Get Inkscape or VectorStyler instead. . .
I thought I would give Affinity a try once it went into its loss leader freemium model once I found out I couldn't buy it anymore.
The unified program seems great on paper, but it seems like a lot of basic things were broken in the integration which was not great for a first time user experience. I primarily wanted to use Affinity for its graphic design tools previously in their standalone Designer 2 software. I was quickly disappointed with what I was faced with. Affinity is unstable with odd behaviours for tools at times creating an unintuitive workflow whilst also weirdly lacking in a lot of features and true vector tools such as, "vector" brushes being pixel brushes in reality, breaking pure vector workflows with export issues with PDF and SVG formats, no image tracing, no real trim/scissors, and more.
What added insult to injury is the overwhelming praise for Affinity whether that is from creators, people you ask or from personal research, none of it lines up with reality. I found the interface of Affinity to truly be awful in terms of usability and readability. The fact there is no scaling for UI makes the use of Affinity abysmal on a 4K display. The customisation is sadly a bit lackluster in almost every single regard. Affinity can do the basics of reorganising your workspace and so on, but it has no real fine control over direct previews of changes, caching, UI scaling, tool behaviours and more.
I ended up uninstalling Affinity because it simply missed the mark on most levels. I decided to take a chance on a relatively new software called VectorStyler and it was simply the best purchase I had made all year. It offers everything I want from a graphics design software with an incredibly powerful feature set. The level of customisation and granular control over almost everything is incredible allowing users to create bespoke streamlined workflows by giving users the ability to create toolbox presets which can quickly be swapped out to fit the project you are doing keeping all necessary tools in sight not over cluttering the workspace while also having the essential panels you use the most for easy access.
I can not recommend Affinity to anyone, especially for graphic design in particular. My Affinity is with Inkscape a truly free and open-source tool then VectorStyler as my favourite paid tool.
1. november 2025
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