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MacOS photo editing alternative to Adobe
- Thread starter phl92
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It hasn't been running for the entire year, it tends to come and go. And yes you're right about possibly losing the 50% off after the 90 day trial. That actually happened to me sometime last year. To be honest I'd suggest just downloading the trial to see how you like it for a few days and then go for it. It's a great alternative to Photoshop. I'll never go back to the monthly subscription model that Adobe has.
Even if you are paying full price for Affinity Photo, it’s pretty cheap compared to Photoshop.
I bought both Affinity Photo and Pixelmator Pro and they are great, I would recommend them both.
Affinity Photo - is more like Photoshop replacement, not as good but close. I think that it is designed to look and feel similar like the real deal.
Pixelmator Pro -is smaller and lighter and feel like it is something else, something new. They didn't tried to make it similar. It is very quick to launch.
Affinity Photo - is more like Photoshop replacement, not as good but close. I think that it is designed to look and feel similar like the real deal.
Pixelmator Pro -is smaller and lighter and feel like it is something else, something new. They didn't tried to make it similar. It is very quick to launch.
How is it not as good? I was looking at the list of features, and I didn't see anything obvious missing. Is it the UI or is the range of adjustments not as good, or what?
I don't understand the huge price difference between Photoshop and Affinity, that's what makes me hesitant. When something is too good to be true... But for $25, it's hard to go wrong.
Photoshop has a more intuitive UI and feels a little easier. That said, I haven't yet encountered anything I used to do in Photoshop that I cannot do as quickly in Affinity now. Photoshop is more expensive because it's the industry standard and it has been around a really long time, plus most graduates around now learned it at school. I'm a design graduate and used Photoshop for most of my career and education in art. You can't go wrong with Affinity and it isn't worth paying extra for Photoshop. Your work will be the same quality.
I was self-taught on Photoshop, and I wouldn’t say it is particularly intuitive. If not for youtube and other tutorial sites, I never would have figured some of it out. Now that I know it, it seems intuitive, but for someone learning from scratch, maybe not. Are there tutorials available for Affinity?
I still have CS5 on my old machine, I’m just looking for something on my M1 mini. No way I would pay the monthly fee for CC PS.
Whoever is saying that Photoshop is more intuitive is because you are years used to it. Just try it and and try to get used to a new/different workflow. It will mature and grow on you. Then Affinity/Pixelmator or Vectornator or something else you are testing, will be the same experience as in Photoshop.
What is not right, is paying a fortune for an Adobe subscription.
What is not right, is paying a fortune for an Adobe subscription.
As long as there is settings/workflow equivalent of those in Adobe Photoshop I wouldn't hesitate at all. But as far as I can tell Adobe PS has more functions. The integration of Bridge, Camera RAW and PS is outstanding. The moment any other image editing software gets this I'll might consider a switch. Being in the Adobe eco system since 1996 and the only thing I don't like is their subscription model. I can live with that, but I'll rather buy one time. Before the workflow is 100% equivalent, personally, I won't bother to switch.
Photoshop was intuitive enough for me to experiment with it without tutorials back in the day, that said I wasn't trying to do anything very specific. There weren't many resources for free tutorials back when I started, so to some extent Photoshop had to be easy to learn. Its advantage is that most things important are right there, available in the immediate UI. I'm sure they've added many more complicated functions that you have to dig deeper for but I'd still argue that for the essentials, it's easier.
The Affinity UI is in places very badly thought out. Take picking a different colour for the paint brush for example. A basic function. In Photoshop, you have a simple colour picker right in the UI. People can be expected to figure out how to change colour on their own with a UI like that. In Affinity, basic things like that are sometimes hidden away which makes it less user friendly.
I'm still using Affinity despite the UI stuff though, it's a great program and now that I have learned where things are I can do everything I need in it. But Photoshop's UI is far better.
The Affinity UI is in places very badly thought out. Take picking a different colour for the paint brush for example. A basic function. In Photoshop, you have a simple colour picker right in the UI. People can be expected to figure out how to change colour on their own with a UI like that. In Affinity, basic things like that are sometimes hidden away which makes it less user friendly.
I'm still using Affinity despite the UI stuff though, it's a great program and now that I have learned where things are I can do everything I need in it. But Photoshop's UI is far better.
I don't doubt what you're saying about Photoshop's UI being better. I was just making the point that Photoshop is not very intuitive on its own. It's not easy to figure out without instruction. One part of the definition of "intuitive" is "simple to use", and I agree that once you know how to use it, the interface works very well.
I started with it on OS9 and it was much simpler back then, so it was definitely easier to learn. I figured out how to do a lot of stuff on my own and could edit a photo enough to satisfy my needs, but some things, like the importance of using layers, adjustment layers and masks just aren't obvious. That's not really the fault of the UI though.
I don't know specifically myself since I never used PS. Software like Photoshop and Excel are industry standard and consensus is of the pros that it can't be replaced by other software. You can go and check that out on any forum/subreddit you want, or reviews on YT. I stumbled upon that answer countless time in the last 15 years of my life. Even If I don't know specifically there must be a reason for that. Consensus of those same professionals i heard throughout the years is also that good advanced photo editor or spreadsheet app can be good enough for most people including pros. So it would seem that only highest level, let's say highest 30% of professionals needs Software like Photoshop and Excel.
I meant not good enough as a compliment. Software needs to be able to be even comparable to a Photoshop and Affinity Photo si that definitely. I bought Pixelmator Pro version and figured out everything myself without prior knowledge of how to use that such software. As time went by I was collaborating more and more with professional graphic designers and I needed to deal with Adobe proprietary formats and Pixelmator pro supported only .psd format. On Black Friday I bought all three Affinity apps and they seem to be more complex and advanced then Pixelmator Pro. They are better suited for many tasks I need.
I'm still learning how to use Affinity apps but I'm satisfied with a purchase and there as a lot of resources to learn that software. From what I understand they are only big competition (all three apps) to Adobe photo editing suite so it is not like you have much choice anyway.
Now I've done some research of the software(s) for a RAW workflow. What I need/want:
Filemanager, like Adobe Bridge, to seamlessly transfer image(s) to some RAW editor (Adobe and Capture has this workflow)
Canon EOS R5 and R6 Color profile support (Capture 1, Canon DPP has this)
Canon Lens correction support (Adobe/Canon DPP has this, Capture 1 only for a few RF lenses)
Somewhat familiar or at least intuitive GUI (Adobe/Affinity Photo has this, Capture 1 seems easy to get a grip at as well)
Apple ARM support (Adobe has this, at least partially, Affinity Photo has this and Canon DPP has this as well)
Now, the $10000 question, is there a single software that has all the above? I was a bit surprised that Capture 1 didn't have Apple ARM support. It will come within 3-4 months thou.
So, a filemanager, transfer file(s) to a RAW editor that has Canon R5/R6 color profile support and Canon RF lens support, and that runs natively on Apple ARM/M1.
Adobe perhaps will get Canon R5 color profile support (who knows if, and when)
Capture 1 will have native Apple ARM support within a couple of months and perhaps even support for the latest RF-lenses as well, and Capture 1 has a sort of file manager, like Adobe Bridge/Lightroom, and Capture 1 has Canon R5/R6 color profile support.
Prices:
Capture 1 ~$350 for a lifetime license or~$18 $24 per month. (edited)
Adobe Photography plan is ~$12/month
Canon DPP free of charge if you have a Canon EOS Body.
So I'm leaning towards getting Capture 1.
Filemanager, like Adobe Bridge, to seamlessly transfer image(s) to some RAW editor (Adobe and Capture has this workflow)
Canon EOS R5 and R6 Color profile support (Capture 1, Canon DPP has this)
Canon Lens correction support (Adobe/Canon DPP has this, Capture 1 only for a few RF lenses)
Somewhat familiar or at least intuitive GUI (Adobe/Affinity Photo has this, Capture 1 seems easy to get a grip at as well)
Apple ARM support (Adobe has this, at least partially, Affinity Photo has this and Canon DPP has this as well)
Now, the $10000 question, is there a single software that has all the above? I was a bit surprised that Capture 1 didn't have Apple ARM support. It will come within 3-4 months thou.
So, a filemanager, transfer file(s) to a RAW editor that has Canon R5/R6 color profile support and Canon RF lens support, and that runs natively on Apple ARM/M1.
Adobe perhaps will get Canon R5 color profile support (who knows if, and when)
Capture 1 will have native Apple ARM support within a couple of months and perhaps even support for the latest RF-lenses as well, and Capture 1 has a sort of file manager, like Adobe Bridge/Lightroom, and Capture 1 has Canon R5/R6 color profile support.
Prices:
Capture 1 ~$350 for a lifetime license or
Adobe Photography plan is ~$12/month
Canon DPP free of charge if you have a Canon EOS Body.
So I'm leaning towards getting Capture 1.
I use three main image editing programs. Capture One (Raw image processing), DXO PhotoLab (Raw and jpeg processing) and Affinity Photo (TIFF and JPEG image manipulation and pixel editing). I also use Topaz Labs plug-ins DeNoiseAI, GigaPixelAI and SharpenAI.
Capture One has a learning curve and you can get it for less if you purchase the version specific to your camera. To use it, images must be imported into either a "Catalog" or "Session". Within a Catalog, you can create many virtual Projects, Albums, Groups, Folders, etc. of your images. Note that the raw files can be anywhere on your disk. C1 does not copy the files into its catalog unless specified. You should spend time learning C1 Catalogs/Sessions first.
C1 is a very powerful program, but I do not use it on all images. I only import images that I want to spend the time on usually creating a virtual Project/Albums/Folders structure for say like a trip to Japan. If further pixel level processing is needed, I export in 16-bit TIF to Affinity Photo, i.e. fix blemishes, remove fence posts, and many other things.
So what about all those images you like, but don't want or need to spend hours mastering the art of post-processing? That's where DXO PhotoLab comes in. It does an excellent job of auto processing raw and jpeg files. It applies camera and lens profiles as well as many other adjustments with presets or manually. It has an excellent ability to sharpen raw files when exported to TIF/JPEG. All adjustments are kept in a "sidecar" file with the image file.
Finally, those plug-ins can be used with C1, PL and AP since they also have a stand-alone mode. There a lot of info on-line about them. C1, PL and AP all have native de-noise and sharpening capabilities so this topic is confusing. The Topaz Plug-ins can do a much better job. Now Gigapixel (sounds like a Godzilla adversary) can be used to take a low res or heavily cropped image and improve it.
Hope this gives some ideas.
Capture One has a learning curve and you can get it for less if you purchase the version specific to your camera. To use it, images must be imported into either a "Catalog" or "Session". Within a Catalog, you can create many virtual Projects, Albums, Groups, Folders, etc. of your images. Note that the raw files can be anywhere on your disk. C1 does not copy the files into its catalog unless specified. You should spend time learning C1 Catalogs/Sessions first.
C1 is a very powerful program, but I do not use it on all images. I only import images that I want to spend the time on usually creating a virtual Project/Albums/Folders structure for say like a trip to Japan. If further pixel level processing is needed, I export in 16-bit TIF to Affinity Photo, i.e. fix blemishes, remove fence posts, and many other things.
So what about all those images you like, but don't want or need to spend hours mastering the art of post-processing? That's where DXO PhotoLab comes in. It does an excellent job of auto processing raw and jpeg files. It applies camera and lens profiles as well as many other adjustments with presets or manually. It has an excellent ability to sharpen raw files when exported to TIF/JPEG. All adjustments are kept in a "sidecar" file with the image file.
Finally, those plug-ins can be used with C1, PL and AP since they also have a stand-alone mode. There a lot of info on-line about them. C1, PL and AP all have native de-noise and sharpening capabilities so this topic is confusing. The Topaz Plug-ins can do a much better job. Now Gigapixel (sounds like a Godzilla adversary) can be used to take a low res or heavily cropped image and improve it.
Hope this gives some ideas.
Great input. But I can't seem to find Capture 1 for Canon only. I saw Nikon and Fuji-alternatives on their site.
For my web related projects, I use mainly two apps: Adobe XD (I prototype web pages or PWAs) and Photoshop for some refinement on imagery used in these projects. Sometimes I get to use Illustrator for some SVG logos/icons around the projects when XD can't do something I need.
I'm still stuck on Adobe, yes, but I want to force myself into other apps such as Pixelmator/Vectornator. I tried Pixelmator today to do a few touches on some photos I took with my iPhone. It was fine. At least Pixelmator loads faster than Photoshop and I was in a hurry to do it.
I'm still stuck on Adobe, yes, but I want to force myself into other apps such as Pixelmator/Vectornator. I tried Pixelmator today to do a few touches on some photos I took with my iPhone. It was fine. At least Pixelmator loads faster than Photoshop and I was in a hurry to do it.