Adobe Photoshop is the best known graphics product on the market.
$20
per month
Affinity Designer
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Affinity Designer is a vector graphics software developed by Serif (Europe) Ltd, replacing the former Serif DrawPlus. It is designed for professional illustrators, web designers, game developers, and other creatives.
I started my design journey by just learning one software, Photoshop. The possibilities of what one can do with this softwares are infinite. I have mainly used Photoshop for image editing, making mockups, and producing quick GIFs. Photoshop has better effects than most softwares and plugins, which helps if one is after a particular style or image treatment. I always struggle with it being slightly not beginner-friendly, as one might find the interface too overwhelming. The other thing is that it is an image-based and not a vector-based software, so one has to move back and forth if someone has to access a file in another software like Illustrator.
I first started to use Affinity related tools with Serif in 2004. When these tools became available, I started using them, and much to my surprise of the people that use Affinityit is now universally accepted. More people will use this in the future due to the total cost and value it brings.
Expensive - It is too expensive to buy Photoshop alone, and hence leading the user to purchase the entire Creative Cloud Package though he/she is not even aware of half of those apps.
High System Spec - Requires high system specifications to run the application smoothly, and to use it at its best.
Process lag - When it comes to large-sized files, the application becomes laggy taking much time even to render a single layer.
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.
I've used it for a long time and would consider myself a Pro user at this point. I know where everything I need is, have custom actions set up to make common actions faster, and have my workflows automated so much that everything is easy. Occasionally, a new version of Photoshop will change a common usability feature which will slow things down for a short time before I'm able to adjust, but generally I really like my setup. However, if you're new to Photoshop, it is likely going to take you a while to figure out how you can best use the features.
Coming from Photoshop and Illustrator, the transition was pretty smooth and most tasks translates well. There was a bit of a learning curve with certain tasks, like masking images, but nothing too steep. The align tools are excellent and the use of personas (especially the Export persona) adds a lot of functionality when exporting slices or working with different formats. The interface is user friendly with frequently used tools easily available
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).
I have not had much opportunity to go directly to support, but the training modules that are employed by the company are fantastic. I also find that if I need to understand something, there is always another user ready and willing to share their secrets. As this tool becomes more accepted local communities will also start to organize
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
Canva is a great tool for creating infographics and it's free with limited options. Adobe Illustrator CC and Adobe InDesign are much more suited for creating infographics, however, I still selected Adobe PhotoShop primarily because of my familiarity with all of the tools and hotkeys. There are always workarounds from with Adobe PhotoShop, and I just haven't taken the time to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator CC as effectively.
Affinity Designer stacks up really well against Illustrator, especially for the kind of work I do. While Illustrator might have more niche features that Affinity does not but It does covers the core functionality I need for vector design. And without the ongoing subscription cost. I chose Affinity Designer primarily because it's a one-time purchase, which makes a big difference for my small business.
Time saving. Many features can be automated, which drastically saves time on projects that need a quick turnaround.
High-quality. The images that can be created in Adobe Photoshop are the best quality and often requested when we send things to print.
Streamlines our process. The ability to batch-edit or batch-export allows us to work on other things while Photoshop processes in the background, which is wonderful.
