Cheaper Photoshop Alternative

[mgdmhl]

Just wanted to put this out there for anyone looking for an alternative to photoshop to use for concepts... (Mods if you feel this should be in General Design please move it)

 

 

Affinity Photo 

-Only $50, no subscription 

-Can open .PSD files and save them

-Takes some getting used to if you usually use photoshop, but not that different

-$20 iPad app (for newer iPads only)

 

Affinity Designer

-Only $50, no subscription 

-Like Illustrator but I don't believe it can open .AI files

 

 

There are free 7-day trials for both. (Photo, Designer). FYI the trials are strict on their days, unlike photoshop which gives you one extra session after the trial.

 

I hope this doesn't seem like an ad but should provide you with another option for graphic design.

[KingKongTom]

Thank you very much for posting this. I am going to test it out. Appreciate it.

[Bpoe96]

Absolutely love both of these programs. I have access to Illustrator and I don't even use it because I like Designer so much better.

 

On 3/6/2018 at 9:12 PM, mgdmhl said:

-Like Illustrator but I don't believe it can open .AI files

 

Affinity can open .ai files just as Photo can open .psd files. In fact, you may be able to open .psd files directly in Designer and .ai files directly in Photo, but I'm not 100% sure. Either way, you can easily switch between both Designer and Photo with the same file, and each program can open each other's files without a problem.

[BrandMooreArt]

@Bpoe96 i havent tried them yet, but one concern i have watching some videos is the layer system, specifically with Designer. what are your thoughts on the layers and selecting objects vs Ai?

[CS85]

I've been using Krita a ton lately, particularly for digital illustration, and love it.  It's free. 

 

https://krita.org/en/

[Bpoe96]

On 10/19/2018 at 12:40 PM, BrandMooreArt said:

@Bpoe96 i havent tried them yet, but one concern i have watching some videos is the layer system, specifically with Designer. what are your thoughts on the layers and selecting objects vs Ai?

Sorry for the late reply - I don't frequent these boards too often aside from lurking every so often and didn't notice the notification.

 

I saw that you were already trying the program out (I follow your instagram) so you may have figured out your own opinion on this, but personally I've always hated Illustrator's layer system and selection system. It's always been clunky to me and makes it harder to select objects. I like Photoshop's system a lot better, and Affinity's is much closer to that. I also like how Affinity always shows you a small thumbnail preview of your layer, whether it's a group or not, and that's one thing that annoys me about Photoshop. It's also much easier to use the node selection tools, since it only selects nodes from the objects you have selected, and not every single object there by default. It could just be because I started on Affinity so I'm just used to it.

 

The only thing I really ever use Illustrator for is to do warps. I just copy/paste in what I need to warp, warp it, then copy/paste it back.

[BrandMooreArt]

14 hours ago, Bpoe96 said:

Sorry for the late reply - I don't frequent these boards too often aside from lurking every so often and didn't notice the notification.

 

I saw that you were already trying the program out (I follow your instagram) so you may have figured out your own opinion on this, but personally I've always hated Illustrator's layer system and selection system. It's always been clunky to me and makes it harder to select objects. I like Photoshop's system a lot better, and Affinity's is much closer to that. I also like how Affinity always shows you a small thumbnail preview of your layer, whether it's a group or not, and that's one thing that annoys me about Photoshop. It's also much easier to use the node selection tools, since it only selects nodes from the objects you have selected, and not every single object there by default. It could just be because I started on Affinity so I'm just used to it.

 

The only thing I really ever use Illustrator for is to do warps. I just copy/paste in what I need to warp, warp it, then copy/paste it back.

 

yea i tried it our this week. ive been using Ai for 10 years so a lot of things in AD feels wrong to me. but is probably something i could get used to. selecting objects is one of those small things. my verdict is because there is no warp function, i couldnt recommend it over Ai right now. but with another update or two, it could be ready to replace Ai for me. im certainly excited to see how it progresses over the next couple of years

[pianoknight]

If you need a more basic (and FREE) program, try http://pixlr.com/editor

 

Pixlr is free and runs in a browser.  It can get a little choppy if you're working on some ultra 4k image at huge resolution (internet speed) but it is sufficiently good for the basic layout, brushes and effects.  I use it almost exclusively since I can't afford photoshop and I'm merely a hobbyist. 

 

For reference, I made my signature line using Pixlr.

[hokic]

I have discovered some very interesting program lately, called Clip Studio Paint. It is intended for illustration and has some fine features for the sketching and colouring, not for the photo manipulations and similar. But I guess it is worth the try for anyone, since it is much cheaper then Photoshop and still offers a professional level of tools for certain parts of design work.