Adobe PhotoShop vs. Affinity Publisher vs. Scribus

Photoshop is a useful tool for everything from creating social media graphics to editing and sizing photos. There is a bit of a learning curve, so you need to have a bit of experience to master it and use it for a variety of tasks. You also need to have a good sense of file organization so you can find files quickly without losing track of them.

Incentivized

If you are looking to get started using a publishing / creation application, Affinity Publisher is the one to go for. With a quick learning curve on all the basic functions, you'll be flying in no time. And then there is a whole heap of great features to get into as you become more comfortable with the software. The only down side is if clients are using Adobe programs, there are sometimes problems working with imported layers, but this is minor compared to the ease of use and features.

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• The fact is that you may quickly pick things up on your own by spending time without using any other resources.
• It is the program that brings the phrase "to make PhotoShop" to almost all languages. It's not just a photo editing program.
• Practical and beautiful results are filtered by filtering the desired work without drowning in details.

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• Supports just about any format you'll need for your project.
• The variety of templates makes startign projects simple.
• The program is just really powerful and fairly priced.

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• The effect applying time could be faster.
• There could be a smarter way to make mockups using smart objects, maybe by directly selecting an area, and generative AI can automate a few steps.
• If Photoshop can suggest the right stock imagery in case the generative AI doesn't get the right answer.

Incentivized

• Menu differences can be an impediment to new users from other softwares
• Some functions are not in places I would expect

We get a lot of use out of this software. It's vital for work with production in our industry and has a lot of cross-functionality - creating social media images, retouching photos, editing photos, creating gradients, and more. It's pretty fuss-free in that we haven't had to reach out to support and the program hasn't crashed on us. We are trained on the software (so again, this isn't for beginners), but for detail-oriented designers and creatives like ourselves - it's a no-brainer.

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Adobe PhotoShop is a professional-grade tool that requires months/years to get a grasp of how to use it well. Even then, after over a decade of using Adobe PhotoShop both casually and professionally, I feel like I'm still unfamiliar with a large percentage of the available tools. Without a dedicated training program, it can be extremely overwhelming and/or you may not get good use out of it. That being said, once you do get comfortable with it, the layout and workspace are excellent with myriad shortcuts that speed up your workflow exponentially. Put in the time to learn it, and you'll love it.

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It offers a user-friendly interface and powerful design tools that make creating high-quality graphics and layouts straightforward. However, some features can feel complex, especially for new users, which may require a bit of a learning curve. The integration between desktop and iPad is excellent, but improving compatibility with other popular software could enhance collaboration and efficiency even further. Overall, it’s a robust tool that balances functionality and ease of use quite well.

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Adobe Photoshop is very reliable, but is never 100%. There have been times when Adobe Photoshop has had trouble opening, but nothing a little computer restart couldn't fix. I use Adobe Photoshop on a Mac for both work and at home on a daily basis, and I would be lost without it.

Speed can be an issue when you are dealing with large files for large format printing or billboards. When working on web images, speed is not an issue.

While I never contacted Adobe directly, there is so much content out there in the form of YouTube videos, Lynda/LinkedIn learning that almost any issue, including bugs, can be worked around (and this method is generally faster as there's no turnaround time involved).

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Our team typically uses other online resources instead of contacting developers/manufacturers for support. That being said, there is a forum and a growing, vibrant community of users available to answer questions and "make the switch." A simple "whatever function we used to use in Adobe InDesign," followed by "Affinity," usually gets us on the right track to an answer. YouTube and their forums are our team's go-to sources for help.

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So, I received the training at the HQ and it was train the trainer training. A good time, I spent a week at their campus

I took a course so it really helped. I didn’t take the course until much later after beginning to use it, so I wish work would have sent me right off the bat. It would have alleviated a lot of frustratinon

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[Adobe] Photoshop offers the best photo editing as well as content creation. The layer-by-layer approach of [Adobe] Photoshop helps to work between two apps or even two PCs of entirely different Creative Cloud apps seamlessly. The stability and the speed of the tools in photoshop make it even better to make a canvas of creativity.

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Affinity Publisher is a more cost effective way to achieve the same goals as InDesign and Quark. I'm sure there are various differences that Affinity may lack, however we have yet to run into one that our business has needed, or even recognized. It has completely replaced any desktop publishing for our organization without issue.

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It seems expensive compared to the free/cheap programs now available

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• Adobe PhotoShop in general is a great time saver.
• It does take a long time for the program to start up, however
• The most difficult task is onboarding new employees into Adobe PhotoShop who don't have experience with it. It's an investment for their future so we see value in it.

Incentivized

• I wish we could push it out to all staff but we can't quite afford the cost.
• Amount of features can be overwhelming for first time users and take more time.
• This program will save time once employees figure it out.

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