Canva acquires Affinity to provide organization with professional design tools

The company reaffirms its enterprise-centric approach in an effort to develop a unified platform suitable for all categories of designers.

Canva, the only all-in-one visual communication platform in the world, announced today the acquisition of Affinity, a creative software suite renowned for its capabilities in page layout, illustration, graphic design, and professional photo editing.

The acquisition substantially reinforces Canva’s objective of developing the most all-encompassing collection of visual communication tools globally. Canva has experienced substantial expansion over the past decade, particularly among the 99 percentile of knowledge workers who lack design training. However, with the incorporation of Affinity’s professional design software, the platform is now accessible to designers at all levels and stages of the design process.

With the increasing prevalence of visual communication in teams and organizations worldwide, the acquisition further propels Canva’s aspirations for enterprise use. It enables professional designers to create scalable designs and templates with Affinity, which can then be implemented across organizations utilizing Canva.

Cliff Obrecht, co-founder and chief operating officer of Canva, stated, “Investing in strategies that improve our business-to-business offerings is fundamental to the company’s future, as visual communication has become ubiquitous in the workplace.” “The necessity for brand and creative teams, as well as sales and marketing, to produce engaging and effective visual content is increasing.” We’re honored to have the Affinity team join Canva as we enter our next phase of collaboration. Their technological prowess and aptitude are truly remarkable.

The inception of Affinity can be traced back to a desire to enable designers to generate superior content in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Over the course of a decade, the Affinity suite of creative products has gained widespread acclaim and recognition for providing professional designers with transformative experiences. This entails providing tools that are remarkably quick and responsive, capable of accomplishing any photo and vector editing tasks that professionals require.

At present, Affinity is relied upon by over 3 million users worldwide to generate an extensive variety of content, including intricate technical diagrams, artwork and illustration, logos, mockups, documents, publications, and more.

Affinity offers comprehensive photo editing, graphic design, and desktop publishing solutions that are optimized for the most recent hardware and brimming with functionalities that streamline practical professional processes. These products are subscription-free, cost-effective, and highly effective, catering to the needs of photographers and designers who demand adaptability and accuracy.

The company’s primary offerings—Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, and Affinity Publisher—have received high praise for their exceptionally quick operation and smooth compatibility with various operating systems, including macOS, Windows, and iPadOS. Affinity has been honored with the Microsoft Application Developer of the Year, Apple App of the Year for Mac and iPad, and an Apple Design Award, among others.

Canva will persist in allocating resources towards the Affinity suite in order to guarantee that it not only fulfills the requirements of expert designers, but also elevates their workflows and enables them to perform at their highest level. Canva and Affinity, when combined, will constitute a formidable force designed to accelerate the progress of designers of all types.