best alternatives to adobe products
- Thread starter HomerJ
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TonyCarter
VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I bought the latest Affinity V2 suite just after they were bought by Canva (for about £99 IIRC, currently £79.99)...and before it also goes to a subscription model too.
My biggest issue in moving over completely (when I was using these products commercially) is having to re-purchase £000's of plug-ins that I already have for Adobe...assuming the same thing is even available from these companies (Esko, Nik, OnOne, Flaming Pear, GenuineFractals, VertusTech, etc.). But even some of these plug-ins have now gone subscription model to ensure you always have access to the latest compatible version (but what used to be a £500/year plug-in purchase is now a £100/month subscription).
However, this was the same problem whenever we completed an Adobe upgrade too, as they tended to break the plug-ins and we'd have to buy compatible ones - and wait for them to be made in some instances. So the £1000 upgrade of Adobe apps every 2 years could turn into a £10k upgrade when we included the cost of the plug-ins. This did mean we took the opportunity to trim the plug-ins down to the bare minimum.
There are many more options nowadays, and there are a lot of built-in tools that do the same, or very similar jobs...but there's always a couple where the extra £200 spend on a plug-in will save you an hour every time you do that task and pays for itself quite quickly. If a new piece of software either can't do that task, or has no option of a plug-in for that task...you revert to the tool that will.
I don't use these things commercially nowadays, and the limited touch-ups / re-works I do can be carried out in most of the alternatives...as long as it's saved in a compatible format (or has an import/export option).
If 100% compatibility/fidelity is required 100% of the time, or a multi-app workflow is required, and it's for commercial use, then the cost of the software shouldn't really be an issue.
It's much the same as the Microsoft Office vs the alternatives (paid for, or open source). In most cases a normal user can get by with any of the options that they want to spend time learning. It's only when you come in to the professional end that these small differences / incomplete features / ways of working / incompatibilities make it easier/cheaper to use Microsoft. Something as simple as a font that renders ever-so-slightly differently in one app vs another and your nicely-formatted MS-Word report suddenly has blank pages or orphaned lines on their own page when a collaborator/co-author/editor opens it up in FreeOffice 2024...and is why we tend to convert this sort of thing to PDF for final release.
My biggest issue in moving over completely (when I was using these products commercially) is having to re-purchase £000's of plug-ins that I already have for Adobe...assuming the same thing is even available from these companies (Esko, Nik, OnOne, Flaming Pear, GenuineFractals, VertusTech, etc.). But even some of these plug-ins have now gone subscription model to ensure you always have access to the latest compatible version (but what used to be a £500/year plug-in purchase is now a £100/month subscription).
However, this was the same problem whenever we completed an Adobe upgrade too, as they tended to break the plug-ins and we'd have to buy compatible ones - and wait for them to be made in some instances. So the £1000 upgrade of Adobe apps every 2 years could turn into a £10k upgrade when we included the cost of the plug-ins. This did mean we took the opportunity to trim the plug-ins down to the bare minimum.
There are many more options nowadays, and there are a lot of built-in tools that do the same, or very similar jobs...but there's always a couple where the extra £200 spend on a plug-in will save you an hour every time you do that task and pays for itself quite quickly. If a new piece of software either can't do that task, or has no option of a plug-in for that task...you revert to the tool that will.
I don't use these things commercially nowadays, and the limited touch-ups / re-works I do can be carried out in most of the alternatives...as long as it's saved in a compatible format (or has an import/export option).
If 100% compatibility/fidelity is required 100% of the time, or a multi-app workflow is required, and it's for commercial use, then the cost of the software shouldn't really be an issue.
It's much the same as the Microsoft Office vs the alternatives (paid for, or open source). In most cases a normal user can get by with any of the options that they want to spend time learning. It's only when you come in to the professional end that these small differences / incomplete features / ways of working / incompatibilities make it easier/cheaper to use Microsoft. Something as simple as a font that renders ever-so-slightly differently in one app vs another and your nicely-formatted MS-Word report suddenly has blank pages or orphaned lines on their own page when a collaborator/co-author/editor opens it up in FreeOffice 2024...and is why we tend to convert this sort of thing to PDF for final release.
Last edited:
AccidentalDenz
Lord of Steam
The whole thing was quite an interesting read. I very much agree with this though. I'm a long-time user of Open Office, but then I'm very much a normal user who doesn't do much more than the odd letter or a touch above absolute beginner-level spreadsheet, so OO suits me fine. As long as I remember to save stuff I'm transferring over to a compatible format, I'm good to go!
HomerJ
Prolific Poster
i used to use open office but the last few years used libre office, homers an average user so it suits, one thing i did notice years and years ago when homer transferred projects from open office to microsoft office is what @TonyCarter says it didnt always transfer very well with the compatibility, that was 2009 time so may have changed since then.
HomerJ
Prolific Poster
came across this, will they make it a subscription model or is that on the back burner
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Affinity users won’t be forced into paying subscriptions following Canva acquisition
Affinity isn’t planning to ditch its one-time payment model.
www.theverge.com
SpyderTracks
We love you Ukraine
Just worth adding that the main microsoft apps are now free to use on the web under a standard microsoft account, and the web versions are very good these days.
Free Microsoft 365 Online | Word, Excel, PowerPoint
With Microsoft 365 for the web you can edit and share Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote files on your devices using a web browser.
www.microsoft.com
TonyCarter
VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
That's good to hear, and I think the scaremongering was because Canva has a free version with less features and a £100/year subscription for premium features.came across this, will they make it a subscription model or is that on the back burner
Affinity users won’t be forced into paying subscriptions following Canva acquisition
Affinity isn’t planning to ditch its one-time payment model.