# Affinity Photo
**Affinity Photo** is a professional raster image editor originally developed by Serif (Europe) Ltd of Nottingham, UK, first released in 2015 as a layer-based, non-subscription alternative to [Adobe Photoshop](https://www.edgepedia.org/adobe-photoshop). Since March 2024 it has been owned by Canva, and in October 2025 the standalone Affinity Photo was merged into a single all-in-one Affinity application, alongside the former Affinity Designer and [Affinity Publisher](https://www.edgepedia.org/affinity-publisher), made free with a Canva account.[1](https://www.180dcsggscc.org/_files/ugd/5f164d_7ff41ae408ec4245973997a74651d0b7.pdf) • [2](https://www.canva.com/en_in/newsroom/news/affinity/) • [3](https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer history | Serif (founded 1987) launched Affinity Photo in 2015, after Affinity Designer (2014); Serif was acquired by Canva, announced 26 March 2024[1](https://www.180dcsggscc.org/_files/ugd/5f164d_7ff41ae408ec4245973997a74651d0b7.pdf) • [4](https://create.intel.com/wp-content/themes/affinity-photo-2/dist/files/Serif_Affinity_v04.pdf) • [2](https://www.canva.com/en_in/newsroom/news/affinity/) |
| Current form | Since October 2025, photo editing lives in the Pixel section of a single free Affinity app for Mac and Windows, with an iPad version planned[3](https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works) |
| Pricing | The app is free with a Canva account; Canva AI tools inside Affinity require a premium Canva plan (Canva Pro is $15/month or $120/year)[5](https://www.affinity.studio/photo-editing-software) • [6](https://www.techradar.com/pro/affinity-by-canva-2026-review) |
| File support | Opens and exports Adobe PSD, and opens RAW, DNG, PDF, AI, EPS, SVG, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, OpenEXR, Radiance HDR and others[7](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/affinity-docs/help/photo/en-US.lproj/pages/Appendix/fileformat.html) |
| Specialized tools | HDR merge, panorama stitching, focus merging, astrophotography stacking, macros and batch jobs[8](https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj) |
| Known gap | No image cataloguing or digital asset management; reviewers direct users to separate software for organizing libraries[6](https://www.techradar.com/pro/affinity-by-canva-2026-review) |
| Adoption | Serif reported more than 3 million users before the Canva acquisition; Canva reported over 5 million downloads of the all-new Affinity since its October 2025 launch[9](https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/?id=48334) • [10](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/mangoai-cavalry-acquisition/) |
## History
Serif, a UK software company started in 1987, built the Affinity line as fast, professional creative tools sold for a one-time price rather than a subscription.[4](https://create.intel.com/wp-content/themes/affinity-photo-2/dist/files/Serif_Affinity_v04.pdf) Affinity Designer launched in 2014 and Affinity Photo followed in 2015; Affinity Publisher arrived in 2019.[1](https://www.180dcsggscc.org/_files/ugd/5f164d_7ff41ae408ec4245973997a74651d0b7.pdf) On 15 March 2016 Serif announced it was bringing the Affinity apps, until then Mac-only and regularly in the top 10 of the Mac App Store, to Windows.[11](https://press.seriflabs.com/global/2016-03-15-affinity-windows.pdf) A professional iPad edition followed, marketed with an end-to-end CMYK workflow, ICC color management, and 32-bit per channel editing.[12](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/affinity/pressreleases/affinity-photo-brings-professional-photo-editing-to-ipad-2002278)
**Canva ownership.** Canva announced its acquisition of Serif on 26 March 2024, describing Affinity as trusted by more than three million creative professionals and bringing a 90-person UK team into Canva.[2](https://www.canva.com/en_in/newsroom/news/affinity/) TechRadar reported the purchase price as $500 million.[6](https://www.techradar.com/pro/affinity-by-canva-2026-review) In September 2024 Canva made Affinity free for schools and nonprofits.[13](https://www.canva.com/en_in/newsroom/news/canva-2024-wrap/)
**The all-new Affinity.** In October 2025 Canva merged the three apps into a single application for Mac and Windows, with an iPad version planned, and dropped all licensing: the app is free, with future feature updates included.[3](https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works) Toggles inside the app switch the workspace between Pixel, Vector, and Layout modes, corresponding to the old Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher.[3](https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works) Canva reported that the new app surpassed five million downloads between its October launch and early 2026.[10](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/mangoai-cavalry-acquisition/) A photography-focused update in September 2026 added an improved RAW development engine, batch imports, an AI-assisted Scene Decomposition tool that splits a flattened image into layers, and a dedicated Astrophotography Studio workspace.[14](https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/tech/software/affinitys-biggest-photography-update-yet-but-dont-panic-the-image-editor-is-still-free)
## Editing features
The application is organized around Personas, dedicated workspaces for particular tasks. Affinity Photo 2's documentation lists a Develop Persona for RAW processing, a Liquify Persona for mesh warping, a Panorama Persona for stitching, an Astrophotography Stack Persona, and an Export Persona, alongside the main editing workspace.[8](https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj)
Core editing capabilities include unlimited layers, live filters with real-time previews, adjustment layers, layer masks, frequency separation retouching, inpainting, and a full liquify toolset.[5](https://www.affinity.studio/photo-editing-software) RAW files are developed non-destructively with lens correction and noise reduction, and in Affinity Photo 2 the RAW layer can retain editable, non-destructive RAW adjustments that remain revisitable after developing.[5](https://www.affinity.studio/photo-editing-software) • [15](https://github.com/alexroberts667/Affinity-Photo-Functional-Guide) • [22](https://theappwhisperer.com/2023/02/how-to-develop-raw-files-non-destructively-with-affinity-photo-2/) Stacking tools merge bracketed exposures into 32-bit HDR images, combine focus stacks, and align image stacks for object removal and noise reduction; the astrophotography workspace composites deep-sky stacks, including narrowband images.[8](https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj) Macros record edit sequences for replay, and batch jobs apply them across many files.[8](https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj)
**Hardware acceleration.** On the desktop the app can use Metal on Mac or OpenCL on Windows to run some operations on the GPU, including multiple GPUs in parallel; it is enabled by default and can be switched off in [Performance](https://www.edgepedia.org/performance) settings if a system misbehaves.[16](https://www.affinity.studio/help/extras-hardware-acceleration/) On Windows, OpenCL acceleration requires [Windows 10](https://www.edgepedia.org/windows-10) version 10.0.19042 (May 2020) or later and a GPU supporting Direct3D 12 Feature Level 12.0, such as AMD GCN, NVIDIA Maxwell, or Intel HD Graphics 510 (Skylake) or later.[16](https://www.affinity.studio/help/extras-hardware-acceleration/)
## File formats and interoperability
Affinity Photo opens many raster and vector formats and imports PDF and Adobe PSD files; it exports a range of raster formats plus PSD.[7](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/affinity-docs/help/photo/en-US.lproj/pages/Appendix/fileformat.html) The supported list includes [Adobe Illustrator](https://www.edgepedia.org/adobe-illustrator) (AI), Photoshop PSD and PSB, DNG, EPS, GIF, JPEG, JPEG 2000, JPEG-XR, PDF, PNG, RAW, SVG, TGA, TIFF, WebP, OpenEXR, and Radiance HDR; multi-page PDF and AI files import with each page on its own artboard.[7](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/affinity-docs/help/photo/en-US.lproj/pages/Appendix/fileformat.html) PSD files import with layer fidelity, and the proprietary .af format is used for collaboration.[5](https://www.affinity.studio/photo-editing-software) In 2026 [Capture One](https://www.edgepedia.org/capture-one) and [DaVinci Resolve](https://www.edgepedia.org/davinci-resolve) added support for the .af file type, easing transfer between those applications and Affinity.[17](https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/photography/photo-editing/affinity-photo-editor-gets-seamless-capture-one-and-davinci-resolve-integration-should-adobe-be-worried) InDesign files cannot be opened directly; they must first be exported from InDesign as IDML.[6](https://www.techradar.com/pro/affinity-by-canva-2026-review)
## Positioning against Photoshop and Lightroom
Reviewers consistently treat Affinity Photo as a Photoshop-class pixel editor rather than a Lightroom replacement. Digital Camera World's review of the merged app calls it a genuine Photoshop alternative with first-rate tone mapping, panorama stitching and focus stacking, while noting it has no image cataloguing tools, no one-click presets, and little hand-holding for beginners.[18](https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/tech/software/affinity-review) TechRadar likewise states that the photo component is designed to compete with Photoshop, not Lightroom, and that users need a separate app to organize their images.[6](https://www.techradar.com/pro/affinity-by-canva-2026-review)
The RAW workflow differs structurally from Adobe's. Unlike Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, which store RAW adjustments as editable instructions in a sidecar file or catalog, Affinity's RAW processing is one-way unless a non-destructive RAW layer (embedded or linked) is chosen as the output option, in which case the raw adjustments remain re-editable in the same way.[19](https://gurkhatech.com/affinity-photo-vs-photoshop-2026-comparison/) • [23](https://www.affinity.studio/blog/editing-raw-images-and-working-with-raw-files) This is one reason many photographers pair Affinity with a dedicated RAW manager such as Capture One or Lightroom for ingest, culling, and cataloguing.[19](https://gurkhatech.com/affinity-photo-vs-photoshop-2026-comparison/)
**What the free model changed.** Under Serif, the apps were sold outright and were repeatedly positioned as the low-cost, subscription-free option against Adobe's Creative Cloud.[6](https://www.techradar.com/pro/affinity-by-canva-2026-review) Under Canva, the editing tools themselves are free, and the paywall moved to AI features: generative fill, generative expand, image and vector generation, and upscaling are available inside Affinity only with a premium Canva plan.[5](https://www.affinity.studio/photo-editing-software) • [20](https://www.affinity.studio/get-affinity) A Canva account is required to use the app.[20](https://www.affinity.studio/get-affinity) Affinity also connects to Canva directly, so projects can be exported into Canva for collaboration and publishing.[21](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/creative-operating-system/?cid=482)
## References
1. [Canva's acquisition of Affinity (student case study, with launch dates)](https://www.180dcsggscc.org/_files/ugd/5f164d_7ff41ae408ec4245973997a74651d0b7.pdf)
2. [Welcome to Canva, Affinity! Canva Newsroom, 26 March 2024](https://www.canva.com/en_in/newsroom/news/affinity/)
3. [Affinity says its new Adobe-rivaling creative app is 'free forever', TechRadar, 31 October 2025](https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works)
4. [Affinity Photo solution brief (Serif story, technical specs), Intel](https://create.intel.com/wp-content/themes/affinity-photo-2/dist/files/Serif_Affinity_v04.pdf)
5. [Photo Editing Software, Affinity](https://www.affinity.studio/photo-editing-software)
6. [Affinity by Canva (2026) review, TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/pro/affinity-by-canva-2026-review)
7. [Supported file formats, Affinity Photo help](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/affinity-docs/help/photo/en-US.lproj/pages/Appendix/fileformat.html)
8. [Affinity Photo 2 Help](https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj)
9. [Creative Software For Professionals, Affinity (Serif)](https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/?id=48334)
10. [Welcoming MangoAI and Cavalry, Canva Newsroom](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/mangoai-cavalry-acquisition/)
11. [Serif press release: Affinity apps coming to Windows, 15 March 2016](https://press.seriflabs.com/global/2016-03-15-affinity-windows.pdf)
12. [Affinity Photo brings professional photo editing to iPad, Affinity press release](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/affinity/pressreleases/affinity-photo-brings-professional-photo-editing-to-ipad-2002278)
13. [Looking back on 2024, Canva Newsroom](https://www.canva.com/en_in/newsroom/news/canva-2024-wrap/)
14. [Affinity's "biggest photography update yet", Digital Camera World, 22 September 2026](https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/tech/software/affinitys-biggest-photography-update-yet-but-dont-panic-the-image-editor-is-still-free)
15. [Affinity Photo Functional Guide, GitHub](https://github.com/alexroberts667/Affinity-Photo-Functional-Guide)
16. [Hardware acceleration (Mac and Windows), Affinity Help Center](https://www.affinity.studio/help/extras-hardware-acceleration/)
17. [Affinity photo editor gets Capture One and DaVinci Resolve integration, Digital Camera World](https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/photography/photo-editing/affinity-photo-editor-gets-seamless-capture-one-and-davinci-resolve-integration-should-adobe-be-worried)
18. [Affinity review, Digital Camera World, 3 November 2025](https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/tech/software/affinity-review)
19. [Affinity Photo vs Photoshop 2026 comparison, Gurkha Technology](https://gurkhatech.com/affinity-photo-vs-photoshop-2026-comparison/)
20. [Get Affinity, Affinity](https://www.affinity.studio/get-affinity)
21. [Introducing Canva's Creative Operating System, Canva Newsroom](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/creative-operating-system/?cid=482)
22. [How to Develop Raw Files Non Destructively with Affinity Photo 2, theappwhisperer.com](https://theappwhisperer.com/2023/02/how-to-develop-raw-files-non-destructively-with-affinity-photo-2/)
23. [Everything you need to know about editing RAW images and working with RAW files](https://www.affinity.studio/blog/editing-raw-images-and-working-with-raw-files)
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*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
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