Serif ships Affinity Photo 1.6 and Affinity Designer 1.6
Serif has released Affinity Photo 1.6 and Affinity Designer 1.6, the latest versions of its pro image editing and vector design software, adding new brush stablisation and font handling features.
Users can also download time-limited packs of add-on resources, including textures, light effects, cloud overlays, and fonts, for free until 16 November 2017.
New features in both apps: new light UI, stroke stabilisation, better font handling
First released in beta in May, the 1.6 updates introduce a range of new features common to both Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer.
Changes include a new ‘light UI’, which Serif suggests is better for layout work than the standard dark theme.
In addition, there is now a built-in stroke stabiliser for smoothing out irregularities in strokes drawn by hand using any of the applications’ pencil or brush tools.
Other changes include a new font chooser drop-down showing favourite and recently used fonts; a new glyph browser; more vertical alignment options for text frames; and the option to fit a frame to the text.
Overall performance has been improved, particularly when panning or zooming large documents; and Mac users get a new Metal 2-accelerated view optimised for macOS High Sierra.
Affinity Photo users also get support for custom wet edges on brushes; 360-degree image roll correction; better performance of Live Filters; and better support for Photoshop plugins.
Free bonus resource packs available to download until 16 November 2017
In addition, Serif has released two packs of add-on content which registered users can download for free until 16 November 2017.
According to Serif’s press release, Affinity Photo users will get content worth “around £105”, although the product website puts the value at £119.98 (around $156):
- Dirk Wüstenhagen Fine Art Texture Collection: containing 99 beautifully crafted, high-resolution textures
- Uplift Epic Skies Overlays: a versatile collection of 50 striking cloud overlays
- Macro Pack: a stunning set of image styles, light leaks and distortions
Affinity Designer users get content worth “around £60” – or £76.97 (around $100) if you believe the website:
- Frankentoon Texturizer Pro Brush Pack: containing 70+ high-quality brushes created exclusively for Affinity Designer
- Tom Chalky Handcrafted Fonts & Textures: a valuable bundle of stylish fonts and more than 80 high-resolution textures
- Grade UI Kit: Including more than 1000 fully-customisable elements, icons, panels and buttons
Pricing and availability
Affinity Photo 1.6 and Affinity Designer 1.6 are available for Windows 7+ and Mac OS X 10.7.5+. The updates are free to registered users. New perpetual licences of both applications cost $49.99.