Smudge brush
  • Create image brushes
  • Create image brushes from any pixel selection
  • Create intensity brushes from any mask's pixel selection
  • Brush symmetry and optional brush mirroring
  • Independent Nozzle controllers/ramps for more varied nozzle presentation

Pixel Persona tools

• Seamlessly switch to and from pixel editing mode to apply finish to vector artwork
• Pixel selection tools
  • Shaped selections
  • Elliptical Marquee Tool draws from centre
  • Smart selection brush works over pixel and vector data
  • Refine selections to capture fine detail
• Masks
• Pixel flood fill tool
• Pixel and vector artwork exported in harmony
  • Pixel artwork scaled if required on output
  • Nearest Neighbour, Bilinear, Bicubic and Lanczos 3 pixel scaling available
  • Set export areas and file formats during or after the design process

Design Aids

• Portrait and Landscape display modes
• Pixel, Retina, and Outline view modes with Split View support
• Bleed preview
• Constraints for selective intelligent object scaling
• Rotate document view
• Incredible zoom range
• Intuitive panning
• Powerful snapping control
• Snap to pixel selection bounds
• Dynamic snapping guides for precise alignment
• Ruler and column guides
• On-object alignment handles
• Multi-object alignment and distribution
• Automatic, fixed and projection grids (isometric)
• Pixel-accurate alignment for web graphics and website mockups
• Fluid document History
• Save history with document (multi-session)
• Keyboard modifiers for on-the-fly tool changes
• Many modifiers available using Smart keyboard (selected iPad Pro models)
• Customise Smart keyboard shortcuts
• Mixed-mode assistant eases vector and pixel mode switching according to the user’s preferences
• Defaults (document and global)
• Snapshots to 'freeze frame' stages in your design progress

Interoperability/peripherals

• Open Affinity Designer files (macOS/Win)
• Open Affinity Photo files (macOS/Win)
• Embedded Photoshop PSD Smart Objects retain editability
• Open Affinity template files (.aftemplate)
• Retention of vector design elements when cutting and pasting between Affinity Designer and other applications
• Access cloud storage (iCloud, Dropbox, Google drive) and local storage
• In-app registration
• Content sync of Affinity Store purchases
• Mouse, trackpad and Magic Keyboard support
• External screen support

User interface

• Persona task-orientated workspaces

Import, Export and Printing

• Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher file placement
• High-quality Adobe® Photoshop® PSD import, place and export
• Place images as dedicated layers
• Resampling: Nearest Neighbour, Bilinear, Bicubic and Lanczos 3 pixel scaling
• SVG import and export, including Inkscape extended SVG support
• SVG import/export improvements (from v1.10)
• JPEG-XR 101010 import
• Preserve layers in exported TIFF images
• Export drawn slices, layers, pages, or artboards
• Export to PNG, JPEG, TIFF, GIF, EPS, SVG, PDF and PSD, OpenEXR, Radiance HDR
• Export to retina sizes 2x and 3x
• Set export areas and file formats during or after designing
• Export document or current selection(s) to many raster image formats, PSD, PDF, EPS and more
• Export Preview which updates to changed settings
• Export as template
• Web-ready PDFs (Acrobat) with presets
• Professional hi-res PDF/X printing (CMYK) with presets
• Spot colours and overprint control
• AirPrint printing