Questions makers actually ask.

It's graphic design software that you can use online. NIVA was made for the creative community by an artist who was frustrated by big corporations controlling design tools. It's got photo editing, vector drawing and layout all in one place.

The British artist Stuart Semple made NIVA because he was frustrated by the way big corporations were treating creators. Stuart Semple is famous for giving the creative community access to tools to express themselves with. Famously he shared the world's blackest paint after Anish Kapoor got exclusive rights to it. He also created versions of Tiffany Blue, Klein Blue and other corporately owned shades. After Adobe and Pantone paywalled access to its colours, making creators pay another subscription to access the palette, Semple created FREETONE, which he gave away to the design community. Hundreds of thousands of designers use it every day.

No, it'll work in your browser. A downloadable desktop app for Windows and Mac is in the works, and Unlock owners will be first to get it.

All your work is totally private by default. It stays on your machine for your eyes only. That really matters to us because we are in a time where AI is gobbling up all our work, and it's vital you have control over what you create. Saying that, if you choose to share it there are some cool ways you can. Every NIVA user gets a free portfolio to share their best work with the world, if they want to use it. We've also built a really good file sharing tool so you can send work or files up to 500MB to collaborators, printers or friends. You're in total control over who gets what, but to send it, we do need to save a copy safely online.

Yes, it really is free. Every creator can use NIVA for an hour a day, without ever having to pay anything. It resets at midnight and has no limitations at all. This is made possible by designers buying a Day Pass for $10 if they need longer, and every Day Pass counts as money off owning NIVA. Owners of NIVA have no time restrictions at all, and there's no subscription payments. Those that own NIVA, own it for life, because we think you should be able to own the tools of your trade without paying rent.

You'll see a friendly pop up. We automatically save your work so you can carry on later. You'll also get the option to download your project file. Nothing is lost. Then it's up to you: you can come back after midnight when your time resets, or click to extend your time with a Day Pass, or even decide to own NIVA forever.

No, there's no subscription. We fundamentally believe that renting the tools you need to make your work is wrong. Big corporations have been profiting from creators for too long, and it's tough enough out there without having to pay huge fees every month. If you choose to own NIVA, it's yours for life, one payment. We also give every creator completely free use for an hour every single day.

A Day Pass is exactly that: 24 hours of NIVA use. We're able to give all creators an hour of NIVA a day for free, and a Day Pass comes in handy when you need longer to finish your work or you have a specific project. The good thing is that every Day Pass counts towards the cost of unlocking NIVA, so if you decide you want to own it in the future, your contribution has already gone towards it. We'll never make you pay twice. It makes owning NIVA more manageable, and exists for those that don't need to own it forever. Every Day Pass goes towards paying it forward and helping us provide the free hour to everyone.

NIVA has all the professional tools you'd expect, all the tools you'd normally reach for and none of the ones you never use. It's not a template-based system aimed at everyone. It's for designers who really want to express their craft, which means you can get true professional results. Real typography, proper colour handling, print-ready PDF export at full resolution. Proper vector tools. Genuine photo editing, not just filters. It's a powerful suite of tools but it's designed to be easy to use and not intimidating. It may look simple but there's a lot of power under the hood.

Adobe is a rental model. It charges creators increasing amounts of money every month to rent the tools they need. The software is powerful, but it's spread over 20 different applications, and managing them all is a nightmare. They are a multi-billion dollar corporation that's made their mark by monopolizing digital creativity. NIVA is the exact opposite. It's free for the design community to use every day, and if you decide to own it, it's one payment and it's actually yours. We believe creators should own the tools of their trade. Unlike Adobe, we don't separate illustration, layout and photo editing into different apps. We don't even have them as different personas or tabs, we brought them all together on one canvas, so if you want to type, paint, edit a photo or lay out some artboards, it's all there in one. NIVA wasn't built by a mega corporation, it was built by one artist who thought it was time for a change.

Affinity is a great bit of software, the fact it's free for the creative community is amazing. The difference is that the learning curve with Affinity is steep, it's no good for a beginner and takes a couple of months to truly master. NIVA is made so that you can get started straight away. You don't even need to download or install anything, Affinity is a big download and setup before you've drawn a single line, NIVA just works, right in your browser. It's designed to put your ideas and craft front and centre, you don't need to find your way round a cockpit of controls. We've also properly integrated illustration, layout and photo into one stage without having to swap personas or tabs. NIVA is all about helping you to start creating as fast as possible, you're straight into making before you know it. A lot of people open Affinity, don't know where to start, and close it. Which is a shame.

Canva is great for non-designers who need to produce something quick. It's full of templates that are easy to edit. The problem is, it looks like Canva. With NIVA it's much more about your own craft and creative freedom, it's a true blank page for makers who want to author their own work.

Yes, you can easily export or share a print-ready PDF, output is full resolution. There's no watermarks anywhere or quality caps at all.

It's very much for your laptop or desktop. You need to see what you're working on to make the most of the tools we made. There's no plans at the moment for a mobile version.