Adobe doubles profits, share price reflects investor satisfaction at CC model.

[Orangutan]

Has anyone tried Corel Paintshop Pro?

 

[martti]

Re: Adobe doubles profits, and I hate them more and more!

Affinity Photo is getting better as we talk. For somebody living outside of the coverage of Adobe's CC, it is the only choice there is for a Mac. They have been in the business only for five years and they are really doing an impressive job. At forty bucks it is a bargain.

I really do not appreciate Adobe's marketing policies. My 'user experience' of their level of customer care is very negative as well. I am warmly welcoming any newcomer who makes an effort to break their hegemony.

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Has anyone tried Corel Paintshop Pro?

That's a good question. I remember using that many many years ago. It would be interesting to learn how they have improved the software since then.

 

[jrista]

For those who want options:

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/

Looks really freakin good. Couple friends have this now, they say it's awesome, and does some things either better than PS, or things PS can't do. Super cheap, no subscription, free updates. (Only Mac at the moment, but sounds like they are working on a Windows version.)

Aside from Mac only, it is "just an App", not a real deal "software solution" for raw shooters. Not sure it does 16-bit. As far as i see it, Affinity is competition for apple photos or adobe Elements at best. Not for LR, Capture One, Aüerture or Canon DPP.

I would love to see a startup like Pixmantec doing a 2016 version of Raw Shooter. Loved it back then, until adobe bought the guys, took their superior product from the market and launched their inferior Lightroom 1.0.
basicalky, what i am after is a top-notch Raw Converter + fully featured image editor with a really good and intuitive interface and without a nasty database underneath (hate it in iTunes, hate it in Lightroom). All non-destructive changes should be written into the header space of the raw file itself. No .xmpf files floating around.

In essence, i'd like a something similar to Canon DPP, a bit more powerful (eg for HDRs), and not from Canon but independent software company - so it will process raw files from any camera maker, including Sony. That way I'd be well prepared for my likely upcoming switch to Sony A7R III.

Doesn't have to be free of charge - € 100 for purchase, € 70 for major upgrades would be fine with me. Just what i used to pay for Lightroom until Adobe f*cked up.

Affinity is DEFINITELY an order of magnitude above Photoshop Elements. That's almost an insult, given the quality of this "app"...which, BTW, is what Apple and companies that write Apple software call every program for any Apple OS, including Mac OS X, these days.

Affinity does RAW processing. Affinity does 16-bit processing. It DOES process Sony RAW files, and those of just about every other RAW format:

https://affinity.serif.com/forum/index.php?/topic/4630-supported-develop-raw-cameras/

It has some extensive RAW editing capabilities, and overall the app in general has an extensive list of features:

https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/full-feature-list/

The program is updated pretty frequently, so A7r II support should be just around the corner (it supports all the other Sony cameras already). It does everything all in fluid real-time, which is something Adobe products just don't do (either no or poor GPU integration in the Adobe products). I'm sorry, but calling this an app no better than Adobe Elements speaks to total ignorance of what Affinity really is and what it is really capable of.

 

[AvTvM]

@jrista: thanks for the clarification and information. I'll try it if & when it becomes available for Windows.

 

[martti]

Right on, jrista!

At my age, fanboying looks silly.
It just so seems that the guys who are doing the Affinity, they really know what they are doing.
One thing that really won me over was the normal adult well informed guy who is doing their tutorials.
Not a teenager with caffeine intoxication, not somebody with verbal diarrhea.

He was the guy who got my money.
He has intelligible names for things and he talks as if he actually knew what he is talking about.

For the time being, I have LR as the center and from there I go to alien Skin, Perfectly Clear and DXO...and also to Affinity as needed. I am not missing Photoshop any longer. Adobe has done a great job in alienating its customers who have stayed with them for two decades, a bit longer.

Let's make pictures, not arguments.

 

[zim]

Has anyone tried Corel Paintshop Pro?

That's a good question. I remember using that many many years ago. It would be interesting to learn how they have improved the software since then.

Yes and I had a discussion with them, their way of handling printing is quite frankly junk if you want to send a file to an external printers, strips the icc profile out of it. wouldn't go near it.

Regards

 

[zim]

For the time being, I have LR as the center and from there I go to alien Skin, Perfectly Clear and DXO...and also to Affinity as needed. I am not missing Photoshop any longer. Adobe has done a great job in alienating its customers who have stayed with them for two decades, a bit longer.

+1 I use DXO for raw conversion and PE to finish off, really want to move to a full 16bit WF, Imagine what an upgrade swapping PE to Affinity would be!

Please please Serif do a win version

 

[cenkog]

My profits important, not yours Adobe !... I use "Affinity Photo" & "Affinity Designer" in my Macbook Pro computer & I'm really very satisfied & extremely happy...

http://petapixel.com/2015/12/15/adobe-doubles-profits-thanks-to-growth-in-creative-cloud-subscribers/

So all you people 'holding out' to 'force Adobe' to go back to a failed pricing model are screwed. The model worked, they have improved many features in the time I have had CC and the company looks stronger than ever, which is a good thing if you take your software seriously.

 

[privatebydesign]

Affinity, which has been talked about here many times, isn't there yet for me, but it does have a few very nice features, I really like the ability to save 'History' with the image for a start.

One slight concern, it started out free, I got the 'Beta' which was a fully working program, it then went from $49.99 to $64.99 and is now back down to $39.99, which sounds like people are not taking it up in the numbers they need, programs like this, that need to work with new OS's and cameras and RAW file formats need constant updating and attention which costs a lot of time and money, heck the cash flow issue is what drove Adobe to the subscription model after all.

 

[zim]

Anyone know if it works with colour passport?