Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher are now up to 10 times faster on Windows

Affinity Publisher Windows 10 (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher just received a major update to version 1.9.
The update includes GPU acceleration, which can bring a tenfold speed increase on supported systems.
All of the Affinity apps are currently half price.

GPU acceleration has been available on the macOS and iPad versions of the Affinity apps for some time but is now making its way to Windows 10. To take advantage of it, you have a PC with a Direct3D feature level 12.0 capable card.

The release notes are lengthy and go into more detail on every single feature, but here are some of the most important highlights:

Performance improvements (all Affinity apps)Expect big performance gains when working with large complex vector documents in all apps as well as much faster IDML import in Publisher.PDF passthrough (desktop only) (all desktop Affinity apps)It's now possible to flag your imported PDFs for PDF passthrough. This ensures that the file will be a perfect representation of the original PDF when exporting, regardless of whether you have the embedded fonts installed or not.Windows GPU acceleration (all Windows Affinity apps)We've made use of hardware acceleration on both the macOS and iPad versions of Affinity for some time (including being some of the first apps to optimise for the new Apple M1 chips). Now, Windows users can experience these large performance boosts too with up to 10x faster performance on pixel-based tasks like filter effects, adjustments and painting. Requires Windows 10 (April 2020 update or later) with a Direct3D feature level 12.0 capable card.Content sync of store purchases (all Affinity apps)You now have the ability to link your apps with your Affinity account and download all of your content from the store directly to your apps. All purchased content will show up in your linked apps once you complete the download, ready for you to use even when you're offline.

As a reminder, all of the Affinity apps are on sale for 50 percent off right now. Also, if you prefer to try them out for free, they all have a free trial going on as well.

Affinity Photo

This photo editor delivers a professional level of tools and options without needing a subscription.

Affinity Designer

This graphic design program allows you to edit vector and raster designs and doesn't require a subscription.

Affinity Publisher

This publication app can link with Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer, so you don't have to jump between apps.

Sean Endicott is a news writer and apps editor for Windows Central with 11+ years of experience. A Nottingham Trent journalism graduate, Sean has covered the industry’s arc from the Lumia era to the launch of Windows 11 and generative AI. Having started at Thrifter, he uses his expertise in price tracking to help readers find genuine hardware value.

Beyond tech news, Sean is a UK sports media pioneer. In 2017, he became one of the first to stream via smartphone and is an expert in AP Capture systems. A tech-forward coach, he was named 2024 BAFA Youth Coach of the Year. He is focused on using technology—from AI to Clipchamp—to gain a practical edge.