# Affinity Photo 2 Published January 1, 2026 · Updated August 10, 2026 Professional photo editing software with a one-time purchase model, no subscription required. Category: Design & Creative · Paid · [Official website](https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/) ## Install with Homebrew `brew install --cask affinity-photo-2` ## Quick take Photo 2's craft lives on free inside Affinity. For Mac retouchers who do not need Photoshop-only plugins, it is the best cost-to-capability trade in 2026. Buy Canva Pro only for generative tools. Best for: Retouchers Leaving Photoshop Subscriptions, Product and Portrait Editors on Apple Silicon, Hybrid Creatives Needing Photo Plus Layout Free ## What is Affinity Photo 2? Affinity Photo 2 was Serif's paid Photoshop alternative. In August 2026 the live product is Canva's free unified Affinity app. Announced 29 October 2025, Affinity merges photo, vector, and layout tools into Pixel, Vector, and Layout studios on Mac and Windows. You sign in with a Canva account; you do not buy a $69.99 Photo 2 licence for new installs. Photo-class strength remains: non-destructive RAW develop, live filters, advanced masking, retouch brushes, high-bit-depth compositing, batch jobs, and strong PSD interop. Vector and layout tools sit in the same file, so a retouched hero image can move into a brochure without another app purchase. Core editing is free. Optional Canva AI Studio (Generative Fill, Expand & Edit, Remove Background, generative images) needs Canva premium, Pro commonly ~$144/year per person USD. Canva states Affinity content is not used to train AI. Classical heal/clone/grade/composite work never requires that upsell. On Apple Silicon and macOS Tahoe 26.x, Affinity is native and fast on layered retouch files that used to justify Creative Cloud. Competitors include Photoshop, Pixelmator Pro, Capture One for tethered RAW, and GIMP. Search still says Photo 2; install Affinity. A practical migration week looks like this: install Affinity, open ten real client PSDs and RAW files, export deliverables, and write down only the failures. Most studios discover missing pieces are niche plugins or generative expand, not healing tools, curves, or masks. Frequency separation, luminosity masking, focus merges, and panorama work remain free. Soft proofing and CMYK export cover packaging reviews. Batch jobs handle e-commerce volume without a cloud render queue. If generative fill becomes weekly, add Canva Pro; otherwise keep the budget at zero and put the former Adobe money into storage or colour-accurate displays. Community voice on X still frames Affinity as the free Photoshop path for artists who refuse subscriptions, which matches Canva's acquisition thesis: professional tools free, AI optional. Update Affinity after major macOS releases. ## Features - **Professional RAW Processing & Develop Persona.** Affinity Photo 2 has a dedicated Develop Persona for RAW work that sits in the same class as Adobe Camera Raw for everyday exposure, white balance, curves, and HSL edits with live previews. The RAW engine covers 600+ camera models and applies lens profiles for distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting. Gradient and brush masks handle local fixes; the Tone Mapping Persona covers HDR-style processing on single frames or bracketed sets. - **Layer-Based Non-Destructive Editing.** Affinity Photo 2 is built around unlimited layers with blend modes, masks, and adjustment layers. Live Filter layers keep effects editable (depth of field, lighting, blur, distortion). Curves, levels, black-and-white, and color balance stack as adjustment layers you can mask one by one. Photoshop users will recognize the layer stack and can keep similar file hygiene without relearning the whole hierarchy. - **Machine Learning Object Selection.** Version 2.6 added on-device machine learning tools: Object Selection and Select Subject. They run locally on Apple Silicon (M-series) and compatible Intel Macs, so selection stays on the machine and works offline. Hair and fur still need cleanup passes, but the first selection is usually good enough to cut minutes off mask setup compared with hand-tracing. - **HDR Merge, Panoramas & Focus Stacking.** Affinity Photo 2 includes advanced image stitching capabilities including HDR merge for combining bracketed exposures, panorama stitching with spherical and cylindrical projection options, and focus merge for extended depth-of-field photography. The tone mapping algorithm produces natural-looking results without the exaggerated halos common in automated HDR tools. For astrophotography, dedicated astro stacking features align and composite multiple exposures to reduce noise and enhance faint celestial details. - **Frequency Separation & Professional Retouching.** Portrait work gets built-in frequency separation so you can edit texture and color/tone on separate layers and keep pore detail while smoothing skin. Inpainting handles content-aware fills for blemishes and stray objects. Dodge and burn, clone stamp, and healing brushes finish the kit, with pressure-sensitive tablet input for brush dynamics. - **360° Image Editing & Equirectangular Projection.** Unique among professional photo editors, Affinity Photo 2 offers native 360-degree image editing capabilities. Users can import equirectangular panoramas and paint, clone, or apply adjustments directly on the spherical projection. This is essential for virtual tour creators and immersive content producers who need to remove tripods, patch nadir points, or enhance sky and ground details in panoramic photography without converting to flat projections. ## How to Install Affinity Photo 2 on Mac Affinity Photo 2 is available through the Mac App Store or as a direct download. Following Canva's acquisition, the unified Affinity app (combining Photo, Designer, and Publisher) is now completely free. System requirements: macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later, with Apple Silicon M-series chips or Intel Core processors supported. 1. **Download from Mac App Store.** Open the Mac App Store and search for "Affinity" (the unified app) or "Affinity Photo 2" for the legacy version. Click "Get" or "Install", the app is completely free with no purchase required. Alternatively, download directly from affinity.studio. 2. **Install and Launch.** The app will automatically install to your Applications folder. Launch Affinity Photo 2 from Launchpad or the Applications folder. On first run, macOS may prompt you to confirm opening an app downloaded from the internet, click "Open." 3. **Grant Permissions.** Navigate to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Files and Folders, then grant Affinity Photo 2 access to folders where you store images. For full functionality including machine learning features, ensure your Mac meets the system requirements (macOS 10.15+, Apple Silicon or compatible Intel). ## Pros - Full professional photo editor free under Affinity - Non-destructive RAW, live filters, and strong compositing - Native Apple Silicon speed without Creative Cloud - PSD interop good enough for most commercial handoffs - Vector and layout tools included at no extra cost - AI optional, classical retouching is not paywalled ## Cons - Canva account required to activate - Generative AI needs paid Canva plan - Some Photoshop smart-object/plugin workflows do not transfer - Capture One/Lightroom still lead tethered catalog pipelines - Tutorial naming mixes Photo 2 and new Affinity UI - Plugin marketplace smaller than Adobe's ## Analysis: Affinity Photo After the Free Canva Launch Affinity Photo 2 represents a significant evolution in professional photo editing software, both technically and commercially. Understanding its architecture helps explain its performance characteristics and recent transformation into a free product. ## FAQ ### Is Affinity Photo 2 free now? Photo-class tools are free inside Canva's unified Affinity app. Optional AI requires Canva premium. ### What happened to separate Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps? They merged into one Affinity app with Pixel, Vector, and Layout studios (29 October 2025 announcement). ### Do I need Canva Pro for normal retouching? No. Healing, masks, RAW develop, compositing, and export are free. Canva Pro is for Canva AI Studio features. ### How does cost compare to Photoshop? Affinity core is $0. Photoshop needs Creative Cloud. Even with Canva Pro for AI (~$144/year typical), most individuals still pay less than Photoshop alone. ### Can it open PSD files? Yes, layers, masks, and many adjustments. Review smart objects and plugin-dependent effects after import. ### Does it run on macOS Tahoe and Apple Silicon? Yes. Native Apple Silicon Affinity builds are supported on modern macOS including Tahoe 26.x. ### Is my content used to train AI? Canva states Affinity creative content is not used to train AI features. ### Should I uninstall legacy Photo 2? After verifying exports and presets in free Affinity, you can remove legacy binaries to avoid confusion. ### Is Affinity good for tethered shooting? Capture One or Lightroom Classic still lead tethered capture; Affinity shines for finishing and compositing. ### Can teams collaborate live like Figma? No multiplayer canvas like Figma. Use shared storage; optional Canva export helps later collaboration stages. ## Sources - [Introducing the all-new Affinity](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/all-new-affinity/) - [Why we made Affinity free](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/affinity-free/) - [Affinity site](https://www.affinity.studio/) - [Free Affinity access](https://www.canva.com/help/free-affinity-access/) - [Affinity Photo review 2026](https://flypix.ai/affinity-photo-tool-review/) - [Canva pricing](https://www.canva.com/pricing/) - [Canva AI pricing guide](https://www.eesel.ai/blog/canva-ai-pricing) - [Affinity pricing breakdown](https://checkthat.ai/brands/affinity/pricing) ## Related - [Figma](https://bundl.run/apps/figma) - [Canva](https://bundl.run/apps/canva) - [Sketch](https://bundl.run/apps/sketch) - [Adobe Creative Cloud](https://bundl.run/apps/adobe-creative-cloud) - [Affinity Designer 2](https://bundl.run/apps/affinity-designer-2) - [Blender](https://bundl.run/apps/blender) - [Affinity Photo 2 vs Adobe Photoshop](https://bundl.run/compare/affinity-photo-vs-photoshop) - [Affinity Photo 2 vs GIMP](https://bundl.run/compare/affinity-photo-2-vs-gimp) - [Affinity Photo 2 vs Pixelmator Pro](https://bundl.run/compare/affinity-photo-2-vs-pixelmator-pro) - [Affinity Photo 2 vs Affinity Designer 2](https://bundl.run/compare/affinity-designer-2-vs-affinity-photo-2) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://bundl.run/#organization", "name": "Bundl.run", "url": "https://bundl.run", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://bundl.run/og-image.png", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }, "description": "The Ninite for Mac. 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