Making music artwork. Alternatives to Adobe?

[elxsound]

Serif Labs have launched version 2 of their Affinity apps (Designer, Photo, and Publisher) at 40% off ($40.99 USD each) - https://affinity.serif.com

FWIW, no upgrades or discounts for having version 1 licenses, but they're also offering a $99.99 USD universal license covering all apps and platforms (macOS, Windows & iPadOS).

Damn… I knew something else was getting announced today. That was it.

That’s what I was afraid of… no upgrade pricing. It’s expected but unfortunate.

[pekbro]

Hmm, tbh they are not really that good imo, as compared to Adobe. I've been using them a lot lately, and being frustrated by them, Designer in particular. I'll have to see what they have done to improve them.

[chk071]

Ah, I was wondering what the big announcement was.

And, meh. They're getting more and more expensive... Not even an upgrade option for v1 users, and they raised the prices a whooping 50 to 60 % or so, from the former price of 54 € per app. I get that that sales price is still pretty inexpensive, but, the apps surely get less and less attractive for hobbyists on a tight budget.

[chk071]

Hmm, tbh they are not really that good imo, as compared to Adobe. I've been using them a lot lately, and being frustrated by them, Designer in particular.

I agree. I got pretty frustrated at APhoto and just got a new version of Photoshop Elements a few weeks ago. They were still great for the price, but, seeing that they raised thr prices more and more now, I don't know if this is really true anymore.

[Unaspected]

Ah, I was wondering what the big announcement was.

And, meh. They're getting more and more expensive... Not even an upgrade option for v1 users, and they raised the prices a whooping 50 to 60 % or so, from the former price of 54 € per app. I get that that sales price is still pretty inexpensive, but, the apps surely get less and less attractive for hobbyists on a tight budget.

I'm not noticing a massive price increase. I can upgrade for £36, which seems fair enough considering the amount of development that took place over the span of V1.

I'm a happy though critical user. There are things missing for me: Especially concerning batch export features. So I'm unlikely to upgrade just yet. I'll check out new tutorials that come out over the next few days and see if there's anything that would make a big difference to me. Though, as a tablet owner, the claimed improved responsiveness and accuracy might well be worth it.

It would be very interesting if they were to move into video editing software. That was what I was hoping the big news was going to be. So yeah. I was a little "meh" as well but it's good to see reliability in updates.

[elxsound]

Hmm, tbh they are not really that good imo, as compared to Adobe. I've been using them a lot lately, and being frustrated by them, Designer in particular.

I agree. I got pretty frustrated at APhoto and just got a new version of Photoshop Elements a few weeks ago. They were still great for the price, but, seeing that they raised thr prices more and more now, I don't know if this is really true anymore.

Definitely frustrating moving from Adobe.

Still the price is not bad if you use on both Mac and iPad… and of course if you use all the apps. $99 for everything is more than I’d like to pay, but not so bad to only pay once for everything.

[chk071]

I'm not noticing a massive price increase.

The Affinity apps originally cost (at release) 49,99 €. They cost 84,99 € now.

Fair enough, of course, if you think the currently discounted price is worth the buy. It's not much, but, as little as I use the apps, I'll stick with v1 for now.

The thing is, they've always been the "poor man's" alternative to the Adobe apps. When they raise and raise the prices, they might simply lose that appeal.

[elxsound]

Hmm, tbh they are not really that good imo, as compared to Adobe. I've been using them a lot lately, and being frustrated by them, Designer in particular. I'll have to see what they have done to improve them.

I think they’ll always be behind Adobe. If you’re desperate for a replacement, you can make them work.

I can’t justify keeping my Adobe CC sub anymore. I gave it up 3 years ago? It’s a ton of headache, but I don’t use these professionally so they’ll have to work.

The missus can qualify for the educational discounts, but this is still cheaper (even now).

[Unaspected]

I'm not noticing a massive price increase.

The Affinity apps originally cost (at release) 49,99 €. They cost 84,99 € now.

Fair enough, of course, if you think the currently discounted price is worth the buy. It's not much, but, as little as I use the apps, I'll stick with v1 for now.

EDIT: Just found the original price for Photo here and it was £50 full price - gone up to £60. So an increase of 20% here; opposed to the 70% increase there. Seems unfair. Must be an error on their part as the price difference in pounds would be £15.

[elxsound]

Just in case anyone is interested, they are hopefully laying the groundwork for upgrades? At least it is possible if you buy the universal bundle through them. We’ll have to see if they open that door in years to come.

I obviously have no clue here what they may or may not do, but I purchased the bundle price for $99. On the Mac, I had to download the apps from their website instead of the Apple App Store. iPad apps are downloaded as usual from the App Store.

Unlocking everything is done by signing in with your Serif account.

[pekbro]

I'll probably get the designer at least, after I demo it anyway. I have always maintained my Photoshop sub, mostly I got AP because it loaded a lot faster than PS. The publisher I don't really care about.

[whyterabbyt]

I'm not noticing a massive price increase.

The Affinity apps originally cost (at release) 49,99 €. They cost 84,99 € now.

Not here they dont. RRP for the individual applications in GBP, including VAT, is £59.99 which equates to €68.70, individual discounted price is £35.99/€40.07, discounted price for the bundle is £89.99 which works out at £30/€34.35 per application.

In dollars, the individual discounted price seems to be $40.99 which is €41.21, discounted bundle price seems to be $99.99, ie €100.51 and less than €34 per application.

[chk071]

I saw that. There are discussions on Serif's forums about it. I wonder where that discrepancy comes from. I think the UK has similar VAT (it's 19% here, I think 20% in the UK), so, that can't be the issue.

Affinity_prices.png

Maybe they don't want to be too hard on their Brexit stricken fellow countrymen. Just kidding, just kidding.

[whyterabbyt]

Yeah, VAT here is similar, so its surprising our pricing is much much closer to US which is VATless.

[vurt]

Yeah, VAT here is similar, so its surprising our pricing is much much closer to US which is VATless.

cos we are the fifty first state of america :clogs: