Serif releases Affinity Photo for iPad
Serif has released Affinity Photo for iPad: a new version of its pro image-editing software for Apple’s tablets.
The new edition contains “virtually the same” feature set as the Mac OS X and Windows versions, and is optimised for touch controls and the Apple Pencil stylus, and GPU-accelerated via Apple’s Metal API.
An “unashamedly pro” image-editing and digital painting tool for Mac, Windows and iOS
First released on OS X in 2015, and then on Windows last year, Affinity Photo is an “unashamedly pro” tool for photographers and CG artists, promising an industry-standard workflow and good performance.
The software offers a fully 32-bits-per-channel workflow; support for the CMYK, RGB and LAB colour spaces and OpenColorIO; and an extensive RAW editing toolset.
It also supports layer grouping, masks, adjustment layers, plusa good range of blending modes and effects, and according to Serif, has “the best PSD support out there” – outside of Photoshop, presumably.
Dgital painters get over 120 natural media brush presets, plus a good range of brush customisation controls.
The same key features as the desktop edition, but optimised for touch support
Although we can’t find a full feature comparison on its website, Serif claims that the iPad edition features “virtually the same huge feature set” as the desktop versions”, including all of the photo-editing tools.
According to Serif, it has been “completely reimagined to optimise [the user interface] for touch”, with support for multi-touch gestures and the pressure and tilt capabilities of the Apple Pencil stylus.
In particular, the software’s Liquify image-warping workspace has been redesigned for touch input, enabling users to “push images around with your finger like putty”.
The iPad edition is also GPU-accelerated via Apple’s Metal API, with “all rendering, adjustments and filter effects … fully hardware-accelerated” on iOS.
While we can’t find any information on the maximum size of images that Affinity Photo for iPad can edit interactively – cited by many reviewers as a selling point for the desktop versions – the product website notes that it is capable of “instantly [scrubbing] through hundreds of undo steps”.
Scene files generated by the three editions of the software are also fully compatible, with the undo history of files saved from the Mac OS X or Windows versions being accessible on iPad, and vice versa.
Pricing and availability
Serif Photo for iPad is available for iOS 10.3+, including iPad, iPad Air 2+ and iPad Pro tablets. The MSRP is $29.99, just over half that of the desktop versions. At the time of posting, there is also a launch discount.
Read more about Affinity Photo for iPad on Serif’s website
Find full specs for Affinity Photo for iPad in the iTunes store