Canva has unveiled its Creative Operating System, marking the platform’s biggest evolution to date and redefining how teams and creators collaborate through design, AI, and brand management. Alongside the launch, Canva has also introduced the all-new Affinity, now available as a forever-free suite for professional creatives.
This major announcement positions Canva as a unified ecosystem for every stage of the creative process — from ideation and editing to publishing and performance tracking.
“The result is a faster, smarter, and more connected way to design, where human creativity leads and AI amplifies what’s possible,” Canva stated in its release.
Following its 2024 acquisition of Serif, Canva has relaunched Affinity as an all-in-one app for photo editing, vector illustration, and page layout. Designed for professional creators, the new Affinity allows seamless integration between Affinity and Canva, enabling users to create assets, collaborate, and scale brand experiences with ease.
“Affinity completes the full design process, enabling professional creatives to craft assets in Affinity and move them straight into Canva to collaborate, publish, and scale their brand,” said Canva, adding that “Affinity is completely free, forever, removing one of the last barriers for professional creators and opening access to world-class tools for everyone.”
When Branding in Asia spoke with Canva ECD Cat van der Werff last year, we asked her about plans for Affinity, and she told us: “Together, we can push our shared vision of democratizing design further, helping teams and individuals unlock their creativity in every corner of the workplace. Our goal is to become the go-to platform for all kinds of designers, from casual creators to seasoned professionals.”
Canva shared a comprehensive overview of the latest innovations introduced with its new Creative Operating System:
Canva Design Model: The world’s first AI model built to truly understand the elements and intricacies of great design.
AI Where You Work: Unlock creativity across every stage of the design process with a new intelligent design assistant.
Video 2.0: A redesigned video editor that simplifies the creation of professional and engaging video content.
Canva Grow: A powerful marketing platform to help brands ideate, design, distribute, and optimize campaigns for growth.
All-New Affinity: An all-in-one creative suite crafted by professionals for professionals—now completely free, forever.
Forms: Create interactive forms that can be seamlessly embedded into any design, from RSVP pages to contact forms.
Email Design: Craft visually appealing emails using Canva’s drag-and-drop tools, then export directly to your preferred email platform.
Canva Code in Sheets: Connect interactive widgets with Canva Sheets to visualize and update real-time data effortlessly.
Read more: Seven Media Appoints Sara Raffaghello as Chief Creative Officer
