Consider Affinity Designer 2 for iPad (now $0) as a ToonSquid accessory app

[Cat-Butler]

My sincere apologies if this is regarded as too much off-topic, in which case I am happy for this post to be deleted.
Just posted this on https://www.reddit.com/r/ToonSquidAnimators/ and I thought it might be of interest to some users here as well.

Just a note that Affinity Designer 2 for iPad's in-app licence in the App Store is currently $0.

Some big Affinity announcement is coming October 30 (Affinity 3 apps? Speculation is rife without any evidence except a teaser video from the Affinity team announcing upcoming "creative freedom" - does this mean freemium with optional Canva subscription, web-based apps, something entirely different?) and the desktop apps are not currently available (again, until October 30).

Reasons to consider getting the iPad version for use with ToonSquid:

• SVGs from Affinity Designer import well into ToonSquid as vector layers.
• Like ToonSquid, Affinity Designer supports both vector and pixel-based elements/layers.
• Moderate ecosystem of free and (mostly) paid Affinity brushes, styles, palettes, etc. (Not as big as the ecosystems for Procreate or Photoshop content).
• Affinity also supports import of (some) .abr brushes.
• PSDs from Designer import well into ToonSquid (since update 2.0.9), both vector and pixel (raster) elements/layers. Pixel-based PSDs import with each layer already trimmed to content size when you use the ToonSquid transform tool (e.g. select a leg layer in ToonSquid, only the leg itself is surrounded by the transform box), whereas from many other apps each PSD layer is still the full image/canvas size (when you select the leg layer, the transform box is the entire layer/canvas size).
• Affinity Designer "export persona" allows you to designate specific layers/areas as "slices", so you can export multiple props/elements/body parts to separate PNGs as a single operation.
• Extra tools (e.g. the cog tool ) for creating backgrounds, props, body parts for rigging.

Reasons to ignore it:

• Steeper learning curve, more complex interface, than some apps.
• 1.78 GB in size for the iPad app, before you start creating any projects.
• Might be something better after October 30 (or you might have missed your chance. Nobody knows.)
• Duplication, many of the same effects/objects can be created directly within ToonSquid with the existing tools, although possibly through a different workflow.

Browse the Designer online help.

Personally I think it makes a good complementary tool to have in your toolkit, but I do not expect everybody to agree.