What's new in 1.10.x
The most recent update to Affinity Designer version as of this writing is 1.10.x. It is basically a performance and stability update with little to no real new features added. Since the initial 1.10 update there have been incremental updates 1.10.1, 1.10.2, 1.10.3… each addressing bug fixes and general improvements. Rather than listing all of them here as they are dynamic in nature and keep being added, please visit the Affinity user forum News and Updates page for the most recent up to date information.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/4-news-and-information/
Serif, the makers of Affinity Designer, themselves described the 1.10.x update in an online News and Update post on August 5th 2021 saying that "We're proud that the Affinity apps already offers class-leading speeds in many tasks, and for our latest update, we wanted to take a step back and really see what further levels of performance we could achieve". - Ashley Hewson, Managing Director Serif.
With 1.10.x they have undertaken a complete re-visit of memory management. This is apparently most noticeable when working in larger more complex files with higher numbers of layers and thousands of objects. These improvements are consistent across all apps and platforms. Windows, Mac, and iPad.
This update, while not sounding very exciting, is actually a good thing. By taking the time now to really look into performance and stability improvements they are setting the application up or laying the ground work for hopefully some exciting things to come down the road. Ideally in the not too distant future with version 2.0. Also remember Affinity Designer is not just a standalone vector illustration and design application. It's also the third part of a suite with two other applications (Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher) that are designed to work as seamlessly together as possible, even sharing the same file formats. So, performance is crucial for a smooth experience moving between applications and within each application.
As outlined in their update post on July 28th, 2021, below are some other areas that have seen improved performance or have been added with the 1.10.x update:
- Improved performance when using linked placed images
- Improved performance with text
- Improved performance with embedded documents
- Improved performance with low memory conditions
- New selection options – Parent, Top and Bottom
- Improved IME text editing for Japanese and simplified Chinese languages
- Improved SVG import and export
- Added support for most emoji
- In the Resource manager, there is a new "Relink" option for missing resources, a new added "File Type" column and a new ability to link EPS files
- Assorted other small fixes
- Help and localization improvements
From the Stock Panel, Unsplash, the stock photography service has been removed due to a new licensing fee. Currently there is still Pixabay and Pexels stock photography services available.
The new update is free to existing customers of Affinity Designer. Each app in the suite has their own update versions found for all three Windows, Mac and iPad platforms on the online Affinity user forum.