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Best replacement software for Illustrator and Photoshop

H

hajime

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
8,097
1,369
Hi, I am looking for replacement for Photoshop and Illustrator as I don't like the subscription model Adobe has been using for the past years.

Things that I usually do with Photoshop and Illustrator are:

- annotate photos (add arrows and labels) in Photoshop
- change photos to different file format (eps, jpeg, etc.)
- makes the photos brighter
- create illustrations using Illustrator and Photoshop (e.g. import photos to Illustrator, add illustrations and annotations. Make illustrations in Illustrator and import to the Photoshop)
- sometimes I use simple layerings

Should have nice user interface and easy to use. Does not have to be free. Inkscape is not my cup of tea.

Any good suggestions? Thanks
 
James Craner said:
I recommend you take a look at Affinity Photo. I ditched photoshop a few years ago and switched to Affinity Photo. I don't miss Photoshop at all. They also have Affinity designer as well which is their alternative to Illustrator. I don't use that myself, but I have seen others recommend it.

Another one to look is pixelmator.
Click to expand...

Thanks. If I decide to go for Affinity designer, does it matter whether I use Pixelmator Pro or Affinity Photo? Will using Afinity Photo provide better integration?

Do they work well if I use an iPad (Pro) and Apple Pencil as a tablet input method?
 
hajime said:
Thanks. If I decide to go for Affinity designer, does it matter whether I use Pixelmator Pro or Affinity Photo? Will using Afinity Photo provide better integration?

Do they work well if I use an iPad (Pro) and Apple Pencil as a tablet input method?
Click to expand...
You answered your own question: Affinity products will provide better integration if used together. You may want to ask Affinity your iPP pencil question (or perhaps some one else can confirm.). There are pencil controls, but I have only tried art in Designer on the iPad.
 
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I also would recommend Affinity's line of creative apps. Designer is still missing a few things that Illustrator has but in general it is very near it in terms of features. I much prefer Affinity Designer to Illustrator. They also have Affinity Publisher which is a page layout program. Affinity Photo works well for me too.
 
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Definitely recommend Affinity - in particular, Designer as an Illustrator replacement. Personally, I detest Illustrator to the point that I had VMware Fusion running Snow Leopard, so I could still use Freehand! Yep - that bad! Designer is a joy to use - you can figure out the main functions just by using it, but there's lots of depth there too. And it plays nice with other Apps too.

Same for Affinity Photo - a perfectly adequate Photoshop replacement. Very reasonably priced too, and you actually own the software rather than this ghastly subscription business, so you never need to worry about it being turned off and losing all your work.

Highly recommended - especially Designer. And they update them regularly too.
 
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Still sticking with the CS6 suite - this rocks.

I have no plans to pay for software that I can't own.
 
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JohnAffinityPR said:
I think it's highly likely. You might also want to look out for partner offers on sites like ePhotozine ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the nice tips. Do we also get 50% on Designer now?

From the article, there is a link to store.serif.com with a 50% discounts on Photo. How come we have to pay for full price when visiting store.serif.com directly? Usually I prefer to buy direct from the official website rather than getting linked from 3rd party as I don't know what could go on in between.

www.ephotozine.com

5 Great Features That Make Affinity Photo Your Next Editing Software

Find out why we think that Affinity Photo is a powerful photo editing tool for photographers. Plus, learn how you can purchase Affinity Photo.
www.ephotozine.com www.ephotozine.com
 
ratsg said:
Still sticking with the CS6 suite - this rocks.

I have no plans to pay for software that I can't own.
Click to expand...
Ratsg - I am with you, sort of. I use CS6; don't want to pay fpr a subscription. I recently upgraded from Mojave to Catalina and learned CS6 will not run in Catalina. Although my system report said CS6 was a 64 bit app, it apparently has some 32-bit components deep in its bowels. I was not able to even launch CS6 so I went back to Mojave. If you want to stay with CS6 then Mojave is as high as you can go with Mac OS. That is why I am looking for an alternative and Affinity Photo is looking pretty good.
 
I like the Affinity products and highly suggest you go over to Youtube and do some viewing of people's take on "replacements" for Photoshop and also Illustrator. The advantage of Affinity is that they are available for both Mac and iPad OS's. There are others that are very good as well but for moderate work, price and lots of learning material out there they are truly a bargain compared to PS and Ill.

1) Contrast and compare Affinity Products to Adobe
2) Contrast and compare Affinity Products to other competing products.
 
It looks like Affinity products are sold separately. Can we get discounts buying more than one Affinity app?
 
hcaroselli said:
Ratsg - I am with you, sort of. I use CS6; don't want to pay fpr a subscription. I recently upgraded from Mojave to Catalina and learned CS6 will not run in Catalina. Although my system report said CS6 was a 64 bit app, it apparently has some 32-bit components deep in its bowels. I was not able to even launch CS6 so I went back to Mojave. If you want to stay with CS6 then Mojave is as high as you can go with Mac OS. That is why I am looking for an alternative and Affinity Photo is looking pretty good.
Click to expand...
Seems that perhaps exploring the idea of virtual OS X machines would be a good fit for dedicated apps. I do the with Windows for 3 apps.
 
I have Photo and Designer, highly recommend.
You can get them on App Store (I got both at different times for 50% off).
They are about due for another sale..... 😬
 
What are the differences between buying from Apple App Store vs. buying from their website?
 
hajime said:
What are the differences between buying from Apple App Store vs. buying from their website?
Click to expand...

The only real difference I see is that the App Store will let you know when there is an update and download automatically, if you've chosen to do that.

I've only bought from the website, but I need applications for Mac and Windows.
 
bousozoku said:
The only real difference I see is that the App Store will let you know when there is an update and download automatically, if you've chosen to do that.

I've only bought from the website, but I need applications for Mac and Windows.
Click to expand...

In the past, they mentioned sandboxing. What is that?

Difference between web and AppStore versions

Hello, Is there any difference between the web and AppStore versions of AP and AD? Thank you,
forum.affinity.serif.com forum.affinity.serif.com
 
hajime said:
n the past, they mentioned sandboxing. What is that?
Click to expand...

Sandboxing in the Mac App Store means that users can be reasonably assured that the apps they're downloading won't compromise the security of their computer or damage the system in any way; it also makes sure that apps won't interfere with each other.

It can sometimes mean more limited functionality, this normally applies to Apps that need to dig deep into OS X, However for a photo editing app like Affinity it should make no difference.
 
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Yet another +1 for Affinity Photo. Needed a quality editor on my iPad and it's already made me not miss Photoshop at all.

Now I just need to ditch PS on my Mac and go full bore. My only setback is learning the interface after so many years with Adobe products.
 
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