I'm 30 and have like 20 using Photoshop and around 14 using Illustrator so one would say the Adobe suite is very ingrained in my mind and life, but it wasn't hard to move being used to learn a ton of software along the years, I just open it and use it as it is nothing, but if I get stuck, just search on UA-cam or Google and that's it, I'm back in action with more knowledge again!
I began my Photoshop journey with you many years ago. Your training has taken me from newbie to advanced user over the years through many of your your One on One training courses. I have thoroughly appreciated your approach and enthusiasm for teaching so much so many times I have recommended your training to many of my friends. So needless to say, this video grabbed my attention because of who you are. I was thoroughly blown away by your enthusiasm for Affinity and made me seriously consider Affinity as an alternative to Photoshop.
What I like about Affinity is that the gap is closing all the time. For example the RAW space used to be a destructive edit for RAW but now you can traverse back and forth. Won't be long before the tools for the space will be available for all formats. I'm loving it!
Another thing I love: After eight(?) years, I believe, Affinity is still calling itself Version 2.X. Which means Serif is keeping its customers happy for extended periods of time.
I agree. I've been using the affinity 2 suite (mostly designer) since I do t shirt designs, however I practice photography as a hobby and use Affinity photo after I left lightroom/photoshop and all I can say is WOWZERS! I don't miss either lightroom or photoshop or any of the adobe suite apps for that matter.
Thanks for this video! Please make more tutorials comparing Affinity Photo with Photoshop. There are many Affinity Photo tutorials on UA-cam, but none of them are target for Photoshop users. This kind of information is very useful. Affinity has just opened the trail time duration for 6 months.
Holy cow ! Deke was my favorite Photoshop instructor : I have been following his courses for more than 20 years... and now he has found Adobe's absolute challenger...Times are a-changing Man !
Love the tutorials you do for Adobe, glad to see you are moving to Affinity as well (I know you aren't abandoning Adobe completely) but also helping with Affinity tutorials.
i just tried affinity both the designer and photo.. as a professional graphic artist all i can say is WOW! how did i not know about affinity before this is beyond me. rest assured im so confident that moving from photoshop/illustrator to affinity is not even an issue! its just so good and so easy to use yet as powerful as adobe.
@@Lokkodog I am looking into that right now. I’m hopeful EPS files will work more or less seamlessly. As for AI files, there’s a lot Illustrator can do that Designer can’t, so expect some losses. More TK!
Wow, Deke you were my man back in 2000´s when I started to learn Illustrator and Photoshop, you still get the touch. I´m so glad to find you teaching Affinity, I´m a user of it and I would love to hear what you have to say about.
Truly appreciate this. Been a PS user since 2002 and now switching to AP as adobe left me less than pleased. Just going with the 6 month free trial and this type of content is so helpful.
Hi Deke, thank you very much for this video. You were my first and still favorite Photoshop teacher. Without even knowing it. More than 20 years ago your book (Photoshop Bible?) and videos are the foundation of my start, knowledge and enthusiasm for Photoshop and everything related to working digital. A year ago I started using Affinity Photo and Designer but am so used working with Photoshop that I haven’t completely switched.
We need more of these affinity tutorials Deke. I learned photoshop from you about 17 yrs ago and used photoshop, Once adobe abused their privileges and forced unfair and downright criminal agreements upon me I left for affinity and its the best move I ever made, and that's a shame I loved and used photoshop for many years!
Not having a few features (that will probably be added in the future) is absolutely not a problem if we consider not being tied anymore to Adobe's extremely predatory, trashy practices. Not like it's an issue for me, I just visit the high seas. But the more market share they lose, the better for the industry.
As a twenty year photoshop user, this Deke-inspired tutorial for switching to Affinity Photo is just what I have been looking for. This function by function comparison is fantastic. Let's see more! Subscribed.
Yes after two decades switched to Affinity. It feels more intuitive. And much less expensive. I took some of your Photoshop and Illustrator courses. You're an amazing teacher. Please explore Affinity more :) Love
Deke, it was great hearing your take on this! You taught me non-destructive editing...though I've come to the place where I'm actually not concerned as much about doing non-destructive work, as long as the original is somewhere. When working from home, Affinity has been my go-to since it was just PhotoPlus. It does lack some of the powerful tools of Photoshop, but it makes up for that with its customer friendliness.
Yep, as things stand now. As long as Affinity doesn’t get too big (say, 10% Adobe), I’m looking forward to a happy future with lots of room for improvement!
DEKE! I had your Photoshop 5 VHS Video Series somewhere around the turn of the century. I had just been offered a teaching job for 36-hour Photoshop class at the local community college (after their 'real' instructor quit right before it started) and it paid what your Photoshop Series cost, so I took the job, bought your series, watched it a couple of times, and then took a day off from work before each class going through the Adobe Classroom in a Book. One of the best tech decisions I ever made. Stayed with Photoshop / InDesign until forced subscriptions, and switched to Affinity Photo / Publisher. Great to see you again.
Well that really rocked. As college faculty I always learn about how to teach as well as how to use the software from you. I do miss "the good ol' days" when you dressed as an archaeologist, etc. (much like Dr. Brown btw). My time is limited but you have convinced me to do the new 6 month free trial of Affinity. Thanks again! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
As a fellow college instructor, I am seriously considering leaving Adobe soon. Affinity Photo will save us lots of money we can put back into equipment. Is your college looking for alternatives?
I’m not leaving Ps anytime soon. (I have a few more reasons at my Patreon. For example, transformations are handled haphazardly depending on the layer type. There’s more.) But Affinity has a lot going for it!
After 10 years using PS I totally dismissed all Adobe Products and switched to Affinity phot and Affinity Designer. And I have not regretted. Everything you do in PS or Illustrator you can do in Affinity Photo or Designer...AND...you do not have to pay not every month!!! Saves so much money.
The machine learning-powered object selection tool and select subject features are coming to Affinity Photo in version 2.6 (currently in Beta for licensed users).
Well, there he is 😃 Hi Deke, you were my Photoshop instructor on Lynda way back in the Photoshop 3 days. I switched to Affinity after Photoshop CS6 and haven't looked back since. I'm looking forward to seeing more Affinity videos from you - preferably with side-by-side comparisons with Photoshop. 👍🇩🇰
I have used both, but due to financial constraints shortly before and during covid, i switched. For my needs, it's more than adequate. For higher use pros and people who need a software widely used by companies and professionals, Adobe software will be the goto for a while longer.
For me it was Dekes "Photoshop 4 for Dummies" book. Which eventually - gave me a 'career'. Had it not been for Dekes funny writing, may never have got the bug,
Yeah from the beginning I could tell that HE KNOWS what he is talkin about 'XD. Im indeed not gonna use Photoshop anymore but I'll be using Photopea and Affinity. The devs should see your video to make it better. Damn it was such a good video, I had fun watching and even if I wasn't looking for something I learned stuff, amazing! Can't wait to see more :)
I've been using Affinity Photo since it first came out 7-8 years ago and have never looked back. It's got everything you need if you want to create graphics and the only things it doesn't have are some of the more esoteric features such as 3D and the new AI generative fill features, none of which a real artist would ever need. Affinity Photo is way faster and more stable than Photoshop has ever been so it's a no brainer. Price is spot on too. Will never go back to using Photoshop again.
Like so many other folks Deke you taught me Photoshop and to an extent Illustrator back in the CS3 days for which I'll be ever forever grateful 🙏 I moved over to Affinity a few years ago, the Adobe prices just got too crazy, so it's great to see you doing some videos on Affinity Photo. Perhaps one day we might see a range of Affinity Photo One on One Fundamentals , Intermediate and Advanced courses some day?
Really enjoy your vocal delivery and intonation. You Could be a sports commentator! Ps. I’m mostly a voiceover artist when I’m not editing photos so my ears pricked up when you started talking. Very different to the dry deliveries often seen on you tube. Thanks !
Thanks for this. As a professional designer I will be aging out of needing a full creative cloud subscription. The idea of owning the software outright is very appealing. I do find affinity a bit complex but it will do what I need it to do. More videos on this would be very helpful.
More are coming! I have to say, I do find it hilarious that Serif has made almost no attempt to streamline things. Affinity Photo is an unapologetic colossus ⛰
I switched to Affinity Photo about 4 years ago and I use a few other tools like Luminar Neo and Topaz software to give me those quick and easy AI features so I don't feel like I am missing out on that much with Photoshop. Now with the whole licensing concerns with Photoshop I am hoping more folks jump ship to Affinity Photo and maybe with a few more dollars in hand Affinity Photo can start to add a few more Photoshop tricks that can make it an even more exciting alternative.
Thanks for the tips. I will look at Luminar Neo and Topaz. Did a little research on them yesterday to fill the gap of AI and bulk RAW edits that Affinity doesn't have......yet.
I learned Photoshop CS (1) from your book in 2003. I have been using Photoshop for over 20 years and teaching college Photoshop since 2006. I love Affinity Photo being competition. I have a few less days in Photoshop than you but am creating videos and running tests to compare as well the differences. The Live filters are an upgrade. I do like the Refine Selection better here. Wish the RAW conversion was better quality in Affinity.
And don't forget about the price. No subscription fee, just a one time purchase and very affordable at 80$ during a sale for the universal license (all three Photo, Designer and Publisher), usable on all your devices, windows and mac.
I think after the purchase of Affinity by Canva, we will see an accelerated timeline for more features. I've been using the Affinity suite for 3 years now and I generally prefer using it over Adobe. Though Adobe is clearly a more mature (and, ahem, bloated) piece of software. I just love the snappiness and more pleasant interface of Affinity.
@@HR-wd6cw Pure speculation. They have issued a public statement that they will continue to offer it as a one-time purchase and IF they ever go to a subscription model, it will be an offering alongside the perpetual license. There are already applications that use this type of model such as Filmora and Sketch. You purchase it outright and get free feature updates for a year and then after that you only get security patches.
I am a 3D digital artist so I use photoshop for drawing basically. My Adobe subscription just ran out today and I saw this software like 6 months ago when I was researching if there is anything good enough to replace photoshop. I really hate subscriptions. I would rather pay a lot in the short run to save a lot in the long run. Plus I don't upgrade my software. I have my process, I like my process, my process works for me so instead of focusing on changing my process, I focus on what I can create with my process. I just got Affinity 2 today. So far it feels very natural since I have been using photoshop for years and this is extremely similar in layout. I can do my work the same as I always have. Maybe I will run into something specific once it is needed in a project but generally, it is the perpetual license of photoshop we have all been wanting for years.
It is so similar in the shortcuts and layout when I was creating videos yesterday that I didn't always realize I was in the opposite program. I love how Affinity is easy to transition from Adobe....and you don't even have to pay a lot to purchase it.
@@dekeNow Wait! I could've gotten videotapes? I still have all of the TT DVDs from back in the day. Gonna have to finish watching them one day. I suspect they would still be somewhat useful trainings.
Deke, you are the man for sure. You have taught me and millions and I cannot thank you enough for what I have learned from you. The issue is with Adobe and its' less than ethical practices. It won't change unless it gets hit in the pocketbook. That is why I canceled my subscription and have moved over to Affinity software. It's a shame, but I felt like a hypocrite for being critical of Adobe's subscription model but yet still paying for it. That's not to say that one can't be critical of the software they use, that's how the software gets better, but when the company keeps kicking you and laughing, while I am paying them, I decided to end the toxic relationship. I look forward to seeing you use AP!
It would be easy for Affinity to add support for OpenRouter, so they could do generative fill by outsourcing the image generation. I'm surprised they haven't done that already to be honest. It wouldn't be that difficult. I did see that they are doing something similar in their beta that's out now with AI powered selection.
I'm a pixel enthusiast here. and before i was addicted/familiar with personal computers and digital art, i drew on paper with pens or pencils. So yea, when i heard about photoshop, given that info about me, i went for very different and specific tools it has that are different than what a professional or even enthusiast photographer might go for. So yea, as a drawing/art guy, photoshop may be overkill for me, and krita should really suffice for lil ol me if i a can undertand its jargon and ui and such. 30 years of photoshop experience? my god. plenty of time to really master, or atleast have a rock solid understanding of such a complex and powerful tool like photoshop. so yea, as a pixel enthusiast, and a begrudging user of photoshop, your insights are very valuable and amazing for me. so im glad this video exists and im able to find it too. As an artist, and a "poor" SAAS just makes my blood boil like almost nothing else can on this planet. passion is a helluva drug. right? so yea, after adobe went subscription i nearly completely went out of my way to completely purge everything adobe from my mind AND my pc. it was a bit easier for me than others considering im a jobless bum, so i wasnt locked in financially to keep being chained to adobe to keep the lights on. but yea, i ditched almost it all. but being fond of pixels and arranging and authoring them as i am. i couldnt exactly go completely cold turkey from adobe. in spite of my disdain, disgust confusion and contempt. i still hold a candle for photoshop. purely cuz, im an art guy, and photoshop unfortunately as 1 piece of kit right now is just ultimate perfection for that purpose. I may not be a photographer by profession or hobby. i do have a "decent" digital camera, but it almost never leaves my house, and i really only take very specific pics with it, and dont even share em. but still i have some "master" jpgs on my pc, so i do dabble with those, and sometimes i do like mash 2 or more images together to remix stuff, it is fun, for me. so yea, i didnt just try to learn things like gimp/photoshop/affinity purely for "art" sake. Very fascinating that you actually point out that its not all sunshine and rainbows for photoshop being king of the hill for now and forever. i get it, people love the program if they do anything related to image manipulation on a pc and arent running linux exclusively. i get it. when something works you grow attached. im guilty of this too. im not gonna point fingers and say people hyping up photoshop are bad or anything. but without the context of well its not the full picture, and what i actually have issue with is when "outsiders" to digital image management. be they children, or first time digital artists or photographers that arent minors but photoshop/compositing is still new to them at that time, when people with fresh eyes have no idea how out of hand the praise is, it can be really potentially damaging to everyone's mental health that may have interest in photoshop for basically anything it can do. I only recently realized how absurd it is to claim "i know ALL about photoshop" it can do so much. i dont know the specifics of every tool, every thing hidden in menus, or context menus or wherever else photoshop can be changed/configured. but after i have a decent understanding of basics like layers, filters, blending modes, masking and such. then i could just load any pic i want. cue up a filter, not sweat numbers for settings i have for the filter, and just play with the controls to see visually what it does to my image. and just be blown away at how much precision i really have. not the immediate idea of fun for most people, but me as pixel guy? it was fun and i was really amazed at the sorcery happening before my very eyes on my own screen. Tl;dr: that was long, and no, im not addressing anyone other than the creator here. and it may be long, but its passion, not "venom" photoshop is wild, and ur insights are really awesome. thank you for making stuff like this available for people like me, and others that may have interest in photoshop for any number of a surprisingly vast number of reasons. TY you bamf, and have a nice day. as a pixel nerd, i found this video wonderful, and neat af.
I'd love to see more Affinity Photo tutorials Deke. I'm a Photoshop user of over 20 years and have watched your tutorials since the Lynda days. I appreciate your humor and style of teaching. I make my living as a commercial photographer and I create pretty high end stuff including working on national ad campaigns. Retouching and post production is a HUGE part of my creative process and Lightroom/Photoshop has been an integral part of that. Trying to find a "replacement" is nearly impossible. Due to recent events with the controversy over Adobe's Terms of Use (more specifically the license agreement artists were at one point being forced to grant them before they changed their mind and rewrote their terms due to backlash from the creative community), I've lost a lot of trust with Adobe and decided to purchase Affinity Photo 2. I've been experimenting with it and there are a lot of things that I like about it. For example, the live filters are really cool and super responsive. That being said, there are also some things that I feel like are missing (or my lack of knowledge in the program has me thinking that they're missing.) For example, when you create a curves adjustment layer a panel pops up, just like Photoshop. However, you'd think that you'd be able to save a curves preset and access it from that same curves adjustment layer panel. Instead, you have to go to Window > Adjustment and access your presets there. Not a big fan of that. Anyway, thanks for making this video. I always enjoy your perspective and teaching style.
My immense pleasure! I am likewise smitten with Live Filters. (I plan to drill down on those guys in a future week.) Affinity has a lot of little things to catch up with, but Serif & Co have a track record of nimble updates. I’m really encouraged.
Thanks for another nice video. I'm a 20+-year photoshop and Illustrator user. The subscription fee for CC is becoming really high, making me look for alternatives. That's why I appreciate that you are looking into Affinity Photo. Any chance you will investigate Affinity Design (AI alternative) as well?
I really love the business model of affinity in a time where everything cost an arm and a leg each month and for some people they need multiple software subs. I miss the days where you could just buy software and own it. I really hope they can close the gap in terms of features and functionality compared to photoshop as much as possible.
Deke does Affinity!! No, the single best advantage Affinity Photo has over Photoshop is the pricing! Pay for it once, it's yours. No subscription needed! The way Photoshop USED to do it, but at a much lower price than Photoshop EVER was. No, it's not quite the same as Photoshop, but it's certainly close enough. When Photoshop told me the newest update wouldn't support the integrated graphics on my Ivy Bridge MacBook I canceled my Adobe subscription and went all Affinity and never looked back. Glad to welcome you over to our side, Deke! We have cookies!
Just a word of caution: Affinity got bought up by Canva this year. They are known for their subscription model. I'm really worried that they will implement that in Affinity too as soon as enough users jumped over to them. Maybe not as expensive as Adobe but still much more expensive than the fantastic perpetual license they are offering now. Remember: Affinity tweeted in september 2022 "aint nobody acquiring us." So they clearly have a history of breaking promises, it seems.
Sounds like an industry standard way of hooking subs in. Offer a one time pay then switch to a monthly subscriber membership. I know where this is going to in the future. No, thx I might as well stay put with Photoshop.
@@jetd9716Affinity has been around for nine years and still haven't going to a subscription model. There's no evidence they have any intention of doing so, either. Especially after seeing the blowback against Adobe. I left Adobe years ago and have never had a moment of regret.
@@jetd9716 Well, they recently came out with version 2 of their apps which requires a repurchase, but justas in the old days, there was a generous upgrade discount.
I’ve recorded a bunch of Affinity videos in the last several weeks! ua-cam.com/video/jYd7FZA_HNA/v-deo.html just to name the most recent. For Affinity Designer: ua-cam.com/video/zn1pohFBP5Y/v-deo.html
Affinity started with a clean sheet and built a solid modern structured code foundation. Highest speed and non destructive. Future development esp AI will follow.
I switched fully to Affinity almost a year ago now 🥳, and you review is on point it stand true even a year after 🤣🤣 TBH gets under my skin every time I see reviews recommending Affinity Photo for Photoshop users without actually being experienced Photoshop users themselves, or who only used it for a short trial while still having Photoshop on hand. They say "it's a great software, I switched!" but honestly, it's not even close to replacing Photoshop. It's just not a fair comparison. Two clicks in Photoshop take 15 clicks in Affinity Photo, you get my point? And the lack of real plugin support is killing me. 😭😭 I still use office RemotePC to access photoshop for those Photo Cutting and Some plugin workflows till this day 😜😜
Depending on one's needs, Affinity Photo can be a good alternative. Definitely worth a try! I subscribed because I'm curious what you will come up with comparing the iPad versions - there Affinity (not only Photo) is on a completely different level in my experience. Best of all: You're not confined to work in/with Creative Cloud, but can access any file you want, anywhere you want (iPadOS has come a long way in this regard, even though it took Apple over 10 years to make file handling halfway usable on the iPad)!
Thanks for the great video, Deke! Will we have an Affinity Photo Bible in the future? :) I still have my Adobe Photoshop 5 Bible (and also an Adobe Photoshop 7 Bible) from back then, good times!
I’ve been living under a rock apparently. I was not aware of this Adobe fiasco, nor aware of dekeNow and I am now looking into other software to use, which brought me to this video. Just wondering if anyone here thinks an Affinity 3 release could be near?
Do you mind me asking about the subject selecting capabilities in affinity photo. Does it look like photo'shop "select and mask" or any different or anything lacking?
@@hasindukumara5358 Difficult to say as it's a long time since I used Photoshop (so don't know how current version does it exactly) and I haven't moved to Affinity 2 yet either (going to start a trial of v2 soon). I would suggest trying the free Affinity trial and see if it suits.
Personas are traditionally a UX term, meaning use cases. In AP, they resemble what Adobe calls “workspaces,” like Select & Mask, and Liquify. They’re subprograms, IOW.
I went to your patreon and I could only find one video on affinity. i couldn't tell if it was for the 2 version or not. I am willing to spend the $5 a month if I know that there is substantial affinity 2 training on 'the other side.' Any way to find out?
I have so far done 5 week’s worth of Patreon-exclusive videos on Affinity Photo, and 1 on Designer, with more in the pipeline. 2 more on Photo TK in the next 2 weeks. So there’s quite a bit. And they all go beyond my YT content.
Totally agree. My college teaches Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere, and Photo 2. I am ready to switch to DaVinci Resolve but need some improvements to Photo. Still have to explore Designer.
I personally use Designer more than Affinity Photo. I am mostly more of a hobbyist who textures clothing for a virtual world, but it's been very nice to work with.
@dekeNow Sure thing! Oddly enough, Affinity Photo is the one I've used the least. I tried some coloring books and word searches in Publisher. It's a nice program for that. But my photography days were over prior to Affinity coming out, so I haven't played with it much. I might try experimenting there with finished clothing textures for the virtual world.
Thanks Deke. Yes, please delve deeper. And wider. PSD user since v3. I bought CS6 Master Suite in 2012 and refuse to rent. I've had Affinity Photo since it came out, but just can't make the final leap- Muscle memory gets me every time.
I took the leap last year after two years of "playing around" with Affinity Photo. v2, and especially 2.5+ made it possible for me. Yes ... muscle memory is hard to overcome! Especially after decades in Photoshop! But, like you, I refused to rent. First project after switching 100% to Photo was fantastic, even more so considering it was an outdoor exhibit with HUGE physical dimensions and file sizes. Zero problems. Very happy to have switched.
Revert is not good old fashiond, it's just old fashioned ;) . On a more serious note, so awesome you're getting into Affnity now just when I'm attempting to make the jump myself. So yes, indeed, please keep this up. Affinity Designer is also not too shabby, though some critical features are still missing as of now.
I have actually never learned to use Adobe, but as one to be late coming to the world of graphic design/ digital art started with FOSS apps and then jumped to Affinity. I often watch graphic design tutorials that are for photoshop and illustrator, to try and apply that to Affinity. I fully agree. There are features I would love in affinity, such as this object blend tool (in Inkscape it’s called interpolation, but it’s destructive there). And vector tracing is still not a thing in Affinity. Shape builder was late to the party as well.
Right now in my mind the big 4 missing features in Affinity is true vector brush engine, live transform filters/effects (with randomization), vector pattern swatches, and blend tool. If Affinity gets these down then I’d be over the moon. Never cared for the image trace, which is also quite trash in Illustrator.
@@juurstudioI don’t mind drawing the vector shapes myself tbh, but usually I don’t have too pressing deadlines. VT just seems to be something that people in the affinity community moan a lot about. Agree with your wish list. Would be great to have these tools and learn to tinker around with them.
@@dekeNow Sorry, your answer came in too late for me... In the mean time I purchased AF2 and now I try to master macros. 😁😇👍 Joke apart, thanks for the answer!
They just switched their trial period to 6 MONTHS! and the entire suite is on $85 right now for a lifetime version 2.x license, so almost everyone can afford it...
I would like something really simple, as I am more concerned with taking a good photo on the camera, instead of spending hours on a computer trying to create a good image from a poorly taken one! I try to adopt a film mentality when using digital, so I'm concentrating on composition and correct camera settings. Slight tweaks afterwards are fine, but I want to be out taking shots, not sat at a computer.
Not to discourage you from Affinity, but what you’re describing is the domain of Lightroom. Photoshop, Affinity Photo, and their ilk are compositing programs-not designed to disguise the quality of a photograph, but rather to build more elaborate works of digital art.
".... as I am more concerned with taking a good photo on the camera, instead of spending hours on a computer trying to create a good image from a poorly taken one!..." Working on the computer does not mean one did not take a good shot. In this day and age...no matter how good a shot you took with the camera....it can still be tweaked and 'improved' on the computer. I should know...I've been a taking pictures for over 40 years now - and trained myself in those film days to get the shot 'right' to begin with - And that was a necessity to shoot like that back then because you never got a second chance without having to 'pay' - It costs money to develop film and you had to wait before it got developed. Even if you did your own darkroom work - there's still the 'wait'. Image editing software is not about trying to make a bad photo good. Unless you simply don't like sitting at a computer screen, and just want to be out in the field - You are missing out on a quit a bit with that thinking. Think of modern photography software as digital darkrooms. I don't think anyone back in the film days would say Ansel Adams did dark room work because his original shots were done poorly - no, he took care to get good shots so he could do good darkroom work. It's the same with todays digital cameras and software - You take good photos to begin with so you can take full advantage of the software. That's why I always shoot in RAW and only work on the good images in the software.
I have been using Photoshop for ~30 years too. I have been transitioning to Adobe for the last 3 or 4 years. I am completely done with InDesign and Illustrator but keep going to Photoshop. Affinity Photo is great but I still have to go to Photoshop for some of those options that just aren't there yet for Affinity Photo. Well, a lot of them are, but Photoshop still does it better and easier on a lot of those options. I did manage to drop my Adobe account for all applications and went for the Photoshop Only option - Hopefully, as Affinity Photo keeps getting better over time, will be able to drop Adobe completely. I LOVE owning my software too - just like Adobe did. I think Adobe should have given the option to buy the software too. The moment I quit "renting" their software I lose the ability to edit with their product vs. when I purchased their software, like in the past, I could CHOOSE to see if an upgrade was necessary and still use the software if I chose not to or couldn't afford it at the time.
What did you replace Illustrator with? Affinity Designer or Photoshop / Affinity Photo? I'm in a similar boat to you and have got down to a photoshop only subscription nowadays, but I do miss the days when I had Illustrator.
@@yuppysoul Affinity Designer replaced Illustrator. I do miss some of the features of Illustrator. I do like some of the features better in Designer too. I do try and use Photo to replace Photoshop to get in the habit (I do plan on eventually leaving Photoshop but some features have just not yet been matched) and I was a big fan of InDesign since before it was even popular and companies I worked for using QuarkXpress (back in the late 90s and early 00's) Publisher is a great alternative to InDesign and some of the features (ie: color and gradients, etc.) are actually better in Publisher. I used InDesign since version 1.5 too. I haven't used InDesign in probably a little bit over a year. Acrobat I have replaced with just the standard preview app on the Mac and ipad.
@@dekeNow Probably the comfort and ease of it being second nature when it comes to Photoshop. A lot of features I know without thinking I know which menus to go to without having to get certain features and functions. It is just getting out of my comfort zone. When it comes to paid projects I work on I don't want to mess around with trying to figure out how to do certain things in Affinity Photo as I want to get my project done and get paid. Lol. I could survive without Photoshop, but it would take me longer to do some of the workarounds in Photo. Two of my favorite features are that it is much easier to crop with AI in Photoshop and automated commands and shortcuts in Photoshop vs. Affinity's inferior macro settings just to name a couple off the top of my head.
I use both on my mac and PC to be honest. But on my off time I try to do more with affinity photo. I also LOVE that they have full-featured apps on the iPad vs. Adobe horrible versions of their Photoshop and Illustrator on the iPad. I watched your tutorial on Photoshop iPad and can totally relate to your thinking on PS on the ipad.
I would prefer the HSL in the develop persona, and also the camera profile/calibration. I'm glad there's metadata editing, which as for me as a semi pro photographer, does a lot of good
I have been using Photoshop professionally since 2.5 in 1993. I have to say I am a little tired of Adobe, and the constant unforced errors and irritations. From subscriptions to privacy policies, it’s just one thing after another. Lately, I don’t have the need for gee-whiz features and need straight forward tools. And in that arena, there are other perfectly acceptable alternatives. The industry doesn’t really care anymore what you use, and creatives have gotten savvy and pragmatic enough to realize they are the photo shop, and they can still be that without Photoshop.
So true. Ps has been moving in the direction of ease of use (big fail, IMHO) and next-generation automation (generally successful). But in using Affinity, you see so many things handled better that Ps has long abandoned as no longer worthy of attention. I am increasingly impressed by the flexibility of AF’s Layers panel; in contrast, the Ps panel feels like one more straw will break the camel’s back.
@@dekeNow For those of us whose jobs don't require using the cloud or AI, or even, like me, just hate both, PS no longer has anything much to offer. CS5 did everything I needed, and it looks like affinity does most of what I specifically use better and faster for a fraction of the price.
After about 30 years, I switched to Affinity and it was an easy move. I love how fast it is. I don't miss Photoshop at all.
There seems to be a lot of that 🥳
Agreed. I switched last year and I don't miss Adobe at all
I'm not even 30 year old 😅
This feels like the type of comment I linux user whould write (it's terrible)
I'm 30 and have like 20 using Photoshop and around 14 using Illustrator so one would say the Adobe suite is very ingrained in my mind and life, but it wasn't hard to move being used to learn a ton of software along the years, I just open it and use it as it is nothing, but if I get stuck, just search on UA-cam or Google and that's it, I'm back in action with more knowledge again!
He taught me Photoshop 15 years ago, now Affinity Photo😊
ditto
Awesome!
@Jack_Warner Thx!
Same here! Deke taught me how to meatball!
@@JamesJosephFinn Mmm, meatball!
I began my Photoshop journey with you many years ago. Your training has taken me from newbie to advanced user over the years through many of your your One on One training courses. I have thoroughly appreciated your approach and enthusiasm for teaching so much so many times I have recommended your training to many of my friends. So needless to say, this video grabbed my attention because of who you are. I was thoroughly blown away by your enthusiasm for Affinity and made me seriously consider Affinity as an alternative to Photoshop.
Thank you very much! And, yeah, I didn’t expect to be quite this impressed.
What I like about Affinity is that the gap is closing all the time. For example the RAW space used to be a destructive edit for RAW but now you can traverse back and forth. Won't be long before the tools for the space will be available for all formats. I'm loving it!
Another thing I love: After eight(?) years, I believe, Affinity is still calling itself Version 2.X. Which means Serif is keeping its customers happy for extended periods of time.
I agree. I've been using the affinity 2 suite (mostly designer) since I do t shirt designs, however I practice photography as a hobby and use Affinity photo after I left lightroom/photoshop and all I can say is WOWZERS! I don't miss either lightroom or photoshop or any of the adobe suite apps for that matter.
Thanks for this video! Please make more tutorials comparing Affinity Photo with Photoshop. There are many Affinity Photo tutorials on UA-cam, but none of them are target for Photoshop users. This kind of information is very useful. Affinity has just opened the trail time duration for 6 months.
My pleasure! Yes, the free trial is very cool, and very smart. And, yes, I will make more!
Holy cow ! Deke was my favorite Photoshop instructor : I have been following his courses for more than 20 years... and now he has found Adobe's absolute challenger...Times are a-changing Man !
That’s excellent news! “Absolute challenger.” I like the sound of that.
Love the tutorials you do for Adobe, glad to see you are moving to Affinity as well (I know you aren't abandoning Adobe completely) but also helping with Affinity tutorials.
Excellent, thx!
i just tried affinity both the designer and photo.. as a professional graphic artist all i can say is WOW! how did i not know about affinity before this is beyond me. rest assured im so confident that moving from photoshop/illustrator to affinity is not even an issue! its just so good and so easy to use yet as powerful as adobe.
That’s great news! I’m not entirely that sold on it myself, but la vie change!
Do ai / eps files from Adobe open up on Affinity ? Are they compatible?
Cheers
@@Lokkodog I am looking into that right now. I’m hopeful EPS files will work more or less seamlessly. As for AI files, there’s a lot Illustrator can do that Designer can’t, so expect some losses. More TK!
At this point, I need a better RAW editor before switching. Doing hundreds of wedding photos is toooooo slow and clunky in Affinity at the moment.
Yes, Designer is great as well.
Wow, Deke you were my man back in 2000´s when I started to learn Illustrator and Photoshop, you still get the touch. I´m so glad to find you teaching Affinity, I´m a user of it and I would love to hear what you have to say about.
This feels like a design school reunion except I never met any of you before haha
That’s awesome news, thx!
Hello, Fellow 2000's Deke Photoshop book guy. 👊🏻
Truly appreciate this. Been a PS user since 2002 and now switching to AP as adobe left me less than pleased. Just going with the 6 month free trial and this type of content is so helpful.
Nice. There will be more!
I am also on trial. I want ask a question. After how many years is Affinity upgraded. What will be the upgrade fee in future?
@@Resolve4u That I do not know. I don’t work for any of these companies.
Thanks for this video, answers a ton of questions as a 20 + yr Photoshop user who just signed up for the free 6 month affinity trial
That’s awesome!
Same here. Excited to see if I can switch some to own instead of subscribe.
Hi Deke, thank you very much for this video. You were my first and still favorite Photoshop teacher. Without even knowing it. More than 20 years ago your book (Photoshop Bible?) and videos are the foundation of my start, knowledge and enthusiasm for Photoshop and everything related to working digital. A year ago I started using Affinity Photo and Designer but am so used working with Photoshop that I haven’t completely switched.
This is all really great news, makes me feel proud, so thx! Takes a while to make a big move!
I started learning Photoshop and Illustrator from you 15 years ago, everything that comes from you is to be considered.
We need more of these affinity tutorials Deke. I learned photoshop from you about 17 yrs ago and used photoshop, Once adobe abused their privileges and forced unfair and downright criminal agreements upon me I left for affinity and its the best move I ever made, and that's a shame I loved and used photoshop for many years!
Then I will continue to delve into Affinity!
Not having a few features (that will probably be added in the future) is absolutely not a problem if we consider not being tied anymore to Adobe's extremely predatory, trashy practices.
Not like it's an issue for me, I just visit the high seas. But the more market share they lose, the better for the industry.
As a twenty year photoshop user, this Deke-inspired tutorial for switching to Affinity Photo is just what I have been looking for. This function by function comparison is fantastic. Let's see more! Subscribed.
Awe-some!
Yes after two decades switched to Affinity. It feels more intuitive. And much less expensive. I took some of your Photoshop and Illustrator courses. You're an amazing teacher. Please explore Affinity more :) Love
It’s decided-next week!
Ditto.
Deke, it was great hearing your take on this! You taught me non-destructive editing...though I've come to the place where I'm actually not concerned as much about doing non-destructive work, as long as the original is somewhere. When working from home, Affinity has been my go-to since it was just PhotoPlus. It does lack some of the powerful tools of Photoshop, but it makes up for that with its customer friendliness.
They are good to their customers (they really are)
Deke, it is good to hear your voice again. I remember watching your tutorials when I was working as a video editor back in 2000.
Do I sound older? (NO, right? 😅)
LOVE Affinity! Takes a little to get used to the new nomenclature, but YOU OWN IT OUTRIGHT!
Yep, as things stand now. As long as Affinity doesn’t get too big (say, 10% Adobe), I’m looking forward to a happy future with lots of room for improvement!
Absolutely!!!!
DEKE! I had your Photoshop 5 VHS Video Series somewhere around the turn of the century. I had just been offered a teaching job for 36-hour Photoshop class at the local community college (after their 'real' instructor quit right before it started) and it paid what your Photoshop Series cost, so I took the job, bought your series, watched it a couple of times, and then took a day off from work before each class going through the Adobe Classroom in a Book. One of the best tech decisions I ever made.
Stayed with Photoshop / InDesign until forced subscriptions, and switched to Affinity Photo / Publisher.
Great to see you again.
That’s fantastic news! (VHS, don’t miss it!) There’s a fun mistake right at the beginning of the Text video. I call Photoshop “Freehand.” 🤦
Dear Deke, you're one of the rare photo editor G.O.A.T tutorialists.
Keep up sire !!! 🙂
Thank you so much!
Hey Deke, great to see you showing some love for Affinity Photo! Another former LDC author. :)
There are one or two of us 🤜
Well that really rocked. As college faculty I always learn about how to teach as well as how to use the software from you. I do miss "the good ol' days" when you dressed as an archaeologist, etc. (much like Dr. Brown btw). My time is limited but you have convinced me to do the new 6 month free trial of Affinity. Thanks again! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
That’s great news, thanks!!
As a fellow college instructor, I am seriously considering leaving Adobe soon. Affinity Photo will save us lots of money we can put back into equipment. Is your college looking for alternatives?
Very happy to see you delve into Affinity. More videos please!
Absolutely!
Working on it myself. Affinity is raising my eyebrows too.
Deke - I learned PS from your tutorials 30 years ago. Seriously. Glad to see you back. But, you know Affinity cannot compare to our PS of 2024!! ❣️
I’m not leaving Ps anytime soon. (I have a few more reasons at my Patreon. For example, transformations are handled haphazardly depending on the layer type. There’s more.) But Affinity has a lot going for it!
Yes I would like to see more of Affinity please
Coming right up! (Turn on notifications!)
Working on more videos too. Affinity is raising my eyebrows.
After 10 years using PS I totally dismissed all Adobe Products and switched to Affinity phot and Affinity Designer. And I have not regretted. Everything you do in PS or Illustrator you can do in Affinity Photo or Designer...AND...you do not have to pay not every month!!! Saves so much money.
My favortie of all time, dekenow, deke forever
That is very nice to hear. Thank you!
@@dekeNow Thank you sir, I learned alot from you
The machine learning-powered object selection tool and select subject features are coming to Affinity Photo in version 2.6 (currently in Beta for licensed users).
I plan to visit those in the very near future!
Well, there he is 😃 Hi Deke, you were my Photoshop instructor on Lynda way back in the Photoshop 3 days. I switched to Affinity after Photoshop CS6 and haven't looked back since. I'm looking forward to seeing more Affinity videos from you - preferably with side-by-side comparisons with Photoshop. 👍🇩🇰
I’m on it!
I learned so many things about Photoshop from Deke. Watching him do a run down on Affinity Pro is awesome. I just subscribed.
Awe. Some!
Ditto.
I have used both, but due to financial constraints shortly before and during covid, i switched. For my needs, it's more than adequate. For higher use pros and people who need a software widely used by companies and professionals, Adobe software will be the goto for a while longer.
Might not be for everyone but Affinity does everything I need, and at a great one-off price. No-brainer for me! Big Affinity fan.
Can’t argue with that!
Deke! Damn, I learned from you back in cs3 or something when you did those huge courses on Lynda. Damn nice to see you, even if it's on youtube.
For me it was Dekes "Photoshop 4 for Dummies" book. Which eventually - gave me a 'career'. Had it not been for Dekes funny writing, may never have got the bug,
@@yinoveryang4246 Yeah, I always enjoyed Deke's courses and his way of presenting also.
It’s good to be here-and thanks for the encouragement!
@@yinoveryang4246 Awesome story. He inspired me to be a photography teacher too.
@conecptualVision I learned on the CS book (1). Good to hear his voice too. Missed watching him for decades.
Yeah from the beginning I could tell that HE KNOWS what he is talkin about 'XD. Im indeed not gonna use Photoshop anymore but I'll be using Photopea and Affinity. The devs should see your video to make it better.
Damn it was such a good video, I had fun watching and even if I wasn't looking for something I learned stuff, amazing! Can't wait to see more :)
Excellent! Thank you, and more is on the way. 🙂
I've been using Affinity Photo since it first came out 7-8 years ago and have never looked back. It's got everything you need if you want to create graphics and the only things it doesn't have are some of the more esoteric features such as 3D and the new AI generative fill features, none of which a real artist would ever need.
Affinity Photo is way faster and more stable than Photoshop has ever been so it's a no brainer.
Price is spot on too. Will never go back to using Photoshop again.
This is good to know!
Wonderful tutorial. Keep up the good work!
Like so many other folks Deke you taught me Photoshop and to an extent Illustrator back in the CS3 days for which I'll be ever forever grateful 🙏 I moved over to Affinity a few years ago, the Adobe prices just got too crazy, so it's great to see you doing some videos on Affinity Photo. Perhaps one day we might see a range of Affinity Photo One on One Fundamentals , Intermediate and Advanced courses some day?
Give me a couple of years on that one. 😅 But I’m happy to say, Affinity Photo deserves more attention!
Really interesting, Deke. Love some more. And am looking forward to Illustrator vs Affinity Designer. Ya know, like when you get a spare moment!
Gimme another 30 days! 😁
Really enjoy your vocal delivery and intonation. You Could be a sports commentator! Ps. I’m mostly a voiceover artist when I’m not editing photos so my ears pricked up when you started talking. Very different to the dry deliveries often seen on you tube. Thanks !
Thank you, I *really* appreciate that. (I’m a huge fan of voice actors, btw!)
Thanks for this. As a professional designer I will be aging out of needing a full creative cloud subscription. The idea of owning the software outright is very appealing. I do find affinity a bit complex but it will do what I need it to do. More videos on this would be very helpful.
More are coming! I have to say, I do find it hilarious that Serif has made almost no attempt to streamline things. Affinity Photo is an unapologetic colossus ⛰
Totally agree. Hate giving Adobe my right arm just for the privilege of using their software.
I switched to Affinity Photo about 4 years ago and I use a few other tools like Luminar Neo and Topaz software to give me those quick and easy AI features so I don't feel like I am missing out on that much with Photoshop. Now with the whole licensing concerns with Photoshop I am hoping more folks jump ship to Affinity Photo and maybe with a few more dollars in hand Affinity Photo can start to add a few more Photoshop tricks that can make it an even more exciting alternative.
Sounds great to me!
Thanks for the tips. I will look at Luminar Neo and Topaz. Did a little research on them yesterday to fill the gap of AI and bulk RAW edits that Affinity doesn't have......yet.
Thank you, finally a comparison I can trust! I will also watch the patreon video as soon as I can. 👍
Yay! Thx!
Definitely want to see more Affinity Photo videos!
You’re on!
@@dekeNow awesome!
I learned Photoshop CS (1) from your book in 2003. I have been using Photoshop for over 20 years and teaching college Photoshop since 2006. I love Affinity Photo being competition. I have a few less days in Photoshop than you but am creating videos and running tests to compare as well the differences. The Live filters are an upgrade. I do like the Refine Selection better here. Wish the RAW conversion was better quality in Affinity.
Yep, yep, and yep!
And don't forget about the price. No subscription fee, just a one time purchase and very affordable at 80$ during a sale for the universal license (all three Photo, Designer and Publisher), usable on all your devices, windows and mac.
I think after the purchase of Affinity by Canva, we will see an accelerated timeline for more features. I've been using the Affinity suite for 3 years now and I generally prefer using it over Adobe. Though Adobe is clearly a more mature (and, ahem, bloated) piece of software. I just love the snappiness and more pleasant interface of Affinity.
Well, I will say Affinity isn’t the slimmest piece of software I’ve ever used. But it does take its job of keeping up with Photoshop seriously 👏
Along with that is likely to come a subscription though.
@@HR-wd6cw Pure speculation. They have issued a public statement that they will continue to offer it as a one-time purchase and IF they ever go to a subscription model, it will be an offering alongside the perpetual license. There are already applications that use this type of model such as Filmora and Sketch. You purchase it outright and get free feature updates for a year and then after that you only get security patches.
The older and bloated software I think will keep making Affinity more attractive...regardless of the price difference.
I am a 3D digital artist so I use photoshop for drawing basically.
My Adobe subscription just ran out today and I saw this software like 6 months ago when I was researching if there is anything good enough to replace photoshop. I really hate subscriptions. I would rather pay a lot in the short run to save a lot in the long run. Plus I don't upgrade my software. I have my process, I like my process, my process works for me so instead of focusing on changing my process, I focus on what I can create with my process.
I just got Affinity 2 today. So far it feels very natural since I have been using photoshop for years and this is extremely similar in layout. I can do my work the same as I always have. Maybe I will run into something specific once it is needed in a project but generally, it is the perpetual license of photoshop we have all been wanting for years.
It is so similar in the shortcuts and layout when I was creating videos yesterday that I didn't always realize I was in the opposite program. I love how Affinity is easy to transition from Adobe....and you don't even have to pay a lot to purchase it.
Excellent! (There are a lot of similarities.)
@@betterpixs Wow, that’s awesome. There are a lot of shortcut lifts. Especially the Layers panel/bracket key stuff.
Thanks for your post. I use PS a lot for drawing, so I found your post very helpful. I'm going to download the trial version of Affinity.
An Affinity Photo course from Deke would be a game-changer and dare I say a change in the Zeitgeist.
I await my Total Training VHS's, thank you sir.
Okay, that was worthy of a spit take. 😂 How many videotapes would you like? Enough to fill a large closet, or a small apartment?
@@dekeNow Wait! I could've gotten videotapes? I still have all of the TT DVDs from back in the day. Gonna have to finish watching them one day. I suspect they would still be somewhat useful trainings.
@@dekeNow I believe a singular closet will suffice. Just enough for a background of book shelves. Or 'Shelves of Deke' as it were.
@@yuppysoul I have those!
Deke, you are the man for sure. You have taught me and millions and I cannot thank you enough for what I have learned from you. The issue is with Adobe and its' less than ethical practices. It won't change unless it gets hit in the pocketbook. That is why I canceled my subscription and have moved over to Affinity software. It's a shame, but I felt like a hypocrite for being critical of Adobe's subscription model but yet still paying for it. That's not to say that one can't be critical of the software they use, that's how the software gets better, but when the company keeps kicking you and laughing, while I am paying them, I decided to end the toxic relationship. I look forward to seeing you use AP!
Thank you! I’m looking forward to more Affinity. Stick with me and let me know what you think!
Good for you! I hope to leave Adobe but am looking for a good RAW bulk convertor first that I can OWN. Any suggestions?
Thank you for an interesting video. Surely welcomed by many of us looking for Adobe alternatives.
My pleasure, and excellent!
It would be easy for Affinity to add support for OpenRouter, so they could do generative fill by outsourcing the image generation. I'm surprised they haven't done that already to be honest. It wouldn't be that difficult. I did see that they are doing something similar in their beta that's out now with AI powered selection.
I'm a pixel enthusiast here. and before i was addicted/familiar with personal computers and digital art, i drew on paper with pens or pencils. So yea, when i heard about photoshop, given that info about me, i went for very different and specific tools it has that are different than what a professional or even enthusiast photographer might go for. So yea, as a drawing/art guy, photoshop may be overkill for me, and krita should really suffice for lil ol me if i a can undertand its jargon and ui and such.
30 years of photoshop experience? my god. plenty of time to really master, or atleast have a rock solid understanding of such a complex and powerful tool like photoshop. so yea, as a pixel enthusiast, and a begrudging user of photoshop, your insights are very valuable and amazing for me. so im glad this video exists and im able to find it too.
As an artist, and a "poor" SAAS just makes my blood boil like almost nothing else can on this planet. passion is a helluva drug. right? so yea, after adobe went subscription i nearly completely went out of my way to completely purge everything adobe from my mind AND my pc. it was a bit easier for me than others considering im a jobless bum, so i wasnt locked in financially to keep being chained to adobe to keep the lights on. but yea, i ditched almost it all. but being fond of pixels and arranging and authoring them as i am. i couldnt exactly go completely cold turkey from adobe. in spite of my disdain, disgust confusion and contempt. i still hold a candle for photoshop. purely cuz, im an art guy, and photoshop unfortunately as 1 piece of kit right now is just ultimate perfection for that purpose.
I may not be a photographer by profession or hobby. i do have a "decent" digital camera, but it almost never leaves my house, and i really only take very specific pics with it, and dont even share em. but still i have some "master" jpgs on my pc, so i do dabble with those, and sometimes i do like mash 2 or more images together to remix stuff, it is fun, for me. so yea, i didnt just try to learn things like gimp/photoshop/affinity purely for "art" sake.
Very fascinating that you actually point out that its not all sunshine and rainbows for photoshop being king of the hill for now and forever. i get it, people love the program if they do anything related to image manipulation on a pc and arent running linux exclusively. i get it. when something works you grow attached. im guilty of this too. im not gonna point fingers and say people hyping up photoshop are bad or anything. but without the context of well its not the full picture, and what i actually have issue with is when "outsiders" to digital image management. be they children, or first time digital artists or photographers that arent minors but photoshop/compositing is still new to them at that time, when people with fresh eyes have no idea how out of hand the praise is, it can be really potentially damaging to everyone's mental health that may have interest in photoshop for basically anything it can do. I only recently realized how absurd it is to claim "i know ALL about photoshop" it can do so much. i dont know the specifics of every tool, every thing hidden in menus, or context menus or wherever else photoshop can be changed/configured. but after i have a decent understanding of basics like layers, filters, blending modes, masking and such. then i could just load any pic i want. cue up a filter, not sweat numbers for settings i have for the filter, and just play with the controls to see visually what it does to my image. and just be blown away at how much precision i really have. not the immediate idea of fun for most people, but me as pixel guy? it was fun and i was really amazed at the sorcery happening before my very eyes on my own screen.
Tl;dr: that was long, and no, im not addressing anyone other than the creator here. and it may be long, but its passion, not "venom" photoshop is wild, and ur insights are really awesome. thank you for making stuff like this available for people like me, and others that may have interest in photoshop for any number of a surprisingly vast number of reasons.
TY you bamf, and have a nice day. as a pixel nerd, i found this video wonderful, and neat af.
Thank you-I read every single word!
I'd love to see more Affinity Photo tutorials Deke. I'm a Photoshop user of over 20 years and have watched your tutorials since the Lynda days. I appreciate your humor and style of teaching. I make my living as a commercial photographer and I create pretty high end stuff including working on national ad campaigns. Retouching and post production is a HUGE part of my creative process and Lightroom/Photoshop has been an integral part of that. Trying to find a "replacement" is nearly impossible.
Due to recent events with the controversy over Adobe's Terms of Use (more specifically the license agreement artists were at one point being forced to grant them before they changed their mind and rewrote their terms due to backlash from the creative community), I've lost a lot of trust with Adobe and decided to purchase Affinity Photo 2. I've been experimenting with it and there are a lot of things that I like about it. For example, the live filters are really cool and super responsive.
That being said, there are also some things that I feel like are missing (or my lack of knowledge in the program has me thinking that they're missing.) For example, when you create a curves adjustment layer a panel pops up, just like Photoshop. However, you'd think that you'd be able to save a curves preset and access it from that same curves adjustment layer panel. Instead, you have to go to Window > Adjustment and access your presets there. Not a big fan of that.
Anyway, thanks for making this video. I always enjoy your perspective and teaching style.
My immense pleasure! I am likewise smitten with Live Filters. (I plan to drill down on those guys in a future week.) Affinity has a lot of little things to catch up with, but Serif & Co have a track record of nimble updates. I’m really encouraged.
@@dekeNow Awesome, looking forward to seeing a video on that! I'm hopeful that this software will just keep getting better over time. Cheers 🍻
One can only hope this channel is on Serif's radar.
I hope so, too!
Thanks for another nice video. I'm a 20+-year photoshop and Illustrator user. The subscription fee for CC is becoming really high, making me look for alternatives. That's why I appreciate that you are looking into Affinity Photo. Any chance you will investigate Affinity Design (AI alternative) as well?
For you, yes I will. (But give me another 30 days!)
@@dekeNow Great!
Completely agree! The non-subscription model I have been searching for 10 years since Adobe nixed the own version.
Deke's not lost it. Still the gold standard.
That’s so nice, thank you!
I really love the business model of affinity in a time where everything cost an arm and a leg each month and for some people they need multiple software subs. I miss the days where you could just buy software and own it. I really hope they can close the gap in terms of features and functionality compared to photoshop as much as possible.
I left Adobe during CS6. Now use Affinity suite and am happy as a clam at high tide.
Like the analogy. What a great time to be a clam!
Deke does Affinity!!
No, the single best advantage Affinity Photo has over Photoshop is the pricing!
Pay for it once, it's yours. No subscription needed! The way Photoshop USED to do it, but at a much lower price than Photoshop EVER was.
No, it's not quite the same as Photoshop, but it's certainly close enough.
When Photoshop told me the newest update wouldn't support the integrated graphics on my Ivy Bridge MacBook I canceled my Adobe subscription and went all Affinity and never looked back.
Glad to welcome you over to our side, Deke! We have cookies!
Just a word of caution: Affinity got bought up by Canva this year. They are known for their subscription model. I'm really worried that they will implement that in Affinity too as soon as enough users jumped over to them. Maybe not as expensive as Adobe but still much more expensive than the fantastic perpetual license they are offering now. Remember: Affinity tweeted in september 2022 "aint nobody acquiring us." So they clearly have a history of breaking promises, it seems.
Sounds like an industry standard way of hooking subs in. Offer a one time pay then switch to a monthly subscriber membership. I know where this is going to in the future. No, thx I might as well stay put with Photoshop.
HA! (Will there be ice cream?)
@@jetd9716Affinity has been around for nine years and still haven't going to a subscription model. There's no evidence they have any intention of doing so, either. Especially after seeing the blowback against Adobe. I left Adobe years ago and have never had a moment of regret.
@@jetd9716 Well, they recently came out with version 2 of their apps which requires a repurchase, but justas in the old days, there was a generous upgrade discount.
i subscribed expecting to see more affinity contents. Hopefully there'll be contents covering Designer as well.
I’ve recorded a bunch of Affinity videos in the last several weeks! ua-cam.com/video/jYd7FZA_HNA/v-deo.html just to name the most recent. For Affinity Designer: ua-cam.com/video/zn1pohFBP5Y/v-deo.html
Affinity started with a clean sheet and built a solid modern structured code foundation. Highest speed and non destructive. Future development esp AI will follow.
It is fast!
I switched fully to Affinity almost a year ago now 🥳, and you review is on point it stand true even a year after 🤣🤣 TBH gets under my skin every time I see reviews recommending Affinity Photo for Photoshop users without actually being experienced Photoshop users themselves, or who only used it for a short trial while still having Photoshop on hand. They say "it's a great software, I switched!" but honestly, it's not even close to replacing Photoshop. It's just not a fair comparison. Two clicks in Photoshop take 15 clicks in Affinity Photo, you get my point? And the lack of real plugin support is killing me. 😭😭 I still use office RemotePC to access photoshop for those Photo Cutting and Some plugin workflows till this day 😜😜
I have not tried a single Ps plug-in in AffPh so far. (Also, how are we supposed to abbreviate this product name?)
@@dekeNow AFPhoto 😅
Depending on one's needs, Affinity Photo can be a good alternative. Definitely worth a try! I subscribed because I'm curious what you will come up with comparing the iPad versions - there Affinity (not only Photo) is on a completely different level in my experience. Best of all: You're not confined to work in/with Creative Cloud, but can access any file you want, anywhere you want (iPadOS has come a long way in this regard, even though it took Apple over 10 years to make file handling halfway usable on the iPad)!
Agreed re: iPad file management. And thanks for the sub-I’m excited to take on that topic!
I switched to AF as well. I kind of miss photoshop, but what I ABSOLUTELY do not miss, is Adobe.
Thanks for this Deke I've been thinking of buying Affinity. I would love to see more tutorials.
Presently, there is a complimentary trial period of six months for the Affinity Suite.
@@psdtouch Thanks for the info! I'll check it out.
You got it!
Affinity is my go to!!
Deke, you're an American icon.
I blush ☺!
Thanks for the great video, Deke! Will we have an Affinity Photo Bible in the future? :) I still have my Adobe Photoshop 5 Bible (and also an Adobe Photoshop 7 Bible) from back then, good times!
You own TWO bibles? That’s awesome news! (But, no, no way, no more Bibles, no no no . . .)
And the iPad version...😮😮😮😮😮😮😮 Amazing....❤
Looking forward to it!
I am looking to switch over .
I can't seem to find out how to make an inverse selection as is possible in photoshop.
Select > Invert Pixel Selection. There’s an option in the horizontal toolbar at the top as well.
I’ve been living under a rock apparently. I was not aware of this Adobe fiasco, nor aware of dekeNow and I am now looking into other software to use, which brought me to this video. Just wondering if anyone here thinks an Affinity 3 release could be near?
Yay, you’re aware of dekeNow now!
Moved to Affinity Photo quite a while ago. Never looked back.
Do you mind me asking about the subject selecting capabilities in affinity photo. Does it look like photo'shop "select and mask" or any different or anything lacking?
@@hasindukumara5358 Difficult to say as it's a long time since I used Photoshop (so don't know how current version does it exactly) and I haven't moved to Affinity 2 yet either (going to start a trial of v2 soon). I would suggest trying the free Affinity trial and see if it suits.
What did you find in Affinity and what did you not find in Affinity that was a crucial aspect of Photoshop?
@@mr.person1219 I'm in the comments section - I'm not doing comprehensive head to head reviews here :)
Affinity Photo is clutch.❤
Agreed!
they have a "photoshop", a "illustrator", if they make a "after effects or premiere". it will be PERFECT!
After Effects is a big ask, but would be something.
I need some of the Photoshop features that this doesn't have but I especially need Bridge to sort and grade my photos.
Couldn’t agree more. I can’t function without Bridge.
You an get Bridge free anyway. I plan to go to affinity but still use Bridge.
@@alisonwilson9749 I have to say, I have never tried Bridge free.
Six months trial is pretty cool.
Very!
New to AP. Kindly tell me the differences between the “personas” and what they’re all about. Thanks.
Personas are traditionally a UX term, meaning use cases. In AP, they resemble what Adobe calls “workspaces,” like Select & Mask, and Liquify. They’re subprograms, IOW.
@@dekeNow understood. Thank you, much appreciated.
I went to your patreon and I could only find one video on affinity. i couldn't tell if it was for the 2 version or not. I am willing to spend the $5 a month if I know that there is substantial affinity 2 training on 'the other side.' Any way to find out?
I have so far done 5 week’s worth of Patreon-exclusive videos on Affinity Photo, and 1 on Designer, with more in the pipeline. 2 more on Photo TK in the next 2 weeks. So there’s quite a bit. And they all go beyond my YT content.
It would be great to see your take on Affinity Designer, also!
Totally agree. My college teaches Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere, and Photo 2. I am ready to switch to DaVinci Resolve but need some improvements to Photo. Still have to explore Designer.
Coming at you NEXT WEEK!
Would be interested i hearing your thoughts on compound masks in Affinity Photo and also your thoughts on Affinity Designer
I’m interested to hear my thoughts as well 😂 Seriously, both are on my short list!
I personally use Designer more than Affinity Photo. I am mostly more of a hobbyist who textures clothing for a virtual world, but it's been very nice to work with.
@@sdube001 You’ll have to let me know what you think of tomorrow’s video!
@dekeNow Sure thing! Oddly enough, Affinity Photo is the one I've used the least. I tried some coloring books and word searches in Publisher. It's a nice program for that. But my photography days were over prior to Affinity coming out, so I haven't played with it much. I might try experimenting there with finished clothing textures for the virtual world.
Welcome to the World of Affinity! 😀
Thx!
Thanks Deke. Yes, please delve deeper. And wider. PSD user since v3. I bought CS6 Master Suite in 2012 and refuse to rent. I've had Affinity Photo since it came out, but just can't make the final leap- Muscle memory gets me every time.
I took the leap last year after two years of "playing around" with Affinity Photo. v2, and especially 2.5+ made it possible for me. Yes ... muscle memory is hard to overcome! Especially after decades in Photoshop! But, like you, I refused to rent. First project after switching 100% to Photo was fantastic, even more so considering it was an outdoor exhibit with HUGE physical dimensions and file sizes. Zero problems. Very happy to have switched.
I will say, unequivocally, Affinity Photo is better than Photoshop CS6. (I use CS6 every once in a while, and boy howdy is it creaky)
@@LV4EVR That’s awesome feedback!
Liquify live filter is a reason to switch all by itself.
I will have to explore the Liquify filter. I like it in Photoshop but need to view it in Affinity.
@@betterpixs Liquify is objectively better in Photoshop, but Affinity's liquify layer is a killer feature.
@@proy14 thanks.
The Master is here. Now we need affinity Bible! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
😃Thanks!!
Great video😊
Thank you!
Hey deke, do you make courses in linkedin in future?
Please continue the new feature series...
I would *love* to continue the New Features, but sadly those got shut down across the board.
Revert is not good old fashiond, it's just old fashioned ;) . On a more serious note, so awesome you're getting into Affnity now just when I'm attempting to make the jump myself. So yes, indeed, please keep this up. Affinity Designer is also not too shabby, though some critical features are still missing as of now.
Excellent! I’m looking forward to spending 30 days with Designer. 😁
I have actually never learned to use Adobe, but as one to be late coming to the world of graphic design/ digital art started with FOSS apps and then jumped to Affinity. I often watch graphic design tutorials that are for photoshop and illustrator, to try and apply that to Affinity. I fully agree. There are features I would love in affinity, such as this object blend tool (in Inkscape it’s called interpolation, but it’s destructive there). And vector tracing is still not a thing in Affinity. Shape builder was late to the party as well.
Right now in my mind the big 4 missing features in Affinity is true vector brush engine, live transform filters/effects (with randomization), vector pattern swatches, and blend tool. If Affinity gets these down then I’d be over the moon. Never cared for the image trace, which is also quite trash in Illustrator.
@@Roboto-chan_1402 I look forward to all this when I take on Designer! (No blend, huh? Rough. I use that a lot.)
@@juurstudioI don’t mind drawing the vector shapes myself tbh, but usually I don’t have too pressing deadlines. VT just seems to be something that people in the affinity community moan a lot about. Agree with your wish list. Would be great to have these tools and learn to tinker around with them.
Thank you very much for sharing. I appreciate it.
My pleasure!
great, thanks Deke
My pleasure!
Can Affinity perform dust spot healing in batch processing (jpg or raw, all photos in the batch having same spot pattern)?
AF does offer batch processing. Opens, runs a macro, saves changes. The trick is in the macro (equivalent to an action).
@@dekeNow Sorry, your answer came in too late for me... In the mean time I purchased AF2 and now I try to master macros. 😁😇👍 Joke apart, thanks for the answer!
@@antonzvanut9542 HA! Best of luck!
No Revert is a problem. Do we have to go back to PS5 in 1999 and save a bunch of versions?
Thank you! I feel the same way.
They just switched their trial period to 6 MONTHS! and the entire suite is on $85 right now for a lifetime version 2.x license, so almost everyone can afford it...
I hadn’t heard about the $85 thing. That is, quite frankly, a crazy good deal.
I would like something really simple, as I am more concerned with taking a good photo on the camera, instead of spending hours on a computer trying to create a good image from a poorly taken one!
I try to adopt a film mentality when using digital, so I'm concentrating on composition and correct camera settings. Slight tweaks afterwards are fine, but I want to be out taking shots, not sat at a computer.
Not to discourage you from Affinity, but what you’re describing is the domain of Lightroom. Photoshop, Affinity Photo, and their ilk are compositing programs-not designed to disguise the quality of a photograph, but rather to build more elaborate works of digital art.
@@dekeNow
No problem if that's what you're after.
I just want to record a good composition straight out of the camera of something I'm looking at.
".... as I am more concerned with taking a good photo on the camera, instead of spending hours on a computer trying to create a good image from a poorly taken one!..."
Working on the computer does not mean one did not take a good shot.
In this day and age...no matter how good a shot you took with the camera....it can still be tweaked and 'improved' on the computer.
I should know...I've been a taking pictures for over 40 years now - and trained myself in those film days to get the shot 'right' to begin with - And that was a necessity to shoot like that back then because you never got a second chance without having to 'pay' - It costs money to develop film and you had to wait before it got developed.
Even if you did your own darkroom work - there's still the 'wait'.
Image editing software is not about trying to make a bad photo good.
Unless you simply don't like sitting at a computer screen, and just want to be out in the field - You are missing out on a quit a bit with that thinking.
Think of modern photography software as digital darkrooms.
I don't think anyone back in the film days would say Ansel Adams did dark room work because his original shots were done poorly - no, he took care to get good shots so he could do good darkroom work.
It's the same with todays digital cameras and software - You take good photos to begin with so you can take full advantage of the software.
That's why I always shoot in RAW and only work on the good images in the software.
@@babajaiy8246 Yes!
How is Affinity's brush engine compared to PS? Is it friendly for painters?
That I do not yet know. I hope to address some of the painterly/art-feel stuff when I take on the iPad cage match
I have been using Photoshop for ~30 years too. I have been transitioning to Adobe for the last 3 or 4 years. I am completely done with InDesign and Illustrator but keep going to Photoshop. Affinity Photo is great but I still have to go to Photoshop for some of those options that just aren't there yet for Affinity Photo. Well, a lot of them are, but Photoshop still does it better and easier on a lot of those options. I did manage to drop my Adobe account for all applications and went for the Photoshop Only option - Hopefully, as Affinity Photo keeps getting better over time, will be able to drop Adobe completely. I LOVE owning my software too - just like Adobe did. I think Adobe should have given the option to buy the software too. The moment I quit "renting" their software I lose the ability to edit with their product vs. when I purchased their software, like in the past, I could CHOOSE to see if an upgrade was necessary and still use the software if I chose not to or couldn't afford it at the time.
What did you replace Illustrator with? Affinity Designer or Photoshop / Affinity Photo?
I'm in a similar boat to you and have got down to a photoshop only subscription nowadays, but I do miss the days when I had Illustrator.
@@yuppysoul Affinity Designer replaced Illustrator. I do miss some of the features of Illustrator. I do like some of the features better in Designer too. I do try and use Photo to replace Photoshop to get in the habit (I do plan on eventually leaving Photoshop but some features have just not yet been matched) and I was a big fan of InDesign since before it was even popular and companies I worked for using QuarkXpress (back in the late 90s and early 00's) Publisher is a great alternative to InDesign and some of the features (ie: color and gradients, etc.) are actually better in Publisher. I used InDesign since version 1.5 too. I haven't used InDesign in probably a little bit over a year. Acrobat I have replaced with just the standard preview app on the Mac and ipad.
I’d be interested to know what drives you back to Photoshop. I very much get it, btw. But I’m eager to hear everyone’s specifics!
@@dekeNow Probably the comfort and ease of it being second nature when it comes to Photoshop. A lot of features I know without thinking I know which menus to go to without having to get certain features and functions. It is just getting out of my comfort zone. When it comes to paid projects I work on I don't want to mess around with trying to figure out how to do certain things in Affinity Photo as I want to get my project done and get paid. Lol. I could survive without Photoshop, but it would take me longer to do some of the workarounds in Photo. Two of my favorite features are that it is much easier to crop with AI in Photoshop and automated commands and shortcuts in Photoshop vs. Affinity's inferior macro settings just to name a couple off the top of my head.
I use both on my mac and PC to be honest. But on my off time I try to do more with affinity photo. I also LOVE that they have full-featured apps on the iPad vs. Adobe horrible versions of their Photoshop and Illustrator on the iPad. I watched your tutorial on Photoshop iPad and can totally relate to your thinking on PS on the ipad.
I would prefer the HSL in the develop persona, and also the camera profile/calibration. I'm glad there's metadata editing, which as for me as a semi pro photographer, does a lot of good
XARA Photo & Graphic Designer is also very good.
I have been using Photoshop professionally since 2.5 in 1993. I have to say I am a little tired of Adobe, and the constant unforced errors and irritations. From subscriptions to privacy policies, it’s just one thing after another.
Lately, I don’t have the need for gee-whiz features and need straight forward tools. And in that arena, there are other perfectly acceptable alternatives. The industry doesn’t really care anymore what you use, and creatives have gotten savvy and pragmatic enough to realize they are the photo shop, and they can still be that without Photoshop.
👊🏻
So true. Ps has been moving in the direction of ease of use (big fail, IMHO) and next-generation automation (generally successful). But in using Affinity, you see so many things handled better that Ps has long abandoned as no longer worthy of attention. I am increasingly impressed by the flexibility of AF’s Layers panel; in contrast, the Ps panel feels like one more straw will break the camel’s back.
@@AV84USA 💯
@@dekeNow For those of us whose jobs don't require using the cloud or AI, or even, like me, just hate both, PS no longer has anything much to offer. CS5 did everything I needed, and it looks like affinity does most of what I specifically use better and faster for a fraction of the price.
@@alisonwilson9749 It is surprisingly fast.