jwheeler
Well-known member
TLDR: Yes, they are a viable alternative.
I have been a graphic designer using the Adobe suite since ~2005, and I have been teaching it for the last 5.5 years. I still do occasional freelance work on the side, but not enough to warrant the monthly subscription. After I upgraded my home PC a couple of years ago, I could not reinstall an old perpetual license I had for Adobe. I have been getting by using a free Illustrator alternative called Inkscape and a free Photoshop alternative called Photopea.
However, after Canva recently acquired Affinity, they offered a 6-month free trial and announced they would be offering it free to all schools/educators. I decided to give it a try and I figured I'd share my experience for those who might be considering it. (No, this is not sponsored by Affinity...I'm just a printing/graphics nerd sharing my feedback. But hey, if you want to sponsor me Affinity...?
)
Since it's campaign season, I have a private client running for city council who has been keeping me busy designing business cards, flyers, postcards, yard signs, t-shirts, pens, hats, vehicle signs, and a website. I have been doing every project in Affinity and outsourcing all of the printing. Not a single print shop complained about the files and they all turned out great.
My conclusion: They are definitely a viable alternative to the Adobe suite. The interface is VERY similar, even most of the keyboard shortcuts are the same. There are a few features I like better than Adobe, but there were also a few that I found a bit more challenging. I think the biggest challenge is how Affinity puts things in a different sub-menu, or calls a feature by a slightly different name - but this is going to happen with any software. I found myself keeping the help menu open so I could find several items. At work, I still prefer to use Adobe simply because I know where everything is. However, I can switch between either one pretty easily now.
Being a teacher in a public school, I know what a challenge it is to get budget approvals. Therefore, I foresee a large number of high school graphic classrooms switching to Affinity since it is free. This will cause a new generation of designers to be more comfortable with Affinity instead of Adobe, and you'll start seeing a shift in the coming years (unless Adobe buys them out of course!). Heck, we're all already seeing lots of Canva files come in to our print shops.
I have been a graphic designer using the Adobe suite since ~2005, and I have been teaching it for the last 5.5 years. I still do occasional freelance work on the side, but not enough to warrant the monthly subscription. After I upgraded my home PC a couple of years ago, I could not reinstall an old perpetual license I had for Adobe. I have been getting by using a free Illustrator alternative called Inkscape and a free Photoshop alternative called Photopea.
However, after Canva recently acquired Affinity, they offered a 6-month free trial and announced they would be offering it free to all schools/educators. I decided to give it a try and I figured I'd share my experience for those who might be considering it. (No, this is not sponsored by Affinity...I'm just a printing/graphics nerd sharing my feedback. But hey, if you want to sponsor me Affinity...?
)Since it's campaign season, I have a private client running for city council who has been keeping me busy designing business cards, flyers, postcards, yard signs, t-shirts, pens, hats, vehicle signs, and a website. I have been doing every project in Affinity and outsourcing all of the printing. Not a single print shop complained about the files and they all turned out great.
My conclusion: They are definitely a viable alternative to the Adobe suite. The interface is VERY similar, even most of the keyboard shortcuts are the same. There are a few features I like better than Adobe, but there were also a few that I found a bit more challenging. I think the biggest challenge is how Affinity puts things in a different sub-menu, or calls a feature by a slightly different name - but this is going to happen with any software. I found myself keeping the help menu open so I could find several items. At work, I still prefer to use Adobe simply because I know where everything is. However, I can switch between either one pretty easily now.
Being a teacher in a public school, I know what a challenge it is to get budget approvals. Therefore, I foresee a large number of high school graphic classrooms switching to Affinity since it is free. This will cause a new generation of designers to be more comfortable with Affinity instead of Adobe, and you'll start seeing a shift in the coming years (unless Adobe buys them out of course!). Heck, we're all already seeing lots of Canva files come in to our print shops.
