By I’ve been a fan of Adobe Photoshop for more than 15 years and I finally ditched it this year for good.
I’m replacing Photoshop with Affinity Photo 2 and I’m glad to say I have zero regrets.
Affinity Photo was a one-time purchase and it has everything I need for my work and design work.
But, more importantly, I own 100% of the software. No subscriptions and no expirations!
If you’re thinking about switching to Affinity Photo or wondering if it’s as good as Photoshop, then my story might help you make a decision. Keep reading.
My Story
It was around 2007 or 2008 when I first got my hands on Photoshop.
It was actually Photoshop 7 and I started playing around with it on my first second-hand computer that my parents bought me.
It was love at first sight. I had no idea what Photoshop was or what I was supposed to do with it. Somehow, I came across some tutorials and learned to use it.
My first accomplishment was clone stamping my head into the body of The Rock. My parents were very impressed with my skills. And fooled a few of my friends too.
That’s how it all began back in the day.
A few years later, that love for Photoshop turned into a profession. I took a diploma course in graphic design, which never helped, and managed to land a job as a graphic designer.
I worked at multiple advertising agencies as a designer. Photoshop was the one and only tool I used at every one of those jobs.
All Good Things Come To An End
Needless to say, I was a huge fan of Photoshop. But, things changed when Adobe introduced its evil Creative Cloud subscription plan.
Call me old school, but I believe in owning software after paying for it.
Renting a movie or a video game is one thing but we are still able to own those movies and games if we want to.
This Creative Cloud subscription system was purely an evil scheme that stripped designers of their creative freedom. And, of course, to vacuum our wallets dry.
I’ve been opposed to Adobe’s subscription since it was introduced. However, I still had to use Photoshop since I couldn’t find a worthy alternative.
That’s until I came across Affinity Photo.
Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Discovering Affinity Photo was like seeing that light at the end of a dark tunnel.
At first glance, I knew I had found a solution to my Adobe problem.
Affinity Photo is basically Photoshop without the subscription plan. And it was very affordable as well.
At first, I used Affinity Photo alongside Photoshop. Some of my work still depended on Photoshop so I kept a subscription.
But in almost every aspect, Affinity Photo was just as good as Photoshop. And I was ready to make the switch completely.
Ditching Photoshop
In 2023, I upgraded to the latest Affinity Photo 2.
This new upgraded version of the Affinity software suite made me trust the company even more.
Serif, the developer of Affinity, kept its promise and delivered beyond expectations. In the beginning, I only bought Affinity Photo. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if it would last this long.
Mainly because Adobe has a habit of buying out their competitors and I was sure the same would happen to Serif.
But with the release of version 2, I knew this was going to last a long time.
This new version was even better and more advanced than the first version of the software. And I was more than ready to make the switch completely over to Affinity.
With the release of Affinity Suite version 2.2, I made the switch!
I’m now on Affinity software, 100%!
My Impressions, So Far
Keep in mind that I’ve been using Affinity Photo for a while. Just wasn’t completely dependent on it.
Now that I use it for all of my work, I can confidently say that I was an idiot, I was an idiot for having made the switch way earlier.
Affinity Photo 2 runs smoothly and feels just as powerful as Photoshop. I haven’t felt a huge difference, other than having to adopt new shortcuts.
I admit, the new AI features of Photoshop are really impressive. But I’m not a huge fan of using AI for design work.
Design should come from within you. It should be creative. No artist is going to be memorable for generating an artwork with AI.
And for real human design work, Affinity Photo and Designer are the way to go.
I’m still new to Affiinity software and I made this blog to share that journey with you all. I will share guides, tips, and tutorials as I learn them myself.
I hope you’ll follow along with me on this journey.
