Affinity (Serif) goes head to head with Photoshop & (maybe) Illustrator

[tomos]

I'm just after signing up for the Affinity Window's beta programme.
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/windows/

Affinity Photo (image editor)
Affinity Designer (Vector software)

I'll focus on Affinity Photo, as that's what I have the most info about (and it sounds the more promising of the two).
Affinity Photo:
from Serif, has been available on mac for over a year now. It aims to compete directly with Photoshop. They emphasise that their software is 50US$ which includes two years updates, in contrast to Photoshop which requires a subscription -- with Lightroom, 8 to 10US$/month (+taxes), depending on location.

All that's no good if it dont work. Here's what they promise:
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/
These days it's often difficult to get a simple list of features on websites... so, a video:
https://vimeo.com/132757806

Quotes from reviews of the mac version:

[..] running a Macbook Pro 15" with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB Hybrid Drive.
As a rough comparison, my Photoshop install typically takes between 45 seconds to 2 minutes to boot up and start running. Affinity Photo takes between 10-20 seconds.
//
Where Affinity really shines is its speed and price. It is definitely affordable, and its performance is spectacular. It is fast, well organized and has almost everything that most image editors might require on a daily basis. It has all of the brushes you need to get the job done, with a lot of customization features.

http://www.sitepoint.com/review-affinity-photo-image-editor/
(March 10, 2015)

Overall, Affinity Photo is a fabulous program that really does rival the best professional and enthusiast-level image-editing packages on the market. It easily takes the lead over previous Serif programs that we've seen for PC, and is a worthy winner of Apple's 'Mac App of the Year' award, 2015.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/software/graphics-and-media-software/image-editing-software/serif-affinity-photo-1295010/review

Sounds interesting.

[Jibz]

Looks interesting, going to have to keep an eye on that.

I think it is hard to compete with Photoshop because it is such a kitchen sink.

[wraith808]

Looks interesting, going to have to keep an eye on that.

I think it is hard to compete with Photoshop because it is such a kitchen sink.

There is that, but I think it's simpler in scope, and harder to beat: They are the known name in the field.  Just like "you can't go wrong with Microsoft" was the mantra for a while, "you're not a real artist if you're not using Photoshop" is a real thing.

[tomos]

Looks interesting, going to have to keep an eye on that.

I think it is hard to compete with Photoshop because it is such a kitchen sink.

There is that, but I think it's simpler in scope, and harder to beat: They are the known name in the field.  Just like "you can't go wrong with Microsoft" was the mantra for a while, "you're not a real artist if you're not using Photoshop" is a real thing.

yeah, the Creative Suite is a bit like Office too. Plus Photoshop has all the fancy plugins etc etc. But who really needs all that, especially now: I suspect people that might have bought before think would twice about a subscription. Or they subscribe and realise they're not using it enough to justify the cost and cancel.

I guess it's partly because it's got the kitchen sink that's it's such a snail. But then I think that speed was never particularly important for Adobe. When I first started using vector programmes, Illustrator 8 was a snail in comparison to Freehand 9. I eventually bought ai CS4 and it was slower again.
Earlier versions of Photoshop were quite fast though. (I dont have experience with anything more recent than Photoshop CS2. For fine-tuning photographs I was happily using Photoshop 5.5 for over ten years -- combined with a select edges plugin, it was all I needed.)

I think there could be a very big market for almost-as-good-as-Photoshop software.
(I see Sagelight appears to be dead.)

[Deozaan]

But who really needs all that, especially now: I suspect people that might have bought before think would twice about a subscription. Or they subscribe and realise they're not using it enough to justify the cost and cancel.

Actually, I think it's the opposite. Before, Photoshop or the Creative Suite was something like $600. Now it's "only" $10 a month. That seems much more affordable to me, and I think many people agree with that and are actually paying for Photoshop now instead of just downloading a pirated version of it.

But that's just a hunch. I have no evidence to back that thought up with.

[wraith808]

But who really needs all that, especially now: I suspect people that might have bought before think would twice about a subscription. Or they subscribe and realise they're not using it enough to justify the cost and cancel.

Actually, I think it's the opposite. Before, Photoshop or the Creative Suite was something like $600. Now it's "only" $10 a month. That seems much more affordable to me, and I think many people agree with that and are actually paying for Photoshop now instead of just downloading a pirated version of it.

But that's just a hunch. I have no evidence to back that thought up with.

Seems like the mindset I'd expect.  Before, we were using a lot older version of photoshop that we'd picked up at a student discount.  Now, $10 a month for the latest version means that we're on the newest version of photoshop at a pittance.

[rjbull]

I think there could be a very big market for almost-as-good-as-Photoshop software.

I thought that's what Elements was...  though my impression is that most photographers'  new first port of call is Lightroom, only turning to Photoshop or equivalent when they really need the extra features.

[wraith808]

I think there could be a very big market for almost-as-good-as-Photoshop software.

I thought that's what Elements was...  though my impression is that most photographers'  new first port of call is Lightroom, only turning to Photoshop or equivalent when they really need the extra features.

Photoshop and Lightroom have totally different focuses.  I think a lot of people get that wrong.  This isn't to say that what you do in Lightroom you couldn't do in Photoshop- for the most part.  Lightroom does have some features that Photoshop will probably never have.  But where lightroom shines is working on them in bulk and seeing the results live and applying wholesale changes to a lot of images.  Photoshop is meant for making significant changes to a photo by using a vast array of tools.  Lightroom is meant for very quickly organizing your entire library of photos and making the most common edits to them quickly.

A very good breakdown on that: https://photographylife.com/photoshop-vs-lightroom

So I think that is a fallacy that one is a substitute for the other.

[tomos]

Affinity Designer, Vector app (Illustrator competitor):

Affinity Designer for Windows has entered what’s called the 'release candidate' (RC) stage.

https://affinity.serif.com/forum/index.php?/topic/27786-affinity-designer-public-beta-rc9-15035-windows/

Affinity Photo (Photoshop competitor) beta has just been announced:
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/windows/

[Curt]

it should be mentioned that Affinity is 64-bits only.

[tomos]

it should be mentioned that Affinity is 64-bits only.

I missed that. I struggle with these modern websites, cant even find a meaningful features page for Designer for Windows (which they're already selling). Where did you get that info Curt?

[Jibz]

There are some requirements in the Windows Install FAQ on the forums. There is also a list of cameras whose RAW format Photo supports.

[Curt]

the 64_bits -info came via the email with the download link for the beta:

click to enlarge:
[attachthumb=#]

homepage begins at https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/ ; it is 6 pages!

[tomos]

the 64_bits -info came via the email with the download link for the beta:

click to enlarge:
[attachthumb=#]

thanks Curt - I didnt scroll down below the download links so never saw that message.
Have you tried 'Photo' yet? (haven't yet myself)


Re the website: with these modern webpages I become like a grumpy old geezer - all that scrolling, inability to link to any particular part of the long scroll. I must become more tolerant of change ;-)

[Curt]

life would be easier if you all were inside my head so you better would understand what I said and what I forgot to mention...

Anyway, my reason for not being too detailed is that I lost my 64 bit tower after I had signed up for the Affinity project. Now I merely have a 32 bit laptop, so I never went any further than the "welcome"-page where I was reminded of the "64 bit only".

The screenshot was not from the email but the said welcome page. You must sign up (again) and give your email address, before they'll mail you the download link.

[Deozaan]

Anyone who already signed up wanna just share the download link so we don't have to give out an email address to try it out?

[4wd]

Anyone who already signed up wanna just share the download link so we don't have to give out an email address to try it out?

Knock yourself out 

Download ~277MB

I'm finding it a little on the slow side loading images but haven't really looked too much into the whole program yet.

And Designer if you want to play with that also:

Download ~253MB

[tomos]

life would be easier if you all were inside my head so you better would understand what I said and what I forgot to mention...

yeah, I know that one

[Deozaan]

Anyone who already signed up wanna just share the download link so we don't have to give out an email address to try it out?

Knock yourself out 

Thanks! 

[TucknDar]

Full version Affinity Designer 1.5 for Windows was released two days ago! https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/designer/

Opening offer of £30 / $40 / €40 until 24th November. Official price at £40 / $50 / €50 after that. Very decent price!

[Carol Haynes]

Another one to consider is Xara Designer: http://www.xara.com/uk/designer-pro/

Bit more expensive but includes excellent vector graphics, photo editing and web design all in one package and it supports PhotoShop plugins.

[TucknDar]

From the Serif website:

Serif legacy products

Our legacy, or 'Plus' range of software is no longer being developed as we focus entirely on our new Affinity range of professional graphic design software. However licenses for WebPlus, PagePlus, PhotoPlus and DrawPlus are still available to purchase here if you wish.

They're selling these for £20 /$25 a piece.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I successfully downloaded free (latest) full versions of MoviePlus X6, WebPlus X8 and PagePlus X9 by using email address I used to purchase PagePlus X8. You'll need to pay for DrawPlus X8 and PhotoPlus X8, however.

[Jibz]

I'm pondering whether to get this or not.

The reason I am slightly reluctant is one experience I had with the beta. I wanted to draw a simple diagram for a blog post, and figured that was a good thing to try with Designer. I spent 10 minutes looking for the menu or button to put an arrow at the end of a line with no luck. I then googled, and apparently there was no such thing. There were some workarounds on their forums, but it just seemed odd to me that putting shapes like an arrowhead at the end of lines was not standard.

But perhaps this type of use is not what Designer targets. Or perhaps it was just missing in the beta.

[tomos]

I'm pondering whether to get this or not.

The reason I am slightly reluctant is one experience I had with the beta. I wanted to draw a simple diagram for a blog post, and figured that was a good thing to try with Designer. I spent 10 minutes looking for the menu or button to put an arrow at the end of a line with no luck. I then googled, and apparently there was no such thing. There were some workarounds on their forums, but it just seemed odd to me that putting shapes like an arrowhead at the end of lines was not standard.

But perhaps this type of use is not what Designer targets. Or perhaps it was just missing in the beta.

there's a share of people unhappy about missing features in the forum. One thread they were asking about auto-trace: apparently it's planned for version two, which is 'years' away. Cant find that particular post, but here's a couple relevant links if you want to root around.

https://affinity.serif.com/forum/index.php?/topic/28655-affinity-designer-for-windows-has-launched/page-8?hl=trace#entry140312

Someone will correct me here no doubt however Designer (going by the splash screen examples one can download) the primary app development was for illustration over graphic design  layout...

Another:
https://affinity.serif.com/forum/index.php?/topic/28695-does-affinity-designer-final-release-have-tools-that-were-not-in-the-beta/
Desinger beta board:
https://affinity.serif.com/forum/index.php?/forum/33-affinity-designer-on-windows-beta/

[TucknDar]

Drawplus X8 is only £20 / $25 and there's a discount coupon you can use for 25% off: DPSURPRISE

I'm actually tempted by it, even if I've bought Affinity Designer, exactly for the AutoTrace feature (I'll just convince myself that I'm paying for a plugin, I suppose). A bit reluctant though, as I only had problems with the last version of DrawPlus I owned, think it was X5, maybe X6. It crashed all the time, and was pretty much unusable (for me, YMMV). The software was very nice, when it came to features, GUI, etc. but the crashes, not so much 

There's of course also Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up, so there might be an even better deal coming up, for all I know.