At first glance, Affinity Photo 2 does not seem to be much different from the previous version of the software. However, as you dig deeper into it, you’ll find many valuable improvements since the last release of this versatile photo editor. It’s affordable too.
I’m super important to raw development tools, because that’s where most of my work is done. I’ll have to start by admitting that I’m not a fan of the first version of Related Photos. It was mainly due to a nasty glitch that messed up my raw development. I’m pleased that this issue has been resolved with Affinity Photo 2 and after many happy hours trying out the features, I found it to be stable and running smoothly on the computers I’ve tried it on. It’s not without some shortcomings, but what software isn’t?
The software’s various functions are split between what Affinity calls “Personas”. The job I spend the most time in is Development.
Using Persona Development
The most important thing to me about any software is the results and Persona Development will deliver. That’s thanks to the Serif Raw Engine. I opened the same raw file in both Affinity Photo and Lightroom (LR) and the original result in Affinity was more like the image on the rear monitor of the camera, which I set to match what my eyes saw. see. This is good news, as it means less time developing and editing images. Furthermore, images taken at higher ISOs with Affinity were much clearer than in LR, even when I reduced Lightroom’s sharpness to zero.
In terms of sharpness, it is hard for most developers to compete with AI-based noise reduction software, such as Topaz Denoise AI and ON1 No Noise AI. The ability to denoise from Serif Raw Engine is quite good, much better than Lightroom. Even at higher ISOs, opening the image to external noise reduction programs is not necessary. What’s more, the increased noise reduction doesn’t make the image look as muddy as it does on some competitors.
The photo above was taken at high ISO with in-camera noise control turned off. The photo was underexposed and lightened during development to highlight noise. Each one is a 100% crop, and all sharpening and noise sliders are reduced to 0, as opposed to the default values. If you look at the back of the center propeller, Affinity, on the left, handles noise much better than Lightroom. Increasing noise reduction in both results in a more muddy looking image when using Lightroom.
The adjustment sliders respond softly compared to the LR. That might take some getting used to if you’re an Adobe user and have to get used to the sliders present. With Related Photos, that means you don’t have to be afraid to over-tweak the settings, which is easy to do in ACR or LR. Affinity’s adjustments are more precise. For example, I can push the transparency slider up to 50% on some images and they don’t look overprocessed. With Lightroom, I usually barely touch that. There is an exception. The contrast slider in Affinity is very responsive and requires a lighter touch than in Lightroom.
The layout of the basic adjustment sliders doesn’t seem intuitive to me. One would expect the Shadows and Highlights adjustments to sit alongside the other tone adjustments, i.e. Exposure, Brightness, and Black Spot. Alas, you have to scroll down to that panel and find them in a separate section at the bottom. Another slightly odd feature is that you can’t zoom out those parts without turning those adjustments off, as you can with Solo mode in LR. This means scrolling up and down that panel multiple times when moving between adjustments.
Photo Persona (Image Editing)
When you finish developing your image, you click the Grow button at the top left of the window, then your image will open in Photo Persona. Here, the user interface has changed compared to V1, but the changes are mostly aesthetic. I say mainly because there are some new tools added. However, users of the first version or Photoshop will not feel lost at this point.
Many photo editors are similar to and based on Photoshop’s layout. The relationship is no different, with various tools on the left side of the screen with their settings in the top bar. Layer-based adjustments are on the right. I won’t go through all the tools individually as most editors have similar functions and like the others, Affinity Photo has layers and the ability to apply blend modes. blend and layer mask.
The software also has other tricks, including panorama stitching, Plus HDR, Focus and Astrophotography Stacking. There are also Liquify and Tone Mapping Personas.
For those considering upgrading from V1, the new version allows you to develop raw files non-destructively and choose to embed them in the document file or link them externally. The new Live Masks feature automatically updates the mask based on the properties of the underlying image. You can also easily create a mask to follow the color of the subject in the image. Band-pass allows creating masks centered around edges in an image, which is especially useful for those working on different frequency layers. There are also luminance range masks and composite layer masks already available. Live Mesh Warp allows you to wrap text or images around 3D objects in the image. The brush has also been improved.
Affinity Photo 2 . Purchase Options
Affinity Photo 2 normally costs $69.99 for macOS and Windows and $19.99 for iPad. However, at the time of writing, they are down to $40.99 and $11.99 respectively. The Universal V2 license that includes two other Affinity programs, Designer 2 and Publisher 2, is currently $99.99, down from $169.99. All software is available with a generous 30-day free trial; many other trials were reduced to 14 days.
When running different test images through the software and trying out different development settings and editing tools, for the most part, they run as smooth as LR/PS.
What I like about Interest Photo and what can be improved
I love using Affinity Photo V2. It’s super editing and development software that delivers great results at a very reasonable price, especially given that it’s currently having a 40% off sale at the time of writing. Also, you buy a perpetual license instead of a subscription. At a time when we’re all tightening our belts, that’s going to be a huge motivator for a lot of photographers looking to save money.
Is that cheap price enough to entice someone to buy Serif Affinity over other editing tools? Yes, because it is great value. It has many features and is superior to many other programs out there. For example, Adobe Photoshop Elements is much more expensive and has fewer features, especially for raw editing. The Photography Bundle from Adobe isn’t a good comparison as it includes both Photoshop and Lightroom, while Related Photos is just an alternative to Photoshop. V1 has been around for a long time and its dedicated users enjoy many upgrades without having to pay monthly and one can expect this to be available for a long time.
The lack of Digital Asset Management (DAM) is where Affinity Photo falls short. Its main competitors (Lightroom, ON1, Capture 1, DxO Photolab, Photoshop Elements, ACDSee, and Paintshop Pro) all have DAM modules in some form, while Related Photos doesn’t. Therefore, one would have to rely on the browser or use third-party DAM software. The good news for those looking to save money by switching away from Adobe’s subscription is that the library in Lightroom is retained and can be moved from there to third-party editors, albeit via the file browser.
I am a fan of plain English. One fault of mine in photography in general is the lack of standardization of nomenclature between different brands. Affinity calls its modules “Personas”. That’s probably second only to Canon’s ridiculous “AI Servo AF” for continuous autofocus in the prestigious awards. I know businesses want to stand out and be different from their competitors, but photographers love standardization. It may seem like a small thing, but not calling them modules is an unnecessary access barrier.
The layout of Photos is well related and will feel familiar if you’ve used other editing software. It works well too. I really like the raw editing results. Nothing is perfect, and there are a few areas where it could be better. First, as I mentioned above, there is a lack of solo mode in Develop Persona, so one cannot hide raw development settings without disabling them. Second, the sort order of the timbre adjustments doesn’t make as much sense as other programs I’ve used, but I can get used to that.
But those are minor complaints, and we reviewers can pick out flaws in any software. As an editor, it has many features and is a viable alternative to Photoshop for many photographers.
Full software specifications are available if you click here.
Concurrently with the publication of Photo 2, Affinity also released Designer 2, vector graphics software, and Publisher 2 for page layout and design. I will consider those in the near future.
