Major Differences Between Acorn 6 and 7
Acorn’s video tutorials are based on Acorn 6, but they can definitely be used to learn Acorn 7 with notable changes between Acorn 6 and 7 highlighted below.
Filters
FX button: The fx button brings up the filter options. It is located in lower lefthand corner of layers list in Acorn 6, and it is located in upper righthand corner of the canvas in Acorn 7.
Flatten button: Located at bottom right of the filters window in Acorn 6. Appears as a downward arrow at top of the filters window in Acorn 7.
Add Filters, Presets, and On-Canvas Controls: These buttons appears as a plus button, cogwheel, and overlapping circles respectively. In Acorn 6 the buttons are located at the bottom lefthand corner of the filters window. In Acorn 7 the buttons are at the top center of the filters window.
Shape Processors
P button: There is no shortcut button to summon shape processors in Acorn 6. In Acorn 7, the ‘p’ button to bring up shape processors is in the upper righthand corner of the canvas.
Apply button: Located at bottom right of the shape processor window in Acorn 6. Appears as a downward arrow at top of the shape processor window in Acorn 7.
Add Shape Processor, Copy Processors, and On-Canvas Controls: These buttons appears as a plus button, cogwheel, and overlapping circles respectively. In Acorn 6 the buttons are located at the bottom lefthand corner of the shape processor window. In Acorn 7 the buttons are at the top center of the shape processor window.
Unified Canvas
In Acorn 6 the inspector palette for tools, filters, and shape processors were all separate palettes. In Acorn 7, you can switch between viewing tools, filters, and shape processors by clicking the buttons located in the upper righthand corner of the canvas. If you prefer the Acorn6 behavior of having separate windows, you can go to Acorn ▸ Preferences ▸ General and check the ‘Float inspector palettes in windows’ button.
Export
Acorn 6 offers separate export and web export options. Acorn 7 combines the options into a unified window, eliminating the ‘web export’ menu item.
Colors Palette
Acorn 6 utilizes the MacOS system colors palette. Acorn 7 offers its own colors palette designed to be more streamlined. If you prefer to use the system colors palette in Acorn 7, you can change it in the preferences via Acorn ▸ Preference ▸ Fussy Stuff and check the button for ‘Use system color panel’.