Affinity Designer 2 Review for Digital Marketing Graphics

Table of Contents

• Affinity Designer 2 Review
  • What I use Affinity Designer for
  • The Good Bits
  • The Not-so-Good Bits
  • Switching from Adobe & Learning Curve
  • Pricing Comparison
  • Can’t I Just Use Canva?
  • Can Affinity Designer Replace Adobe Illustrator?
  • The New Industry Standard?
  • Affinity Designer 2 Review – Conclusion

Following a year of thorough testing, I’ve got a few exciting bits to share with you in this Affinity Designer 2 review. It’s based on using it for digital marketing graphics, including website or social media images, as well as creating and editing vector illustrations.

I’ll cover the pros and cons, switching from Adobe, a pricing comparison, industry standards and the learning curve.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re thinking of either a) finding a replacement for Adobe Illustrator or b) researching Affinity Designer to see if it will meet your specific requirements. Or, maybe both.

Personally, I needed to tick both of the above boxes, so you should hopefully find all the answers you’re looking for here. Let’s crack on!

Disclaimer: I rarely use affiliate links, but Affinity doesn’t have a referral program anyway. As a result, you get an honest AF review with any sales spiel replaced with genuine enthusiasm. Enjoy!

Affinity Designer 2 Review

Affinity is a suite of design tools created by software developers, Serif. They’re based just up the road from us in Nottingham. Bonus! On March 26th 2024, the company was acquired by Canva.

All of the apps are a one-time payment (already hugely appealing, right?), and provide everything you need to edit photos, work with vector graphics, create brochures, and more. There are three apps in total, all of which are available on Mac, Windows, and iPad.

• Affinity Designer (Illustration & graphic design)
• Affinity Photo (photo editing & digital art)
• Affinity Publisher (page layout & design)

You can buy any of the above individually for £67.99 on desktop or £17.99 on iPad. Additionally, you can grab all three to use on desktop and iPad for £159.99.

For what you can achieve with these apps, this is a ruddy great bargain! There’s also usually a free trial available, so you can try before you buy.

What I use Affinity Designer for

Firstly, just so you know what I’m basing this Affinity Designer 2 review on, here’s what I mainly use it for here at Clearcut Derby.

• Creating featured images for blog posts (like this one)
• Creating or editing vector graphics for use on websites
• Designing logos and visual branding
• Creating graphics for use on social media
• Recreating isometric blocks/shapes (just for fun)

I’m currently using version 2.6.2 and only use the desktop app (on Mac), rather than the iPad version.

The Good Bits

Affinity Designer is an absolute joy to use. As soon as you’ve got used to the interface (more on the learning curve further down), it’s extremely intuitive.

I’m a huge fan of the clean UI and layout. The Assets section (where all of the logos and icons are saved in the image below) is a simple yet invaluable way to access any files that you need regularly.

Stock vectors are something I often need to work with. Even though most of these file types are for Adobe Illustrator, they usually open as normal. A massive win from the off. Yeeehaaaaaaaa!

The Shape Builder tool works in much the same way as in Illustrator, allowing you to combine shapes and remove shapes from other shapes. From the left-hand menu, you have access to a square, a circle, and a substantial list of alternative options, such as arrows, stars, cogs, and speech bubbles.

The text tool is wonderful to work with, with all of the formatting settings you could ever wish for. Gradients are simple and easy to apply, and the alignment tool, again, works as it does in Illustrator. This allows you to centre your selected object, or move it to the far left, right, top or bottom. Additionally, select a few items together, and you can set the spacing between them perfectly.

Another superb little addition is access to stock images from right inside the Designer app. Browse the entire libraries of Pexels or Pixabay and add any images you need instantly.

All in all, there’s a lot to love about using Affinity Designer.

The Not-so-Good Bits

Only three very minor items to mention here. Firstly, if you use the Image Trace tool in Adobe Illustrator, it’s not currently available in Affinity Designer. No biggie. Websites like vectorizer.org can convert your raster images to vectors when needed.

Secondly, not all Illustrator files open properly in Designer. I’d say 95% open without any issues, but every now and then, you’ll come across something that’s unusable.

From past experience, these seem to be complex vectors with hundreds of layers to create shadows, etc.

Finally, and somewhat related to the last point, most vector illustrations downloaded from the web are in Adobe Illustrator format. It would be really useful if Affinity started to build a vector library that users can download Designer-specific files from.

I’d happily pay to download assets and would consider a subscription to access a certain amount each month. That’d surely be a winner for both Affinity and its users.

Based on the pricing, I’ve not knocked any stars off for any of the above. For what we’re paying, there really is nothing to complain about.

Switching from Adobe & Learning Curve

If you’re looking to escape the never-ending subscription-based software that is Adobe, switching to Affinity is a solid option. Admittedly, the first week or two will involve a lot of head scratching and Googling.

Everything seems to work a little differently in Affinity. Now that I’m used to it, it makes total sense. Coming from Adobe, however, you’ll most likely need to allow a little time to adjust.

One example is setting a transparent background. In Adobe, you don’t need to, as there is no background to start with. In Affinity Designer, however, it will automatically include a white background.

To remove this, head to document Setup, then colour, then check transparent background.

Persevere with figuring out how everything works in Affinity. Yes, it can be tempting to head straight back to what you know, but a couple of weeks in and you’ll be flying around as if this is how it’s always been done.

If you’re not coming from Adobe, things are probably going to be a little more straightforward, as you won’t be pre-conditioned to a set way of doing things.

Depending on how often you use Designer, you should have most of the basics covered in only a few days. Why not try out some tutorials (there are plenty on YouTube) to speed up your progress? A few recommended channels for you here:

• Affinity
• Technically Trent
• Elaine Giles
• ArtistWright

Pricing Comparison

As mentioned further up, any of the Affinity apps will set you back a one-off sum of £67.99, or you can grab all three for £159.99. Once you’ve paid, that’s it. They’re yours to use forever.

Of course, new versions will be available for you to upgrade to if you want to. So far, all updates for Designer 2 have been free. I suspect you’d simply pay when the third version is released. Again, fully optional.

Conversely, Adobe’s pricing will cost you anywhere from £263.76 per year for Adobe Illustrator alone to £683.76 per year for the full Creative Cloud suite.

Additionally, these are on 12-month contracts with early cancellation charges. A business would usually use its design software indefinitely, so let’s take a quick look at how much the full suite would cost over 10, 20 and 30 years:

• Creative Cloud Suite – 10 Years: £6837.60
• Creative Cloud Suite – 20 Years: £13’675.20
• Creative Cloud Suite – 30 Years £20’512.80

And that’s just at the price it’s at now. This will, of course, inevitably rise in the coming years. Additionally, the cost increases even more if you include an Adobe Stock subscription or need access to 3D rendering tools. I know which option I’m going for here, and it doesn’t involve a never-ending subscription.

Can’t I Just Use Canva?

We marketing folks love Canva. There’s no doubt about that. Most of my clients here at Clearcut Derby and over at Leaflet Lion use it as their daily driver.

Also, one of the podcasts I listen to, The Marketing Meetup (highly recommended), often indicates that many of their community members use it. They even sat down and had a rather interesting chat with Amanda Zafiris, head of marketing at Canva. Inspiring stuff!

Canva will cover many of your requirements for business and marketing graphics. However, when things get a little more technical and intricate, you may want to switch over to Affinity Designer.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule here. If you can achieve everything you need to in Canva, happy days! If not, set yourself up with a free Affinity trial and see how you get on.

Can Affinity Designer Replace Adobe Illustrator?

Let’s not beat around the bush here. Yes, Affinity Designer can fully replace Adobe Illustrator. What’s more, depending on your needs, if you buy all three of the Affinity Apps, you may eliminate the need for a Creative Cloud subscription altogether.

Keep in mind that you won’t have access to image tracing with Designer. Some Illustrator files also don’t play well with Designer, although around 95% of them open without any issues.

I made the switch around a year ago and couldn’t be happier. Designer provides all of the tools I need to do everything that I used to with Illustrator.

The New Industry Standard?

Adobe reigns supreme when it comes to industry-standard design tools and software. With that said, I can’t see that being the case in ten years’ time.

As more people seek alternative options, and given the sheer power of all three Affinity apps, we may come to see a new standard.

In the world of marketing, especially, budgets are being cut, and the rollercoaster of an economy means any savings on outgoings are more than welcome.

If we can use Affinity for everything we previously needed Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign for, then it seems like a no-brainer to make the switch. Who knows? If enough designers, businesses, and marketing teams share the same mindset, we could see a new industry standard even sooner than ten years.

Affinity Designer 2 Review – Conclusion

Wrapping up this Affinity Designer 2 review, you’ve probably got the impression that I absolutely love this app. If that’s the case, you’d be 100% correct.

The clean, intuitive interface is easy to navigate and a pure joy to use. Once you’ve found your feet, you’ll be knocking up digital marketing graphics in no time at all.

The software’s functionality always comes first, but the pricing of the Affinity apps is undoubtedly an added bonus. A one-off payment with zero ongoing subscriptions. Yes please!

A few minor issues with Illustrator files not opening correctly. There’s also no image trace tool that you may be used to if coming from Illustrator.

I chose not to knock any stars or half stars off for any of the above. The pricing far outweighs my teeny tiny complaints.

To conclude, I couldn’t be happier with the decision to switch entirely over to Affinity. It somehow rekindled a dwindling passion for design, and I’ve already saved a small fortune. Ka-ching!

I’ve been recommending Designer, Photo, and Publisher to my marketing and graphic design connections, and I can now confidently recommend them to you too.

Sign up for a free trial and see what you think. If the budget allows, go with all three apps to maximise your capabilities. Nothing to lose, everything to gain. Wohooo!