NBBPH Loc: Indiana

"Run around from Adobe?" I don't get it. I have been using Adobe for years and have the current subscription. I have seldom had a problem and any problem I might have had was solved quickly and easily using their "chat" format. Five stars for Adobe.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I start by editing my RAW data with proprietary software or the software that the camera manufacturer makes for their specific cameras. Then I do the rest with Affinity.
I think it is a great editor.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

After 20+ years of using PS, I recently switched to AP. It is 'almost' a PS clone but has a few "quirks" that that take some getting used to. I have over the years pretty much assimilated and internalized everything I do with PS, and this makes AP a bit of a learning curve, and it can be frustrating because whilst many things are exactly the same, some are a bit different.

For example, hitting B in PS gives you the paint brush, but in AP, it is a toggle of 3 different brushes. This drove me crazy at first because I couldn't understand why I couldn't always paint on a mask.

Another is the D in PS gives you a black and white color palette and the color palette in AP is not on the tool bar by default. This can be "fixed" to work the same as PS with the color palette in the tools panel and and D key changes to B&W and X switches fore and background colors, but it is not intuitive and hard to find how to set this up. I found it in this tutorial: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9mYuKeylvc).

Anyway, I had to force my self to stay out of the super familiar PS and stay with AP until I learned and got used to how it works. After several months, I'm loving it. Is it as good as Photoshop, well, I think it is, but will need a few more months to get used to those little differences that wouldn't bother a newbee.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

From what I saw, PSE 2020 adds very little to PSE 2019. Since 2020 is now out, consider getting 2019 for a bit of a discount.

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

I’ve used Affinity for a couple of years. The new upgrade is excellent. It has become my only post processing program (except for Snapseed on my iPhone).

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

I keep my copy of Affinity Photo current: 1.7.3.481 is running on my systems now. My concerns remain unaddressed.

My concerns apply to a raw workflow and not to AP as a raster editor. AP is hands down the best raster editor available when judged for price/performance. As such I recommend it to anyone who's looking for a raster image editor -- can't beat it.

I want software to use in a raw processing workflow and so how raw files are handled is a critical concern for me. I purchased AP as soon as it was available and I've watched it progress. They have made improvements over time but raw conversion isn't their focus. AP is after all a raster editor. Removing any raster editing from my raw workflow is one of my goals -- something I suspect the folks at Serif don't want to hear.

What's missing from AP's raw file processing:

1. Highlight reconstruction -- AP doesn't even try. Deal breaker for me.
2. HSL adjustment tool. Close to deal breaker.
3. I want my work in the Develop persona saved. I want my raw workflow to be 100% non-destructive and non-lineraly re-editable. Right now AP's raw workflow is destructive. Total deal breaker for me.
4. Camera input profiles -- seriously? nothing? At least linear is an option and I can live with that but no camera input profiles will be a deal breaker for a lot of folks.

*5. Perspective transform functions -- AP has basic functions: distortion, vertical, horizontal, rotate under Lens Correction but no aspect adjustment. What's the point of the vertical and horizontal adjustments without a matching aspect adjustment?
*6. Some kind of color feedback. I want the software to tell me what color something is in my photo.

* Those last two items I listed will prompt someone to jump in and say AP can do that! And this also requires comment. AP can do items 5 and 6 above in the Photo Persona but not in the Develop Persona. I titled that list what's missing from AP's raw file processing. I can add another 1/2 dozen items like 5 and 6 and we can ask the question; are those really necessary for raw processing if they can be done later?

That question strikes at a root. Serif has a design bias. They're creating and selling a raster editor. For them the raw file conversion is something to get over with so you can go to work in AP's primary editor. If you share their bias AP is great software. I have a raw workflow bias that as I noted above would remove the raster editor from the process entirely. Serif knows it is now increasingly possible to do what I want and that leaves them kicked to the curb. Therein I believe is part of the reason AP is such a great $$$ bargain.

Joe

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I've moved off Photoshop and Lightroom over the past year to Affinity Photo and CaptureOne, respectively. Can't say that I miss anything in Photoshop or Lightroom. Admittedly, Affinity Photo and CaptureOne are different but very good!

bwa

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I tried Affinity Photo for a week or so, back in 2017. I liked it a lot. But I've been an Adobe user since Photoshop 1.0 and Lightroom 1.0 (And PageMaker, long before Adobe bought that). So I leveraged my knowledge and subscribed.

There is more training available for the Adobe suite than for any other apps out there. Much of it is free, even the good stuff from Julieanne Kost at Adobe, whose site is http://jkost.com/ .

There are now TWO Lightrooms — The new Lightroom CC, formerly Lightroom Mobile, is a networkable, multi-device, cloud-based solution for sharing files among phones, tablets, and computers. Lightroom CLASSIC is evolved from the decade-old desktop version.

The $9.99/month Photography Bundle includes BOTH Lightroom apps, plus Photoshop CC, Adobe Bridge, and Adobe Camera Raw, with some other goodies thrown in. It really is a better deal than they EVER had with packaged software, which is outdated the day it leaves the packaging line.

I'm not a Photoshop Elements user. It's fine, as a stand-alone, but my impression is that Affinity Photo (especially the latest version) is more capable, at less cost. Mac users can integrate it with Apple Photos, to kludge together a system similar to Lightroom Classic and Photoshop CC, but on a far more limited scale.

The thing most folks don't get is that Lightroom is an image database. It only LINKS to original files, by importing their NETWORK PATHS. Then it creates proxies for cull editing and parametric developing, and renders Exports, Prints, Books, or uploads to the Web. That means your original files remain intact, untouched, and original, regardless of file type! It also integrates seamlessly with Photoshop and plug-ins like the Nik Collection, for use when you need a pixel-level bitmap editor, layers, composites, masks, text, etc.

I think the key to learning any software is to USE it. Seminars and manuals and videos are great, but nothing helps more than immediately applying what you have learned in a classroom or book or video by doing something with it. That's why I've stuck with Adobe through all their annoyances over the past 30 years or so. It's likely a lot more efficient to leverage something I know, rather than learning something new.

srt101fan

Thanks for your reply, Joe. I was one of those asking you before about Affinity RAW issues. I'm sold on Affinity for my post-RAW processing but still not sure about the RAW part. One of these days I'll check out Nikon's Capture NX-D. In the meantime I'm plenty busy practicing with TIFFs and JPEGs in Affinity's Photo Persona....

tonyjag Loc: Bolton, Ma.

Thanks to all for the great info, which is very helpful as I decide how to replace Aperture.

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

I have been using Affinity almost exclusively since it was 1st introduced (I use PSE for certain tasks). I think it has become a great product, but it took a few updates before they got it right. Tutorials on You Tube as well as in their library are for the most part good.