Affinity Photo App Reviews

With software like Sketch 3, Corel Painter, Designer, and now Photo, the expensive creative cloud seems less and less appealing, though is definitely industry standard. This is why I am nervous to make a switch (that plus I would miss InDesign). It is an investment of money AND time. What I notice immedietly about Photo (and designer) is the speed. It is fast! I also love the intuitive UI, and the design of the software. Overall I am incredibly impressed and really does make me think it could completely replace my need for Photoshop and Illustrator. While Adobe software is also awesome, it is also crippled (imo) with ancient workflows and disconnects between software. What I like about Affinity is they are coming into the picture with fresh new thinking, which is in my opinion based on 25 years of Adobe usage. It is a natural evolution on great ideas. Now lets see if Affinity makes a page layout tool to take on InDesign and strong type management tools. To clarify my opinion. Adobe’s software is more mature, but Affinity’s entry is extremely impressive, and for the price, it simply cannot be beat! For the seasoned graphic design professional who has used Adobe software relgiously since 1998, I am impressed with Affinity and will give it a serious try.

this is not missing much for a first release. it’s fast and seems stable enough and has an interface that’s easy to get used to. The only real missing element for me is it is not compatible enough withthe NIK/Google plugins that is use almost daily in my work. When/if it is I will likely dump Photoshop for most if not all the work I do.

okay - for anyone who used to use Photoshop and is looking for an alternative on mac: this is it. no subscription. no nonsense. just a great application. it’s great that a lot of the shortcuts are the same and the overall feel is VERY photoshopy (which is a good thing so the that the learning curve isn’t as steep). When I was still using a PC and my copy of CS1 was getting old (and I couldn’t upgrade to a later version of CS since there was no upgrade path from CS1 to I think it was 4 or 5 at the time) I looked at Gimp but didn’t really like it. Once on mac I tried out Pixelmator and it was quite good. I really liked it and I’m still using it because the “convert to shape” feature is amazing and it’s one thing I’m missing in Affinity Photo. So yeah… the only thing I’m missing in Affinity Photo is not something I knew from PS but from Pixelmator…. go figure… … na super… da fällt mir gerade auf, dass ich die Bewertung in englisch verfasst habe. Na okay dann auf deutsch: KLASSE PROGRAMM - g’fällt ma gut….

Not sure where to start! I’m a fan of Photoshop and Affinaty Photo is really neat but not a copy. It seems to have every Photoshop features that I use and more. The GUI is very nice and the software uses hardware acceleration. There is an excellent photo module, maybe It will replace Lightroom too one day. I also bought the Designer app, can’t wait to try it too.

Couple days later. I am fully adapted to it. this 50 bucks is well spend! Only thing is it is lack of shortcuts and wacom (pressure sensitive & 3D brushes) integration, I just loved PS with those little popup window whenever I do right click.

I have purchased this software however, this released version got one BIG cavity … NO support for Photoshop Plugins, those Plgins which are in need by professional image manipulator. Otherwise this app is fast and very nice to work with. But as I have mentioned previously, no Plugins at least for me this app is useless. I am asking for refund.

I’ve been following along with the Beta. The Affinity team have been very responsive with bug squashing and feature requests. Photo now has everything I need to switch away from PS and in many cases the Photo implementation is superior to the PS one. There are some workflow differences but for the most part it’s not just as good as, its a significant improvement. For most people who don’t rely heavily on PS plugins, Photo runs faster and after some adjustment, has better workflows. It’s also far less of a resource hog and doesn’t need to run a ton of background things. Photo does indeed support pressure/tilt etc. from wacom tablets - open the brush settings dialog, dynamics tab. PS 3D brushes are not likely to be supported - but Photo has it’s own excellent brushes.

After more the 25 years with Photoshop on my mac (I got my first one in 1987) this is the app that I was wainting for. At last. And it is just the beginning I think. Thank you to each one of you on the team.

I really couldnt believe the hype about speed of Affinity Photo - until I directly compared a huge 16,000 pixel layered map file that virtually comes to a standstill on my 13" Macbook Air when editing on Photoshop CS6. I really considered that the issue had to be my underpowered computer - and so I came up with all kinds of flattening and resizing combinations of the file - so that I could get done what I needed to get done. Well astonishment is all I can say. When I opened the file in Affinity Photo, there were no hesitations. I have no idea how this company has managed to move huge files around without hiccups - - - but they have succeeded. Hats off. I knew nothing about the Beta version that has been available for a while now. I was doing some updates on my Macbook and when I opened the App Store, noticed the Editors choice being Affinity Photo. It is now a legit product out of Beta stage. On further investigation, I found many of the tools that I use in Photoshop to be more intuative and easier to find. While I use Adobe Lightroom for 80% of my image processing - I like being able to send the file to an external editor like Photoshop, when needing features not available in LR. I found that Affinity Photo integrates just fine into the Lightroom Edit In: concept menu. Only shortcoming is not being able to send a group of files out as layers or have a PSD return layers from Photo. At $49.95, there is no way this was going to be much of a product. Well - I have to eat my words so far anyway. It does everything I have been using CS6 for and in some cases more easily. I actually got an additional 20% off - making it a very good value.

Very impressed. Took me a while to figure it out but now getting great results. Still has issues to me anyway. I wish it did automatic lens distortion and retained all Exif data. I can do this myself but I’m lazy. Glad I signed up for the beta and purchased the software.

Simple as saying "Thank you Serif” You have given me joy with your apps.

Very fast, and appears to be well featured. Basic concepts are not explained, its another pixel editor with layers. Workflow is not intuitive, buckets of options and no obvious path to knocking out some basic adjustments to your photos immediately. Given this product requires substantial effort to learn anyway and support is light, might as well stay with PS. PS is ugly to use, but lots of videos and user guides and also benefits from LR for image management and quick edits. Website UI is confusing for finding support videos. My one wish is they had a 20 minute video that took you from importing a RAW image (using whatever convertor they use), save the DNG, then make basic edits, cropping, exposure, highlights, shadows, white balance some minor retouching, save the file, then export to JPEGs optimized for web, print and large flat panel display. The invitation to use forums to seek help from other users is disappointing. Hope they succeed, not there just yet.

This is an excellent app - before buying software that costs ten times as much, try this out.

Can’t believe how great this software is right out of the gate. Weird how reviewers freak out that it hasn’t matched Photoshop in every single detail. It beats Photoshop in several key areas already (like… PRICE!), and the developers are promising free updates and new features for the next two years. Obviously a labor of love on the part of the programmers. To be fair it should be compared to Photoshop version 1 - however it actually rivals the latest version of Photoshop. Looking forward to watching this evolve.

I have permanetly replaced my digital photo editing software to be "Affinty Photo” for my business, I will not be using Photoshop. This is a fantatsic piece of software.

Great idea, great abilities, but this version is full of bugs. Some tools not work at all. It’s impossible to change several important preferences (icon size, font size, etc). But the worst trouble — the program tends to freeze, and this is noway depend on type of files and their size. Sometimes it freezes even just after start.

Day 2 and it keeps crashing. I find that the tutorials are not helpful either - especially getting help on how to actually operate some of the tools.

Never tried Photoshop and Ill never have to… Nuff said.

I have used them all. Affinity has hit one out of the park. It is of course a work in progress, but it is easy to use, thoughtful, and fast. I get great results and especially like that I have it on my Macbook Air, 2 Imacs and 2 mini’s all for Fifty Bucks ! Lovely. Even if you are a slave to photoshop or lightroom, you will find this a joyful addition to your tool set.

Every time, it works as expected and in a natural flow. I Love it, its extremely powerful at a price point EVERYONE can afford. Inpainting saves me so much time its awesome! The tutorials on your website are amazing too!! Thank you for your great work and also a special mention for not following the subscription trend.