# Affinity Photo



## e.rose (Feb 9, 2015)

Has anyone seen this?

Affinity Photo is a New Pro Photoshop Alternative for Mac Users Get It for Free

I already downloaded it.

I haven't used it yet.

But I downloaded it.

I have high hopes for this. Maybe I can finally give Adobe the middle finger and apply the subscription fees towards something else. :mrgreen:


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## tirediron (Feb 9, 2015)

Interesting...  I'll keep an eye out for the Windows version.


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## Forkie (Feb 10, 2015)

Looks like quite a nice alternative to Photoshop.  Whether I'll download it, I'm not sure.  I'd feel like I was having an affair!


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## ronlane (Feb 10, 2015)

I saw it and watched the video yesterday. I wasn't where I could download it, and it slipped my mind, but I'm not sure if I will or not.


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## Gary A. (Feb 10, 2015)

I'm always in favor of giving Adobe the finger. I will check it out.


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## e.rose (Feb 10, 2015)

Forkie said:


> Looks like quite a nice alternative to Photoshop.  Whether I'll download it, I'm not sure.  I'd feel like I was having an affair!



That is an affair I would be willing to have. I wouldn't even be discreet about it.



Gary A. said:


> I'm always in favor of giving Adobe the finger. I will check it out.



You and me both!


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## Gary A. (Feb 10, 2015)

I signed up!


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## ShutterVan (Jun 27, 2017)

I started using Affinity and for the money, I believe it to be a good value.  The one nice think I like about Affinity is the video tutorials.  I've never used Lightroom but I'm not a fan of subscription based software; hence my decision to Affinity.  I say - give it a try as the only thing you have to lose is time but you'll gain knowledge.  A fair trade.

Please bear in mind that I'm a noob at both Affinity and Photography.  I took pictures for a news paper about 35 years ago and decided I wanted a new hobby, although I forgot just how expensive a hobby can become.  I received my camera gear last week and I started taking my first pictures - June 24 2017.  And now I'm sucking the internet dry of valuable information.


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## Braineack (Jun 27, 2017)

Gary A. said:


> I'm always in favor of giving Adobe the finger. I will check it out.


waiting for a good lightroom alternative.


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## Gary A. (Jun 27, 2017)

I have a new-in-wrapper Affinity 'How-To' book for anybody who wants it.  The catch is, it's in German.


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## table1349 (Jun 27, 2017)

Even though this is a 2 year old thread, I have been using Affinity since it came out.  The current version is 1.5.2, and I use it quite a bit.  It is probably the best piece of software and comes very close to being a complete Photoshop replacement.  It's not quite there yet, but for most users it is all that they need.  Certainly much better than Photoshop Express and the other similar stripped down pieces of software.  If someone is looking for a good graphics design software Affinity Designer gives Adobe Illustrator a run for its money again at a great price.


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## trevburley (Jun 28, 2017)

I've been using Affinity since it came out for Windows. I also have a Photoshop subscription which I've had since the CC versions came out and I have to say I always open Affinity for my editing work. Photoshop and Lightroom haven't been used since I transitioned. I liked it so much that I've even given in to my hatred of Apple and bought the iPad Pro just so that I can use their newly released iOS version.

Using both side by side you'll find that Affinity has a less destructive workflow, you can also preview the effects of things like brushes before you've actually painted the stroke and you access to things like Frequency Separation tools which have to be done with a very manual process in Photoshop. That's just scratching the surface...


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## fmw (Jul 8, 2017)

I also like Affinity for Windows.  It does much, much more than the ever popular Lightroom except, of course, for the cataloging.  It doesn't do that.  I still use my ancient version of Photoshop for my web site images because it is simply faster than anything else by a long shot, including the current version of Photoshop which I don't like at all.   I have most of the major editing programs here and have used them all but I always seem to use the old Photoshop and Affinity.  Nothing will cure my hatred of Apple.


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## chuasam (Aug 8, 2017)

trevburley said:


> I've been using Affinity since it came out for Windows. I also have a Photoshop subscription which I've had since the CC versions came out and I have to say I always open Affinity for my editing work. Photoshop and Lightroom haven't been used since I transitioned. I liked it so much that I've even given in to my hatred of Apple and bought the iPad Pro just so that I can use their newly released iOS version.
> 
> Using both side by side you'll find that Affinity has a less destructive workflow, you can also preview the effects of things like brushes before you've actually painted the stroke and you access to things like Frequency Separation tools which have to be done with a very manual process in Photoshop. That's just scratching the surface...


I am seriously considering getting Affinity Photo for my iPad Pro.
The Adobe Photoshop Express, Mix and Fix are complete rubbish for the level of editing I want to do.
Sure they try to make it easier but it lacks the layers and the workflow that I try to do.

Is the switch over from Photoshop to Affinity doable? Will it do my head in to run two different software. One for my desktop and one on the road?


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## Ysarex (Aug 8, 2017)

chuasam said:


> trevburley said:
> 
> 
> > I've been using Affinity since it came out for Windows. I also have a Photoshop subscription which I've had since the CC versions came out and I have to say I always open Affinity for my editing work. Photoshop and Lightroom haven't been used since I transitioned. I liked it so much that I've even given in to my hatred of Apple and bought the iPad Pro just so that I can use their newly released iOS version.
> ...



Affinity is to a large extent a PS clone. If you use PS you'll adjust pretty quickly to Affinity. Caveat: that's for editing RGB images. Affinity is very good and indeed a real bargain as an editor for RGB images. Raw file processing is another matter and Affinity enforces a destructive workflow for raw processing by not saving your raw editing work.

Joe


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## trevburley (Aug 8, 2017)

There are slight differences between affinity and Photoshop but I can quite happily watch a Photoshop tutorial on YouTube and transfer it straight to affinity. Personally I owned affinity photo for PC and have since purchased an iPad pro just to run affinity for iPad - very powerful software and even better still, it gives you a much more accurate workflow since the live preview of things like brush strokes mean less mistakes.

Trev


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## trevburley (Aug 8, 2017)

Ysarex said:


> Affinity is to a large extent a PS clone. If you use PS you'll adjust pretty quickly to Affinity. Caveat: that's for editing RGB images. Affinity is very good and indeed a real bargain as an editor for RGB images. Raw file processing is another matter and Affinity enforces a destructive workflow for raw processing by not saving your raw editing work.
> 
> Joe



PS is identical in that manner, once you hit "Open Image" in Camera RAW it is the same as clicking "Develop" in Affinity Photo.

Trev


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## Ysarex (Aug 8, 2017)

trevburley said:


> Ysarex said:
> 
> 
> > Affinity is to a large extent a PS clone. If you use PS you'll adjust pretty quickly to Affinity. Caveat: that's for editing RGB images. Affinity is very good and indeed a real bargain as an editor for RGB images. Raw file processing is another matter and Affinity enforces a destructive workflow for raw processing by not saving your raw editing work.
> ...



Absolutely not. Once you select "Open Image" in Camera RAW everything you've done to that point is saved in an XMP file and will be retrieved if you re-open the raw file. Clicking "Develop" in Affinity Photo discards all work done to that point. You get the RGB image file but re-open the raw file and you must start over from scratch. Notably Affinity is the only raw processing program that does this. All other raw converters save the work you do with the raw development tools. Affinity's behavior as such is alarmingly wrong.

Joe


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## trevburley (Aug 8, 2017)

Thank you for clarifying Joe, whilst I've never had a need for this I can see how it would be a problem. I'll email Affinity and see if there's something they would be willing to do to rectify that 

Trev


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## chuasam (Aug 8, 2017)

Ysarex said:


> chuasam said:
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> > trevburley said:
> ...



Can Lightroom for iOS be used to handle raw before doing the actual retouching in afffinity ?


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## trevburley (Aug 8, 2017)

chuasam said:


> Can Lightroom for iOS be used to handle raw before doing the actual retouching in afffinity ?



Yep, just tried it


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## chuasam (Aug 8, 2017)

trevburley said:


> chuasam said:
> 
> 
> > Can Lightroom for iOS be used to handle raw before doing the actual retouching in afffinity ?
> ...


Ok. any good reason NOT to get Affinity Photo for my iPad Pro?


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## trevburley (Aug 8, 2017)

chuasam said:


> Ok. any good reason NOT to get Affinity Photo for my iPad Pro?



I bought the iPad Pro 12.9 specifically for Affinity Photo so that I can edit photos whilst comfortably sitting on the sofa and have not been disappointed. I would not return it and haven't used my laptop for editing since purchasing it so basically no, there is no reason not to own it in my opinion.

Trev


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## chuasam (Aug 8, 2017)

trevburley said:


> chuasam said:
> 
> 
> > Ok. any good reason NOT to get Affinity Photo for my iPad Pro?
> ...



Thanks 
I've found the iOS photoshop trio to be staggeringly useless. Express, Mix, and Fix are rubbish for professional level editing. I trained on photoshop in school so I'm always hesitant to make a switch but I wanted the portability of an iPad Pro 10.5" but still wanted to do retouching. 

On your advice I shall purchase Affinity Photo.


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## ShutterVan (Aug 8, 2017)

Ysarex said:


> chuasam said:
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> 
> > trevburley said:
> ...






Joe,

I'm not sure I understand "Affinity enforces a destructive workflow for raw processing by not saving your raw editing work."  Affinity will save the work you do in raw format as a "name".afphoto. Although, I'm pretty new to the photo processing on the computer world.  Used a dark room many years ago and negative exposures many years ago.  Can you enlighten me on "enforces a destructive workflow" please?  You definitely sound like you're well versed in the software arena.


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## trevburley (Aug 9, 2017)

VanBalricom, what Joe means is that PS saves an external file with data about where you put the sliders so that next time you directly open the RAW file it 'remembers' what settings you used last time and applies them. 

Affinity Photo does not do this (to my knowledge) so you have to start over each time you directly open the RAW file.

If you think of it as these steps it may help:


Open RAW in Camera RAW / Affinity Photo Develop Persona
Tweak the RAW by adjusting sliders, blemish removal, gradient overlays etc
Click "Open Image" / "Develop"

Photoshop will resume between steps 2 and 3 whereas Affinity Photo will resume right from the beginning at step 1.

Personally if I am reopening a RAW file it usually means I got it wrong the first time and want to start again or I want a different look entirely but it may be the case that you just want to make a subtle tweak which is where Affinity's method fails.

Never had a need for it myself, but I may do one day...

Trev


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## trevburley (Aug 9, 2017)

Please note, one of the devs at Affinity got back to me and said that non-destructive RAW editing is a feature that's been requested enough to implement and it's in their job list but no deadline on it's implementation yet.

Trev


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## Ysarex (Aug 9, 2017)

VanBlaricom said:


> Ysarex said:
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> 
> > chuasam said:
> ...



Trev's, description is basically accurate. I'll elaborate some.

First, I'll start by saying that Affinity Photo is the best PhotoShop clone I've seen. As a raster image editor it's exceptional and for the price it's unbeatable. So, heaping praise on Serif, I'll say that today in 2017 they've finally produced a PhotoShop rival that the industry can take seriously and at a jaw-dropping price. Wow!

Now for the big *BUT* Affinity Photo is fundamentally a raster image editor as opposed to a parametric editor. So much so that the  Serif developers did something that no other raw processing software designer has ever done. They included a raw file processing module in the software without the ability to save the parametric editing instructions. That's actually a shocker.

Affinity Photo will demosaic a raw file and apply standard tone, color, detail, geometry, and even local adjustments via their raw processing module, but you must then follow through and create a raster RGB image. Prior to the creation of the afphoto file the adjustments you've made are parametic and Affinity Photo discards those adjustments when the afphoto file is created. The afphoto file is a 16 bit RGB image file -- basically a TIFF file. And at this juncture I used the description "enforces a destructive workflow" because, even though you can continue to edit the afphoto file, *the adjustments you made in the raw module get baked into the afphoto file and can't be undone.* You can't unbake an ingredient from the cake and if you decide later you'd prefer a change or variation in the recipe; you have to bake the cake all over again -- from scratch. That's the definition of a destructive workflow.

About a decade ago we reached a juncture in image processing technology. One reason that Affinity Photo may be such a phenomenal deal right now is that the folks at Serif understand that they've made a choice to stand at that juncture point and look backward while most photographers are moving forward.

This is fundamentally about raster versus parametric editing. And I'm going to go ahead here and inflame the topic by saying it's about the right versus wrong way to do this. Raster image editing works with an RGB image file and actually modifies the file at the pixel level. That's destructive editing. What's wrong with destructive editing? Every time you bake the cake and later decide it would be a little better if..... you have to bake it over. Raster editors like Photoshop and Affinity Photo have devised layering structures to reduce the destructiveness of the process but it get's increasingly contorted and the files get increasingly bloated. Adopting a non-destructive layered workflow in PhotoShop or Affinity is a huge PITA.

It was necessary as little as a decade ago. We've come from a condition using past tech in which raw file processing required a two step process. I said juncture above -- in other words we're just now at the point where a lot of us still haven't made the transition and so are comfortable with that two step process. Still using PhotoShop and so Affinity Photo looks great.

The two step process of the past is what Serif now presents: Demosaic the raw file in software app 1 and then create an RGB image for further processing in software app 2. The gap between app 1 and app 2 is destructive. If you go back to app 1 and make a change it destroys everything you did in app 2 and you have to do it over.

Parametric editing is totally non-destructive. A parametric editor only saves the recipe for baking the cake. If you're working with raw files they're left untouched and there are no pixels to physically change. Parametric editing is seamlessly and surgically re-editable at any stage in the process. When Light Room or Capture One or ACR saves your work they write a text file to disk. Changing the recipe amounts to changing some lines in that text file. The savings in disk space is enormous. But the biggest saving is in the amount of your time spent working.

In the past parametric editors (raw file converters) didn't provide an adequate toolset to get the photo fully processed -- two step process required. They still have limitations and the raster editor is still required for certain tasks like extensive cloning.  But this is the juncture point we've reached. Top tier parametric editors (LR, Capture 1) have continued to evolve and enrich their toolsets so that now most of us can fully edit our photos using only app 1 which does the job parametrically in a totally non-destructive and surgically re-editable process (added benefit enormous disk space saving). This is the right way to do it.

Putting this in perspective and looking at my own evolution processing photos: If Affinity Photo had been released say 12 years ago I'd have been turning backflips and setting off fireworks. My reaction now is, "that's nice, a PhotoShop clone huh? PhotoShop was great software back in the day." PhotoShop was app 2. I barely use app 2 anymore.

Joe


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## chuasam (Aug 9, 2017)

Thanks Joe,
what I basically wanted was a full fledge editor for when I am on the go. I did not want to lug a laptop but I want to have access to my full suite of retouching tools (or something close) when I'm away. It's my attempt to be more productive and to satisfy those blessed last minute changes clients like to spring.

I want to be able to sit on the couch, retouch while watching Netflix. (my version of Netfix and chill).


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## trevburley (Aug 9, 2017)

Chuasam, exactly my reason for purchasing and I honestly haven't used my laptop (which also has affinity) at all since getting the iPad version.

Trev


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## chuasam (Aug 12, 2017)

so far...it's not been easy. I don't have the quick shortcuts that I'm used to.
Feels like I'm a tourist in a foreign town. I've been using Photoshop for the past 20 years and suddenly this is all new.


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## trevburley (Aug 14, 2017)

There are a few things I struggled with like ctrl+t and alt+backspace etc but you soon get used to the changes with the shortcuts. There are some slightly different methodologies to learn.

Trev


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