Canva has released Affinity for iPad, bringing the Affinity creative suite to Apple's tablet as a free download for individuals. The app offers the same professional-grade tools for vector graphics, photo editing, illustration and page layouts found in the desktop version, rebuilt for touch screens and the Apple Pencil. The launch follows Canva's relaunch of Affinity as an all-in-one desktop app last year.
A new Sketch Studio anchors the iPad release, aimed at freehand drawing and smoothing the path from sketch to vector work. It includes tools built for masking and for automatically turning rough sketches into cleaner geometric shapes. The app also takes advantage of Apple Pencil Pro capabilities, including natural gestures, pressure sensitivity, tilt, barrel roll, squeeze and hover, giving users more control over tools and shortcuts.
Affinity product design head Neil Ladkin said the app delivers the full power of Affinity along with the portability of the iPad. He said every development decision was made by people who create on iPad themselves, from how the Apple Pencil responds to where tools are placed. Ladkin added that the app was built by people who have rotated a canvas many times to get a single line right.
Sketch, vector design, photo editing and layout projects can all be saved to the same .af file, reducing the need to export, convert or remake work between tasks. Affinity for iPad is also compatible with all major design file types. Canva has built its AI Studio into the app, offering features such as Generative Expand for extending backgrounds, automatic motion blur and noise reduction, and image resolution scaling.
The release arrives with some history behind it. When Canva acquired Serif, the developer behind Affinity, in 2024, some users worried the software would shift from a one-time license to a subscription model and adopt Canva's generative AI technology, weakening the suite's main advantage over rival Adobe. Canva and Serif pledged not to force users into subscriptions, and the companies have kept to that so far.
For US users, the pricing structure mirrors that arrangement. The core sketch, vector, photo editing and layout tools in Affinity for iPad are completely free for individuals, though a free Canva account is required. The AI tools are optional and require a Canva Pro subscription, which starts at $18 per month.
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