Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer have reached versions 1.6, which are faster, smoother and more powerful than before. The update is available free of charge to existing owners of the Affinity desktop apps.

The new versions, 1.6, offer users programs that are faster, smoother and more powerful than before. Those following the continued beta versions Serif offers registered users already knew something was being changed and the results are available now. The new 1.6 versions introduce a new architecture  which is responsible for a faster workflow.

Ashley Hewson, Managing Director of Affinity developer Serif, says: “Affinity apps are all about enabling you to work faster – whether it’s a quick design draft or photo edit, or a painstaking, complex document involving hundreds of layers or stacked images.

“Our apps are already a trusted part of the workflow for creative professionals around the world. The latest versions build on those proven capabilities to deliver lightning speed, pinpoint accuracy and incredible processing power like never before.”

The update is not the only thing users get with version 1.6. In fact, actual users of both Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer get free content, available until 16th November. To celebrate the update, for the next two weeks Serif is giving away a huge bundle of creative content free with both apps, so if you don’t own them yet now is the perfect time to buy! Free trials are also available from the website – including for users who have trialled the apps before and were previously unable to download a second trial.

Ashley Hewson adds: “People who tried us out before, particularly in the early days, will find that Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer have come a very long way. To acknowledge that, we’re hitting the ‘reset’ button so they can take another look at how we’ve developed.”

Until 16 November, buyers of Affinity Photo, Serif’s pro photo editing app, will receive bonus content worth around £105 ($140):

• 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

Users of the vector design app Affinity Designer,  winner of an Apple Design Award after launch in 2015 will also get bonus content worth around £60 ($75):

• 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

Serif’s apps offer a no-subscription ethos and one-off £48.99 / $49.99 / 54,99€ purchase price (subject to regional currency variations). The added content bundles make Affinity apps unrivalled value for money as, in fact the free content alone would cost more than the app, if bought separately.

Some of the main improvements and additions in v1.6 are:

• New light UI option
• New stroke stabiliser for all pencil and brush tools
• New “Edit In” integration with Apple Photos (Affinity Photo only)
• Metal 2 accelerated view optimised for macOS High Sierra
• Improved view pan/zoom performance
• Improved performance with large documents
• New font chooser dropdown with recents, used fonts and favourites
• New Glyph browser
• Align to key items
• Text frame vertical alignment options
• Fit frame to text
• Custom brush wet edges (Affinity Photo only)
• Outlier stacking mode (Affinity Photo only)
• Improved Photoshop Plugin support (Affinity Photo only)
• Improved Live Filters performance (Affinity Photo only)
• Many PDF export improvements including vector export of multi-stop gradients
• 360 image roll correction (Affinity Photo only)
• Numerous bug fixes and other improvements

Affinity Photo and Designer for Mac are available to buy from the App Store, with full optimisation for macOS High Sierra. Windows users can buy direct from Affinity’s website.