Affinity design software review

Quick thoughts on the Affinity software and how it compares to Adobe!

If you’re a graphics designer and haven’t heard of Affinity before, you’re totally missing out. Their software looks and functions like Adobe, also compatible with its file formats, and much cheaper!

Affinity made waves as a super cheap Adobe-clone.

I don’t think that’s how they wanted to portray themselves. Their website verbiage describes themselves as passionate software-makers for creative artists.

But what the design world knows them as…is Adobe-compatible designer software that’s affordable. But for a long time, that didn’t matter since Photoshop wasn’t so unaffordable. It was anywhere from $400-1k for the entire suite. Lots of discounts given to students, groups, bundled with computers, etc.

But then Adobe switched up their business model and pissed everyone off. They started doing the CC thing that cost $50/month. The hardcore everyday designers didn’t mind since they do design work every day and every month. But for people like me…I only open it up every now then when I need to do some graphics editing.

And so I went looking for alternatives. Let’s go over them below.

Affinity Photo (works can replace Adobe Photoshop).

• Incredible graphics design tool that works just like Adobe Photoshop.
• Very similar UI, especially the tool windows on the left & right sides.
• Easy to use. Virtually no learning curve.
• The top menus re-arrange things differently but very intuitive!
• Compatible with PSD format. You can open, edit, and save as PSD!
• Available in Windows and Mac OS.

I’ve been using Affinity for a good 3 years now and very happy with it. It works exactly as promised. Looks great. Super smooth, no bugs, or crashes, loads and runs faster than Photoshop. Very lightweight…like 1/10th the footprint of Photoshop yet no noticeable loss in everyday features.

If there is any drawback, it’s that the image compression sucks in comparison. If you try to export images at anything less than 100%, Photoshop will output a much better looking image AND smaller size file. The only workaround for this is to export it at 100% and compress it elsewhere. No big deal for me.

The pricing was only $50. Yes, you heard me. Only $50! And that’s a ONE-TIME FEE! AND YOU OWN IT FOREVER!!!

Affinity Designer (vector editor) replaces Adobe Illustrator, and Affinity Publisher (print editor) replaces Adobe Indesign

I haven’t tried Affinity Designer or Publisher but if they’re anything like Affinity Photo, I’m sure they will be every bit of the same high quality, great performance software. You can also read other reviews and comparisons out there. Affinity is probably the only Adobe-compatible software I can think of that people rave about.

Affinity has a 50% sale now

Message from Affinity recently…

Supporting the creative community
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have severely impacted people all over the world. To provide some support during this incredibly difficult time, we’re now offering a 90-day free trial of all the Mac and Windows versions of the whole Affinity suite. We’re also offering a 50% discount for users who would prefer to buy and keep the apps, including iPad versions.

How kind of them, right?!

If you’ve ever wanted to get Adobe Creative Suite designer software but never wanted to pay for them, this is your chance to get them for suuuuuuper cheap.

Visit the Affinity Store