Serif (Europe) Ltd (known as Roleage Ltd before 1988), a subsidiary of Canva, is a British software developer and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, best known for its Affinity suite of professional graphic design, photo editing, and desktop publishing software. The company delivers products directly to consumers through its dedicated website and contact centre, as well as through various retailers.

History

Serif was founded in 1987 by a small team of

software engineer Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining software applications. It involves applying engineering principles and computer programming expertise to develop ...

s, with the objective of creating lower-cost alternatives to existing

Desktop Publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

(DTP) software packages using the

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

platform. The first Serif product to be released was called PageStar: a simple, low-cost advertisement layout program for Windows 2.0. This was expanded in 1990 with their follow-up, PagePlus (originally for Windows 3.0), which would go on to win 'Best Software' at the Computer Shopper Awards 2014. In subsequent years, this was accompanied by other software products in the 'Plus' range, including DrawPlus (1994), PhotoPlus (1999), WebPlus (2000), and MoviePlus (2003). In 1996, Serif was acquired by American company Vizacom (formerly known as Allegro New Media); however, ownership was sold back to Serif senior management in 2001. The successor to their DrawPlus product, Affinity Designer (a vector art & design package), was launched in 2014 for

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

. It was Serif's first product for

, and had been written from scratch specifically for it. This was followed in 2015 by the second Affinity product (and successor to PhotoPlus), Affinity Photo (a photo editing & design package). In 2016, following the release of Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, Serif ceased development for their 'Plus' product range to focus exclusively on the Affinity product range. Support for the legacy product range ended in July 2022. Affinity Designer is considered an

Adobe Illustrator Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and Computer-aided design, design software developed and marketed by Adobe Inc., Adobe. Originally designed for the Apple Inc., Apple Mac (computer), Macintosh, development of Adobe Illustrator began ...

alternative and is cross-platform with versions available for iPadOS,

and

. It supports both vector and raster design artwork, with powerful tools and a budget-friendly price. Affinity Designer was selected as the winner of the "Best Software For Designers" Award in the 2022 Creative Bloq Awards. It was also one of the winners of the 2015 Apple Design Award. Affinity Photo has been described as an

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc., Adobe for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital ...

alternative, and is compatible with common file formats such as Adobe's PSD (including Photoshop Smart Objects). In 2023 '' Amateur Photographer'' presented Affinity Photo the ''Photo Editing Software of the Year'' award. Affinity Publisher, the successor to PagePlus and the third addition to the Affinity product line, was released in 2019. It has been described as an alternative to

Adobe InDesign Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing and page layout designing software application software, application produced by Adobe Inc., Adobe and first released in 1999. It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, ...

, due to its primary focus on

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

workflows for both printed and online media, including common features from this industry, such as master pages, OpenType support, linked text frames, and end-to-end support for the

CMYK color model The CMYK color model (also known as process color, or four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers ...

Acquisition by Canva

On 26 March 2024, Serif announced it had been acquired by the Australian company Canva for approximately US$380 million. This acquisition was named as part of Canva's strategy to expand its global footprint and enhance its software offerings. Following the acquisition, Serif has stated that there are no immediate changes to its pricing model, and both companies have committed to maintaining Affinity's perpetual licensing model, along with offering free licenses to schools and nonprofits.

Products

The following are all software packages, for the following applications:

Current products

* Affinity Designer: Vector graphic design software for

and

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

* Affinity Photo: Digital image editing software for macOS, Windows and iPad * Affinity Publisher:

Desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

software for macOS, Windows and iPad

Discontinued products

* PagePlus:

software for Windows (replaced by Affinity Publisher) * DrawPlus:

Graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

software for Windows (replaced by Affinity Designer) * PhotoPlus: Digital image editing software for Windows (replaced by Affinity Photo) * WebPlus: Website design software for Windows * MoviePlus: Digital video editing software for Windows *ImpactPlus: presentations software for Windows * Digital Scrapbook Artist: Digital scrapbooking software for Windows *CraftArtist: Digital scrapbooking software for Windows *PanoramaPlus: Image stitching software for Windows *PhotoStack:

Image editing Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are Digital photography, digital photographs, traditional Photographic processing, photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known ...

and

organisation An organization or organisation ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution ( formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a pa ...

software for Windows *AlbumPlus: Image organizer software for Windows *Scan, Stitch, and Share: Document mosaicing software for Windows *FontManager: Font management software for Windows

References

External links

*
Affinity website

Serif CommunityPlus support website
{{Authority control 2024 mergers and acquisitions Apple Design Awards recipients British brands Companies based in Nottingham Companies established in 1987 Software companies of the United Kingdom