Capture One 20 and Affinity Photo

[cortlander]

I am on an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015, 3.3 Quad Core Intel I5) 32GB memory, AMD Radeon R9 4GB card
Catalina 10.15.2.
Also use a Windows 10 laptop with Capture One 20 for tethering.

I am a hobbyist, and all my work is for my own satisfaction.

My current tool set includes:
1. Capture One 20
2. Topaz Studio 2 with most of the AI additions
3. PortraitPro Studio 19
4. Photomatix Pro 6
5. Qimage One for printing to Epson SC800

I also have Photoshop CS6 extended/Lightroom 6, which now does not run being it has legacy 32 bit modules that Catalina does not support. However, I have been using CS6 less and less and am not going to invest any more into Photoshop/Lightroom. That still leaves a few holes such as the occasional Pano, Liquify etc.

I have heard about Affinity Photo which is attractively priced. But with any software, there is always a significant time investment in learning it well. I am wondering if I will gain anything by adding Affinity Photo to my primary tools Capture One/Topaz ? I also see Luminar 4 has exciting features. Not sure how all this would fit into a Capture One centered work flow.

Suggestions would be appreciated.
Have a Merry Christmas!

[DP]

if you need something like PS there are also reputable (decades around the block) PS like software as:: Corel PaintShop Pro ( www.paintshoppro.com ) or PhotoLine ( www.pl32.com )

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

if you need something like PS there are also reputable (decades around the block) PS like software as:: Corel PaintShop Pro ( www.paintshoppro.com ) or PhotoLine ( www.pl32.com )

In which casw, Affinity Photo is an absolute must try.

The folks at Serif really know their way around practical image editing. And AP is just a (photo-centric) part of a more complete image solution.

AP is a very complete photo editing solution, and they are actually approachable for improvements in features/workflow. They do listen to their customers.

Cheers,
Bart

[IanSeward]

I am on an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015, 3.3 Quad Core Intel I5) 32GB memory, AMD Radeon R9 4GB card
Catalina 10.15.2.
Also use a Windows 10 laptop with Capture One 20 for tethering.

I am a hobbyist, and all my work is for my own satisfaction.

My current tool set includes:
1. Capture One 20
2. Topaz Studio 2 with most of the AI additions
3. PortraitPro Studio 19
4. Photomatix Pro 6
5. Qimage One for printing to Epson SC800

I also have Photoshop CS6 extended/Lightroom 6, which now does not run being it has legacy 32 bit modules that Catalina does not support. However, I have been using CS6 less and less and am not going to invest any more into Photoshop/Lightroom. That still leaves a few holes such as the occasional Pano, Liquify etc.

I have heard about Affinity Photo which is attractively priced. But with any software, there is always a significant time investment in learning it well. I am wondering if I will gain anything by adding Affinity Photo to my primary tools Capture One/Topaz ? I also see Luminar 4 has exciting features. Not sure how all this would fit into a Capture One centered work flow.

Suggestions would be appreciated.
Have a Merry Christmas!

AP is so low cost it is a no brainer to own this. Pays for itself for the inpainting brush, focus stacking and pano abilities. There is a free beta plugin for C1Pro available from Photomatix which streamlines the export of images from C1Pro to Photomatix.

Ian

[cortlander]

Thank you guys! Your guidance is much appreciated, and I just downloaded and purchased it. Next I will get the beta plug in for Photomatix.

Have a great day!

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Thank you guys! Your guidance is much appreciated, and I just downloaded and purchased it.

... and to quickly get up to speed with it, they have an excelent series of short tutorials for all the features:
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/tutorials/photo/desktop/

Cheers,
Bart

[cortlander]

... and to quickly get up to speed with it, they have an excelent series of short tutorials for all the features:
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/tutorials/photo/desktop/

Cheers,
Bart

Perfect! Thank you Bart, you have been very helpful.

[budjames]

I am very much in the same situation - serious photo enthusiast.

About five years ago, I switched from Canon Pro DSLRs to Fuji X cameras and lenses. I was not happy with the LR RAW conversions of Fuji RAF files back then. This led me to switch to C1P. I was instantly happier and with much less work. Two years ago, I sold all of my Fuji kit after buying my first Leica, an M10. I just purchased the new SL2 to replace an SL that I bought used 6 months ago. I shoot exclusively with my M10 with M primes and the SL2. I canceled my Adobe Creative Cloud Photography subscription over two years ago. I switched to C1P about three years ago and replaced Photoshop with Affinity Photo about 2 years ago. This combination works great and I don't miss LR and Photoshop.

I have also found since switching to C1P, now at version 20, that I can do mostly everything inside the app. I no longer have to rely on expensive plug ins like I used to use with Lightroom. Affinity Photo works very well for my occasional pixel mashing needs. About 98% of my image editing can be comfortably accomplished inside C1P.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto.

[cortlander]

I am very much in the same situation - serious photo enthusiast.

About five years ago, I switched from Canon Pro DSLRs to Fuji X cameras and lenses. I was not happy with the LR RAW conversions of Fuji RAF files back then. This led me to switch to C1P. I was instantly happier and with much less work. Two years ago, I sold all of my Fuji kit after buying my first Leica, an M10. I just purchased the new SL2 to replace an SL that I bought used 6 months ago. I shoot exclusively with my M10 with M primes and the SL2. I canceled my Adobe Creative Cloud Photography subscription over two years ago. I switched to C1P about three years ago and replaced Photoshop with Affinity Photo about 2 years ago. This combination works great and I don't miss LR and Photoshop.

I have also found since switching to C1P, now at version 20, that I can do mostly everything inside the app. I no longer have to rely on expensive plug ins like I used to use with Lightroom. Affinity Photo works very well for my occasional pixel mashing needs. About 98% of my image editing can be comfortably accomplished inside C1P.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto.

Thank you Bud for sharing your experiences. Capture One keeps on getting better with every version.

[cortlander]

... and to quickly get up to speed with it, they have an excelent series of short tutorials for all the features:
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/tutorials/photo/desktop/

Cheers,
Bart

The videos are really very good, Bart. I am pleasantly surprised by the depth of capabilities. They have put a lot of thought into AP.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

The videos are really very good, Bart. I am pleasantly surprised by the depth of capabilities. They have put a lot of thought into AP.

Yes, the folks at Serif have pulled of a monumental task and have created a feature-packed image editing solution in a relatively very short period of time for both Mac and Windows platforms. It also had a number of features from the start that only later were implemented by Adobe in Photoshop, like calculatable input fields. It also has built-in features/functions that take a lot more effort in Photoshop, e.g. Frequency Separation based sharpening/editing. It also integrates very well with its sibling products such as Designer for more vector-based image editing, and Publisher for complete output solutions that combine pixel-based and vector-based art, like publications/brochures/websites/etc.

It also natively has CGI editing capabilities and thus supports floating-point image data sources.

It also has basic built-in Focus-stacking, HDRI creation, Panoramastitching, and innovative things like History futures, which allows to develop several alternative branches in history.

Good tutorial videos are essential with so many capabilities, and they too are of excellent quality. And the pricing is more than competitive.

Highly recommended.

Cheers,
Bart

[cortlander]

Yes, the folks at Serif have pulled of a monumental task and have created a feature-packed image editing solution in a relatively very short period of time for both Mac and Windows platforms. It also had a number of features from the start that only later were implemented by Adobe in Photoshop, like calculatable input fields. It also has built-in features/functions that take a lot more effort in Photoshop, e.g. Frequency Separation based sharpening/editing. It also integrates very well with its sibling products such as Designer for more vector-based image editing, and Publisher for complete output solutions that combine pixel-based and vector-based art, like publications/brochures/websites/etc.

It also natively has CGI editing capabilities and thus supports floating-point image data sources.

It also has basic built-in Focus-stacking, HDRI creation, Panoramastitching, and innovative things like History futures, which allows to develop several alternative branches in history.

Good tutorial videos are essential with so many capabilities, and they too are of excellent quality. And the pricing is more than competitive.

Highly recommended.

Cheers,
Bart

Amazing that they sell this for just $49. High quality at a low price!

[Rhossydd]

Yes, the folks at Serif have pulled of a monumental task and have created a feature-packed image editing solution in a relatively very short period of time

Hang on, Serif have been making photo editing software for over twenty years now. That's hardly a 'short period of time'
They knew the basics, they were just very smart in re-branding it at an appropriate time. The same goes for their DTP package (Photo Plus) which started thirty years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif_PhotoPlus

They're good, they're cheap, but Serif aren't at all new.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Hang on, Serif have been making photo editing software for over twenty years now. That's hardly a 'short period of time'
They knew the basics, they were just very smart in re-branding it at an appropriate time. The same goes for their DTP package (Photo Plus) which started thirty years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif_PhotoPlus

They're good, they're cheap, but Serif aren't at all new.

Agreed, but the Affinity line of products is more recent. And it's no mean feat to tackle modern computer architecture. And Photoshop has been around for more than a couple of decades as well.

[IanSeward]

Amazing that they sell this for just $49. High quality at a low price!

I like how instead of simply producing a PS clone, like Corel do and Serif used to do, they basically started from scratch and said PS is good but what would you do different in 2016? This is what marks it out from other PS competitors and why it is now the go to PS alternative. An example of doing things differently can be seen in this short tutorial which compares the PS Blend If with AP Blend Range:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5njz09W-HA

Ian

[kers]

I like how instead of simply producing a PS clone, like Corel do and Serif used to do, they basically started from scratch and said PS is good but what would you do different in 2016? This is what marks it out from other PS competitors and why it is now the go to PS alternative. An example of doing things differently can be seen in this short tutorial which compares the PS Blend If with AP Blend Range:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5njz09W-HA

Ian

In the video he demonstrates the general fact that curves (AP) have so much more options than simple sliders (PS); that is why i always prefer curves.
At the moment i try to understand C1 and Affinity as a LR- Photoshop replacement; so far Affinity impresses me the most.
It clearly has copied many things from Photoshop but what i like is that the program seems to be much more alive ; It is actively upgraded unlike Photoshop ; Adobe seems to be sleeping...and cashing
The learning video's are very well done.  (Like so...)
Also, as others mentioned ; you can do certain things that are impossible in Photoshop, for instance: save the image with the history added.
It is the only Photoshop alternative i know that opens PSB files...
What puzzles me however is the Raw development. It is unclear for me from what base image they start ( like in LR: Profiles)

[kirkt]

One thing that AP has done that PS will need to do if they will ever hope to evolve beyond simply adding "features" is using a nodal image editing workflow under the hood - think in terms of AP's Live Filters rendering a real-time preview along the nodal chain.  If Photoshop really wanted to become a next generation image editing tool, Adobe will need to adopt something akin to a nodal workflow like AP (and DaVinci Resolve and Blender and countless other applications).  A lot of Photoshop legacy codebase inertia to overcome.

Ideally, if Photoshop created an interface with a nodal toolchain that could branch and save multiple variants in a single workspace, then we would be talking next level awesome.  AP is at least starting down that road.  It is staggering to think what Serif has accomplished in such a short time since coming to market with Affinity Photo (and Designer and Publisher).

Kirk