Serif Updates Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher With New Tools and Functions

[Pafoofnik]

I was an Adobe addict. When the Adobe CS6 suite was released, it was touted as the best thing since sliced bread--I took them to heart. I still use PSCS6, to a degree. I can still do things in PSCS6 faster only because I know it so well.

I never bought in to the subscription model, however (excuse the pun). I'd no sooner rent software than I would rent someone else's pants. I purchased the Affinity trio and began the transition to it a year ago with no regrets. You go, Serif! You're on the right path!

 

[ArPe]

I was an Adobe addict. When the Adobe CS6 suite was released, it was touted as the best thing since sliced bread--I took them to heart. I still use PSCS6, to a degree. I can still do things in PSCS6 faster only because I know it so well.

I never bought in to the subscription model, however (excuse the pun). I'd no sooner rent software than I would rent someone else's pants. I purchased the Affinity trio and began the transition to it a year ago with no regrets. You go, SerifLabs! You're on the right path!

If you’re buying upgrades every year you’re always renting even if you think you’re not.

 

[jonnysods]

Can't talk up this suite of apps enough - I've been using them for years, and they only keep getting better. The value is outstanding!

 

[needsomecoffee]

If you’re buying upgrades every year you’re always renting even if you think you’re not.

This is not Adobe, even pre-sub Adobe. I've owned all their apps since their initial release. Enjoyed the dot releases for free, and cannot remember the small amounts I might have spent on upgrades. I knew for sure every time I had to buy a pre-sub Adobe upgrade. I know *for sure* I have spent more on Adobe's Lightroom/PS monthly sub these last six months than any infrequent and small upgrade costs Serif has charged. I mean right now with their Covid discount buying all three products is less than $100 USD. Pretty sure that is far less than Adobe charged for a single product upgrade back in the day. Not sure how Serif manages this given the complexity of these apps, but anyone who in on the fence should buy into Serif's biz-ness magic.

 

[Pafoofnik]

If you’re buying upgrades every year you’re always renting even if you think you’re not.

I'm not compelled to upgrade any component of the Affinity suite as I am to re-subscribe in order to continue to use Adobe's products after my "lease" runs out. Also, uh, the above-mentioned upgrade to each of the Affinity products is, uh, free. Plus, I can currently BUY any of the three Affinity apps for a one-time payment of $25 and I don't need a lawyer/accountant to figure out what any rental plans will cost me.

I'm not anti-Adobe by any means. Photoshop was my life for over a decade, I acquired their ACE certification in it, and I still use PSCS6 for a number of things. Even in its early incarnations, it remains one of the most, if not the most, remarkable piece of software ever created for consumption by the general public, as well as professionals, IMHO. They simply lost my business when they went to a subscription model. They are no worse off for that; neither am I.

 

[Xenobius]

If you’re buying upgrades every year you’re always renting even if you think you’re not.

I bought Affinity apps around 2015 and all updates so far have been free. I dream of them releasing version 2.0 so I can pay them again. Kind of weird to use such good software so many years without paying.

 

[Cosmosent]

I use Affinity Designer (mostly for logo design) & highly recommend it !

I am an EE masquerading as a Software Dev, with NO prior Graphics Design background, & yet was able to use it effectively.

 

[Wilburx3]

Will they add BMP export at some point?

 

[xbjllb]

Who buys upgrades every year? Why millions are still using CS6.

If you’re buying upgrades every year you’re always renting even if you think you’re not.

 

[GeoStructural]

The Affinity suite is incredible! Keep up the great work. ?

They are the best, they are simply the best right now if you take into account pricing, functionality, responsiveness and quick updates, they are the best value.

 

[somnolentsurfer]

It seems like for a while there, Serif was positioning Affinity Designer as their software for UI/UX work. I haven't seen this push from them quite as much lately.

I don't think they haven't stated specifically what they plan to tackle next, so I'd guess only those within the Affinity team would know.

Pretty sure they've announced that they're working on a Lightroom equivalent. Whenever anyone's asked them about anything else the only response I've seen is 'no plans at this time'.

 

[arvinsim]

Just waiting for a Lightroom app from them to finally drop Adobe for good.

 

[dmylrea]

I was waiting for this. On my M1 mini, the Affinity apps were taking forever to launch, when previously they’d launch almost instantly. I love what Serif has done. Their apps are terrific.

1.9 still launches slow (or even slower) than 1.8.6 did on my M1 Mini. No fix except to make copy of app and launch that.

 

[827538]

Best $50 I've spent in a long time. Puts Adobe to shame. Would like to see a competitor to Lightroom or a Lightroom style update for Affinity Photo.

Does everything I did in Photoshop without the horrible always online crapware and runs faster.

Still not seeing any update on my Mac.

 

[SigEp265]

This app is snappy and good quality but man it’s unintuitive in places and the interface is still far behind Photoshop. It’s great for indies but for teams working in Adobe workflows it’s impossible to switch.

I've continuously made an effort to switch to Affinity 100%. It is a bit of a learning curve, but even the iPad apps are pretty powerful. That being said they will have to pry my CS6 Suite from my cold dead hands!

 

[ArPe]

I bought Affinity apps around 2015 and all updates so far have been free. I dream of them releasing version 2.0 so I can pay them again. Kind of weird to use such good software so many years without paying.

I think they should charge more, but they are probably trying to gain market share first. If they were doing this 10-20 years ago people would have pirated the hell out of their apps and they would have to charge a lot more. But they’ve got a cloud and log in system to control that.

If they were a much bigger company with massive R+D and listed on the stock market they wouldn’t be able to charge this little. The costs would have to rise. So people slamming Adobe need to stop thinking of this as David and Goliath. Each will have their own customer base. But Adobe leads by inventing the features people use, others follow and can afford to do things like write from scratch.

 

[dmylrea]

Best $50 I've spent in a long time. Puts Adobe to shame. Would like to see a competitor to Lightroom or a Lightroom style update for Affinity Photo.

Does everything I did in Photoshop without the horrible always online crapware and runs faster.

Still not seeing any update on my Mac.

If you have the App Store version, I had to actually delete the apps from my Mac and then go to the App Store and download them again. The downloaded ones are 1.9.0.

When in the App Store under your Purchases, I clicked the 3 dots and chose to delete app.

 

[tubular]

What I especially like about the Serif Affinity suite is that they handle OpenType typography especially well. OpenType fonts can have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves -- alternate forms, stylistic variations, true small caps, that sort of thing -- but in Pages and Keynote, you really have to dig to find them. In the Serif suite, they're much more attainable.

 

[ArPe]

I'm not compelled to upgrade any component of the Affinity suite as I am to re-subscribe in order to continue to use Adobe's products after my "lease" runs out. Also, uh, the above-mentioned upgrade to each of the Affinity products is, uh, free. Plus, I can currently BUY any of the three Affinity apps for a one-time payment of $25 and I don't need a lawyer/accountant to figure out what any rental plans will cost me.

I'm not anti-Adobe by any means. Photoshop was my life for over a decade, I acquired their ACE certification in it, and I still use PSCS6 for a number of things. Even in its early incarnations, it remains one of the most, if not the most, remarkable piece of software ever created for consumption by the general public, as well as professionals, IMHO. They simply lost my business when they went to a subscription model. They are no worse off for that; neither am I.

Yes but let’s recognise, honestly and critically, that something like Affinity Photo is extremely basic compared to Photoshop. That will make some people gasp if they are just intermediates, but for advanced users they will recognize that. Examples:

Path, mask and selection tools. These in Affinity Photo don’t come close to Photoshop. When I drew a path for the first time I was hunting to find out how to turn it into a selection. Hunting for the path palette. Their method isn’t good.

Start a new document. New document window should let you assign a background color. Doesn’t exist in Affinity Photo. Just defaults to white but when the new document opens there is no background layer in the layer palette. Facepalm.

Camera Raw development. Again, Adobe’s Lightroom and Camera Raw module are far ahead. Affinity Photo wouldn’t recognize my Hasselblad’s model and it wasn’t listed so I couldn’t do a lens auto correct.

Layer and clipping layers. This is so simple in Photoshop. Right click, select, done. In Affinity you have to learn a new language and hunt around for the options.

Soft Proofing and profile management. Adobe by miles.

Easy to create and share Actions. Adobe by miles.

Warp and transform tools. Damn easy in Photoshop. In Affinity Photo the warp tool has less options and less advanced.

Brushes. In Photoshop if you don’t want to use keyboard short cuts then adjusting size and hardness of the brush is just right click. In Affinity Photo you have to go to the tool bar. Waste of time. The controls should be right where you are working. A newbie or convert from Photoshop should be able to find it instantly without hunting.

Liquify is live in Affinity. In Photoshop it is a module with more control and features.

Affinity performance is great because they could write from scratch, but really sloppy interface and cartoon icons. Why not just copy Adobe? There’s no patent on where tools are located.

 

[Will do good]

Love their products!!

 

[SSDGUY]

As a solo freelancer, I'd be interested in dumping Adobe and make the switch to Affinity, but I have clients that occasionally need native PSD, AI or sometimes indd files, so I'd still a have to pay Adobe each month plus mess with conversions. Ugh.

 

[tubular]

Why not just copy Adobe?

Adobe is still there for those who want it, are forced to use it, or are too set in their ways to ever learn a new interface again.

 

[theanimala]

1.9 still launches slow (or even slower) than 1.8.6 did on my M1 Mini. No fix except to make copy of app and launch that.

I am going to be a first time buyer of Affinity Photo, am I better off purchasing directly from Affinity or through the App Store?

 

[2021]

I am going to be a first time buyer of Affinity Photo, am I better off purchasing directly from Affinity or through the App Store?

I bought them directly. Direct purchases bring the company more money, there is manual license management on the web site, and they update nicely from within the apps.
Functionally the apps should be identical.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Still no alternative for ML Superzoom from Pixelmator Pro :/

Reason why I also got it.