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ruggiex

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,138
Thanks! Yeah, I've tried RawTherapee and didn't really like it, but haven't decided on whether to shell out for CaptureOne or On1 while I can still use my old Lightroom 4 DVD version until/if I upgrade my old D90.

You could try Darktable. It's a bit rough around the edges but so was On1 when I had it. The recent 3.x release improved a lot of usability issues.
 

CKT

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Feb 1, 2020
619
Even at $50 that's a steal if it's that comparable to PS
 
Oct 26, 2017
6,607
I bought them as a gift to myself after getting out of hospital. Got all 3 programs. Publisher reminds me a lot of Macromedia Freehand... Loved that program during my school days.

Also Designer has gotten a lot better since I first tried the trial version. Booleans now create much cleaner results.

Also got a few freebies like fonts on top. Very happy with my purchase
 

Pargon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,109
Just bought it, so I haven't had time to play around with it yet, but I'm impressed with how fast it starts. 4-ish seconds on my machine, even faster than GIMP, on a mere 4770k with a Crucial BX300 SATA SSD, so I have no idea why it takes so long for Pargon
I can't speak for CS5, but Affinity Photo starts up significantly faster for me than Photoshop CC does. It's one of the biggest reasons why I started looking for something that wasn't modern Adobe programs. It's not 5 seconds, but on an i3 6100 and an older SSD, Affinity Photo opens up for me in 12 seconds (I just timed it). No clue why it's taking so long for you.
Weird. Both are loading from the same Samsung 960 Evo NVMe SSD, on a Ryzen 1700X system with 32GB of RAM, but Affinity Photo takes forever and is unresponsive for a while after it "loads".



Completely kills my desire to use/experiment with the program at all, unless there's a specific feature that Photoshop (CS5.1 at least) doesn't have; e.g. the FFT Denoising.
 
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OP
FernandoRocker
Oct 25, 2017
7,987
México
Weird. Both are loading from the same Samsung 960 Evo NVMe SSD, on a Ryzen 1700X system with 32GB of RAM, but Affinity Photo takes forever and is unresponsive for a while after it "loads".



Completely kills my desire to use/experiment with the program at all, unless there's a specific feature that Photoshop (CS5.1 at least) doesn't have; e.g. the FFT Denoising.

Uninstall, restart the computer, and reinstall?
 

Deleted member 9241

Oct 26, 2017
10,416
Bought! Runs like a dream too. Thanks for the heads up.
 

FaceHugger

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
13,949
USA
I am going to take them up on the entire suite if I like them. I only do this kind of work as a hobby (and rarely at that), but there's no way I am paying a subscription for Adobe software. Plus I want to support Affinity for doing this.
 
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FernandoRocker
Oct 25, 2017
7,987
México
Doesn't make a difference. I wonder if it's a Ryzen thing.
I don't think so.

I'm using Affinity in three different systems:

  • Dell Precision with an Intel i7 + NVIDIA Quadro P1000
  • Huawei Matebook 13 with Intel i7 + NVIDIA MX150
  • Huawei Matebook D 14 with a Ryzen 5 + and Vega 8

All three buttery smooth. In fact, the Ryzen 5 was the system I originally purchased the software (and still using it).

Try something: Go to the app settings, and change the renderer and uncheck/check the hardware acceleration option in the Performance tab.
 

Pargon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,109
Try something: Go to the app settings, and change the renderer and uncheck/check the hardware acceleration option in the Performance tab.
I should mention that I have a GTX 1070 in that system then, I suppose, but it didn't make a difference either. I've raised it with Affinity support to see what they say about it.
 

StrayDog

Avenger
Jul 14, 2018
2,633
I got a copy of Affinity Photo. Thanks for the heads up!
I was using a legit copy of an old photoshop version and I got bugged saying it was pirate... FU Adobe!
 

FaceHugger

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
13,949
USA
I've been using Photo, just bought it. It is a legit Photoshop replacement for still images at least. In fact I find myself preferring it over Photoshop.

Screw that subscription.
 

take_marsh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,332
I had purchased all three the day before the deal was extended. I needed software for my Macbook and these are working out fantastically. For anyone who doesn't need advanced features in the Adobe equivalents, all three software works great. I've used Designer the least as I haven't had much use for vector graphics, but Photo and Publisher get almost daily use.
 

kiguel182

Member
Oct 31, 2017
9,473
I might get the iPad version of Photo. Already have Designer but barely used it since I haven't needed it. Photo is another one of those programs that's just good to have one like it.

For my sporadic use a Photoshop subscription makes no sense.
 

jp319

Member
Oct 27, 2017
576
I bought all three a couple days after this thread was posted and I've been using Designer a ton since (only dabbling in the other two for now). I've been an Illustrator user since the 90's and I'm not looking back.

While there are a few minor things I miss, the speedy performance and way-better pen tool more than make up for it. Love it!
 

ken_matthews

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
838
I ditched Photoshop for Affinity Photo last year and and I'm very happy with it. The only downside to it is you can't do animation, make GIFs, import video and stuff like that. But it works great for all my photo, image, and texture editing.
 

GenTask

Member
Nov 15, 2017
2,674
I bought mine way back when the sale started. I too ditched Adobe for Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer to teach myself graphic design. Also have been using Davinci Resolve to self-teach video editing - although I may buy the one-time upgrade fee for the extra Fusion stuff.
 

RecRoulette

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,044
Damn, those iPad prices are pretty good even if it's just to mess around with.

That's straight up $10 each, no sub or anything right?
 

Ryuelli

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,209
Doesn't make a difference. I wonder if it's a Ryzen thing.

I know I'm replying after a month, but I just built a new PC. I switched from an i3 6100 to a Ryzen 3700x. I'm not sure what's going on with your setup, but the Affinity suite opens nearly instantaneously for me. I definitely don't think it's a Ryzen thing.
 

Pargon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,109
I know I'm replying after a month, but I just built a new PC. I switched from an i3 6100 to a Ryzen 3700x. I'm not sure what's going on with your setup, but the Affinity suite opens nearly instantaneously for me. I definitely don't think it's a Ryzen thing.
I'm still in the process of recovering, but I had some severe drive failures recently and am now on a fresh install of Windows 10 where it launches fairly quickly. I haven't timed it exactly, but it launches in around 8-10 seconds now. Slower than Photoshop, but not an eternity either.

Someone on the Serif forums suggested it may be due to the number of ICC profiles or fonts installed on the system, and since this is a clean install there would be less of them right now. I'll report back if I ever figure out what was causing it.

For now, I have decided not to reinstall Photoshop to force myself to learn the Affinity apps, as I'm not doing anything critical right now which requires it, but the workflow still seems to be a lot slower and there are many common functions that seem completely missing.
It really depends what you're doing with the app though; I'm sure that other people might not notice anything missing or prefer how Affinity does it.
 

RussTC3

Banned
Nov 28, 2018
1,878
Just so I'm clear, you have to buy individual licenses if you want for PC and Mac correct?
 
OP
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FernandoRocker
Oct 25, 2017
7,987
México
Just so I'm clear, you have to buy individual licenses if you want for PC and Mac correct?
If you purchase the software on the Microsoft Store or App Store, your license gets tied to that OS/account. If you purchase the software on Affinity's website, you get a key, but you need to specify which version you want (Windows or Mac). With the key, you can install the software in as many systems as you want.

But apparently, the licence keys works in both operating systems (according to some users... I haven't tried).

In any way, you should get the software from Affinity's website and not from Microsoft or Apple.
 

Deleted member 26156

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 30, 2017
1,579
Been using Affinity Photo and Clip Studio Paint for the past 4 months and they've 100% replaced Photoshop for me. There's a small few things I miss, but the added functionality (especially in CSP) and the fact I got both for $50 makes it wayyyyyy worth it. About 30 days into the Affinity Designer trials too, probably will get it on the next sales. I like its whole Pixel vs vector personas things.
 
OP
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FernandoRocker
Oct 25, 2017
7,987
México
Been using Affinity Photo and Clip Studio Paint for the past 4 months and they've 100% replaced Photoshop for me. There's a small few things I miss, but the added functionality (especially in CSP) and the fact I got both for $50 makes it wayyyyyy worth it. About 30 days into the Affinity Designer trials too, probably will get it on the next sales. I like its whole Pixel vs vector personas things.
Just be aware that before, they never had a sale at this price.
 

Ryuelli

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,209
Been using Affinity Photo and Clip Studio Paint for the past 4 months and they've 100% replaced Photoshop for me. There's a small few things I miss, but the added functionality (especially in CSP) and the fact I got both for $50 makes it wayyyyyy worth it. About 30 days into the Affinity Designer trials too, probably will get it on the next sales. I like its whole Pixel vs vector personas things.

I've used Photoshop since 2006 or so and tried getting into Illustrator multiple times but it never really clicked for me. I don't know what it is that makes Designer so different, but it clicked for me in about 30 minutes in a way that Illustrator never did. I like it a lot.
 

RussTC3

Banned
Nov 28, 2018
1,878
If you purchase the software on the Microsoft Store or App Store, your license gets tied to that OS/account. If you purchase the software on Affinity's website, you get a key, but you need to specify which version you want (Windows or Mac). With the key, you can install the software in as many systems as you want.

But apparently, the licence keys works in both operating systems (according to some users... I haven't tried).

In any way, you should get the software from Affinity's website and not from Microsoft or Apple.
Thank you.
 

MotiD

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,560
If I buy a key from their website for macOS or Windows, does it also come with an iPad version?
 

poptire

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
10,111
I've been using paint.net with drop shadow extensions for the little bit of design I do each week, since I really dislike GIMP. Gonna grab this and see how much better it is.
 

take_marsh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,332
Deal is back!

affinity.serif.com

The Affinity Store – Browse our incredible range of add-ons

Beautiful brushes, versatile textures, stunning overlays, helpful templates and more—enhance your work with one of our creative content packs.

iu

(Windows editions)
 

DJGolfClap

Avenger
Apr 28, 2018
800
Vancouver
I wish there was even one Illustrator alternative that provided a Blob Brush even close to what Adobe offers, but nothing is in the same ballpark
 

maximumzero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,998
New Orleans, LA
I haven't been able to use my Adobe programs since a macOS update nuked 32-bit support, and I refuse to pay monthly for something I use a few times a year for personal use.

I tried Adobe Photoshop Express via a trial last year, but it leans a bit too much into simplistic photo editing unfortunately, so I might branch out and try something else soon.