TrustRadius Insights for Affinity Photo are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Affordable alternative to Photoshop: Users believe that Affinity Photo is a great alternative to Photoshop, offering at least 90% of the features needed for graphic design and photo editing. They appreciate that it can do almost everything Photoshop can do, but at a much more affordable price. Several reviewers have mentioned this as one of the major advantages of using Affinity Photo.
Robust and feature-rich software: Users find Affinity Photo to be a powerful and intuitive software that meets their needs for photo editing, graphic design, and creating SVG files. They praise its performance and speed in handling 32-bit files and GPU plugins. The layer-based editing and non-destructive workflow are highlighted as helpful features for raw photo editing and advanced graphic design. This pro has been mentioned by numerous users who value the extensive capabilities offered by Affinity Photo.
Comprehensive learning resources: Users appreciate the availability of tutorials and learning resources for Affinity Photo, making it easier for them to get started with the software. They particularly mention the hundreds of YouTube tutorials available for Affinity products, which help them learn and utilize the software effectively. Additionally, they value the availability of a hardcover textbook for comprehensive learning. Many reviewers have found these resources highly beneficial when learning how to use Affinity Photo effectively.
I use Affinity Photo to edit and resize photos mainly. But that is only scratching the surface of what it can do. Adjusting photos and making them better before using them in other Affinity products is super easy. If you are used to working with a photo editing program then Affinity will feel comfortable for you.
Pros
It integrates with the other Affinity products really well.
Able to edit files that have been made in photoshop.
Good range of tools to touch up photos when needed.
Cons
Performance was a bit slow. But this seems to have been improved with updates.
More video tutorials would be great.
Likelihood to Recommend
For single-person teams or very small teams, I think Affinity Photo is great as it has a one-off cost and no ongoing subscriptions. If people are familiar with the Adobe products it might take a period of adjusting to Affinity Photo. It might also be overkill for some people's needs. But it does offer everything and room to grow. So weighing up what you need to do with photos and seeing if it fits is important.
We use Affinity Photo and Designer as budget alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. For our small company, it's a much more affordable solution, and provides an almost unnoticeable feature set for a fraction of the cost. For companies that have a more robust/historical graphic design business, it may not be a 1:1 solution, but for us, we haven't looked back. For a small set of users on Photo and Designer, Adobe has no answer.
Pros
Almost all of Adobe Photoshop's features for a fraction of the cost. It was an easy decision for our organization.
The interface and most of the features are an almost mirror image of Photoshop. Flat fees instead of high yearly fees are much more desirable for our small team.
They have a great support forum for the little one-offs that aren't quite like the Photoshop app, or don't have the same exact name as Photoshop. The forum really helps when this happens. The YouTube support from the company and other users has been very helpful as well.
I use Sketch as my primary vector design tool. Affinity allows me to take a .ai, .eps, or other proprietary format and convert it to .svg for use/manipulation with Sketch and back. I can't say enough for this feature. It has helped me stay less pigeon-holed into Adobe products, which have lacked innovation for a long time in my opinion.
Cons
If you're a long time Adobe user of Photoshop or Illustrator, there is a learning curve, but it's not too major. This learning curve was well worth the cost of admissions for our organization.
I'd like to see them use the same names for certain features as Adobe's products, but feel like licensing/copyright concerns as the reasoning behind this. Overall, the transition has been smooth from Adobe to Affinity.
They just recently released their Publisher program for print designs, similar to InDesign. They're a little late to the game in this arena, but I'm very interested in a low-cost alternative to Adobe. I wonder how they'll compare to other competitors like Canva in the space?
Likelihood to Recommend
For small, fast-changing design/photo editing teams, it's a no brainer. More seats for less cost and an almost unnoticeable difference in the feature set. For older, more established or antiquated teams, you almost have to stick with Adobe. I know which side we're on. Innovation, a.k.a. Affinity. If you or your clients require specific formats like .psd, .ai, or .eps, Affinity can give you an alternative or more robust options to manipulate those files.
As someone who uses videos and photographs regularly alongside my husband/partner, we have found it to be an amazingly useful tool when it comes to editing our photos and creating graphic designs. It allows us the freedom to do this without a monthly subscription as other programs have.
Pros
Color manipulation.
Photo editing.
Graphic design.
Exporting as different files.
Cons
I have found some of the tools to be particular. I have to click them in a certain order for it to work.
Ability to alter or move the icons displayed.
Auto-save as you work.
Likelihood to Recommend
If you already understand how to use PhotoShop but don't use it often enough to justify the monthly expense, Affinity is a great option. Affinity is a one time purchase and the layout is very similar to Photoshop. You will be able to adjust fairly quickly to using Affinity.
