Is anyone using this product and if so what do you think of it? Does it offer anything different from Lightroom?
I have it and used it a few times. Has some very good points but is not meant to be used as a cataloging product more of an inexpensive replacement for Photoshop.
I am using it and love it, it works very well.. it has no catalog function
I have it and have found it very easy to use. As others have said, it does not have the cataloguing features of LR. I happen to like this. I tried the Photoshop free trial and found it difficult. I have found Affinity to be more intuitive for me. That, however is just a personal quirk. They have a ton of instructional videos available and they are very good.
The hardest thing with any of the editing tools beyond just learning the tool is to know which edits will produce the results that you want.
I have used Photo since beta for Windows and have purchased the product. I find it very nice for basic editing. The lack of a manual and poor technical support weaken the product for me.
I am new to photo editing and find the lack of a manual and detailed instructions to be quite frustrating. Yes the videos are nice but for VERY limited applications.
I always hesitate when changing software. Photoshop became, at a time, more expensive than I was willing to invest in a hobby. I went with the baby version Elements for years. Along the way, I went back to hunt out Paintshop Pro, the old JASC program and found it was now owned by Corel Software. Corel has always had poor support, however, Paintshop pro is still a very decent editor.
I recently read some of UHH post regarding this Affinity Photo product by Serif. Again, Serif has always lacked when it comes to support and most of their products have had that "cheap alternative" feel and performance.
From what I've been reading, I'm beginning to think that Affinity Photo may be an alternative to PhotoShop, PhotoShop Elements and PaintShop Pro. I understand Affinity Photo does not support cataloging and Elements and PaintShop pro do, I just don't use it in favor of Lightroom.
I'm not making much money with my photography and would prefer to put money into glass and not licenses and subscriptions. I'm also becoming more of the mindset of keep it simple.
For the moment, I have no plans of buying another software package and my experience with Serif has not been good. I do hope users of Affinity Photo will continue to post their experience with the product. After thirty-eight years as an IT engineer, I know there is no perfect software program or package that fits all needs and there probably never will be. I like when new platforms emerge bringing a fresh metaphor and clean code. The one downside for Adobe has been maintaining development on a twenty plus year old platform. At some point adding and fitting modules complicates the product and support, slows performance and development, and adds a chunk of overhead requiring market leading cost of ownership. I guess that is why Adobe is providing software as a service so people can lease (not own) the software. It also extends their hold on customers because as soon as you stop paying, the software stops working. I'm old fashion in my desire to own and hold the product (DVD) or licensed downloads which continue to work while I'm not.
So, I hope all the Affinity Photo users will continue to share their experience with the product and any other platform that will help those of us who need affordable tools but have no photographically generated income. I have seen some great results from photographers who "PhotoShop" but do so using something else. I wonder who LightRooms using something else? lol
Thanks to all for providing this forum and your contributions which make UHH a very valuable resource for me.
-Greg
Thank you for your very thoughtful response. I could not have said it better.
Being a newby I am feeling my way. The lexicon is new for me. And so are many of the basic concepts. At least I somewhat understand layers.
I too was a long-time developer and IT person. And your take on old and new platforms is right on. I may look into a couple of the packages you mentioned.
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