Affinity Photo vs Photoshop – Which One is Better for You?

It can be extremely difficult to find software that suits you because there are only a handful of reliable picture editing programs. 

To help you out, we have compiled an article with a complete comparison between Affinity Photo and Adobe Photoshop. 

In this article, we will compare their pros and cons, features, benefits, and reviews.

Features	Affinity Photo	Adobe Photoshop
Free Trial	4 stars	4 stars
User-interface	4 stars	4 and a half stars
Workflow	4 stars	5 stars
Pricing	5 stars	4 stars

This table only provides a brief overview of our two competitors. Now let’s view Affinity Photo and Adobe Photoshop in-depth.

Affinity Photo Review – Powerful Photo Editor 

Affinity Photo is one of the very popular image editing software out there. It is compatible with Mac, iOS devices, Windows and even has an iPad version now. 

To improve its performance on Windows, Affinity Photo has added hardware acceleration to its latest version. This makes the experience more smooth.

Affinity Photo offers hundreds of fascinating adjustment layers that will help you create complex art designs. Its editing features allow you to make corrections quickly and accurately. 

Although Affinity Photo is recommended by professionals and its low price is appealing, we do not recommend it to online course creators. 

This is because some tools and processes are time-consuming. Moreover, the interface is not very user-friendly either.

Features of Affinity Photo

• Live preview, live tools, real-time editing
• RAW image processor
• Retouch tools
• Perspective editing
• Full liquifying toolset 
• Mesh warp tools
• Histogram 
• Advanced Filter options
• Plugins
• Advanced blending tools
• High Dynamic Range editing
• Brush tools
• Astrophotography Persona (desktop compatible)
• Live Images
• EXIF Metadata
• Masks and Layers
• Stamp tool

Pros	Cons
• Does not require subscription fees • More affordable, one-time purchase • Provides RAW images support  • Supports vector images and raster as well • PanoramaHDR and EDR support	• Not very user-friendly  • Difficult to navigate at the beginning • Lack of required features

Benefits of Affinity Photo

Our team personally tested all five of Affinity Photo’s sections and found them to be extremely helpful. These sections include:

• Photo Persona
• Liquify Persona
• Develop Persona
• Export Persona
• Tone Mapping Persona

We recommend Affinity Photo because it is equipped with all the necessary tools for your basic image editing needs. One of its sections, Liquify Persona, helps you bring clarity to distorted images with wrap effects. 

Our team found Export Persona helpful because it allows you to export images to various formats such as JPEG, PNG, RAW files, and more. 

As an online course business, Affinity Publisher will be very beneficial for you.

It allows you to create an excellent layout to publish:

• Marketing materials
• Social media templates
• Magazines
• Books
• Website mockups and much more

We found that the Affinity Designer offers a bunch of useful tools that are absent in other graphic design software.

After personally using Affinity Photo, we feel the best part is the 8000 times undo/redo feature. You can go back on your edits as many times as you like. Moreover, it saves data and you can undo/redo after you close and reopen the software.

Furthermore, we believe the preview feature would be beneficial for online course creators. You can preview how colors will be blended in different modes. 

The live brush preview will help you see how brush strokes will affect your digital painting before making changes.

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Affinity Photo

Pricing 

Affinity Photo offers a one-time purchase for its software.

• Windows: $51.75
• iOS: $51.75
• iPad: $45.86

It does not require a subscription fee.

Free trial 

Affinity Photo offers its services completely free for the first 90-days for you to get acquainted with the interface and its tools.

Affinity Photo’s User Interface

As mentioned before, Affinity photo does not have the best, most intuitive interface. The software is not user-friendly and a little difficult to navigate. Operations can be a little slow.

Affinity Photo Workflow

This software is not a workflow solution which means it will not import files. Moreover, it does not have organization tools or a drive locations panel.

What Do the Customers Think?

Users seem to be highly satisfied with this image editing software. Affinity Photo lets you purchase the program in a single payment without any subscription offers. This has made Affinity extremely popular with customers.

Customers appreciate the fast and powerful algorithm that gets tasks done efficiently and smoothly.

A few of the reviews we found of Affinity Photo include:

Best Photo Editing Software

Affinity Photo provides you with the most popular tools at a low price that is available on expensive software. It is the best editing program out there without a doubt and will assist you in creating beautiful graphics.

Adobe Photoshop Review – Pure Excellence

Photoshop-like all Adobe products guarantee excellence and quality with state-of-the-art image manipulation tools.

You can depend on Adobe Photoshop if you require: 

• A range of effects
• Editing 
• Drawing
• 3d Modelling
• Typography

Major updates were made to the software which allows users access to tools such as:

• More command over Cloud files
• Live shapes
• Al-powered neutral filters
• Pattern preview
• Sky replacements

Photoshop now has:

• Supports Silicon-based Apple Mac
• Super-resolution Adobe RAW enlargement tools
• Adobe Camera RAW presets

Features of Photoshop

• Layers
• Pen tools
• Selection tools
• Shapes 
• Vector mask
• Slice tool
• Retouching tools
• 3D Photoshop
• Smart objects
• Photoshop brushes
• Content-Aware Fill
• Adobe Sign
• Premier Pro

Pros	Cons
• Easy to use • Intuitive Interface • Supports mobile and web design • Cloud supported synced files • Excellent tools • 3D content creation • Great typography and designing tools	• Expensive Premium assets • Does not offer perpetual license

Benefits of Adobe photoshop

After thorough research, our team believes that being signed up on Adobe Creative Cloud is the best thing. 

You can get updates on your Photoshop as soon as they are announced. Moreover, you can access files on Adobe Cloud from any device no matter where you are.

We witnessed how Smart objects allowed users to resize photos using the Move tool. It preserves image clarity which was not possible in the old Photoshop version. 

It intelligently remembers data to obtain clear visuals once you resize it.  

Our team also found that Photoshop preserves image integrity, unlike many picture editing software. Adobe Illustrator maintains smooth un-destructible image quality with the help of vector graphics. 

You do not have to worry about drawing 3D object textures with Photoshop. It allows you to directly import 3D images from Adobe cloud and create textures. 

You can also make 3D images within Photoshop and make textures using the same layout. 

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Creative Cloud subscription  

Adobe subscription plans offer different deals in which Photoshop can be rented: 

• Photoshop: $20.99/month, 100GB Cloud storage, desktop, and iPad versions, Adobe Fresco, and Adobe Spark.
• Photography: $19.99/month, Desktop and iPad versions, Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, 1TB Cloud storage, Adobe Spark.
• All Adobe Programs: $52.99/month, 20+ desktop and mobile apps, 100GB Cloud Storage.

Adobe Photoshop User Interface

All Adobe programs have incredible work experience. This is due to the highly intuitive user interface that each of these software has including Photoshop.

Free Trial

Photoshop allows a 7-day free trial for all of its Adobe apps with plans that include:

• Individual
• Teachers and Students
• Business 

Adobe Photoshop Workflow 

Adobe Photoshop has access to Lightroom which provides a better workflow. Its RAW editing features are quick in editing large files. Moreover, Adobe Photoshop has a customizable interface that allows you to save workspaces.

What Do the Customers Think?

Customers have only given positive comments about this Adobe software. Adobe Photoshop not only fulfills graphic design creativity but also takes on complex visual projects successfully.

Users have reported using Photoshop across all departments and have been deeply satisfied. Any problems were immediately resolved by Adobe Support. 

Best Image Manipulation Program

Adobe Photoshop is the best editing software you could have. Its feature-rich tools and services will help you create a work of art. It promises excellence and quality. 

Photo Editing Tools – Buyers’ Guide 

Good programs dedicated to picture editing is difficult to find in most photo editing tools. 

While there are valuable services out there, you need to look for an affordable option that will fulfill your editing and picture polishing needs. 

You should consider the following factors before you choose a photo editing software:

Pricing

You might want to carefully examine the pricing plans of every software you consider. Tools can be very expensive. If you choose one that offers features you do not use then it will cost you a lot. 

There are applications you can purchase through a single payment or software you can rent on subscriptions. Make sure you select the one that best suits your needs.

User Interface

There are many picture managing software that is easy to use. 

However, if you want to choose one that is not so user-friendly then try to see if it offers video tutorials or instructions to help you out.

Free Trial

The best way to judge whether a graphic design program suits your requirements is to sign-up for a free trial. You can test the features and tools to see if it fulfills your needs and provide value for money.

Workflow

A clean user interface and easily accessible tools on software provide a smooth workflow which gives a positive experience.  

Other Factors

Do not settle for software that only allows you to make edits on photographs or pictures.

Select a program that will provide 

• Templates
• Professional photographs
• Editing tools
• Graphic design tools
• Text abilities
• Cloud services
• Animations
• Video content

Moreover, it should be compatible with iPad, Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows. 

Photoshop vs Affinity Photo – Final Verdict

This concludes our Affinity Photo vs Photoshop article. 

Both Affinity Photo and Photoshop are fine options to consider when looking for a visual creator and photo editor. 

If you only require tools for editing images at a low price then you should choose Affinity Photo.

However, we recommend Adobe Photoshop. It might be a little pricey but it will provide you with money’s worth. Its image and video editing capabilities are unmatched.