A couple of weeks ago, Serif released its powerful photo editing software called Affinity Photo. This Adobe Photoshop competitor has since been downloaded by numbers of users and has already seen a couple of improvement through an update. Its price and its speed are probably two of the most notable advantages the software offers over Photoshop. While the reviews are slowly making their way to different websites, many photographers and retouchers seem to be wondering if the software is worth its price.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-P8Eosd5Bs
In the article I wrote for the official announcement of the final release, I promised you a full review of the software, and it is coming soon. I wanted to wait for one or two updates of the software as I don't wish to judge a first version. The bugs found in the first versions are usually quickly corrected and not worth receiving a public critic that will stay on the web for months or years... In the meantime, Affinity Photo has a great solution for you if you are not sure whether it is worth investing $50 or not. They just released a free 10-day trial version. You can get it from their website in just a couple of clicks. This way you will be able to decide for yourself if Adobe reign is over and the time to move onto something new and fresh has come.
N.B.: Because I am most likely certain this will be asked in the comments below, no, this trial is still not compatible with other OS than Mac OS X.
It doesn't run on Wintel but will there be a version for OS/2? ;)
Or for the Lisa?
Cost analysis formulas aside, I know it's an anciently ancient frustration, but I can't stand renting software... especially CC. Here's to the hope that Affinity surprises in every good way.
1. Save a nice, fat rat for me. I'm in.
2. Just finished a superfantastic painting in Photoshop CS 5.
3. ... and a dreamy maternity shoot in the now ancient LR 5.
My creaky old CS5 performed summarily well.
Indeed no reason to upgrade. The cool new features make for an interesting watch on a preview video but that's about it.
P.S. I'm still excited by the healing brush in Photoshop 7.
Main issue IMHO is the Camera Raw compatibility with previous versions of CS. When you are growing into the new systems, Nikon D810, Canon 5DS etc. That would be the only thing which is pushing more and more into the rental system and rip-off :(
"This way you will be able to decide for yourself if Adobe reign is over"
Until they get a PC version they aren't even a blip on adobees radar.
But for those who purchase it, the blip will blip quite happily. The simplest symbol of beating the system.
Very true. And as we know and Lee told once, when ranting about Windows 10, even Fstoppers uses windows machines as daily basis at the office. So, yeah, untill they come up with something quite good for PC, Adobe won't even know they exist.
How very true this is... I am still waiting for the PC version...
I realize this might not be an option for all Windows users; however it is fairly easy and free (if you know someone else with a Mac) to dual boot Windows and OSX on a computer. It could be a temporary (and cost effective) way of running Affinity as opposed to Adobe products.
Of course no one wants to HAVE to hack a computer in order to use a product,but how many other times do photographers jerry-rig something to work in their favor!