Switching from LR/Photoshop to possibly Affinity Photo

GMac11 · 24 Mar 2020 at 16:30

Does anyone have experience of such a move? I have always relied on Lightroom and photoshop for my editing work, however that has been more down to the much larger support network than anything else. I'm not a big editor and I only shoot freelance for the local press and as a hobby for myself.
I have downloaded the Affinity Photo trial with a view to purchasing it as it's on 50% sale at £23.99.

I (admittedly begrudgingly) use pirated copies of LR and PS and in the future I'd rather not use them at all preferring a legit software package that I can keep up to date and not have to always look over my shoulder for when my luck may run out in regards to updates and potential malware invasion. For that reason paying subscription for Adobe is totally out of the question as I make very little from my work that it just isn't worth it, that and the fact I don't use a lot of the really in depth features anyway.

I understand Affinity is more a PS replacement than LR but do people have experience of both and reckon Affinity can more than do a job?
I'm not all that fussed on the cataloging features of LR although I do admit they are very handy but I think I could get by without them.

GMac11 · 30 Mar 2020 at 13:13

Thanks. Yes I have discovered a lot of the youtube content over the weekend - not like there's anything else to do! It seems to have a great community and no shortage of help. The Udemy course is a great idea and they are often on offer, especially in the current climate so I'll keep an eye out for that.
I have been dabbling with different things this past few days and I am definitely seeing the upside of Affinity for sure. I have actually installed Capture One Express to accompany it for some minor cataloguing which seems to do all I need for now. I have always shot Canon but recently bought an X-T20 so that will definitely help with using Capture One.
The only downside with Affinity is I use both a MacBook Pro and a desktop Pc so if I wanted to cover both I would need two licenses. However I tend to use the MacBook more for editing anyway so I will purchase for that and keep the dodgy Lightroom on the Windows Pc as a back up for now.
Nothing like a lock down to attempt some self improvement!

GMac11 · 1 Apr 2020 at 21:36

Some good points and I fully agree the one thing I seem to miss the most is adding a radial or linear filter and adjusting things like clarity amongst others. I can't find a way to do this in the develop module within Affinity. It results in layers and masks which I don't mind but I miss the convenience.
I have to say I very rarely go back and redo many of my edits and in the cases I have I usually restart from scratch so I may not miss that feature all that much. The one thing I have picked up from my research is that Affinity has always been behind the trend when compared to Photoshop or Lightroom but it seems to receive timely and frequent updates. This is most prevalent when you come across forum posts from 2-3 years ago which highlight features that weren't in Affinity at the time but are now so that's encouraging if nothing else.

GMac11 · 6 Apr 2020 at 20:00

Ok so I tried and I'm just not sure Affinity is the solution. See the two photos below:

The second one (as you can probably tell from the tone of post) was from Affinity. I spent a good hour this afternoon trying to edit and I just couldn't hit the sweet spot for what I had in my head. I went over to my PC and banged out the first photo in Lightroom in 5 minutes.

I'll admit there could be things in Affinity I'm maybe not using correctly but the ability to alter clarity and local brush adjustments is just something I cannot use conveniently (or with much success) in Affinity.

GMac11 · 11 Apr 2020 at 11:03

@Donnie Fisher you are 100% correct - I am nowhere near unlocking the full potential of Affinity although I have been trying this last few days. I had another crack at the photo and arrived at this:

This is certainly an improvement (to my eyes anyway) although I'm still just not quite at Lightroom standard YET.

And by all means have a crack at the RAW file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19IszW2k8_OIDSNdG_mX56Cm86H_Xx3EP/view?usp=sharing

My impression may be incorrect but it seems that, unlike what I would do in Lightroom, you can't just load a photo and start cranking sliders left, right and centre. Each individual adjustment has a small bearing on other adjustments. For example an exposure adjustment needs to be carefully planned along with Shadows/Highlights as you can very easily end up blowing out the extremities. As you say it takes a little more planning and thought and for each adjustment a new layer needs to be added. As a noob this is tedious to say the least but I have got quicker at it and I think in the long run it actually gives you a little more control over your adjustments. It's almost like going from automatic to manual.
I had a go at editing a photo I took last summer and granted I probably spent nearly 2 hours at it on and off I am almost there when compared to the original Lightroom edit:
(Lightroom image on top / Affnity on bottom. Ignore the 16:9 crop and border on the Affinity photo. By that stage I was tinkering for the sake of it!)

GMac11 · 12 Apr 2020 at 20:34

You are spot on about the bee - LR definitely seems to bring it out just that little bit more. My LR attempt was a fairly crude adjustment brush with clarity cranked up. LR also seems to do a slightly better job at making the background foliage a little more contrasty between the green and yellow hues however you have managed to get that very close above - just another skill for me to hone on AP.

@xaldub patience is definitely a virtue required to learn AP and if I was being honest with myself had we not been in the midst of a lock down I probably would have cast it aside by now. It's the perfect time to try and learn something new so I'm definitely going to stick with it. I'm currently stuck with editing old images (no bad thing at all) however that comes with the 'baggage' (for want of a better word) as I am constantly trying to match my original LR edits - case in point above!
Ideally some new images to edit from scratch could unleash a little more creativity.