I then corrected converging verticals in the Lens panel, added a grid, and engaged cropping. In this image, I used the WB picker icon (on the far left, looks like Saturn) to read white balance, and the app responded nicely. Open a Raw file and you’re immediately taken to this module, where you’ll find all the classic Raw processing tools. $49.99 street price (via Mac App Store)ĭEVELOP PERSONA.Full support for Wacom and other graphics tablets, including pressure, tilt and shortcut buttons (not tested).

Third-party plug-in support (still buggy).Healing and clone tools numerous brushes graduated filters (called “gradients”).Support for layering, blending, selections, masking, and hefty photo compositing.Complete Photoshop-like, pixel-level editing environment.Raw file development, plus support for all popular file formats.This is just a short and crisp list of key features of Affinity Photo: Affinity Photo is available from the Mac App Store-currently (and likely for the foreseeable future) Mac OS X only, 10.7 or later, 64-bit processor-courtesy of Serif Labs. First of all, it’s available at a one-time price, and a very inviting one at that: for $49.99, you get not only the software, but also all future updates and releases. Well, Affinity Photo from Serif Labs is here to address the naysayers among us. Even some pros I know prefer to stick with the tried-and-true, standard desktop versions to the Cloud-based subscription versions.

This is especially true in light of Adobe’s recent and controversial subscription-based Creative Cloud service, which many photographers balk at. However, for the many photo enthusiasts who have yet to dabble in Photoshop or who find it too unwieldy or intimidating, or downright too expensive, something new is always an enticement. And no pro photographer I know would consider abandoning Photoshop in favor of a fledgling software application.

It’s a robust package with an array of tools that far surpasses what many of us would normally use-although, granted, it’s nice to know they’re there when needed. In fact, Photoshop has led the field among image editors for as long as I can remember. While it wasn’t my favorite image editing software initially, Photoshop grew on me as its capabilities grew, and it has become my go-to editor outside Lightroom. I’ve worked with Adobe Photoshop since it was first introduced.

Affinity photo editing software reviews