Features

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
• Optimized for:
  • Grand Central Dispatch (GCD)
  • Core Graphics
  • Metal
  • 64-bit engine
  • Apple Pencil
  • Retina display
  • Smart/Magic keyboard
• Portrait and Landscape display modes
• 16-bits per channel editing
• End-to-end EXIF preservation
• Benchmark testing
• Improved performance (from v1.10) with:
  • Panorama stitching
  • Defringing and increased maximum radius
  • Multiple placed Info page samplers
  • Adjustment layers when hardware acceleration is disabled
  • Heavily layered documents (faster rendering during panning and text reflow)
  • Placed images
  • Embedded documents
  • Low-memory situations
  • Converting documents between ICC profiles / pixel formats
  • Documents which contain flattened, opaque layers (usually the result of merge visible)

Raw development:

• Choice of SerifLabs or Apple Core Image RAW engines
• SerifLabs RAW engine support including Canon CR3
• Apple Core Image RAW engine
• Exposure, Colour enhancement and White Balance control
• Lens Correction improvements for Canon, Tamron and Sigma lenses (from v1.10)
• ACM lens profile support (from v1.10)
• Dedicated Metadata, Lens, Details (noise), and Tones Studios
• Solid and gradient overlays via Overlay Studio for restricting adjustments
• Support for the latest cameras
• Split view with syncing
• "In-Persona" rotation of raw images
• Show clipped highlights, shadows, and tones
• Apple ProRAW DNG support (iPhone12 Pro)
• Raw CR3 support (for Canon EOS 850D) (from v1.10)
• Improved Serif Labs RAW engine (from v1.10)

Colour:

• Colour formats: RGB (8/16 bit), Greyscale (8/16), CMYK (8), and LAB (16)
• Colour models: HSL, RGB, Greyscale, CMYK, LAB
• Colour Picker Tool (colour mode aware, colour averaging, layer selection)
• Colour Replacement Brush
• Paint Mixer Brush
• Gradient Tool (Linear, Elliptical, Radial, Conical, Bitmap)
• Professional colour support
• PANTONE® colour support
• ICC colour profiling
• Global colours
• Spot colours
• Overprinting

Solid photo-editing tools:

• Sizing and transforming:
  • Resize images and canvas
  • Rotate canvas
  • Cropping and straightening
  • Crop to original/custom ratios, absolute dimensions or print sizes
  • Crop grids (Thirds, Spirals, or Diagonals)
  • Flip
  • Mesh Warp filter
  • Non-destructive perspective filter
  • Liquify tools in dedicated Persona workspace
  • Live projections (equirectangular and perspective)
  • Pixel art resizing
• Channels:
  • View and isolate colour channels
  • Work on channels for document, layer, adjustment, filter, selection or mask
  • Save pixel selections as spare channels
  • Isolate and edit spare channels as layers
  • Duplicate spare channel for backup
• HDR:
  • HDR Merging to 32-bit images
  • Unique Persona for advanced tone mapping
  • OpenEXR and Radiance import and export
  • Noise reduction for HDR merging
  • Curves adjustment for Tone Mapping Persona
• Panoramas with intelligent and accurate stitching
• Live projections (equirectangular and perspective)
• Stacking (including raw images):
  • For noise reduction
  • For exposure merging
  • For moving object removal
  • Auto-alignment
  • Non-destructive behaviour
• Focus merging with source cloning (including raw images)
• Assets for storing layer content
• Sort assets by date in Assets Studio (from v1.9.2)
• Layers:
  • Drag-and-drop layers
  • Non-destructive adjustment layers with previews
  • Precise node control in Curves adjustment
  • Use global colours in Gradient Map adjustments
  • Gradient Map adjustments use hardware acceleration (from v1.10)
  • Shareable LUTs
  • Non-destructive live filter layers with 'live' before/after split views
  • Non-destructive Live Liquify filter layers
  • More filters work on masks, adjustments and spare channels
  • Apply adjustments, filters and blend modes at the stack, layer, group, selection or object level
  • Fill layers
  • Linking layers
  • Pattern layers
  • Create a pattern layer from the current selection (from v1.10)
  • Pattern layers can be mirrored (from v1.10)
  • High-quality layer effects
  • Clipping within layers
  • Blend modes
  • Blend modes work on 'alpha only' layers (masks, adjustments, live filters)
  • Divide blend mode
  • Blend ranges (linear and non-linear) and blend gamma control
  • Blend ranges use GPU acceleration (from v1.10)
  • Per-layer hierarchical antialiasing
  • Lock child layer positions
  • Soloing of layers for focused editing
  • Layer masks (brush-based and gradient)
• Selection tools:
  • Smart Selection Brush Tool
  • Freehand Selection Tool with Freehand and Magnetic modes
  • Shaped selections
  • Elliptical Marquee Tool draws from centre
  • Flood Selection Tool
  • Select by sampled colour
  • Select Shadows/Midtones/Highlights
  • Select Reds/Greens/Blues
  • Select fully transparent, semi-transparent, fully opaque
  • Refine selections to capture fine detail
  • Store and save selections
  • Edit selections as layers
• Image control:
  • Comprehensive metadata editing with IPTC Core 1.2 support; read metadata from XMP sidecar file
• Image information:
  • Place images as dedicated layers
  • Resampling: Nearest Neighbour, Bilinear, Bicubic and Lanczos 3 pixel scaling
• Painting:
  • Multi-category Brushes Studio
  • Sort brushes by date in Brushes Studio (from v1.9.2)
  • Undo Brush with 'paintback' to history step
  • Import/export brushes, including ABR file import
  • Create custom brushes (including image-based brushes)
  • Create image brushes from any pixel selection
  • Create intensity brushes from any mask's pixel selection
  • Assign tools to brushes selectively
  • Multi-controller support with brush dynamics
  • Pressure sensitivity (for Apple Pencil)
  • Velocity sensitivity
  • Customisable controller ramps
  • Wet Edges support with customisable ramps
  • Stroke stabilisation for smooth strokes
  • Brush symmetry (up to 32-way) and optional brush mirroring
  • 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
• Retouching:
  • Red-eye removal
  • Inpainting for object removal
  • Clone Brush/Healing Brush
  • Blemish Removal/Patching
  • Dodge and Burn brushes
  • Sharpen, Blur, and Median brushes
  • Frequency separation
  • Choice of blur methods for Frequency separation (from v1.10)
• Macros and batch processing:
  • Playback pre-recorded macros
  • Import recorded macro libraries from desktop version, including Force macro pack
  • Batch processing (for file conversion)

Supporting vector design tools and concepts:

• Precise Pen Tool
• Intuitive Move Tool (moves, scales and transforms)
• Customisable nudge distances
• Node Tool for fine tuning vectors
• Customisable geometric shapes
• Boolean geometry operations
• Add noise to solid/gradient fills
• Styles presets with import/export
• Artistic and frame text via Text Studio
• Text on a path
• Advanced typography (ligatures)
• Improved IME text editing for JA and ZH-HANS languages (from v1.10)
• Added support for emojis (from v1.10)
• Convert shapes and text to fully editable curves
• Save and synchronize defaults

User interface:

• Personas as task and tool-orientated workspaces

Design Aids:

• Rotate canvas
• Intuitive panning
• Powerful snapping control
• Snap to pixel selection bounds
• Dynamic snapping guides for precise alignment
• Ruler and column guides
• Pixel-accurate alignment for web graphics and website mockups
• Automatic alignment grid
• Fluid document History <2048 steps
• Snapshots to 'freeze frame' stages in your design progress
• 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
• Assistant for controlling user preferences for:
  • layer rasterisation behaviour
  • layer masking control
  • brush tool sharing
  • RAW development

Interoperability/peripherals:

• Open Affinity Photo files (macOS/Win)
• Open Affinity Designer files (macOS/Win)
• Embedded Photoshop PSD Smart Objects retain editability
• Open Affinity template files (.aftemplate)
• 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

Document control, Import, Export and Printing

• Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher file placement
• High-quality Adobe® Photoshop® PSD import and export
• Adobe Illustrator (.ai) import and place
• PDF import
• PDF import/export improvements (from v1.10)
• Place images (PNG, JPG, GIF, TIFF, SVG, EPS, EXR, HDR)
• SVG import and export, including Inkscape extended SVG support
• Stock Panel for free and royalty-free image resources
• JPEG-XR 101010 import
• Export layers, groups and pages to PNG, JPEG, TIFF, GIF, EPS, SVG, PDF and PSD, OpenEXR, Radiance HDR
• Preserve layers in exported TIFF images
• Export image regions as drawn slices, or as layers, groups or whole page.
• 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 as template
• Export Preview which updates to changed settings
• Web-ready PDFs (Acrobat) with presets
• Professional hi-res PDF/X printing (CMYK) with presets
• Spot colours and overprint control
• AirPrint printing