Canva Launches Free Affinity Creative Studio App for iPad with Pro-Level Tools

Image: Affinity’s creative studio is now available on iPad for free · Source

Canva has introduced Affinity for iPad, a free app offering powerful vector, photo, illustration, and layout tools optimized for Apple Pencil and touch, with optional AI features requiring a Canva Pro subscription.

Canva has expanded its creative suite with the launch of Affinity for iPad, a free app that delivers professional-grade vector graphic design, photo editing, illustration, and page layout tools tailored specifically for the iPad experience. This version of Affinity, originally relaunched as an all-in-one desktop app last year, is optimized for the Apple Pencil and touch interface, providing digital creatives with a versatile and portable solution for their design workflows.

The new app includes a Sketch Studio feature designed for freehand drawing and streamlining the transition from rough sketches to clean vector shapes. It supports advanced Apple Pencil Pro capabilities such as natural gestures, pressure sensitivity, tilt, barrel roll, squeeze, and hover, allowing users fine control over their tools and shortcuts.

Affinity for iPad maintains a consistent project workflow by saving sketching, vector design, photo editing, and layout tasks into the same .af file format, reducing the need for exporting or converting files. The app also retains compatibility with major design file types. In addition, Canva has integrated its AI Studio within the app, offering generative features like Generative Expand to extend backgrounds, automatic motion blur and noise reduction, and image resolution scaling.

Following Canva’s acquisition of Serif, the original developer of Affinity, in 2024, there were concerns about potential subscription impositions and AI integration altering the creative suite’s independent model. However, Canva and Serif have pledged not to enforce a subscription for the core tools. Individuals can access Affinity for iPad’s essential design and editing functions for free by creating a Canva account.

Access to AI-powered tools within the app is optional and requires a Canva Pro subscription, which starts at $18 per month. Neil Ladkin, Affinity's product design head, emphasized that the app was created by designers who themselves use iPad extensively, ensuring the interface and tool responsiveness fit creative workflows precisely.

With this release, Canva aims to provide digital artists and designers an accessible, powerful, and flexible platform on the iPad, expanding creative possibilities without a mandatory subscription.