Affinity.

**BruceBanner** · 03-05-2018, 12:58 PM

Just found a Pentax user on flickr who uses LR + Affinity. His results are really nice, just wondering if anyone else uses Affinity here? If so what do they make of it?

TIA!

Bruce

**jatrax** · 03-05-2018, 01:05 PM

I don't use it but I'm curious. Since the only way to get Lightroom now is with the CC bundle you already have Photoshop. So what benefit does Affinity have? I can see the price is attractive, but if you already have to pay for Photoshop that seems to negate that.

photocles · 03-05-2018, 01:24 PM

Originally posted by jatrax

I don't use it but I'm curious. Since the only way to get Lightroom now is with the CC bundle you already have Photoshop. So what benefit does Affinity have? I can see the price is attractive, but if you already have to pay for Photoshop that seems to negate that.

My 0.02 euro worth...

I use Affinity and I bought it specifically as a two-fingers response to Adobe's subscription model. For my purposes, Affinity is a very powerful bit of software for the money. I don't immediately see why one would use LR and Affinity, but others here could clue me in.

As for Affinity, I'm a year in with it and still figuring things out. I think it does a great job with developing DNG and ARW files, but others have said otherwise. Batch processing with Affinity is pretty slow with a mere mortal computer (i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, embedded graphics), but I'm sure a more powerful computer would make quicker work of it. I like the fact that it's completely portable and the license allows one to use it on more than one computer. At the price, I feel it's definitely worth experimenting with it.

**BruceBanner** · 03-05-2018, 01:34 PM

Originally posted by jatrax

I don't use it but I'm curious. Since the only way to get Lightroom now is with the CC bundle you already have Photoshop. So what benefit does Affinity have? I can see the price is attractive, but if you already have to pay for Photoshop that seems to negate that.

LR is just the beginning for many, I also have bought into Topaz system and have easily paid more than $79 worth of plugins that work/launch from within LR/PS that assist with my editing process. From my understanding this fella also uses LR>Affinity>LR>done. Sounds a similar process to mine just with a different 'middle' program.

Originally posted by photocles

My 0.02 euro worth...

I use Affinity and I bought it specifically as a two-fingers response to Adobe's subscription model. For my purposes, Affinity is a very powerful bit of software for the money. I don't immediately see why one would use LR and Affinity, but others here could clue me in.

As for Affinity, I'm a year in with it and still figuring things out. I think it does a great job with developing DNG and ARW files, but others have said otherwise. Batch processing with Affinity is pretty slow with a mere mortal computer (i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, embedded graphics), but I'm sure a more powerful computer would make quicker work of it. I like the fact that it's completely portable and the license allows one to use it on more than one computer. At the price, I feel it's definitely worth experimenting with it.

I'd be two fingering Adobe as well, however I do take advantage of Adobe's Portfolio web service, so now it's $14AUD a month for PS, LR and ]Portfolio, and if you have looked around and tried to find a web hoster that is cheaper than $14 to showcase a few of your better images...
I'd be looking at Affinity as an addon not replacement in this case (much like Topaz)

**jatrax** · 03-05-2018, 01:41 PM

Originally posted by BruceBanner

From my understanding this fella also uses LR>Affinity>LR>done.

I use LR>Topaz>Lightroom or LR>PS>LR or LR>Photomatix>LR so the concept I understand. I was just curious why you would use Affinity if PS is already available. Of course maybe they still have a regular license for Lightroom.

I was just wondering what Affinity brings that PS does not. Adobe has locked it's LR users into PS because of the subscription model. I think that will hurt them in the long run but I guess we will see. I'm stuck with LR for now, but watching for alternatives.

**mattb123** · 03-05-2018, 01:54 PM - **1 Like**

I use Affinity every so often. I have mostly replaced Photoshop CS5 with it.
I mostly just use it for cloning or "inpainting" in Affinity terms, unwanted objects out or similar tasks that the Lightroom spot remover isn't quite sophisticated enough for. For the most part I'm very happy with it. Sometimes if I know how to do something in CS5 and need it fast I go back to Photoshoop but that seems to be less frequent lately.
The focus stacking feature is nice too. I wish it would do better with automatic file naming for stitches and stacks and default to saving back to where the input files came from but the results look good most of the time. Occasionally I have had focus stacks not look right be it might be my fault for not enough images in the stack.

Overall it's totally worth the price and getting better with each release.

edin_togger · 03-05-2018, 02:36 PM

I’ve been using Affinity Photo on the iPad Pro since I picked up as 12.9 in January.
I tend to use Lightroom Mobile CC to do initial adjustments, lens correction, etc and then export into Affinity for editing, Lightroom is a better photo manager (Affinity iPad doesn’t offer any type of Digital Asset Management currently).
I’ve not had a Pentax since early last year and have mainly used it for Sony & Nikon files, but I have played with a few old Pentax K1 files and been very pleased with how it works.

---------- Post added 03-05-18 at 02:37 PM ----------

Originally posted by BruceBanner

Just found a Pentax user on flickr who uses LR + Affinity. His results are really nice, just wondering if anyone else uses Affinity here? If so what do they make of it?

TIA!

Bruce

Do you have a link to their Flickr page? Wouldn be interested to have a look.

12345 · 03-05-2018, 02:38 PM

I have Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer both, (as well as LR) and I love them! I have never had the cash to pay for Photoshop, so I can't compare them, but I can tell you that Affinity is worlds ahead of GIMP (which used to be my go-to software.)

Like @mattb123, I mostly just use AF Photo for stuff that LR doesn't do so well. I use AF Designer for graphics work. (It would be the competitor for Adobe's InDesign).

Never tried the focus-stack feature, but I do like its panorama stitcher. It "just works" without any fiddling with settings, and creates good looking results without any visible stitching artifacts.

**BruceBanner** · 03-05-2018, 02:48 PM

Originally posted by jatrax

I use LR>Topaz>Lightroom or LR>PS>LR or LR>Photomatix>LR so the concept I understand. I was just curious why you would use Affinity if PS is already available. Of course maybe they still have a regular license for Lightroom.

I was just wondering what Affinity brings that PS does not. Adobe has locked it's LR users into PS because of the subscription model. I think that will hurt them in the long run but I guess we will see. I'm stuck with LR for now, but watching for alternatives.

For the same reason you mention LR>Topaz>LR or LR>Photomtix>LR lol.

^ This. I mean Topaz Studio could also replace PS and LR (depending upon what the user really wants to do with their pics and how far they want to take it), but I always like to see if other software can bring something new to the table. I mean the Topaz plugins I use really help, perhaps that same 'look' can be achieved in PS/LR, but I don't know how easily it is to emulate that.

Originally posted by edin_togger

I’ve been using Affinity Photo on the iPad Pro since I picked up as 12.9 in January.
I tend to use Lightroom Mobile CC to do initial adjustments, lens correction, etc and then export into Affinity for editing, Lightroom is a better photo manager (Affinity iPad doesn’t offer any type of Digital Asset Management currently).
I’ve not had a Pentax since early last year and have mainly used it for Sony & Nikon files, but I have played with a few old Pentax K1 files and been very pleased with how it works.

---------- Post added 03-05-18 at 02:37 PM ----------

Do you have a link to their Flickr page? Wouldn be interested to have a look.

Yup here, I like his workflow, feels consistent; Craftsman | Andy Elliot | Flickr

btnapa · 03-05-2018, 02:58 PM

Originally posted by BruceBanner

Just found a Pentax user on flickr who uses LR + Affinity. His results are really nice, just wondering if anyone else uses Affinity here? If so what do they make of it?

TIA!

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

I bought them (Affinity Photo and Designer) when they first came out. I used Photo for a day or two. The interface is a little tough to get used to if you have used Photoshop for a long time. I wanted to like it but did not. After paying for the PS subscription for another year, I am thinking of using it with Luminar which is another software I bought not long ago. One thing that I did do for the short period I used Affinity Photo, I processed a RAW file in Photoshop and Affinity just to compare the results of how the two performed. I liked the results of Affinity better than PS. The colors were more saturated and the resulting image looked better. That is to my eyes of course. I am sure a lot of people would argue that they may have been processed differently. I have a calibrated monitor and tried to process the files to the best of my eyesight and the programs' abilities. Again, I liked the results of the Affinity, the interface? not so much. I am tired of being locked out of PS in crucial times and the other hassles it presents. In the next few months, I am going to learn the duo (AF Photo and Luminar) and say goodbye to Adobe for good.

**mattb123** · 03-05-2018, 03:55 PM - **1 Like**

I maybe should have clarified that I use Lightroom for the catalog and raw conversion which is great. I hope there might be a good replacement for it one day but so far I'm sticking with LR6 with the original licensing scheme. I just use Affinity for the heavy lifting types of tasks now and then.

stevebrot · 03-05-2018, 05:22 PM - **1 Like**

I use Affinity Photo (v1.6.1.93) as a raster editor (alternative to Photoshop) and do so almost exclusively with Lightroom using the "edit in..." feature.* It is a great product and huge value. That being said, here are a few notes:

It is painfully slow on start-up (53s on my machine)
RAW processing (Develop "persona") with Affinity is worth exploring just so one is clear why it is not worth using
The documentation is decent (better than Corel Paintshop Pro and Photoshop) and most features are easily found and understood
If one knows how to do it in Photoshop, one knows how to do it in Affinity, more or less
I have been a user for about nine months and have yet to become a fan of other than the Photo "persona"
Full-on color management features (it is worth spending some time here)
There is a companion book, but I have not checked it out

Steve

* By skillful use of virtual copies, it is possible to do edits in Affinity that are stateful in Lightroom.

**BruceBanner** · 03-05-2018, 07:42 PM

Thanks guys, wonder if there is a free trial? I tried to install Luminar free trial at one time but got caught in an apparent well known bug saying my free trial expired when running for the first time... :/

stevebrot · 03-05-2018, 09:12 PM

Originally posted by BruceBanner

Thanks guys, wonder if there is a free trial?

Instructions for free trial towards bottom of page...

Affinity Photo - Professional image editing software

Steve

**BruceBanner** · 03-05-2018, 09:53 PM

Originally posted by stevebrot

Instructions for free trial towards bottom of page...

Affinity Photo - Professional image editing software

Steve

Ta (it wasn't obvious at 6am with my first coffee of the day!)

03-05-2018, 12:58 PM	#1
BruceBanner Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 5,404	Affinity. Just found a Pentax user on flickr who uses LR + Affinity. His results are really nice, just wondering if anyone else uses Affinity here? If so what do they make of it? TIA! Bruce

03-05-2018, 05:22 PM - 1 Like	#12
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	I use Affinity Photo (v1.6.1.93) as a raster editor (alternative to Photoshop) and do so almost exclusively with Lightroom using the "edit in..." feature.* It is a great product and huge value. That being said, here are a few notes: It is painfully slow on start-up (53s on my machine) RAW processing (Develop "persona") with Affinity is worth exploring just so one is clear why it is not worth using The documentation is decent (better than Corel Paintshop Pro and Photoshop) and most features are easily found and understood If one knows how to do it in Photoshop, one knows how to do it in Affinity, more or less I have been a user for about nine months and have yet to become a fan of other than the Photo "persona" Full-on color management features (it is worth spending some time here) There is a companion book, but I have not checked it out Steve * By skillful use of virtual copies, it is possible to do edits in Affinity that are stateful in Lightroom. Last edited by stevebrot; 03-05-2018 at 09:09 PM.

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03-05-2018, 01:05 PM	#2
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	I don't use it but I'm curious. Since the only way to get Lightroom now is with the CC bundle you already have Photoshop. So what benefit does Affinity have? I can see the price is attractive, but if you already have to pay for Photoshop that seems to negate that.

03-05-2018, 01:24 PM	#3
photocles Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Connacht, Ireland Photos: Gallery Posts: 458	Originally posted by jatrax I don't use it but I'm curious. Since the only way to get Lightroom now is with the CC bundle you already have Photoshop. So what benefit does Affinity have? I can see the price is attractive, but if you already have to pay for Photoshop that seems to negate that. My 0.02 euro worth... I use Affinity and I bought it specifically as a two-fingers response to Adobe's subscription model. For my purposes, Affinity is a very powerful bit of software for the money. I don't immediately see why one would use LR and Affinity, but others here could clue me in. As for Affinity, I'm a year in with it and still figuring things out. I think it does a great job with developing DNG and ARW files, but others have said otherwise. Batch processing with Affinity is pretty slow with a mere mortal computer (i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, embedded graphics), but I'm sure a more powerful computer would make quicker work of it. I like the fact that it's completely portable and the license allows one to use it on more than one computer. At the price, I feel it's definitely worth experimenting with it.

03-05-2018, 01:34 PM	#4
BruceBanner Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 5,404 Original Poster	Originally posted by jatrax I don't use it but I'm curious. Since the only way to get Lightroom now is with the CC bundle you already have Photoshop. So what benefit does Affinity have? I can see the price is attractive, but if you already have to pay for Photoshop that seems to negate that. LR is just the beginning for many, I also have bought into Topaz system and have easily paid more than $79 worth of plugins that work/launch from within LR/PS that assist with my editing process. From my understanding this fella also uses LR>Affinity>LR>done. Sounds a similar process to mine just with a different 'middle' program. Originally posted by photocles My 0.02 euro worth... I use Affinity and I bought it specifically as a two-fingers response to Adobe's subscription model. For my purposes, Affinity is a very powerful bit of software for the money. I don't immediately see why one would use LR and Affinity, but others here could clue me in. As for Affinity, I'm a year in with it and still figuring things out. I think it does a great job with developing DNG and ARW files, but others have said otherwise. Batch processing with Affinity is pretty slow with a mere mortal computer (i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, embedded graphics), but I'm sure a more powerful computer would make quicker work of it. I like the fact that it's completely portable and the license allows one to use it on more than one computer. At the price, I feel it's definitely worth experimenting with it. I'd be two fingering Adobe as well, however I do take advantage of Adobe's Portfolio web service, so now it's $14AUD a month for PS, LR and ]Portfolio, and if you have looked around and tried to find a web hoster that is cheaper than $14 to showcase a few of your better images... I'd be looking at Affinity as an addon not replacement in this case (much like Topaz)

03-05-2018, 01:41 PM	#5
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by BruceBanner From my understanding this fella also uses LR>Affinity>LR>done. I use LR>Topaz>Lightroom or LR>PS>LR or LR>Photomatix>LR so the concept I understand. I was just curious why you would use Affinity if PS is already available. Of course maybe they still have a regular license for Lightroom. I was just wondering what Affinity brings that PS does not. Adobe has locked it's LR users into PS because of the subscription model. I think that will hurt them in the long run but I guess we will see. I'm stuck with LR for now, but watching for alternatives.

03-05-2018, 01:54 PM - 1 Like	#6
mattb123 Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Colorado High Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,872	I use Affinity every so often. I have mostly replaced Photoshop CS5 with it. I mostly just use it for cloning or "inpainting" in Affinity terms, unwanted objects out or similar tasks that the Lightroom spot remover isn't quite sophisticated enough for. For the most part I'm very happy with it. Sometimes if I know how to do something in CS5 and need it fast I go back to Photoshoop but that seems to be less frequent lately. The focus stacking feature is nice too. I wish it would do better with automatic file naming for stitches and stacks and default to saving back to where the input files came from but the results look good most of the time. Occasionally I have had focus stacks not look right be it might be my fault for not enough images in the stack. Overall it's totally worth the price and getting better with each release.

03-05-2018, 02:36 PM	#7
edin_togger Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 76	I’ve been using Affinity Photo on the iPad Pro since I picked up as 12.9 in January. I tend to use Lightroom Mobile CC to do initial adjustments, lens correction, etc and then export into Affinity for editing, Lightroom is a better photo manager (Affinity iPad doesn’t offer any type of Digital Asset Management currently). I’ve not had a Pentax since early last year and have mainly used it for Sony & Nikon files, but I have played with a few old Pentax K1 files and been very pleased with how it works. ---------- Post added 03-05-18 at 02:37 PM ---------- Originally posted by BruceBanner Just found a Pentax user on flickr who uses LR + Affinity. His results are really nice, just wondering if anyone else uses Affinity here? If so what do they make of it? TIA! Bruce Do you have a link to their Flickr page? Wouldn be interested to have a look.

03-05-2018, 02:38 PM	#8
12345 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 520	I have Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer both, (as well as LR) and I love them! I have never had the cash to pay for Photoshop, so I can't compare them, but I can tell you that Affinity is worlds ahead of GIMP (which used to be my go-to software.) Like @mattb123, I mostly just use AF Photo for stuff that LR doesn't do so well. I use AF Designer for graphics work. (It would be the competitor for Adobe's InDesign). Never tried the focus-stack feature, but I do like its panorama stitcher. It "just works" without any fiddling with settings, and creates good looking results without any visible stitching artifacts.

03-05-2018, 02:48 PM	#9
BruceBanner Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 5,404 Original Poster	Originally posted by jatrax I use LR>Topaz>Lightroom or LR>PS>LR or LR>Photomatix>LR so the concept I understand. I was just curious why you would use Affinity if PS is already available. Of course maybe they still have a regular license for Lightroom. I was just wondering what Affinity brings that PS does not. Adobe has locked it's LR users into PS because of the subscription model. I think that will hurt them in the long run but I guess we will see. I'm stuck with LR for now, but watching for alternatives. For the same reason you mention LR>Topaz>LR or LR>Photomtix>LR lol. ^ This. I mean Topaz Studio could also replace PS and LR (depending upon what the user really wants to do with their pics and how far they want to take it), but I always like to see if other software can bring something new to the table. I mean the Topaz plugins I use really help, perhaps that same 'look' can be achieved in PS/LR, but I don't know how easily it is to emulate that. Originally posted by edin_togger I’ve been using Affinity Photo on the iPad Pro since I picked up as 12.9 in January. I tend to use Lightroom Mobile CC to do initial adjustments, lens correction, etc and then export into Affinity for editing, Lightroom is a better photo manager (Affinity iPad doesn’t offer any type of Digital Asset Management currently). I’ve not had a Pentax since early last year and have mainly used it for Sony & Nikon files, but I have played with a few old Pentax K1 files and been very pleased with how it works. ---------- Post added 03-05-18 at 02:37 PM ---------- Do you have a link to their Flickr page? Wouldn be interested to have a look. Yup here, I like his workflow, feels consistent; Craftsman \| Andy Elliot \| Flickr

03-05-2018, 02:58 PM	#10
btnapa Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 1,615	Originally posted by BruceBanner Just found a Pentax user on flickr who uses LR + Affinity. His results are really nice, just wondering if anyone else uses Affinity here? If so what do they make of it? TIA! Bruce Hi Bruce, I bought them (Affinity Photo and Designer) when they first came out. I used Photo for a day or two. The interface is a little tough to get used to if you have used Photoshop for a long time. I wanted to like it but did not. After paying for the PS subscription for another year, I am thinking of using it with Luminar which is another software I bought not long ago. One thing that I did do for the short period I used Affinity Photo, I processed a RAW file in Photoshop and Affinity just to compare the results of how the two performed. I liked the results of Affinity better than PS. The colors were more saturated and the resulting image looked better. That is to my eyes of course. I am sure a lot of people would argue that they may have been processed differently. I have a calibrated monitor and tried to process the files to the best of my eyesight and the programs' abilities. Again, I liked the results of the Affinity, the interface? not so much. I am tired of being locked out of PS in crucial times and the other hassles it presents. In the next few months, I am going to learn the duo (AF Photo and Luminar) and say goodbye to Adobe for good.

03-05-2018, 03:55 PM - 1 Like	#11
mattb123 Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Colorado High Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,872	I maybe should have clarified that I use Lightroom for the catalog and raw conversion which is great. I hope there might be a good replacement for it one day but so far I'm sticking with LR6 with the original licensing scheme. I just use Affinity for the heavy lifting types of tasks now and then.

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03-05-2018, 07:42 PM	#13
BruceBanner Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 5,404 Original Poster	Thanks guys, wonder if there is a free trial? I tried to install Luminar free trial at one time but got caught in an apparent well known bug saying my free trial expired when running for the first time... :/

03-05-2018, 09:12 PM	#14
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by BruceBanner Thanks guys, wonder if there is a free trial? Instructions for free trial towards bottom of page... Affinity Photo - Professional image editing software Steve

03-05-2018, 09:53 PM	#15
BruceBanner Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 5,404 Original Poster	Originally posted by stevebrot Instructions for free trial towards bottom of page... Affinity Photo - Professional image editing software Steve Ta (it wasn't obvious at 6am with my first coffee of the day!)