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Adobe applications - cheapest option?

sparkie7 said:
How do you find Affinity. My problem is having to learn a whole new set of applications and not being able to share with files in the industry who require Adobe files
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I tried the Affinity suite. The main issues for me were in Affinity Photo. Really poor/non existent plug-in support (Topaz, Luminar, etc), no real attempt at smart object support (this was a killer for me), no easy way to replicate many Photoshop Actions with Affinity's macros, and really bad compatibility with PSDs. I also REALLY REALLY couldn't imagine living without Adobe's font library. Manually hunting down, paying for, and installing licensed fonts would be a nightmare for my specific use case.

I think if your work is focused on photo editing, restoration, or touch-ups, then it's a solid choice. But if you do any type of design or composite work, you'll be much better served with Adobe.

That said, Affinity Designer feels more in parity with Illustrator than Affinity Photo > Photoshop. I can't really speak to Affinity Publisher vs InDesign.
 
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vitamanic said:
I tried the Affinity suite. The main issues for me were in Affinity Photo. Really poor/non existent plug-in support (Topaz, Luminar, etc), no real attempt at smart object support (this was a killer for me), no easy way to replicate many Photoshop Actions with Affinity's macros, and really bad compatibility with PSDs. I also REALLY REALLY couldn't imagine living without Adobe's font library. Manually hunting down, paying for, and installing licensed fonts would be a nightmare for my specific use case.
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Good points. What application are you using to manage your fonts, Adobe's (wha't it called)? or are using something like Suitcase, or something else

vitamanic said:
I think if your work is focused on photo editing, restoration, or touch-ups, then it's a solid choice. But if you do any type of design or composite work, you'll be much better served with Adobe.

That said, Affinity Designer feels more in parity with Illustrator than Affinity Photo > Photoshop. I can't really speak to Affinity Publisher vs InDesign.
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Indesign is another big application in my use case. And also Acrobat to a degree...

Whilst it's really good to have competition like Affinity around to keep Adobe on their toes, for me it's about industry use and acceptance to make it feasible for me to switch..
 
For photo editing, Adobe has the Photoshop Elements software... many of the same features as PS for under $80 (lifetime license). There is also Premier Elements for video, but nothing for Illustrator or InDesign.

www.designbuckle.com

Photoshop vs Photoshop Elements | The Ultimate Comparison (2023)

What’s the difference between Photoshop and Photoshop Elements? Is one more valuable than the other? We’ll answer these questions in this head-to-head comparison of these two Adobe applications.
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sparkie7 said:
Thanks for the tip 👍
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The Amazon deal went down to $359 before last Christmas.

It is down to $479 now which is what it was last Thanksgiving. My subscription ends in February and I am trying to move away from Adobe for lots of reasons, but they know that once we are familiar with it, we don't really want to change. So they will dangle that discount when you try to cancel at the end of your term. Im not sure I even want to give them $15-$19 a month with Davinci Resolve coming to the iPad "Pro". That is causing me to sniff around DR for the Mac also.
 
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4743913 said:
The Amazon deal went down to $359 before last Christmas.

It is down to $479 now which is what it was last Thanksgiving. My subscription ends in February and I am trying to move away from Adobe for lots of reasons, but they know that once we are familiar with it, we don't really want to change. So they will dangle that discount when you try to cancel at the end of your term. Im not sure I even want to give them $15-$19 a month with Davinci Resolve coming to the iPad "Pro". That is causing me to sniff around DR for the Mac also.
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Didn't you say you got yours last year for only $100 for one years licence?
 
4743913 said:
not me. the student version is down to $191 on Amazon right now though. I wonder what verifcation they use? an .edu email only?
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Ok, so what's the best monthly rate you've been getting from Adobe?
 
sparkie7 said:
Ok, so what's the best monthly rate you've been getting from Adobe?
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15.99 I believe three years ago while I was taking classes. Then before it jumped to 29.99 I tried to cancel, got the 19.99 rate. did the same last year so they will extend it.
 
I use the Photoshop (Photography) only plan, along with Affinity for vectors.

I still have Adobe CS5 and CS6 on 2 older machines (cannot upgrade the OS).
 
@sparkie7 Ok my subscription ends in February so I tested out what they are giving. I went through the cancellation process and they refunded $19.99 gave me the $15.99/month all-in deal, didn't matter that I am not a student. So thats going to be the best deal I guess. I did it.
 
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4743913 said:
@sparkie7 Ok my subscription ends in February so I tested out what they are giving. I went through the cancellation process and they refunded $19.99 gave me the $15.99/month all-in deal, didn't matter that I am not a student. So thats going to be the best deal I guess. I did it.
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That's dirt cheap. Did you do the cancellation process by chatting with an Adobe support staff or phone call. Or all through the computer via screen and prompts?

Yesterday, I did a chat with online support person. Said I wanted to cancel my free trial. I'm on 45% off promo offer for first year – individual monthly plan, annual. They turned around and said you're not on any free trial and have been charged the first month already, WTH (I'm 100% sure I clicked on free 7 day trial). Anyway they say, we will give you free 3 months to 'hone your skills on Adobe software' before cancelling. So I took it..
 
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sparkie7 said:
That's dirt cheap. Did you do the cancellation process by chatting with an Adobe support staff or phone call. Or all through the computer via screen and prompts?
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just the cancellation process.. the first offer is two free months, but there was an arrow to the side, that brought up a $19.99 offer, and clicking it again brought up the $15.99..
 
4743913 said:
just the cancellation process.. the first offer is two free months, but there was an arrow to the side, that brought up a $19.99 offer, and clicking it again brought up the $15.99..
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Maybe I should have done the cancellation process instead.

I might try that in my last free month, 2.5 months from now
 
Another fan of the affinity suite here. They have just released v2 of the all their apps and has a massive discount running too, around £90 for all three on any device ( Mac, PC and iOS ). Since Publisher was released I do most of my work with that now. I dropped Indesign and Quark altogether and converted these projects over to Publisher. It’s just so fast and fluid compared the competition and has photo and designer built into it so i never leave Publisher. Everything is within the one app. I also subscribe to Adobe cc suite, but does not get as much use now compared.
 
carl varley said:
Another fan of the affinity suite here. They have just released v2 of the all their apps and has a massive discount running too, around £90 for all three on any device ( Mac, PC and iOS ). Since Publisher was released I do most of my work with that now. I dropped Indesign and Quark altogether and converted these projects over to Publisher. It’s just so fast and fluid compared the competition and has photo and designer built into it so i never leave Publisher. Everything is within the one app. I also subscribe to Adobe cc suite, but does not get as much use now compared.
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Seems tempting. However, do you need to share files with industry peers? Can you convert these Affinity files into Adobe format or similar? or port these successfully into Adobe applications eg, via .EPS files for Illustrator. or is there an export feature in Affinity Designer to export to .AI file format?

If you have these, how come you still signed up with Adobe CC ?
 
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