Install Guide Rum

Set Up Wine for Affinity Apps Using Rum

Preface

This guide sets up Wine for Affinity without a GUI launcher like Lutris or Bottles. Instead, it uses rum, a small shell script that manages multiple Wine runners from the command line.

Use this method if you want direct control over your Wine runners and prefixes. It works best if you are also comfortable working in a terminal.

Dependencies

Install these programs (or your distro's equivalent) before you continue:

• wget
• unzip
• git
• winetricks

Debian-based distros:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install wget unzip git winetricks

Arch-based distros:

sudo pacman -Sy wget unzip git winetricks

Fedora-based distros:

sudo dnf install wget unzip git winetricks

Directory Setup

Create two directories in ~/.local/share/ to keep your runners and prefixes organized outside your $HOME:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/wine/runners
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes

Download the Wine Runner

Download a build of ElementalWarrior's Wine fork and unzip it.

Note

Check the ElementalWarrior-x86_64 releases page for newer builds of ElementalWarrior's Wine fork.

pushd ~/.local/share/wine/runners &&
wget https://github.com/seapear/AffinityOnLinux/releases/download/Legacy/ElementalWarriorWine-x86_64.tar.gz &&
tar xvzf ElementalWarriorWine-x86_64.tar.gz &&
rm ElementalWarriorWine-x86_64.tar.gz &&
popd

Set Up rum

1. Download rum into /opt:

   cd /opt/
   sudo git clone https://gitlab.com/xkero/rum.git

2. Take ownership of the folder as your current user:

   sudo chown -R $USER:$USER rum/

3. Create a symlink in /usr/local/bin/:

   sudo ln -sf /opt/rum/rum /usr/local/bin/rum

4. Open rum in an editor to point it at the custom runners path you set up earlier:

   nano /opt/rum/rum

5. Change the wines variable to:

   wines="$HOME/.local/share/wine/runners"
   

6. Run rum with no arguments to check the setup. It must print:

   Not enough arguments!
   Usage: rum <wine-version or /path/to/wine/version> </path/to/wine/prefix> <wine command> [wine arguments...]
   
   Wine versions available:
   ElementalWarriorWine-x86_64
   

   This confirms rum found ElementalWarriorWine.

Set Up an Alias

Register an alias so you do not need to type the full path to the Affinity Wine prefix every time.

1. Open your .bashrc or a dedicated .bash_aliases file.
2. Add this alias:

   alias wine-ew-affinity='rum ElementalWarriorWine-x86_64 $HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/'

   Rename it if you prefer. This name is only an example.
3. Source the file you edited:

   source ~/.bash_aliases

4. Run the alias with no arguments and check that it prints the same message as the rum test above.

Note

If Fish is your default shell, manage this alias in Fish's own configuration instead of .bashrc. Edit (or create) ~/.config/fish/config.fish and add:

alias wine-ew-affinity='rum ElementalWarriorWine-x86_64 $HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/'

Configure the Wine Prefix

Initialize the Prefix

Initialize the prefix that will hold the Affinity install:

wine-ew-affinity wineboot --init

Run Winetricks

Important

This step uses the remove_mono verb because the .NET Framework version installed next directly conflicts with Wine Mono, as stated in the Wine Mono README. Always remove Wine Mono before installing .NET Framework 4.8 or earlier. It can coexist with .NET Core and .NET 5 or later.

1. Run winetricks with these options to install the needed dependencies in your Affinity prefix:

   wine-ew-affinity winetricks --unattended --force remove_mono vcrun2022 dotnet48 corefonts tahoma win11

2. Set the renderer to Vulkan, as a separate step after the previous winetricks verbs finish:

   wine-ew-affinity winetricks renderer=vulkan

Note

Step 1 takes a while and prints many warnings. This is expected. Let it run to completion.

Get WinMetadata

Download some Windows system files and place them in the prefix's C drive:

pushd ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/windows/system32/ &&
wget https://archive.org/download/win-metadata/WinMetadata.zip &&
unzip WinMetadata.zip &&
rm WinMetadata.zip &&
popd

Install Affinity Software

You need an Affinity installer in EXE format, not MSIX format.

Tip

Official download links for Affinity installers:

Program	URL
Affinity by Canva	https://www.affinity.studio/download
Photo V2	https://store.serif.com/update/windows/photo/2/
Designer V2	https://store.serif.com/update/windows/designer/2/
Publisher V2	https://store.serif.com/update/windows/publisher/2/
Photo V1	https://store.serif.com/update/windows/photo/1/
Designer V1	https://store.serif.com/update/windows/designer/1/
Publisher V1	https://store.serif.com/update/windows/publisher/1/

Note

For Affinity by Canva, select "Enterprise (Intel/AMD)" from the "Download for Windows" drop-down menu on the official download page to get the EXE installer.

This example uses the Affinity Photo V1 installer.

1. Run the installer:

   wine-ew-affinity wine ~/Downloads/affinity-photo-1.10.6.exe

   

2. Click Install. Ignore any warnings Wine throws.

3. When the installer finishes, close it.

4. Launch the software:

   wine-ew-affinity wine ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program\ Files/Affinity/Photo/Photo.exe

   

Commands to Launch Affinity Software

Use these commands to launch each Affinity app:

Affinity by Canva:

wine-ew-affinity wine ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program\ Files/Affinity/Affinity/Affinity.exe

Affinity Photo V2:

wine-ew-affinity wine ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program\ Files/Affinity/Photo 2/Photo.exe

Affinity Designer V2:

wine-ew-affinity wine ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program\ Files/Affinity/Designer 2/Designer.exe

Affinity Publisher V2:

wine-ew-affinity wine ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program\ Files/Affinity/Publisher 2/Publisher.exe

Affinity Photo V1:

wine-ew-affinity wine ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program\ Files/Affinity/Photo/Photo.exe

Affinity Designer V1:

wine-ew-affinity wine ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program\ Files/Affinity/Designer/Designer.exe

Affinity Publisher V1:

wine-ew-affinity wine ~/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program\ Files/Affinity/Publisher/Publisher.exe

Additional Tips & Tricks

Fix Scaling on HiDPI Screens

To adjust scaling on high resolution monitors:

1. Run:

   wine-ew-affinity winecfg

2. Go to the Graphics tab.
3. Temporarily enable Emulate a virtual desktop.
4. Adjust the Desktop size.
5. Disable Emulate a virtual desktop.
6. Increase the dpi value to your preference.

Note

The dpi value is a percentage applied to the currently set Desktop Size. For example, on a 4K monitor, setting the desktop size to 1920 x 1080 and scaling it by 200% works well.

Enable Dark Theme for Wine

1. Download the wine-dark-theme.reg file from this repository.
2. Save it to your Downloads folder.
3. Open a terminal and run cd Downloads.
4. Run:

   wine regedit wine-dark-theme.reg

5. Press Enter. You may see a message saying "Wine could not find a wine-mono package...". Click Install.

To enable the dark theme for the Affinity prefix specifically, run the following, replacing username with your local username:

WINEPREFIX="/home/username/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity" wine regedit wine-dark-theme.reg

Note

The WINEPREFIX environment variable only accepts an absolute path. A value built from another environment variable, such as $HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity, does not work here.

Creating a Desktop Launcher

This section sets up a reusable wrapper script and .desktop launchers, so you can pin Affinity apps to your desktop or taskbar with proper icons.

Step 1: Create the Wrapper Script

Create an executable wrapper in ~/.local/bin (this folder is usually already in $PATH):

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
nano ~/.local/bin/wine-ew-affinity

Paste this inside:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Wrapper for Affinity Wine prefix
rum ElementalWarriorWine-x86_64 "$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/" "$@"

Save and exit (CTRL+O, Enter, CTRL+X), then make it executable:

chmod +x ~/.local/bin/wine-ew-affinity

Test it. This should launch Publisher 2 manually:

wine-ew-affinity wine "$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program Files/Affinity/Publisher 2/Publisher.exe"

Step 2: Download Affinity Icons

Download the Affinity app icons from this repository's Assets/Icons folder.

Step 3: Install Icons in the Correct Theme Path

KDE and GNOME both follow the freedesktop.org icon spec.

1. Create the icon theme folder:

   mkdir -p ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/

2. Copy your downloaded SVG files, renamed consistently.

   For Affinity by Canva's default icon:

   cp /home/$USER/Downloads/Affinity-Canva.svg ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/affinity-canva.svg

   For Affinity by Canva's squircle icon:

   cp /home/$USER/Downloads/Affinity-Canva-Squircle.svg ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/affinity-canva.svg

   For Affinity V1 and V2:

   cp /home/$USER/Downloads/Designer.svg   ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/affinity-designer.svg
   cp /home/$USER/Downloads/Photo.svg      ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/affinity-photo.svg
   cp /home/$USER/Downloads/Publisher.svg  ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/affinity-publisher.svg

Step 4: Create .desktop Launchers

Create one launcher file per app.

Affinity by Canva (nano ~/.local/share/applications/affinity-canva.desktop):

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Affinity by Canva
Exec=wine-ew-affinity wine "C:/Program Files/Affinity/Affinity/Affinity.exe"
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Icon=affinity-canva
Categories=Graphics;Design;Publishing;

Alternative Exec=:

Exec=env 'WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity' wine-ew-affinity '$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program Files/Affinity/Affinity/Affinity.exe'

Affinity Designer 2 (nano ~/.local/share/applications/affinity-designer.desktop):

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Affinity Designer 2
Exec=wine-ew-affinity wine "C:/Program Files/Affinity/Designer 2/Designer.exe"
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Icon=affinity-designer
Categories=Graphics;Design;

Alternative Exec=:

Exec=env 'WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity' wine-ew-affinity '$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program Files/Affinity/Designer 2/Designer.exe'

Affinity Photo 2 (nano ~/.local/share/applications/affinity-photo.desktop):

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Affinity Photo 2
Exec=wine-ew-affinity wine "C:/Program Files/Affinity/Photo 2/Photo.exe"
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Icon=affinity-photo
Categories=Graphics;Photography;

Alternative Exec=:

Exec=env 'WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity' wine-ew-affinity '$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program Files/Affinity/Photo 2/Photo.exe'

Affinity Publisher 2 (nano ~/.local/share/applications/affinity-publisher.desktop):

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Affinity Publisher 2
Exec=wine-ew-affinity wine "C:/Program Files/Affinity/Publisher 2/Publisher.exe"
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Icon=affinity-publisher
Categories=Graphics;Publishing;

Alternative Exec=:

Exec=env 'WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity' wine-ew-affinity '$HOME/.local/share/wine/prefixes/affinity/drive_c/Program Files/Affinity/Publisher 2/Publisher.exe'

Step 5: Make Launchers Executable and Update Caches

1. Make the launcher files executable:

   chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/affinity-*.desktop

2. Update the GNOME / freedesktop menu cache:

   update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications/

3. Update the KDE Plasma menu and icon cache:

   kbuildsycoca6
   gtk-update-icon-cache ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor

Note

On KDE Plasma 5, use kbuildsycoca5 instead of kbuildsycoca6.

Step 6: Pin and Use

• KDE Plasma: open the App Menu, search Affinity by Canva / Affinity Designer 2 / Publisher 2 / Photo 2, then right-click and choose Pin to Task Manager or Add to Desktop.
• GNOME: open Activities / the App Grid, search for the apps, then right-click and choose Add to Favorites to add them to the dock.

At this point you have a reusable wine-ew-affinity wrapper, all apps showing in your menus with custom icons, and launchers you can pin to your taskbar, dock, or desktop.

Credits

Thanks to:

• ElementalWarrior for his Wine fork
• Twig6943 for building the Wine binary
• xkero for his rum script
• foinf for finding a fix for the broken .NET install
• wanesty for the original rum guide

Troubleshooting

• Winetricks prints many warnings during the remove_mono vcrun2022 dotnet48 ... step. This is expected. Let it run to completion instead of cancelling it.
• A "Wine could not find a wine-mono package..." message appears when running wine regedit. Click Install. This is unrelated to the earlier remove_mono step. Wine is only offering to reinstall Wine Mono for its own regedit process.
• The Affinity installer throws warnings after you click Install. Ignore them and let the installer finish. This is expected under Wine.
• rum prints no Wine versions available. Check that you edited the wines variable in /opt/rum/rum to point at $HOME/.local/share/wine/runners, and that the ElementalWarrior build was actually extracted into that folder.

Known Issues

No issues specific to the Rum method are currently tracked. For issues that affect multiple install methods, including Wine itself, see General-Known-Issues.