On the left is a record cover illustration I created for Big & Twigetti of a cloud formation. I wanted to see how hard it would be to create it again in AffinityPhoto2. Firstly to test my skill and secondly to see if Affinity was good to draw with and maybe even create a better artwork.
I think you can agree that there is not too much of a difference between the two.
The right one created in AffinityPhoto2 has more of a smoothness to the clouds. The PS one on the left has more hard edges and a dark palette. I think the Photoshop one wins because it has more realistic depth to it. But only by a small margin. To meet this type of level of digital drawing they both do very well. Part of the reason the second AP2 image went smoother is that I was having a second try at the same piece of artwork. Something I’ve only done once or twice before. One time, I had to recreate a piece from memory after forgetfully leaving the original artwork file on another computer I couldn’t get to and needing to then quickly redo it for a client.
This was really chaotic but fun as you can see.
Customising the brushes in Affinity took some time, but I got the hang of it fairly quickly. Admittedly, I imported the same brushes I used in Photoshop. But if I wanted to I could recreate them from scratch in Affinity. It would just take a little longer. After going through and exploring all the brush dynamics in Affinity that I had not tried before, I found that Affinity had many more functions to the brushes such as importing my own colour images to a brush set and being able to combine and create with them in ways I can’t in PS.
Switching from Photoshop to Affinity Photo: A Creative Shift
Learning, or maybe I should say relearning a new program that feels so similar to one I’ve used for years is an odd experience. It helped give me a new and fresh perspective on the old program. For a while now, I’ve been contemplating going Adobe free. I’ve used Photoshop for my entire career, so switching is a big decision. Affinity Photo’s one-time payment is a definite plus no more monthly fees hanging over me. About eight years ago, I expanded into 3D work, and learning Blender turned out to be a great move, both creatively and professionally. That experience reminded me that while switching tools takes effort, the creative payoff can be worth it.
Pros and cons of each app.
Affinity Photo 2
- Slow loading of thumbnails.
- Occasional glitches with filters.
- Filters, like Mirror and Halftone (with adjustable circle and angled lines), are unique to Affinity and not available or work as well in Photoshop.
- PDF editing seemed to be more flexible.
- Converting to bitmap
Photoshop
- Overall more polished and stable experience.
- Better tools for print production, such as bitmap conversion and CMYK support.
- Big typeface library.
Should I Cancel My Adobe Subscription?
The Adobe typefaces I may miss, they are very convenient to access, download. Maybe it’s a good idea for me to not become dependent on one source. I may try a month off from PS and see how it goes. If I decide to stop my £21.98/month Photoshop subscription, I’m wondering what other creative apps I could explore with that extra budget.
If you have any suggestions, let me know.