Alternative/addition to Adobe products

DMS General
#1

Proposal:
I’d like to have DMS purchase at least 12 licenses and install Affinity graphics software on the bulk of computers at DMS, including Digital Media, Creative Arts, Printmaking, Laser, the common room, and the entire computer classroom.

Details:
Affinity offers well made software packages that rival Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator in functionality, ease of use, and support. Photo is the Photoshop equivalent, and Designer is the same for Illustrator. Affinity offers a large library of tutorials from beginner to advanced on their YouTube channels, forums, and a large community of user provided instructional content.

Cost:
The programs are a one time purchase of $67 per multi-user business license for either Photo or Designer, or $157 for Photo, Designer, and Publisher as a bundle (which additionally allows installation/use on Windows, macOS, and iPadOS). They do offer educational pricing, but require a personalized quote so I am unable to list the pricing for that option. Once again, this is a one-time purchase, not a monthly or annual subscription.

Reasoning:
Affinity offers a much cheaper but still very competitive alternative to Adobe that would allow us to have quality graphics software on multiple machines all around DMS. We would be able to offer classes on these packages in the actual computer classroom. It would allow a common software package availability across the multiple areas where graphics software is used at DMS.

Note that this proposal is not recommending that the Affinity software replace the Adobe licenses, it is in addition to the current availability of the 5 seats we currently have of the Adobe Creative Suite.

Comments, suggestions, issues?

2 Likes
#2

How hard is it to learn (for casual use) for someone who is comfortable with the Adobe Creative Suite?

I assume it can import and use .ai and .psd files?

#3

I picked affinity up about 6 months ago and have used it 3-4 times. I didn’t feel a large learning curve from adobe, but I’m not a power user so may be missing functionality that I don’t know about.

It’s certainly enough to do basic photo edits and edit vector paths for lasers… and as pointed out, it’s markedly cheap.

3 Likes
#4

I use Gimp and Inkscape. They’re free and do everything I need.

1 Like
#5

Thanks.

I would still create in Creative Suite, just hoping that if I needed to tweak something that Affinity would be suitable for that. It sounds like a good candidate.

#6

They do have a free install that is fully featured for 7-10 days before requiring a purchase for further use, so you can get a decent look at the UI and workflow before purchasing.

#7

General FYI, the Affinity software is on sale right now for 30% off, and brushes/other add ons are 50% off.

#8

I’ve never heard of affinity, but I used Clip Studio Paint for comics and illustration and asked for it at the last digital arts meeting. it is a bit cheaper than this affinity program and is industry standard for self employed illustrators

edit: csp is $50 for “pro” and its per device. they don’t seem to offer a real multi user lifetime package. sometimes it goes on sale as well.

1 Like