Today, its makers, Serif, have released version 1.4, a major update that's free to owners of the subscription-free, Mac-only tool. So what's new?
01. Artboards tool
Artboards are added by popular demand
One of the biggest updates is the addition of an incredibly flexible artboard tool. This gives you the ability to create artboards of any size, as well as the added flexibility of being able to group artboards, have artboards within artboards and even create them from any shape, not just square.
The tool goes right through to export, where you can instantly export all your artboards with independent export options, or across multiple pages as a PDF document.
"Artboards have been our most requested new feature since we launched, so we're delighted to get this functionality in," said Ashley Hewson, Serif's managing director. "It's a must-have feature for UI and responsive design, so it's great to be widening the use case of Affinity Designer into these areas too."
02. Printing features
New features are aimed at designers wanting to print their creations professionally
A number of features aimed at professional-level printing have now been added to Affinity Designer.
Spot colours are now supported, including a full library of Pantone swatches, along with overprint, bleed and trim controls. Output options have also been improved with the addition of PDF/X support up to PDF/X-4.
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03. Other improvements
The new version offers a rotatable canvas for the first time
Further additions to Affinity Designer for version 1.4 include the following:
a rotatable canvas
customisable keyboard shortcuts
global colours
new typography controls
significantly improved import and export of PSD, PDF, SVG and EPS formats.
Serif has also launched a major update of sister app Affinity Photo today; you can read about that here. To owners of both apps, the updates are available to download now free via the Mac App Store.
For new customers, Serif is making Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo available at the special offer price of just £29.99/€39.99/$39.99 each until December 15th, after which it reverts to the normal price of £39.99/€49.99/$49.99.
Tom May is an award-winning journalist and author specialising in design, photography and technology. His latest book, The 50th Greatest Designers, was released in June 2025. He's also author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine.
