Skip to main content

Help & support

Information on using the Affinity Store.

Below you will find help & support for the Affinity Store and your Affinity account. For all other enquiries please visit the Learn Pages or contact us on Twitter or Facebook.

Billing

What forms of payment do you accept?

We accept major credit and debit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, as well as PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay in certain countries.

If you‘re experiencing issues, please try an alternative payment method. If these issues persist, please contact the provider directly.

Why do I see a $1 charge on my bank statement?

When you place an order on the Affinity Store, we send over a request to your issuing bank for either a $0 or a $1 authorization (different banks permit different amounts) to verify that the card is issued, and the bank will allow it to be authorized. Regardless of whether or not the authorization is declined, we reverse our authorization request immediately. However, even if the bank declines the authorization, some people may still see an authorization for $1 on their credit card statement. This is not a charge, and it will disappear from your statement; depending on the bank, in anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks.

Who is Digital River?

Digital River is an Affinity approved e-commerce reseller, they act as the merchant of record, providing secure and tax compliant payments solutions. You may see Digital River referenced on our Store checkout, order receipt emails and your billing statement.

How do I submit a sales tax exemption certificate?

US customers can provide sales tax exemption details as part of the checkout flow. If your account type is either business or education you will see a sales tax exemption section after you enter your billing address details.

The tax exemption certificate must be addressed to Digital River, our e-commerce reseller, rather than Serif itself. Please address tax exemption certificates to:

Digital River, Inc.
10380 Bren Road West
Minnetonka, MN 55343

If your tax exemption certificate does not have an expiry date, please leave the end date field as the last day of the current month.

In some circumstances you might receive a follow-up email from our payment provider Digital River requesting more information about your tax certificate.

How do I obtain an invoice/VAT receipt?

On your account homepage, select Order history and locate the order you wish to obtain an invoice for. Select View invoice, a PDF invoice will download. Please note it can take up to 24 hours after a successful order for an invoice to be generated.

If the order is from before 7 November 2023, you may be asked to fill out a form with your address details to generate a PDF invoice.

Digital orders

How do I install Affinity software?

Please see our macOS and Windows installation guide.

How many computers can I install a digital product on?

Serif Software is platform specific. If you wish to use Serif Software on both Mac and Windows platforms, you must purchase a license for each or purchase a Universal License.

As a private individual, you can download, install, use and run for personal use, one copy of the Serif Software directly on each computer running either (depending on your purchased license) Microsoft Windows (“Windows Computer”) or macOS (“Mac Computer”) that you personally own or control.

As a commercial enterprise, you can download, install, use and run one copy of the Serif Software for use either: (a) by one specific individual on each of the Windows Computer(s) or Mac Computer(s) (depending on your purchased license) that they use, own or control, or (b) by multiple individuals on a single shared Windows Computer Mac Computer(s) (depending on your purchased license) that you own or control.

An End User License Agreement (EULA) is offered to the user for acceptance on product installation and can be read in full on our Licence Agreement page.

How do I download digital product updates?

Microsoft Windows:
When you launch your product, you’ll be prompted to download the latest update if available. On selecting Download you will be directed to a web page that will offer you the latest Windows release for your Affinity product.

macOS:
When you launch your product, your product will automatically check for updates and install them if required.

How do I download my digital product again?

You can download your digital product at any time by logging into your Affinity Account and visiting the Downloads & Keys option.

License Activation Explained

This section does not describe the End User Licence Agreement, but does describe the software activation process through the purchase of a licence and the registration process.

Without a purchased perpetual license the software runs as a free trial. For each application, Designer, Photo and Publisher, you can only have one free trial of our software on any desktop OS and a free trial on iPad.

The 4 types of Perpetual License

  1. An Affinity V2 Universal License: A single license covering all three Affinity applications (Designer, Photo, and Publisher) on all three operating systems (macOS, Windows and iPadOS).
  2. A single application license for macOS: one for each application — Designer, Photo, and Publisher.
  3. A single application license for Windows: one for each application — Designer, Photo, and Publisher.
  4. A single application license for iPadOS: one for each application — Designer, Photo, and Publisher.

Registering Affinity Store Software Downloads

For software downloads from the Affinity website, sign in to your Affinity Store account with your Affinity ID by selecting “My Account” in the software. Your Affinity Store account will need to contain a license entitlement for either a Desktop Licence or an Affinity V2 Universal License, otherwise it will run as a 7-day trial.

Mac App Store Downloads and Microsoft Store Downloads and iPad Store Downloads

Downloads from these stores are initially free and initially act as a 7-day trial. They offer in-app purchase of a Desktop/iPadOS License or an Affinity V2 Universal License. If you buy a license as an in-app purchase, you can also optionally register that purchase in your Affinity Store account by signing in with your Affinity ID using the “My Account” option in the software.

Using an Affinity V2 Universal License

An Affinity V2 Universal License allows you to use any Version 2 Affinity application (Designer, Photo and Publisher) on any supported operating system, including Windows, macOS, and iPadOS.

If you have purchased an Affinity V2 Universal License from the Affinity Store, that entitlement is already registered in your Affinity Store account.

If you in-app purchase an Affinity V2 Universal License through either the Mac App Store or the Microsoft Store you will also need to register that Affinity V2 Universal License in your Affinity Store account. By signing in with your Affinity ID to the “My Account” option in the software, your in-app purchased Affinity V2 Universal License entitlement will also become registered in your Affinity account.

When you then run a different Affinity Version 2 application, by choosing My Account in the software, and signing in with your Affinity ID, your Affinity V2 Universal License entitlement stops the software acting as a trial. That is true no matter which store you downloaded the Affinity software from (the Affinity Store/Mac App Store/Microsoft Store/iPad Store). If you don't sign in to your account, you will be prompted to purchase again, even though you have technically bought a license. This is due to limitations with the Mac App Store/the Microsoft Store that are beyond our control. However, by registering your Affinity V2 Universal License in your Affinity account it will then allow you to use your license on any Version 2 Affinity application on any operating system, including iPadOS.

Registered & Licensed Software

Once you have registered your software in My Account, you do not need to remain logged in to use the software or receive updates.

Any registered desktop software license also allows you to use the registered Affinity software on other desktop computers running on the same platform, whether downloaded from the Affinity Store or the Mac App Store or the Microsoft Store.

Volume Licensing

Business & Education licensing may be sold with Version 2 Activation Passwords which determine the terms of the license, from extended trials to perpetual licenses. You can use the Activation Password within the software to activate your software license. Contact the sales department support team if you need assistance with this.

Updates of Licensed Products

Once you purchase a perpetual license, the application works indefinitely on your computer. It does not matter which store you buy from, they all serve the latest release builds on that platform. We release updates to our software regularly, and all version 2.x updates are free for version 2 licensed customers.

Returns and Refunds

What is your returns policy?

We want you to be 100% satisfied with your Affinity purchase. If you are not satisfied with your product for any reason, you may return it within a 14 day period after receipt of your product to receive a full refund. Please email affinityreturns@serif.com with your name, order number and reason for returning the item to begin the process.

Complaints

How do I make a complaint?

If you wish to make a complaint, please email affinity@serif.com. We aim to respond to all queries within 24 hours, however this may take longer during busy sales, holiday periods and weekends.

What is your complaints process?

  • We’ll confirm receipt of your complaint via email, and provide you with more info about the process and what you can expect for the next steps
  • We’ll also send you regular updates on the progress of your complaint
  • A member of our team may contact you if we need more info about your complaint
  • We’ll let you know what the outcome of your complaint is as soon as we resolve it

Affinity account

I haven’t received an order receipt email. What should I do?

Check your email junk folder for your order confirmation email. If it can’t be found, contact affinityorders@serif.com.

I have a question related to my account. Who should I contact?

Please contact affinityorders@serif.com.

Who should I contact in relation to my Affinity product?

Visit the Affinity Learn pages for links to support.

How can I make my account more secure?

To add an additional layer of security to your account, we recommend enabling two-step verification (2SV). Please see more information in our help article.

Other

Do you provide volume/education licenses?

Please visit the Business or Education sections of the Affinity website for volume licensing details.

Still have other questions?

For additional information about Affinity, please contact us on Twitter or Facebook

This browser is no longer supported. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience. Find out more.