Affinity Photo

[dreed]

https://affinity.serif.com/blog/affinity-photo-for-windows-is-available-now/

[francois]

https://affinity.serif.com/blog/affinity-photo-for-windows-is-available-now/

There's already a short thread here.

[adias]

Is there a trial version of this product?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Is there a trial version of this product?

I believe they only offer a 14-day money back option, now that the Beta version's trial period is over.

From their website's help page:

Returns and Refunds
What is your returns policy?

We want you to be 100% satisfied with your Affinity purchase. If you are not satisfied with your product for any reason, you may return it within a 14 day period after receipt of your product to receive a full refund. Please email affinityreturns@serif.com with your name, order number and reason for returning the item to begin the process. If you are returning a physical item a returns label will be emailed to you for printing. If you do not have access to a printer, a physical label can be dispatched to you if requested. After receipt of the return at Serif, a refund will be offered within 2-3 days.

Cheers,
Bart

[francois]

Is there a trial version of this product?

There's a Mac trial version but, according to Affinity, the Windows trial version is not yet available:

https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/signup/trial/photo/

I cannot find where I read that there's a 14-day money back policy but I have been satisfied with the customer service so that shouldn't be a problem.

[kers]

Just tried it a bit.
It opens ( some ) PSB files, so that is very good.
and looks very much like photoshop.
Working with a brush - on my old computer- does not work well.
delayed in every way...
but it is good to have some kind of different approach and tools besides photoshop.
it is with 40€ ( incl VAT) worth the money for sure.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Just tried it a bit.
It opens ( some ) PSB files, so that is very good.
and looks very much like photoshop.
Working with a brush - on my old computer- does not work well.
delayed in every way...
but it is good to have some kind of different approach and tools besides photoshop.
it is with 40€ ( incl VAT) worth the money for sure.

Hi Pieter,

I'm also in the process of exploring the numerous features that Affinity Photo has to offer. I must say that, as I go along, I'm getting more and more impressed with what the folks at Serif have so far put together. I just had a quick look at some of the stacked mode functionalities, like HDR and Focus stacking, and also looked at the creation of LUTs for unifying the color grading across applications, like e.g. used in Video editing software.

For a package at this price, it's really impressive, and I can see myself doing more and more work in Affinity Photo than in Photoshop.

And that's not just to create less dependence on Adobe products (as a natural contingency assurance policy), but also because many of the tools are simply designed better. The list is too long to mention everything, but e.g. things like 'Distort>Displace' which (in my PS6 Extended) requires a proprietary Adobe PSD file format, in 8-bit/channel no less. In Affinity Photo that can be done with various different source 'map' file formats, or even a layer in the same file. Getting ' Creative'  in retouching doesn't become a hurdle, it's more of a logical part of the Affinity ecosystem, only limited by the skills of the operator.

Also, input-field calculations can be done for controls that require numerical input for parameters, rather than only inputting absolute values (thus obviating the need for using a calculator on the side). And cloning from one image to another is well implemented.

Cheers,
Bart

[Ian99]

I gave Affinity a very short trial and was very disappointed.
Firstly it forces you into one of those stupid Aero themes and then opening and adjusting Nef images was glacially slow. Totally unusable.

My system is getting quite old – Win 7-64 with quad core Q8300 @ 2.5GHz with 8 GB RAM and a Radeon video card with 2 GB memory. BUT it runs Capture One v10, CS6, and even NXD very quickly.

I am probably doing something wrong but I have top notch software running well and I have no reason to struggle with it. YMMV.

[Lundberg02]

did you update to 1.5.1?

[Ian99]

Lundberg02,
No I did not update to v1.5.1 and that may be the solution but it raises other problems.

When I received the email offer on the 8th of December, I immediately bought and downloaded the product which shows v1.5.0.45.

Frankly I expect that when I buy something that it should work and that I should not have to update it immediately. That is the manufacturer’s job.

It is not clear whether you are running the Mac version or the PC version, I am trying the latter.

Nowhere in the software that I can see does it show any mechanism to “check for updates” as most do. Nor can I see anywhere on the Affinity site.

In their blogs there are several people with the same issue trying to update but the mechanism cannot be found.

One answer was that for a Mac upgrade then you need to go to your Apple Apps store, but for the PC version the program should tell you that an upgrade is available as soon as you open it. Well it definitely does not.

I can see that there is a lot of very flashy stuff and all sorts of tools but something like an upgrade ability is such a basic customer service function that I really have to wonder about the maturity of the product.

If you are a PC user how did you get v1.5.1?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Lundberg02,
No I did not update to v1.5.1 and that may be the solution but it raises other problems.

When I received the email offer on the 8th of December, I immediately bought and downloaded the product which shows v1.5.0.45.

Hi,

V1.5.0.45 is the latest version for Windows, at this moment. I assume that v1.5.1 is the Mac version, unless it was a typo.

Frankly I expect that when I buy something that it should work and that I should not have to update it immediately. That is the manufacturer’s job.

It is not clear whether you are running the Mac version or the PC version, I am trying the latter.

Nowhere in the software that I can see does it show any mechanism to “check for updates” as most do. Nor can I see anywhere on the Affinity site.

In their blogs there are several people with the same issue trying to update but the mechanism cannot be found.

One answer was that for a Mac upgrade then you need to go to your Apple Apps store, but for the PC version the program should tell you that an upgrade is available as soon as you open it. Well it definitely does not.

Because there is no more recent version. There is no need to search for updates because the program will tell you if there is one when you open your current version.

I can see that there is a lot of very flashy stuff and all sorts of tools but something like an upgrade ability is such a basic customer service function that I really have to wonder about the maturity of the product.

Modern programs, like Affinity Photo, will look for new releases and will offer to download automatically. It did so when there was a new (the first official Windows) version after the last beta version, and if I remember correctly it also did so when a new version of Affinity Designer became available.

Some people have yet to gain the insight that many things work a bit different, more clever, like e.g. the use of calculations/expressions in input fields.

Cheers,
Bart

[Ian99]

Thanks Bart.
You confirm that I am not as stupid as I first thought.
The software still is way too slow to be usable.
Ian

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Thanks Bart.
You confirm that I am not as stupid as I first thought.
The software still is way too slow to be usable.

Hi Ian,

It's not about being stupid or things like that. I too experience occasional slowdowns when I'm pushing the application (like with stitching multiple-row, very wide panoramas, consuming lots of memory). But for less taxing assignments it performs well, even on limited hardware (although more capable hardware is going to give a better experience).

Speed has also a lot to do with what the application allows a user to achieve by clever implementation of operations (i.e. workflow benefits), not only raw processing power. As a Windows version user, I've only had a limited period of time to explore so far because the application only recently became available with a Windows version. But what I've seen, really is impressive.

I've been a Photoshop user for many (rough estimate some 20) years, and I've paid for many updates over those years. I consider myself a pretty well informed and experienced user of actually most of its functionality, unlike many users who only use a subset of the capabilities.

Comparing Affinity Photo's capabilities and application design choices is a refreshing experience. Is it perfect yet, no !, but it's on its way of becoming something awesome (and a lot already is).

Because I'm used to evaluating software (and have seen several good ideas perish), I've developed a sense for which are viable solutions and which are not. Affinity (Design and) Photo are! They are clearly made by people who come from the practice of making things happen because they need them themselves on a daily basis. And they are not yet at the stage of capitalizing on past investments, like e.g. Adobe. No, they are still eager, they are trying to please most of their (prospective) customers and they are pushing the limits.

It didn't take long for me to understand that they deserved backing, especially with the incredibly low price-of-entrance they ask for their software. Really a no-brainer. Again, the software is not perfect (but then what is?), but it has the potential of getting very close. I'll be submitting some suggestions for feature enhancements, not just for my personal benefit, but because they address fundamental benefits for all users.

Cheers,
Bart

[Lundberg02]

Good ideas that perished. That software called Live something. I think Adobe eventually incorporated their silhouetting and they had something else perhaps cloning that was superior. I always liked Painter cloning better than Photoshop right from the start.

[Chris_Brown]

Good ideas that perished. That software called Live something. I think Adobe eventually incorporated their silhouetting and they had something else perhaps cloning that was superior. I always liked Painter cloning better than Photoshop right from the start.

Live had an excellent liquefy algorithm.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Good ideas that perished. That software called Live something.

Hi,

Possibly LivePicture.

Yes, some interesting novel (in those days) concepts.

Cheers,
Bart

[aderickson]

I wonder if someone knowledgeable can compare Affinity Photo with Photoline in terms of features, speed and maturity.

Allan

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I wonder if someone knowledgeable can compare Affinity Photo with Photoline in terms of features, speed and maturity

Hi Allan,

Both are excellent Photoshop alternatives.

Photoline has a bit more of a technical look-and-feel, undoubtedly due to the personal influence of the programmers/authors. There are so many features packed into its modest size, that it is difficult to give them a place in the user interface, but things can be tweaked for one's personal workflow preferences. It is a very stable product that has been around for quite some time. Should there be an issue, help is excellent. I had a feature request and got an updated beta version after the weekend.

Affinity Photo is relatively new on Windows, so there may be some issues that need to be ironed out, but both the Mac and Windows versions received a dot release update/upgrade that also introduced new and improved features. It has an amazing set of functional features and has an interface that has a bit more of a Photoshop look-and-feel, but sometimes with better tools. The authors clearly have a background in graphic design, and that shows in how the user interface is designed as well, and how the tools are designed.

Comparing the overall functionality is difficult because there is so much to compare, but it looks to me like the learning curve for Affinity Photo is lower for someone already familiar with Photoshop. Photoline takes more time getting used to and finding the tools. There is so much functionality in both applications that it takes a serious effort to learn/discover it all, but the instructional videos for Affinity Photo are very helpful. Affinity Photo's non-destructive workflow does need a lot of memory to function smoothly.

Cheers,
Bart

[Cem]

It seems that there is no trial version available. I want to try the release version and the website only allows purchasing. 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

It seems that there is no trial version available. I want to try the release version and the website only allows purchasing. 

Hi Cem,

Yes, it seems they are working on a trial version for Windows, but it's not ready yet. The Mac version apparently has a different procedure. So far, you can only purchase it, and within 14 days ask for a refund if it's not to your liking. Not an ideal process, but not a real problem either (it's not that expensive anyway).

Cheers,
Bart