They both start with a healthy overview of the app’s menus, commands, panels and the lot, but they don’t stop at that. That’s mainly due to the way these books teach you how to use the apps. Even as version 1.7 of Designer and Photo contain a lot of new stuff, once you’ve worked your way through the original books, you know enough to quickly assimilate the updates’ new features, shortcuts, etc. Do you need one for every update? No, you don’t. That’s, of course, always a bit of a bummer when you buy a printed software instruction book it does need updating from time to time and that implies you’ll have to buy a new book. The two versions that I received for review were already both updated to the latest version of the Affinity apps (1.7). And they may be perfect bound, but they are also perfectly bound, meaning the spine won’t loosen any pages if you do lay the books open flat. At the very least, you should seriously consider them as they contain invaluable information and tear-out cheat sheets.īoth books are hard cover perfect bound, but due to the weight of the thick semi-glossy paper you can lay them completely flat.

Did you know the people at Serif have written, edited and published their own books for learning Affinity Designer and Photo? Well, they have and they’re both excellent books for learning the two apps.

Affinity photo workbook review