Affinity Photo for iPad has been updated to version 1.6.9, bringing enhanced gesture support to the popular photo editing app. To celebrate the major new update, developer Serif is running a limited time 30% off $13.99 sale price.

One of the most outstanding features of Affinity Photo’s recently released sister application, Affinity Designer, was how it wielded gesture-based control on the iPad to make it easier to manipulate content on screen. Today’s Affinity Photo update seeks to bring it up to date with a similar advanced gesture system for iPad users.

Version 1.6.9 of Affinity Photo includes the following changes

  • Added support for brush nozzle based texture mode.
  • New Undo/Redo gesture with two and three finger tap.
  • Added drag modifies to studio icons for color, text, navigation, and history.
  • Added canvas rotation control to Navigator Studio.
  • Added swipe gesture to swap primary and secondary colors on the Color Studio.
  • Context menu now uses a long-press release gesture to invoke.
  • Added two-finger hold gesture to resize a layer from its centre.
  • During shape creation, a two-finger hold gesture will transform the layer.
  • On the Layers Studio, with a layer selected, a two-finger tap on another layer will select all layers in between.
  • On the Layers Studio, pinch inwards (either vertically or horizontally to group selected layers. To ungroup, do the opposite and pinch out.
  • With the Move Tool active, a two-finger hold gesture on a layer plus a one finger drag duplicates the selected layer.
  • Easy access to merge and rasterise commands via Layer Studio icons.
  • New Export persona. A new workspace for exporting regions of your image as slices.
  • Improved brush stroke lag and small stoke response.
  • Brushes remember previously used stroke settings.
  • Move any custom brush to any category.
  • Added support for on-screen keyboard trackpad mode.
  • Added Tab key to on-screen keyboard context bar.
  • Updated Persona icons.
  • Numerous other improvements and bug fixes.

Make no mistake, this is a major new update for Affinity Photo, making it much easier to control your edits by relying on the iPad’s strength: multi-touch gesture based control. The update, which is available now on the App Store, comes in at just over 900 MB, and is free for existing Affinity Photo customers.

What’s your favorite new feature in Affinity Photo 1.6.9?