Page 29 - PWM2026_FEBRUARY EBOOK

TECHNOLOGY REPORT

licences. While Adobe continues to (£2.25bn) this year – a third more than last year – and achieving QuarkXPress, with optional previews
introduce new functionality, its strong a US$42bn valuation. It has acquired several European tech on MacOS. The Windows version,
focus on AI has coincided with criti- firms beside Serif, opened its first European HQ in London in IDMarkz SE, handles conversion with-
cism that innovation for print special- 2023, and now claims 230 million global users, of whom 24 mil- out preview. Pricing is £97/year or
ists has slipped. lion are paying. £159 perpetual.
A notable example is Adobe’s latest Adobe remains massively larger, posting US$21.5bn revenue Going in the opposite direction,
APPE7 RIP technology, which this year in 2024 and valued at around US$137bn. Around 75% of ConvertMarkz outputs Canva’s own
brought improved PDF 2.0 support to Adobe’s turnover comes from Creative Cloud and Document designs for Affinity, InDesign and
the widely-used technology underlying Cloud (largely Acrobat/PDF and related services), with Creative QuarkXPress, while DesignMarkz con-
many platesetter and digital press Cloud believed to have roughly 30 million subscribers. Adobe verts DTP files (InDesign, MS
front-ends. Despite this, none of has also redeveloped Adobe Express to mirror Canva’s online, Publisher, Quark, Affinity and others)
Adobe’s Creative Cloud applications layered freemium model, though subscriber numbers are not for use in Canva. Free versions are
can create or save PDF 2.0 files, eight disclosed. available through Canva’s marketplace,
years after the standard’s release, nor but actual conversions require
the PDF/VT format for variable data, Canva’s strategy with Affinity MarkzPortal, charged at £5.30 per file
without expensive third-party add-ons. Serif’s acquisition initially puzzled analysts. Affinity apps are plus £2.25 per page, or £60 per month
Unsurprisingly, PDF 2.0 adoption native desktop programs, very different to Canva’s browser-only for subscription users. Support for
remains negligible and VT is highly spe- model, and far from beginner-friendly. Despite Affinity’s elegant Affinity’s new .AF format is currently in
cialist. However, Affinity has had a interface, its learning curve is similar to Adobe and Corel tools. beta.
basic implementation of PDF 2.0 since Canva gave little detail at the time, except assurances that
2023. Affinity would not move to Adobe-style compulsory subscrip- Market positioning and limitations
Likewise, Adobe’s 2022 removal of tions.
Pantone colour libraries from Creative Serif CEO Ashley Hewson wrote that if subscriptions were What Canva Affinity App can’t yet
Cloud apps was handled poorly, with ever offered, they would be optional alongside perpetual match is Adobe’s breadth. Creative
Cloud includes not only its print trio
minimal explanation and only the licences. He suggested that linking Affinity workflows to Canva but also a huge suite of video tools, web
option of paying about £50 per year per would give users a scalable cloud-based route for sharing and development tools, animation, audio,
Canva’s free Affinity App Affinity, Corel and Quark still manage use the new single App is broadly similar to the previous three prototyping and more. These are
collaboration.
seat for the unloved Pantone Connect.
The new free Affinity App essentially fulfils that promise. In
closely integrated and are essential to
to include Pantone libraries.
agencies worldwide delivering multi-
format campaigns. Likewise although
separate ones (that are still supported for users who don’t want
shakes up design market Serif, Affinity and the Canva acquisition to switch yet). The new user interface is divided into vector tools Raw photos can be opened, there’s no
equivalent to the Adobe Lightroom
for layout and graphics, and bitmaps for photo and paint-type
Affinity was originally developed by
workflow favoured by pro snappers.
image editing. There will be options for running on tablets.
Serif Software, based in Nottingham
Affinity, by contrast, is print-centric.
since 1977 and the first subject of
party add-ons.
Printweek’s Best of British series in Unlike Creative Cloud, there is still no plug-in facility for third- Canva’s online platform includes basic
2017. Serif launched the professional- However, the AI tools, are excluded in the free version but video, web and audio tools, but the
desktop Affinity suite offers nothing
oriented Affinity Photo in 2014, included in Canva’s premium tiers (Professional, Business and comparable. This may limit its appeal
Designer in 2015, and Publisher in Enterprise). The list includes generative fill, background for studios requiring cross-media cov-
2019. All were priced at around £70 per removal, image enhancement, noise reduction, selective blur erage.
perpetual licence, with further pay- and lighting, colourising, selection by subject depth, upscale Reactions among professionals mir-
ment only for major upgrades such as interpolation, and generative image expansion. ror familiar divides. Many Adobe-
the 2022 release of version 2. While generative imagery such as cats dressed as Henry VIII centric users remain unconvinced,
In March 2024, Serif was acquired by grabs headlines, the day-to-day AI features are far more relevant arguing that Affinity lacks components
Canva, the fast-growing Australian to production: automatic cut-outs and content-aware replace- essential to end-to-end multimedia
online design platform founded in 2012 ments and extensions. Even designers who claim to ‘never use work. Designers who work in studios
by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and AI’ may not realise they already use at least some of the many often have no choice about Creative
Cameron Adams. Canva built its repu- such ‘productivity’ tools already in Adobe’s apps. Cloud and aren’t bothered by the cost
tation on simplifying design for non- anyway as they don’t pay. Freelancers,
specialists through an intuitive File formats and migration challenges however, have been frustrated by
Adobe’s subscription lock-in, especially
drag-and-drop web interface and vast Affinity now uses a single unified .AF file format, replacing the inability to own the software.
template library. Its “freemium model,” the separate file types used by Photo, Designer and Publisher. It However, for anyone earning a living
with Canva Pro at £100/year, Business supports standard import/export formats such as JPEG, TIFF from Creative Cloud, £800 per year is
at £170/year per user, and Enterprise and EPS, and imports Illustrator’s AI files. However, publishers not a prohibitive expense. Affinity’s
on negotiated pricing, offers progres- with large bodies of InDesign .INDD work face a practical chal- supporters argue that the suite is
sively more collaboration tools, brand lenge, as Affinity cannot open .INDD files directly, although it already “good enough” for most print
management features, AI tools and will open the .IDML exchange format that InDesign can option- and design applications, and that the
storage. ally export. Alternatively, Markzware offers conversion tools free version will be particularly attrac-
Financially, Canva has grown rap- that bridge the platforms. IDMarkz converts native .INDD tive to new users, students, freelancers,
idly, declaring revenues of US$3bn (from CS4 onward) for use in Affinity Publisher, Illustrator or volunteers and small studios.

www.printweekmena.com February 2026 PrintWeek MENA 27