Serif sold to Canva

[heicron]

Greetings,
I am a hobbyist nature photographer, mostly birds, and have used IMatch for a long time and know that a lot of you use Affinity apps.  I looked at Serif some years ago and replaced Lightroom with ON1 as my raw processor. Lightroom was not a DAM for me, just a raw processor for adjustments and printing.

With the demise of MS Publisher I was looking for a replacement and tried the trial of Affinity Publisher,
seven days sure isn't enough time for an evaluation.I logged onto their forum for tips-tricks, etc. and learned that Serif was acquired by Canva. There were plenty of unhappy campers venting in that forum so I will wait and see how that shakes out.

I know there are plenty of you using Affinity and am wondering what has happened this past year after the acquisition and how you managed it. I also read that some were hoping for a DAM from Serif so they could leave Lightroom. It seems they did not know about IMatch.
I'm not trying to ignite controversy on this, just your thoughts.

Thanks
 

[JohnZeman]

I don't remember just exactly when Canva bought Serif but it's been several months.

And I've been using Affinity Photo since 2019 but I haven't noticed any difference in the software or the company policies since Canva took over.

[mity!]

Affinity told their customers about the change last year. I was a little bit anxious, too, that it could affect Affinity's "pay once policy". But up to now there are no signs that they could change to some subscription model.

On the other hand there is even an advantage if you work for a non-profit organization. Than you can register at Canva and get free Canva access PLUS a complete Affinity license - for free.