Software discounts and recommendations

Algaris · 2022-05-17 08:20:07

Now that is interesting. Thank you for posting this Pete.

I pretty much use Pixlemator Pro these days but Affinity Photo’s interface looks a lot more friendly and inviting than Pixelmator Pro’s flat monochrome colour scheme. Out of curiosity has anyone here used both? How does Affinity Photo compare to Pixlemator Pro? Given that it’s only £23.99 I tempted just to pick it up anyway.

Last edited by Algaris (2022-05-17 10:53:32)

Bloke · 2022-05-17 12:05:44

I’ve not tried Pixelmator Pro, but if you’re used to Photoshop, moving to Affinity is mostly a breeze as many of the keyboard shortcuts are identical. There are loads of comparison sites out there and it seems PMP and APhoto are pretty evenly matched in most areas, albeit the Affinity Photo interface is more Photoshoppy in appearance.

I love it, and for those of us like me who use it once every few months to post process a few photos or create some artwork for a prospective client that’s a bit more involved than what can be done in, say, Canva, I simply can’t justify the Adobe monthly subscription. Affinity products suit me – as a slightly above average amateur design tinkerer – way better.

Algaris · 2022-05-17 13:56:06

Thanks Bloke. That’s really helpful. Back in the day before subscriptions were a thing I used to be a Photoshop user but I can’t justify the monthly sub to keep up to date. I also hate the idea of loosing access to my files if I cancel my subscription.

I did some reading about the differences as well. As far as I can tell Pixlemator Pro is more Maclike and relies heavily on machine learning to automate things. Whereas Affinity Photo seems closer to Photoshop and has a lot of sliders and options for you to tweak things. They appear to be fairly evenly matched as you said. I might pickup Affinity Photo anyway as it’s so cheap at the moment and then I can move between them depending on what I need to do. I do prefer Affinity Photo’s interface though as I’ve never been a fan of Pixelmator’s flat and monochrome design.

bici · 2022-05-17 16:16:38

Like Bloke and others i refuse to pay the Adobe Monthly Tax. They can stick it. I purchased the Affinity suite a year or so ago, along with their User Guides. (If the User Guides are on sale well worth the price.)
I still use Adobe CS5 apps and so i can switch between the two. They are very similar but a bit different enough that it is good to have both until i become comfortable…esp with Affinity Photo. I have moved from using Indesign, which i was a big user of, to now having moved to Affinity Publisher. ( Affinity has gotten better at opening .indd files). Also Affinity suite is fully integrated as you have access to all three.
I am still on an old Mac OS ( 10.14.6) the last OS that will allow me to use CS5. I have to update my machine later this year as it’s 10 years old now (Mac (27-inch, Late 2012)) and then i’ll say sayonara to adobe.

bici · 2022-05-30 15:14:22

gaekwad wrote #333314:

Affinity have a 50% off sale:

affinity.serif.com/

(Yeah, I know it’s a stupid thread to bump…)

BUMP. Two days left on the 50% sale ….

“It’s the perfect opportunity to pick up Affinity Photo for image editing, Affinity Designer for graphic design and Affinity Publisher for page layout. The offer includes Affinity products on Mac, PC and iPad, as well as our stunning creative add-ons such as brush packs, macros and filters in the Affinity Store.”

Algaris · 2022-06-06 10:25:47

Thanks again for flagging this up. I picked up Affinity Photo and Publisher for the Mac and Affinity Photo for my iPad. I thought about Affinity Designer but I don’t do any vector work or need to open Illustrator files.

As an aside I remember trialing Serif Publisher for a company in the 90’s back when it was a Windows only Microsoft Publisher alternative. The software looks a heck of a lot better now that Serif is targeting InDesign.

bici · 2022-06-06 14:57:09

Algaris wrote #333536:

The software looks a heck of a lot better now that Serif is targeting InDesign.

I am in the process of transferring my InDesign projects over to Affinity Publisher. So far it’s been fun. And a very pleasant experience. After spending a day on the redesign of our newsletter i am starting to feel comfortable using it. Will soon be using Serif Photo as i get to the layout stage of our next newsletter. Definitely an Indesign killer!

jakob · 2022-06-21 22:17:14

Potentially of interest for Mac users: to celebrate 20 years in business, Flying Meat is putting all their Mac Apps on sale for $20*. Acorn? Normally $39.95, now $20. Retrobatch Pro? Normally $49.99, now $20.

If you‘ve ever had to batch process a lot of images, Retrobatch is pure gold and extremely versatile. Build your own processing workflows and save them for later use. On top of that Gus Mueller provided excellent service via their forum.

bici · 2022-06-21 22:29:22

jakob wrote #333611:

Potentially of interest for Mac users: to celebrate 20 years in business, Flying Meat is putting all their Mac Apps on sale for $20*. Acorn? Normally $39.95, now $20. Retrobatch Pro? Normally $49.99, now $20.

If you‘ve ever had to batch process a lot of images, Retrobatch is pure gold and extremely versatile. Build your own processing workflows and save them for later use. On top of that Gus Mueller provided excellent service via their forum.

just a note: i updated to Acorn 7 and also bought Retrobatch. But i have an older macOS and only Acorn worked. The latter requires a newer OS.

Algaris · 2022-06-22 08:04:40

I love this thread, it’s full of useful information, but I do wonder if the title should be changed as it’s no longer about just 2021’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

jakob · 2022-06-22 10:15:23

Algaris wrote #333613:

I love this thread, it’s full of useful information, but I do wonder if the title should be changed as it’s no longer about just 2021’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Makes perfect sense. I’ve modified it to be more generic.

phiw13 · 2022-06-24 02:50:47

jakob wrote #333611:

[…] Acorn […]

Both apps are great. Acorn is my go-to image editor the last 5 years. It has excellent AppleScript/Automator support to create automatic workflows. The latest version also brings some Shortcut actions (not yet tried, though).

Lat year during one the Affinity campaigns I bought their photo-editor. I very rarely use it in fact.

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#13 2022-05-17 08:20:07

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

#14 2022-05-17 12:05:44

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

#15 2022-05-17 13:56:06

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

#16 2022-05-17 16:16:38

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

#17 2022-05-30 15:14:22

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

gaekwad wrote #333314:

#18 2022-06-06 10:25:47

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

#19 2022-06-06 14:57:09

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

Algaris wrote #333536:

#20 2022-06-21 22:17:14

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

#21 2022-06-21 22:29:22

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

jakob wrote #333611:

#22 2022-06-22 08:04:40

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

#23 2022-06-22 10:15:23

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

Algaris wrote #333613:

#24 2022-06-24 02:50:47

Re: Software discounts and recommendations

jakob wrote #333611:

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