Photoshop Alternatives

[Brad P]

I am looking to identify the closest non-subscription alternatives to Photoshop (and Illustrator).  I’m happy to discuss reasons, but would rather focus on actual alternatives.

Forefront right now in my mind are Affinity’s V2 suite (Photo, Designer and Publisher) and Gimp.  I see there’s a lot of other would be competitors that I’m less familiar with too.  I’ve spent a LITTLE time with each of these and see both might be workable.  However since I’ve been using photoshop for eons, it is quite clear to me that it’s going to take weeks or months using other programs before I can form meaningful conclusions.  Before I spend that kind of time, I’m hoping others with advanced-ish Photoshop skill levels who have made or attempted to make a switch will share their experiences.

[kers]

Problem with affinity is that it can do a lot , and some things better than photoshop, but also can do less.
If you use actions in photoshop affinity has some but very limited- i think you cannot record any.
if you like to use the raw-conversion of Adobe; affinity has a different outcome.

Batch file conversions are much faster in affinity, for they use all the cpu cores and not only 1, like photoshop.. (a shame)

[digitaldog]

If you use actions in photoshop affinity has some but very limited- i think you cannot record any.

If you use Actions in Photoshop, you really don't want to go anywhere (more will get me in trouble).