Power with Affinity Photo
An editing software with an intuitive interface, all the basics and some seriously advanced creative features, all for less than £50? Say hello to Affinity Photo…
SPONSORED BY AFFINITY PHOTO
When you envision a photo editing software, what comes to mind? Speed, cross-device compatibility, innovative tools, almost unlimited creative choice? What about a substantial price tag? Imagine if all those features and more were available for under £50. Well, with Affinity Photo, they are.
Affinity Photo is a powerful photo editing software designed for photographers and creatives of all levels, from beginners and enthusiasts just looking for the basics, all the way up to professionals who demand the most advanced creative features. Whatever your level, Affinity offers you room to grow.
As the only fully loaded photo editor integrated across macOS, Windows and iOS, Affinity Photo has you covered, however you organise your workflow. You can work on the same project across a number of devices, and open Photoshop, InDesign and Excel files as of the recent 1.8 update. If you’re in need of even more choice, all Nik Collection plug-ins are supported.
Thanks to StudioLink, you can also jump between Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher. So, if your work includes elements of graphic design, typography or anything else publishing related, all the tools you need for professional results are literally one click away.
Key features
- Raw editing
- HDR merge
- Panorama stitching
- Focus stacking
- Batch processing
- Non-destructive filter and image adjustments
- Multilayer compositions
- High-speed performance for live editing
- Non-subscription software
Back to basics
It’s all well and good having a host of advanced tools, but if the essentials aren’t in place – and in place well – to allow photographers to complete the bare bones of photo editing, then your software isn’t worth much at all. Thankfully, Affinity Photo ticks all the boxes.
Users will find a complete set of retouching tools, including a number of blemish removal options, a dedicated workspace for sculpting features and some sophisticated object removal capabilities, which work even on fine strands of hair.
Elsewhere, Levels, White Balance, Shadows & Highlights, HSL and more can be adjusted on a basic level, or in much more depth. Thanks to an intuitive interface, these changes are made easily, even for beginners.
As you dive slightly deeper into the world of editing, inevitably, you’ll be using layers. In Affinity Photo, a whole host of creative effects like blur, lighting edits, distortion and perspective corrections, and much more can be added as non-destructive live filter layers. This means you can make corrections without risking the overall photo, or mask, reorder and adjust them at any time.
Throughout all these edits, a live, full-resolution preview is available, so you can see changes as you make them. For the greatest workflow, batch processing is also supported.
A creative touch
The number of photographers going beyond traditional photo editing techniques into the realm of next-level creativity is growing by the day. Whether you’ve been at it for years or you’re looking to add another string to your creative bow, Affinity Photo supports any artistic vision.
With a supremely smooth brush engine and a huge library of brushes that can be customised and combined at will, creating graphics or adding to your photos is easier than ever.
Again, Affinity Photo goes above and beyond with its compatibility. Full support for Wacom and other graphics tablets is offered, as well as Apple Pencil when using Affinity’s iPad version – the only professional-quality editing iPad app with all the tools and features of the desktop version.
The advanced layer tools aren’t only for photo editing, they can be used for deeper creative purposes. The vast number of creative effects and live layers can be grouped, clipped and blended to create almost boundlessly complex compositions.
Powerful photo tools
Make no mistake, you’re looking at real power here. Affinity Photo supports massive images taken on the most advanced of cameras with sensors over 100 megapixels. Additionally, you can expect a super-smooth end-to-end 16-bit edit, even when working with Raw files.
It’s not just the overall processing power that’s noteworthy; there are some very powerful tools on offer here. A host of niches are covered thanks to elements like Focus Merge, which uses deep analysis to align and merge multiple shots with ease, and Photo Stitching for effortless panoramas. But things get broader, too, allowing users to really make the most of their photos. After all, isn’t that what editing is all about?
Just one example is Affinity’s HDR algorithm, which offers an otherwise impossible-to-achieve dynamic range, and unlocks just that little bit more within your photo. Work with full 32-bit images in your desired level of detail, or use the tone mapping feature for easier but no less impressive results. You can work with unlimited source images, merge directly from Raw, make use of advanced alignment and perspective correction features, and much more!
Available for Windows, Mac, iPad Affinity Photo is available for Mac and Windows at the one-off price of £48.99, and for iPad at £19.99. There’s no subscription, and updates are free for all users, meaning future-proofing comes at no extra cost.
For more information, please visit the Affinity website.
