Affinity Photo for Mac - a (cheaper) alternative to Photoshop

lynnb

lynnb

Veteran
Local time
8:42 AM
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
11,008
Affinity Photo for Mac - has anyone tried the beta trial version? News item on PetaPixel here. Link to Affinity Photo home page.

I'm going to have a play with it, will post my impressions later.
 
Here is the email they sent me after I registered for the public beta:

Thank you for signing up to the Affinity Photo public beta, which you can download now for free from here.

Whilst this is still an early beta version we think it’s pretty stable and we’d love you to dive in and start using it for real work. You will have to forgive us if you stumble across the odd bug, or if there are things about the way features work that you think could be done better. The good news is that we all hang out on our forums and listen to every bit of feedback our customers give, so if there’s something you don’t like just tell us and we’ll take a look at it - it’s just software after all(!) You can get involved on the forum here.

Because we are constantly listening to that feedback, and that frankly we prefer writing code than sleeping, you will also find during the beta that new versions will be regularly released (probably around 1 per week). While we will send you an email every now and again about an update, the best way to keep up to date with our progress is by liking us on Facebook (Facebook.com/macaffinity) or following us on twitter (@MacAffinity).

We guess you’ve seen our little promo video (vimeo.com/118802763). If you’re wondering how any of those things were done, over the next couple of weeks we will post a more in depth tutorial on each those features on Facebook and Twitter so it’s worth following us for that too!

Click here to download the beta now

All the best,
The Affinity Team
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for mentioning it! I'm always interested to see new stuff, I signed up for the beta.

G
 
Photoshop and Lightroom are pretty cheap these days. With Creative Cloud, you can get both for $10 a month. Hard to beat, really.
 
Sparrow said:
... well apart from being trapped in this rental model they've adopted ... it's not for me anymore.
Click to expand...

I just use Lightroom, with the perpetual license. My need for PS is very minimal now; I still have PSCS 5.1 installed but only use it rarely and feel no need to upgrade. Other software—less expensive and easier to use—like Flare, etc., works as a better adjunct to LR for me now.

G
 
I like it so far. I usually use GIMP and the revived Lightzone. This has a vignette function that's handy in certain circumstances. Will have to see how it handles Fuji RAW files. The mesh warp functions is really trippy!
 
Don't know.

I use CS4. Works for me.

Have On-One as a plug in. Looks like they have new stuff could replace PS. I see it can be used as a stand alone software. Maybe replace ps? I see layers ability. Two of the most important aspects of Photoshop for me are layers and blending.
 
JP Owens said:
Photoshop and Lightroom are pretty cheap these days. With Creative Cloud, you can get both for $10 a month. Hard to beat, really.
Click to expand...

I thought so too...until the Canadian dollar took a nosedive. Now I don't think so anymore. I have CS6, and am considering dropping CC.

I might have a look at this alternative program, but I've used PS for so long that a lot of things are second nature, and I can work without thinking too much:)
 
I use CS5, never paid for is since I got it through university a while ago. I don't know anyone that uses CS6. I think CS3/4 are actually free to download from the Adobe website. This program looks interesting but when I work with art directors we generally co-edit the files, so I send them complete with layers and a full edit history. While it says it can edit and save PS files I'm skeptical it will be able to transfer seamlessly as it does between one PS and another, then there's the issue of compatibility between other CS programs like indesign, illustrator, or bridge where there's quite a bit of workflow integration.

But it does seem like they're trying to make their own version of illustrator and indesign, which is interesting since there's a lot of room for improvements. Downsides of cloud computing aside CS can be pretty illogical.
 
JP Owens said:
Photoshop and Lightroom are pretty cheap these days. With Creative Cloud, you can get both for $10 a month. Hard to beat, really.
Click to expand...

If you can pay by credit card, that is.

If not (small personal business or private person and not eligible for credit card due to much higher income thresholds in the EU), you won't have Adobe's CC since they only pick the low fruit and do not invest in bank or PayPal payments. Nor do they invest in a customer service that cares to sound interested when you make an effort to contact them about it. :mad:

I bought Lightroom outright and purchased an older version of Photoshop on a Dutch vending site, but for Illustrator and InDesign I'm out of luck so far :bang: :(
 
It's Serif software - therefore most unlikely to be worthy of serious consideration...... going by my limited experience of their photo related products for Windows.
 
johannielscom said:
If you can pay by credit card, that is.

If not (small personal business or private person and not eligible for credit card due to much higher income thresholds in the EU), you won't have Adobe's CC since they only pick the low fruit and do not invest in bank or PayPal payments. Nor do they invest in a customer service that cares to sound interested when you make an effort to contact them about it. :mad:

I bought Lightroom outright and purchased an older version of Photoshop on a Dutch vending site, but for Illustrator and InDesign I'm out of luck so far :bang: :(
Click to expand...

In the USA, banks have debit cards with the Visa or Mastercard logos on them that the customer uses like credit cards when making purchases, but the money comes out of the customer's bank account, rather than adding to a loan balance. If you have a bank account, the card comes free with most banks. That's what I do, since I don't have or want a credit card, but one is needed for a lot of online purchases and its nice to have if you do not want to carry cash.
 
Sparrow said:
... well apart from being trapped in this rental model they've adopted ... it's not for me anymore.
Click to expand...

Yes, that. And, because there are constant problems with Adobe CC.

• Permissions errors (Mac). Error messages about not being able to save preferences. Error messages when trying to use filters. Errors when trying to open documents....

• Sometimes it just doesn't work. I had an issue when the Adobe registration log servers were down for three days. If you didn't already have a particular app OPEN before the server problem, you couldn't open it. I was unable to use InDesign or Photoshop for three BUSINESS days. I'm a designer, not a hobbyist, and i had deadlines that were missed.... Inexcusable.

• Updates? Who needs them. They had to get us penned in with this rental system, since there's really no room for most of these apps to improve. Where are they going to go with Photoshop or InDesign or Illustrator? Any features they add now are going to be the kind that might seem 'neat' when they show their demo videos, but you won't use them. So, when no one needs to upgrade, the revenue stream dies. Unless you're a captive. I used to love Adobe, but now they're bastids. Fighting for survival in a sea of pirates, i'm sure, but the current system invites piracy and a search for alternatives. I will have to spend a great deal of time converting all my files to something 'neutral'/other app friendly....
 
Would not open RAW files from either D200, Gx1 or LX7. Does recognize photoshop files. Without RAW, it's not so useful for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom