Visual communication platform Canva has acquired Affinity, a professional design software used by creative studios and agencies, to give users more advanced tools while keeping the platform easy to use.
Canva, which now has over 200 million users worldwide, is popular for creating presentation decks, marketing campaigns, and motion graphics. Adding Affinity means designers now have access to professional-level tools for more precise and detailed work.
“Together, we now cover the full spectrum of creativity,” Liam Fisher, lead, Global Marketing for Pro Design at Canva, told Back End News in an email interview. “Freelancers and studios get professional performance without the high price. Enterprises and agencies can combine Affinity’s power with Canva’s collaboration features to create content on a global scale.”
Canva said the acquisition is meant to help companies speed up content creation while keeping quality high. Businesses today are producing more visual content than ever, and Canva believes tools that let teams work faster and together are becoming essential.
This acquisition is seen as a step toward giving all users, from first-time creators to professional designers, access to tools that make design faster, easier, and more precise.
The company also highlighted the growth of the gig economy in the Philippines, where many freelancers use Canva for design work. Fisher said the expanded tools from Affinity will help these creators stay competitive.
“The Philippines has always been one of Canva’s fastest-growing markets,” Fisher said. “One in five Filipino internet users are now on Canva, with a community of over 100,000 creatives and freelancers. Filipinos were among our earliest users, and today they are central to our global creative community.”
Fisher said Filipino designers will continue to influence Canva’s direction.
“Their creativity drives innovation, their feedback improves our products, and their work shows how professional-grade design can be accessible to everyone,” he said.
With Affinity, Canva can serve a wide range of users. Small business owners, creative directors, and large companies can now get both ease of use and advanced features. Designers can use Affinity for detailed work while using Canva for teamwork, editing, and scaling content. Everyday creators can also access more advanced tools without facing complex software or expensive licenses.
“This is the start of a unified creative ecosystem,” Fisher said. “Our goal is simple: to connect first-time designers and seasoned pros so they can work side by side and shape the future of design together.”
Affinity brings three main apps to Canva:
- Designer for vector illustrations
- Photo for high-resolution image editing
- Publisher for layouts and text-heavy projects.
A shared file format allows users to move work between apps without exporting, which professionals value.
Since joining Canva, Affinity has added nearly 50 new features while keeping the software fast even on simple devices. Combining Canva’s templates, AI tools, and collaboration features with Affinity’s capabilities creates a system that is both powerful and easy to use.
Canva said the two platforms remain separate but connected. This way, casual users can keep things simple, while professionals can access in-depth tools. A file created in Affinity can flow into Canva for team review, editing, or scaling without losing quality.
The company noted that workplaces are becoming more visual. Teams are producing more graphics, videos, and campaigns, and Canva’s report shows that design-focused communication helps businesses communicate more clearly and maintain consistent branding.
Canva said its goal is to make professional design tools available to more people. By putting advanced software in more hands, it hopes to create a more collaborative creative economy that reflects a wide range of ideas and talent worldwide.