1. LR nu e un tool de editare în primul rând, ci de organizare, lucru la care zic eu că se pricepe bine. Nu-l folosesc la capacitate, dar pentru că pozez mainly portret și travel, mi-e ușor să găsesc în cataloage fotografii vechi de 10-15 ani.
2. PS a evoluat uluitor de la CS5 încoace. Aproape că nu mai recunoști workflowul pe care-l aveai atunci, cu opțiunile oferite acum. Asta e bine. Ce nu e bine e că acum consumă resurse imense, e uneori prea lent, și că te asasinează cu căcaturile AI.
Nu aș fi încă pregătită să renunț la pachetul Adobe (prea scump deja, sincer vorbind). Am cumpărat în pandemie Affinity (era licență unică dacă bine îmi amintesc), dar aș reveni ca să îmi încerc mâna pe editare video (face asta??) Oricum, mi-ai redeschis niște dileme. Spor!
1. in privinta editarii, lr face exact acelasi lucru ca si camera raw din photoshop asa ca nu vad de ce nu ar fi bun pentru editare. ca face si altele in schimb, nici macar nu contest. am urmarit intr-o vreme episoade de la "creative live" (scurta perioada ca am realizat ca-i marketing) si erau acolo fotografi comerciali profesionisti care nu foloseau altceva decat lightroom.
2. nu contest evolutia photoshop si in plus ar fi fost culmea sa nu evolueze. am fost tentat sa cumpar cs6 dar am realizat ca pentru ceea ce imi trebuie mie, nu face nimic diferit fata de cs5. indiferent cat de evoluat ar fi, tot lucrurile alea le folosesc pentru ca nu-mi trebuie mai mult asa ca evolutia este cumva degeaba.
din ce stiu eu, affinity (varianta gratuita pe care o folosesc) nu are editare video. photoshop are dar din nou, nu folosesc pentru ca nu-s interesat in video
I don't "enjoy" post-processing digital photos. I started with Adobe "Elements" in the early 2000s and ended up with Adobe CC - but mostly using LrC as, for me, it had a more friendly UI. However, I hated (and still hate) Adobe. Let's not go there.
As part of my quest, I bought the original Affinity suite. I found it a bit clunky but I want to learn how to do some design and publishing and there was no way I was going to give more money to Adobe. I have the new Canva-esque version and I'll be experimenting with it. My only minor concern is that Affinity does resemble Ps but I can at least use the design and publish modules with photos processed via Capture One if I don't get fully up to speed with the Develop / Photo module.
Also as part of the quest, I started using Capture One. Now that I've mastered importing photos, I find the UI to suit me best. I started using it when I downloaded a trial version at the point I swapped to Fujifilm cameras. I'd heard it produced better images than LrC and I found that to be true. LrC has settings built in which can be dialed out to (IMO) improve things but I've been using Capture One for several years and I don't think I'll be swapping anytime soon.
if capture one works for you, stick with capture one, there's no need to change. affinity does resemble ps but to me that is a good thing: people sick of adobe will find much easier to addapt to affinity if they found tools and tricks similar with what they know.
100%. I'm sticking with Capture One - particularly as they're about to launch a new film scan conversion module. I have 20+ years of 35mm and 120 film to re-scan as RAW files. They are a combination of ones I scanned on my former flatbed Epson scanner but mostly low-res lab scans provided when I had the film processed. Affinity also offers this facility but the demo I've seen from Capture One looks next level.
I'm really glad that those who are into Ps style processing are able to walk (or run) away from Adobe.
I had a 750 Pro and used VueScan software but I was never happy with the results - particularly when scanning colour negatives. The Epson neg holders were also a pain to try to keep the film truly flat. Dust was also an annoyance as it seemed to be a real dust magnet!
I'll be using my Valoi system to scan / photograph the negs. Capture One seems to be a much 'cleaner' means by which getting the colours right can be achieved.
Thanks for this Perfectlight - I'd just upgraded to CS6 when the subscription model came in and I avoided that for years until, like you, my laptop died and I had to invest. I've looked over the fence to Affinity for a number of years, tempted but not taking the plunge. It's good to get an honest view about switching - it's also good to see someone else who worked with ACR, Bridge and Photoshop rather than lightroom. Having had Photoshop since the early days Bridge has always been my go to way of organising my images - I could never get into the swing of Lightroom!
i found the capabilities of organizing of lightroom to be superior to bridge but that is just me. i had a look into darktable for a replacement of lightroom but i didn't study it enough to make an opinion. for what i need, affinity is doing ok at the moment
I have been an Affinity Photo user since 2017. I bought the OG version. I also upgraded (and decided to support them) to Affinity 2.0. In fact, I bought the suite of Affinity software (Photo, Designer, Publisher) for both my MacBook Pro and iPad. Then Canva bought them out and came out with a free app that I have not yet used. I assume you are using the free app? I have my Nik Efex and Topaz DeNoise software such that I can access them through Affinity Photo and I don’t think that is a possibility yet with the free Canva version. So, for now, I am staying with my purchased license and am using Affinity 2.0 until it’s no longer supported. I have enjoyed using Affinity software but I am now a bit of a skeptic with the whole Canva overhaul. Thanks for talking about your own experiences with the software.
Same here I too ditched Adobe and switched to Affinity suite v2. I downloaded the latest free version but didn’t bother using it. I found Affinity v2 so good; it met all of my requirements, works like charm and very stable.
yes, i'm using the free version and at the moment it's ok for my needs. i had nik collection (the free version offered by google - yes, old, i know) installed on photoshop as a plug-in together with portraiture and both worked like magic. i read that they can be transfered onto affinity. i tried. nik was nowhere to find but some portraiture is there but cannot be used - i presume because they are old versions are there's no more support for them
I too ditched Adobe and switched to Affinity v2 suite (paid one time, no subscription). Right now I don’t even bother using free Affinity. I don’t use AI for creative work. Everything I need is present in Affinity and they all work like a charm. Pages may be the old Affinity’s Publisher which you use to design publishing stuff like zines or photo-books. Affinity v2 has tons of educational videos tutorials in YouTube.
A very nice overview... as I mentioned before, I purchased Affinity Photo 2 and Affinity Publisher 2 last year for my book work, mostly. I've learned both now and am very impressed...I actually used Photo a lot lately for the book design. It's very intuitive (except for the eye dropper color match thing which I cannot get used to for some reason). It does what I need it to do. I'll never "rent" photoshop - I'm not a pro graphic designer so why should I?
Regarding Adobe, can you believe I have never used Camera Raw? Not once!
Also, I only use Lightroom as a way to view my catalog. This by far is the reason for my subscription. I have also purchased ON1 and was going to test it out more but at first try it seems a little daunting. I really only need something to catalogue and do minor edits. I HATE editing! I try to photograph so I don't have to :). Thank you for this...
if you used photoshop, you have used camera raw even without you knowing. in the cs versions of photoshop, you couldn't open an image straight in photoshop not even an jpg image - camera raw was doing the opening in photoshop. i understand what you are saying, you didn't use the camera raw dialogue.
i have to do a bit of research and see if it's worth buying the affinity 2 at this stage
From what I hear, the only advantages to buying Affinity 2 would be the user interface and AI tools, but I will send you something I found about this a few months ago.
First of all, I actually agree with your statement on LR versus Camera Raw. I am a big fan of Camera Raw and often find it completely sufficient for my editing.
Secondly, is it weird that I have never heard of this software? Considering all the comments on here, probably. I tend to stick with what works for me and since I have PS and LR through my husband's work (not paying anything for it), I just got used to doing working that way.
But I am curious now and definitely want to check out Affinity. Like you would say: If I like it, great, if I don't, also great. :)
Thank you for your assessment. I have never used the subscription version of Adobe. I used to have CS5 but once I changed computers, like you, I could lo longer use it. Since I do minimal post processing, and my files are in jpeg (gasp!) I’ve never needed anything extensive. I’ve been using the native Mac Photos app (gasp again!) with the addition of Photomater for the last few years. I did download the free version of Affinity a few months ago but have yet to use it. I’m a bit leery of it now that it’s owned by Canva. I’m afraid it will become another subscription model as the free version gets stripped down. Although now that Photomater has been bought by Apple and will no longer be updated I might be completely out of luck.
to me it's simple: use whatever is working for you. i don't understand why people have doubts/refrains about canva.if a subscription is coming (which i don't think it will) i will deal with that then. i the moment i found a solution, that is all
I think most of the current software is way too much for what we need it for. At least, for me that is. Don't like subscriptions either and therefor I am still on the On1 PhotoRaw 2025 (probably for the coming years). Thought of Affinity, but I already got their Affinity Publisher (one-time payment) so I'm happy with my stack.
I use LR to manage all my photos. I have dozens of catalogs according to year and subject. What this does for me is not good: I am married to LR forever. Unless I'm willing to tear down my content management system that works great for me, and start from scratch, it's LR till the day I die. I''m not happy about it, but I have to face facts. Perhaps I'll take the plunge one day and say Fuck It, Goodbye Adobe. But alas, not today.
if that is working for you, why change? i do understand and i'm not an advocate for affinity nor adobe. i came across a problem and for the moment i found the solution.
Thank you for the suggestions. It's not that i lack options, it’s the Amount of work that will go into making the transition. i've got 10 years of dozens of LR catalogs organizing every photo I've taken. I have started to cull my catalogs, meaning, deleting pure crap and exporting to jpg the “keepers” for management in my NAS, but i've been at it several weeks and I am only 30% through my first 2016-2022 “travel” catalog. I have catalogs for at least 4 other categories for that time period, and at least 4 for every year since. I rely heavily on LR for my management. Therein lies the rub. I am happy with LR, not happy being tied to their $$ and AI upgrade model.
affinity doesn't have a catalogue, it is a "processing" software, not an "organizer". i've tried darktable but not enough to form an opinion. at the moment i'm not using a catalog as such but relying on my organizing skills which already put all the photos in order, in folders on an external drive. also i have bridge which is free and a stand alone app.
scriu în română, că merge mai repede.
1. LR nu e un tool de editare în primul rând, ci de organizare, lucru la care zic eu că se pricepe bine. Nu-l folosesc la capacitate, dar pentru că pozez mainly portret și travel, mi-e ușor să găsesc în cataloage fotografii vechi de 10-15 ani.
2. PS a evoluat uluitor de la CS5 încoace. Aproape că nu mai recunoști workflowul pe care-l aveai atunci, cu opțiunile oferite acum. Asta e bine. Ce nu e bine e că acum consumă resurse imense, e uneori prea lent, și că te asasinează cu căcaturile AI.
Nu aș fi încă pregătită să renunț la pachetul Adobe (prea scump deja, sincer vorbind). Am cumpărat în pandemie Affinity (era licență unică dacă bine îmi amintesc), dar aș reveni ca să îmi încerc mâna pe editare video (face asta??) Oricum, mi-ai redeschis niște dileme. Spor!
1. in privinta editarii, lr face exact acelasi lucru ca si camera raw din photoshop asa ca nu vad de ce nu ar fi bun pentru editare. ca face si altele in schimb, nici macar nu contest. am urmarit intr-o vreme episoade de la "creative live" (scurta perioada ca am realizat ca-i marketing) si erau acolo fotografi comerciali profesionisti care nu foloseau altceva decat lightroom.
2. nu contest evolutia photoshop si in plus ar fi fost culmea sa nu evolueze. am fost tentat sa cumpar cs6 dar am realizat ca pentru ceea ce imi trebuie mie, nu face nimic diferit fata de cs5. indiferent cat de evoluat ar fi, tot lucrurile alea le folosesc pentru ca nu-mi trebuie mai mult asa ca evolutia este cumva degeaba.
din ce stiu eu, affinity (varianta gratuita pe care o folosesc) nu are editare video. photoshop are dar din nou, nu folosesc pentru ca nu-s interesat in video
I'm with you on this.
I don't "enjoy" post-processing digital photos. I started with Adobe "Elements" in the early 2000s and ended up with Adobe CC - but mostly using LrC as, for me, it had a more friendly UI. However, I hated (and still hate) Adobe. Let's not go there.
As part of my quest, I bought the original Affinity suite. I found it a bit clunky but I want to learn how to do some design and publishing and there was no way I was going to give more money to Adobe. I have the new Canva-esque version and I'll be experimenting with it. My only minor concern is that Affinity does resemble Ps but I can at least use the design and publish modules with photos processed via Capture One if I don't get fully up to speed with the Develop / Photo module.
Also as part of the quest, I started using Capture One. Now that I've mastered importing photos, I find the UI to suit me best. I started using it when I downloaded a trial version at the point I swapped to Fujifilm cameras. I'd heard it produced better images than LrC and I found that to be true. LrC has settings built in which can be dialed out to (IMO) improve things but I've been using Capture One for several years and I don't think I'll be swapping anytime soon.
if capture one works for you, stick with capture one, there's no need to change. affinity does resemble ps but to me that is a good thing: people sick of adobe will find much easier to addapt to affinity if they found tools and tricks similar with what they know.
100%. I'm sticking with Capture One - particularly as they're about to launch a new film scan conversion module. I have 20+ years of 35mm and 120 film to re-scan as RAW files. They are a combination of ones I scanned on my former flatbed Epson scanner but mostly low-res lab scans provided when I had the film processed. Affinity also offers this facility but the demo I've seen from Capture One looks next level.
I'm really glad that those who are into Ps style processing are able to walk (or run) away from Adobe.
my flatbed epson 4490 scans in tiff format and i don't need anything more than that
I wish I'd had a similar experience.
I had a 750 Pro and used VueScan software but I was never happy with the results - particularly when scanning colour negatives. The Epson neg holders were also a pain to try to keep the film truly flat. Dust was also an annoyance as it seemed to be a real dust magnet!
I'll be using my Valoi system to scan / photograph the negs. Capture One seems to be a much 'cleaner' means by which getting the colours right can be achieved.
Thanks for this Perfectlight - I'd just upgraded to CS6 when the subscription model came in and I avoided that for years until, like you, my laptop died and I had to invest. I've looked over the fence to Affinity for a number of years, tempted but not taking the plunge. It's good to get an honest view about switching - it's also good to see someone else who worked with ACR, Bridge and Photoshop rather than lightroom. Having had Photoshop since the early days Bridge has always been my go to way of organising my images - I could never get into the swing of Lightroom!
i found the capabilities of organizing of lightroom to be superior to bridge but that is just me. i had a look into darktable for a replacement of lightroom but i didn't study it enough to make an opinion. for what i need, affinity is doing ok at the moment
I have been an Affinity Photo user since 2017. I bought the OG version. I also upgraded (and decided to support them) to Affinity 2.0. In fact, I bought the suite of Affinity software (Photo, Designer, Publisher) for both my MacBook Pro and iPad. Then Canva bought them out and came out with a free app that I have not yet used. I assume you are using the free app? I have my Nik Efex and Topaz DeNoise software such that I can access them through Affinity Photo and I don’t think that is a possibility yet with the free Canva version. So, for now, I am staying with my purchased license and am using Affinity 2.0 until it’s no longer supported. I have enjoyed using Affinity software but I am now a bit of a skeptic with the whole Canva overhaul. Thanks for talking about your own experiences with the software.
Same here I too ditched Adobe and switched to Affinity suite v2. I downloaded the latest free version but didn’t bother using it. I found Affinity v2 so good; it met all of my requirements, works like charm and very stable.
agree!
yes, i'm using the free version and at the moment it's ok for my needs. i had nik collection (the free version offered by google - yes, old, i know) installed on photoshop as a plug-in together with portraiture and both worked like magic. i read that they can be transfered onto affinity. i tried. nik was nowhere to find but some portraiture is there but cannot be used - i presume because they are old versions are there's no more support for them
I too ditched Adobe and switched to Affinity v2 suite (paid one time, no subscription). Right now I don’t even bother using free Affinity. I don’t use AI for creative work. Everything I need is present in Affinity and they all work like a charm. Pages may be the old Affinity’s Publisher which you use to design publishing stuff like zines or photo-books. Affinity v2 has tons of educational videos tutorials in YouTube.
You might just convince me too!
cost you nothing to try: you like it, fine; you don't like it, fine again
A very nice overview... as I mentioned before, I purchased Affinity Photo 2 and Affinity Publisher 2 last year for my book work, mostly. I've learned both now and am very impressed...I actually used Photo a lot lately for the book design. It's very intuitive (except for the eye dropper color match thing which I cannot get used to for some reason). It does what I need it to do. I'll never "rent" photoshop - I'm not a pro graphic designer so why should I?
Regarding Adobe, can you believe I have never used Camera Raw? Not once!
Also, I only use Lightroom as a way to view my catalog. This by far is the reason for my subscription. I have also purchased ON1 and was going to test it out more but at first try it seems a little daunting. I really only need something to catalogue and do minor edits. I HATE editing! I try to photograph so I don't have to :). Thank you for this...
if you used photoshop, you have used camera raw even without you knowing. in the cs versions of photoshop, you couldn't open an image straight in photoshop not even an jpg image - camera raw was doing the opening in photoshop. i understand what you are saying, you didn't use the camera raw dialogue.
i have to do a bit of research and see if it's worth buying the affinity 2 at this stage
From what I hear, the only advantages to buying Affinity 2 would be the user interface and AI tools, but I will send you something I found about this a few months ago.
Thank you for this! It helps to know how it worked for you.
up to now worked ok 😊
Excellent! And it's a one-time purchase, instead of paying yearly for Adobe.
Need to make the switch.
it's even better, FREE! no payments just set up a canva account in order to download it and that's it
Wow! Thanks for the tip.
First of all, I actually agree with your statement on LR versus Camera Raw. I am a big fan of Camera Raw and often find it completely sufficient for my editing.
Secondly, is it weird that I have never heard of this software? Considering all the comments on here, probably. I tend to stick with what works for me and since I have PS and LR through my husband's work (not paying anything for it), I just got used to doing working that way.
But I am curious now and definitely want to check out Affinity. Like you would say: If I like it, great, if I don't, also great. :)
and if ps is free and it's working for you that is great too 😁
Thank you for your assessment. I have never used the subscription version of Adobe. I used to have CS5 but once I changed computers, like you, I could lo longer use it. Since I do minimal post processing, and my files are in jpeg (gasp!) I’ve never needed anything extensive. I’ve been using the native Mac Photos app (gasp again!) with the addition of Photomater for the last few years. I did download the free version of Affinity a few months ago but have yet to use it. I’m a bit leery of it now that it’s owned by Canva. I’m afraid it will become another subscription model as the free version gets stripped down. Although now that Photomater has been bought by Apple and will no longer be updated I might be completely out of luck.
to me it's simple: use whatever is working for you. i don't understand why people have doubts/refrains about canva.if a subscription is coming (which i don't think it will) i will deal with that then. i the moment i found a solution, that is all
Solutions are good!
As a taker of snapshots, I'm always amazed when photographers explain how they make their art.
I think most of the current software is way too much for what we need it for. At least, for me that is. Don't like subscriptions either and therefor I am still on the On1 PhotoRaw 2025 (probably for the coming years). Thought of Affinity, but I already got their Affinity Publisher (one-time payment) so I'm happy with my stack.
if that combination is working for you, why would you change? i wouldn't have moved from my old ps if i could transfer it to the new computer.
I use LR to manage all my photos. I have dozens of catalogs according to year and subject. What this does for me is not good: I am married to LR forever. Unless I'm willing to tear down my content management system that works great for me, and start from scratch, it's LR till the day I die. I''m not happy about it, but I have to face facts. Perhaps I'll take the plunge one day and say Fuck It, Goodbye Adobe. But alas, not today.
if that is working for you, why change? i do understand and i'm not an advocate for affinity nor adobe. i came across a problem and for the moment i found the solution.
WHY CHANGE? CAN YOU SPELL $$$$. I'd rather be in a relationship that I could choose to leave without paying the price in another way.
try darktable. it's not easy at the start but you will get there and it's free
Thank you for the suggestions. It's not that i lack options, it’s the Amount of work that will go into making the transition. i've got 10 years of dozens of LR catalogs organizing every photo I've taken. I have started to cull my catalogs, meaning, deleting pure crap and exporting to jpg the “keepers” for management in my NAS, but i've been at it several weeks and I am only 30% through my first 2016-2022 “travel” catalog. I have catalogs for at least 4 other categories for that time period, and at least 4 for every year since. I rely heavily on LR for my management. Therein lies the rub. I am happy with LR, not happy being tied to their $$ and AI upgrade model.
i get your pain, i do
A mere flesh wound, my good Perfecto. Nothing a dab of iodine and fifth of Jameson won't cure!
you can also try "excire foto" which is one-time payment or
if you are a windows user try "everything" which is free
You've said don't mix the topics, but... what kind of catalogue are you using if not Lightroom? Does Affinity has something similar?
affinity doesn't have a catalogue, it is a "processing" software, not an "organizer". i've tried darktable but not enough to form an opinion. at the moment i'm not using a catalog as such but relying on my organizing skills which already put all the photos in order, in folders on an external drive. also i have bridge which is free and a stand alone app.