Affinity is painfully lagging

Cassel · July 14, 2026 at 5:12 PM

I often work with PaintShop Pro and I can switch image, change tool, and everything (with a few exceptions) is quite fast, almost instantaneous. In Affinity, it can take 4-5 seconds when changing image, 4-5 seconds to even just close an image, etc.

Is there something I should change in the settings to make it somewhat faster to handle? Those repeated 4-5 second lags make the work somewhat painful!

ldina · July 14, 2026 at 5:32 PM

Cassel IF you are using Live Filters, especially a lot of them or in a large, complex document, that can slow things down substantially. Live Filters need to recalculate their effect and update the rendering on a regular basis, which uses a lot of RAM (and GPU) resources. A fast, supported GPU usually speeds up rendering of Live Filters. If you are using one or many Live Filters, try turning them off temporarily while doing other operations, then turn them on again afterwards. This will reduce constant recalculation while working.

There are probably other things to try, but if you are using Live Filters, try this first and see if it helps.

Cassel · July 14, 2026 at 5:44 PM

@Idina, I have very few layers, and I experience this even if I have just a series of jpg images with no filter, no additional layer.

Toblerone · July 14, 2026 at 5:58 PM

In my experience, Affinity is fast after a fresh installation, but over time it becomes slower. That is at least the case for me on Windows. Starting the application also takes noticeably longer than just after installation.

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