Affinity Designer beta for Windows expected to launch by end of June

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Affinity, a company that makes graphic design software (opens in new tab) for Mac, has announced that it is almost ready to launch the Affinity Designer beta for Windows. In an email being sent to those who signed up to test the beta, Affinity says that it is aiming to make the Windows beta available before the end of June.

From Affinity:

It has taken very slightly longer than hoped, but we are excited to be able to tell you that your first free beta of Affinity Designer for Windows is nearly ready - in fact, we confidently expect to make it available before the end of this month.We are making very good progress with Affinity Photo on Windows too, and we expect that to follow Designer within a few months.

So, if you're eagerly awaiting your chance to give Affinity Designer a shot, the beta test should be here very soon. And if you haven't yet signed up to be a tester, you can do so through Affinity's website at the link below.

Sign up for the Affinity Designer Windows beta{.cta .large}

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

29 Comments
  • Is this a UWP?
  • Nope, I think it's a desktop app.
  • The desktop is life.
  • I think no, apps like this aren't available on the stores because they have established market and don't want to give 30% of revenues to the store. Not just Windows Store, but Mac App Store too.
  • Additionally, the UWP interface toolkit is not advanced enough to build the sort of UI's these apps require. Trying to change something like Photoshop or Illustrator into a UWP UI would be a nightmare, if not impossible without completely changing how the program operates.
  • Yeah, it's awesome Win32 desktop stuff.  Not hamstrung, UWP silly stuff.
  • Another person who doesn't actually know what UWP can and cannot do (not much) who has decided that they know better than everyone else. Are you a software developer? Have you tried writing UWP apps? Please, tell us your experience and what was missing from the UWP programming model that kept you from doing your work. Affinity is a design tool. There are already UWP apps that do this, fresh paint for example. There is nothing keeping them from building it as a UWP app, but they decided to go with a desktop app. Nothing wrong with it, just goes to show that Windows is where it is at. Yes, there are some things that UWP does not allow you to do. But you have not shown yourself to have any knowledge of why or why not what is missing would impact anything that you would be using, but simply complaining to hear yourself complain.
  • Likely, the reason for it not being a UWP is Money. Why should they give MS a cut when they don't need to?
  • ANd why give Apple a cut when they don't need to? Why give Google a cut when they don't need to? I have gone over this a number of times, describing the economics of selling software. It is not as easy as you think. And thinking you can just avoid giving a cut to Microsoft is a good thing says that you do not know what happens when selling software. Affinity Design is on the Mac Store, meaning that they could sell directly be decided that using the Store made sense economically. But for some reason they decided they didn't want to use Microsoft to avoid giving Microsoft a cut?
  • Educate yourself, please. Posted from Windows Central for XL
  • I think the question is if they plan to use the bridge software so they can post their app to the Store. 
  • Bridge is for iOS and not for Mac so that's not a question.
  • I mean Centenial Bridge, which allows you to put your Win32 apps on the store and gain things like live tile support.
  • Centenial doesnt make it UWP. it just puts it into a container. It will still be a Win32 app at heart.
  • Could be interested on the Photo beta when it comes out
  • Wow, This can be awesome!
  • I visited their website and now I'm intrigued. Is Affinity supposed to be in competition with the likes of Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator or other premium graphic design software? It mentions PDF support (export?/import?) but can it support AI or PS files as well?
  • Yes, it can export/import PS/AI files, but these programs are still very new (AD is 2 years while AP is around a year old) and they still don't have feature set as adobe counterparts but they are getting there. With a promise of no sub model and free updates for 2 years I'm sure they'll get a lot of fans and I'm sure that in few years they will be on the same level as Adobe suit. Adobe Lightroom and InDesign competitors are coming soon as well.
  • Thanks for the insights, I was going to go for Adobe soon, but I hate the way they do things now, miss the old days with no sub. etc, def. keep this in mind.
  • Keep in mind that not all plugins work with Affinity Photo and that in the moment they don't have actions (they are on the way).
  • I signed-up for the beta mail-list, see how I go, I'm a novice, doubt I'll know what I'm missing, LOL.
  • Thanks for the info, novak.
  • np ;)
  • very excited for this. My first experience doing graphic design (what I eventually wound up in as a career) was using Serif Page Plus in high school a million years ago. A close friend of mine actually worked for the company in their Nashua NH office, which i visited a few times. Back in the day, it was a *very* small company, so when I first saw the awesomely slick and polished Affinity programs for Mac I was kinda shocked to see that Affinity is Serif. I don't use a Mac (a rare thing among designers in the States) so I've been eagerly waiting for the windows beta. Was very glad to see their email this morning. 
  • Who even uses non-Adobe products for creative work? It's like that one designer friend you have that's still using Quark Express...
  • Because Adobe has a lot of the same problems that MS has had with their platform -- all the new code is sitting on older code and there are just some things that need to have ground-up support before they can be implemented with any kind of efficiency. A new product is better at dealing with new workflows and options than an old one like Illustrator, Photoshop, etc. The old software can be changed, but it's hardly ideal. Not to mention that some of the code-base that Adobe uses has roots from about 25+ years ago. Legacy can be as much a reason to not change as something as it is a reason to stay with it.
  • Plenty of people use non-Adobe products. For example, if you plan to do digital drawing, something like Clip Studio Paint/Manga Studio whips Photoshop's butt. Adobe products are great but they are hardly the only solution for being creative.
  • *Evil Voice /on* "Gooood, good, I hope they CRUSH the subscription platform!!!" *Evil Voice /off*
  • Is it the end of the month yet?