1. How to Use the User Interface and Modules
The first thing you may notice is that Photoshop’s and Affinity Photo’s interfaces are very similar. That’s great for anyone looking to possibly make a switch from one to the other, like me.
1.1 Customizing Your Workspace
Just like in Photoshop, Affinity Photo allows you to arrange your different modules however you want, with one exception: you can’t move your Tools module in Affinity Photo.
Affinity Photo makes up for it in a big way, however, by letting you customize and arrange the individual tools themselves. Something Photoshop has never allowed you to do, this is a big win for Affinity Photo in my book.
Go to View > Customize Tools to mix and match your own Tools panel. You can even choose how many columns you’d prefer.
This also means you can almost exactly replicate the Photoshop Tool setup in Affinity Photo. I personally have my Photoshop workspace set up in a very specific way, and after ten years of using Photoshop I am very used to its tool setup, but I was able to mimic my workspace almost exactly in Affinity Photo. That makes the transition much smoother.
I’d like to note that I usually have the top Toolbar in Affinity Photo hidden, which you can do by going to and unchecking View > Show Toolbar. However, I turned it back on for the sake of this article.
Do note that you can also customize the toolbar, which is very handy.
1.2 Creating a New Document
Creating a new document is very similar and equally straightforward in both programs. Both programs open with a New Document prompt, but will also allow you to create a new document by going to File > New.
2. How to Use Navigation and Interactions
2.1 Transforming Images
One of my favorite features of Affinity Photo is how it keeps an image’s original aspect ratio by default when enlarging or shrinking an image using the Move Tool.
When transforming an image in Photoshop, you would select the Move Tool, click on one of the image’s anchor points, hold down Shift, and then drag to either enlarge or shrink the image.
If you don’t hold down Shift then the original ratio of the image will not be preserved, leaving the image stretched or squished, which I find you usually don’t want to happen.
In Affinity Photo, it’s exactly the same, except you hold Shift when you don’t want to preserve the image’s original aspect ratio. It’s a very small but very smart change.
2.2 Personas
Affinity Photo has these things called “personas”. You can access them by going to File > Personas and then choosing a persona, or alternatively you can change the persona by clicking the different persona buttons in the top-left corner of the Toolbar.
Each persona serves a different function, almost like some of the more in-depth filters in Photoshop. While there are five personas in total, including the default Photo persona, I am going to be focusing on the Liquify persona as Photoshop also has a liquify function that I use very often.
In Photoshop, to access the Liquify feature, you would go to Filter > Liquify to open the Liquify panel, which opens in a new window.
In Affinity Photo, you go to File > Personas > Liquify, or click the second button in the top toolbar, which will enter Affinity Photo’s liquify user interface. You have a lot of the same options and functions as you do in Photoshop.
All of Affinity Photo’s personas activate a new user interface, almost like opening a different program altogether. This makes things a bit more organized and user-friendly; however, Affinity Photo is noticeably slower while in the Liquify persona.
In fact, I do want to note that Affinity Photo is all around slower than Photoshop.
3. How to Use Layers and Smart Objects
3.1 Layers
Affinity Photo’s and Photoshop’s Layers panels are almost identical. You have your Opacity and Layer Modes on top and the various layer effects, masks, and a Create New Layer button, or Add New Pixel Layer in Affinity Photo, in the bottom-right of the Layers panel.
You can hide layers in Affinity Photo by hitting the checkmark on the right, similar to hitting the eye icon to the left of layers in Photoshop, and you can arrange the layers by dragging and dropping, just like Photoshop.
You can clip a layer into another layer in Affinity Photo, but it’s a bit trickier than Photoshop. You have to drag and drop a layer into another layer—there’s no button or a key like holding Alt in Photoshop, and it can be very finicky.
You can collapse clipped images for a cleaner-looking Layers panel, though. This means creating fewer groups, which is a nice feature.
One more disadvantage is that when you double-click on layers in Affinity Photo, no Layer Style panel opens like in Photoshop, leading me to believe there is no Blend If function in Affinity Photo, which is something I use often.
3.2 Smart Objects
One thing Affinity Photo does a bit differently is that every new image brought into a document is automatically a Smart Object. While Photoshop does this if you drag and drop a new image into a document, in Affinity Photo all images are smart objects by default.
Just like in Photoshop, you can Right Click > Rasterize any smart object to rasterize the layer.
Do note that in Affinity Photo, smart object layers and regular rasterized layers look the same. When you rasterize a layer in Affinity Photo, it will crop any part of the image that is not inside the canvas, something Photoshop doesn’t do.
3.3 Layer Masks
Affinity Photo’s and Photoshop’s layer mask features are virtually the same. You can add a layer mask to any layer by hitting the Add Layer Mask (called Mask Layer in Affinity Photo) button at the bottom of the Layers panel.
4. How to Use Sections and Layer Masks
4.1 Freehand Selections
Affinity Photo has an exact equivalent to Photoshop’s Lasso Tool called the Free Hand Selection Tool, as well as the various “shape” marquee tools that go by the same names in both programs: Elliptical Marquee Tool, Rectangular Marquee Tool, etc.
4.2 Quick and Auto-Selection Tools
From what I can tell, Affinity Photo does not have an exact replica of the Magnetic Lasso Tool. And while it doesn’t technically have the Polygonal Lasso Tool, instead what you do is hold Shift while using the Free Hand Selection Tool to get the same polygonal effect.
4.3 Refine Edge
While both programs have a Refine Edge, and they are somewhat similar, this is where Affinity Photo differs from Photoshop and lacks a bit for me.
To use the refine edge feature in Photoshop, you’d make your selection and click Select and Mask to open up Photoshop’s Refine Edge interface. The options are very straightforward and include Edge Detection with a Smart Radius option, which I find to be a key feature in extracting hair, fur, and cloth.
In Affinity Photo, the process is similar. You make your selection and click Refine in the selection tool’s toolbar. The refine options are a bit less clear in what they do, and the tool seems to lack any kind of edge detection options. It does, however, have both the Smooth and Feather options, which are two of the main settings you would use.
I was very happy to learn that the Pen Tool in Affinity Photo is almost identical to the Pen Tool in Photoshop. It functions the same, which also means you could use a Photoshop Pen Tool tutorial to learn how to use the tool in either program.
6.1 Brush Settings
Affinity Photo offers all the same bells and whistles as Photoshop does when it comes to its brushes—including a well-sorted array of default brushes.
Affinity Photo has Opacity, Flow, and Hardness settings, as well as a very impressive Stabilizer option, leading me to believe that digital painters would get along very well in Affinity Photo.
6.2 Importing Custom Brushes
While it comes with a high variety of default brushes, Affinity Photo also lets you import brushes just like Photoshop. One of the main questions I’m sure a lot of people have is: “But can I import my current Photoshop brushes? Do I have to find all new brushes?”
I am happy to say yes, you can use Photoshop brushes in Affinity Photo! That’s a big plus for someone considering transitioning.
6.3 Pen Pressure
I personally use a graphics tablet, and so do many of you out there, so I was curious how well it would play with Affinity Photo. This is where Affinity Photo really surprised me as I found the Brush Tool to be not only smoother but with a higher level of pressure sensitivity.
Hit the Force Pressure button in the Brush Tool’s toolbar to turn on pen pressure.
7. How to Use Layer Filters
Affinity Photo has a total of 11 filter types available, located under the Filter menu just like in Photoshop. While this is fewer than Photoshop’s 18 total filter groups, Affinity Photo makes sure to give you the filters you really need.
Affinity Photo Filter Groups
- Blur
- Sharpen
- Distort
- Noise
- Detect
- Colors
- Frequency Separation
- Apply Image
- Lighting
- Shadow/Highlights
- Haze Removal
8. How to Use Adjustment Layers
Affinity Photo offers an impressive array of adjustment layers—a few more than Photoshop offers, in fact. Affinity Photo has all the favorites such as Curves, Gradient Map, and Color Balance, and it also brings some new adjustments to the table, with my favorite being the Split Toning adjustment.
9. How to Export and Save Images
9.1 Exporting Files
One of the personas mentioned before is the Exporting Persona, which is a whole interface dedicated to exporting your images. However, I prefer to just go to File > Export, just as you would in Photoshop.
9.2 Exporting to or From Photoshop
You can export an image to Photoshop from Affinity Photo by exporting the Affinity Photo file as a PSD.
All layers will be preserved, with the exception of adjustment layers. Adjustment layers will be exported, but I find they almost never convert well, even if Photoshop has a similar adjustment layer option.
It’s the same with opening a Photoshop file in Affinity Photo, which you can do by dragging and dropping a PSD into Affinity Photo—everything but the adjustment layers will work completely normally.
10. Conclusion: Affinity Photo or Photoshop
Affinity Photo proves itself to be just as capable a piece of photo-editing software as Adobe Photoshop, in my opinion. And while Photoshop still beats it in some areas, there are things I believe Affinity Photo does better.
Affinity Photo
Pros:
- Affinity Photo’s price is US$50 (one-time fee), and that makes it more affordable.
- Very user-friendly controls and interface.
- Highly customizable user interface.
- Similar to Photoshop in enough ways to make for a smooth transition.
- Almost all Photoshop resources are compatible, including PSD files.
Cons:
- All around slower processing speed.
- Lacking Blend If function.
- I have a hard time getting layers to clip into each other.
- Lackluster Refine Edge function.
Photoshop
Pros:
- Still the most powerful photo-editing software on the market.
- It’s been around for 20 years, so many of us are familiar with it and know it well.
- More educational resources are available.
Cons:
- US$10 monthly subscription fee.
- Unintuitive user interface.
- Less interface customization.
Ultimately, I recommend Affinity Photo to beginner and upper intermediate Photoshop users who may be looking to save money but don’t want to sacrifice power or who are simply frustrated or overwhelmed with Photoshop’s unintuitive user interface.
I would also recommend Affinity Photo to anyone new to photo editing who has yet to dig their teeth into any single photo-editing software.
5 Affinity Photo Presets for Your Creative Needs (From Envato Elements)
Are you just starting out with Affinity Photo? Learning new software from scratch can be time-consuming. That’s why we’ve brought you five amazing Affinity Photo presets, so you can jump right into creating.
Remember, you can always find more Affinity Photo templates on Envato Elements. And if you need other creative assets, don’t worry. Here you’ll have access to unlimited downloads of logos, fonts, illustrations, graphics, and more for a low monthly fee.
While some of these Affinity Photo presets might be indicated for Lightroom use, they’re also compatible with Affinity Photo.
1. 30 Useful Affinity Photo Macros (AFMACROS)
Affinity Photo Macros are pretty similar to Adobe Photoshop Actions—they allow you to automate your image editing. Here you have a bundle of 30 amazing Affinity Photo Macros for a wide range of editing styles. Go ahead and give them a try.
2. 80s Gradients: Affinity Photo Plugins (AFPHOTO, AFPALETTE)
Give your images and designs a cool 80s look with these Affinity Photo plugins. Download ten beautiful gradients that will help you enhance fonts, backgrounds, and shapes. Unleash your creativity with these Affinity Photo plugins.
3. Asteroid Pastels: Affinity Photo LUTs (3DL, CUBE, MGA, PNG)
If you’re a fan of Wes Anderson films, then you’ll love these Affinity Photo LUTs. With this template, you can quickly edit your photos to get that cute and edgy pastel look. The best thing about this pack is that it’s compatible with a variety of programs like Affinity Photo, Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and more.
4. Bright Spring: Affinity Photo Editing Presets (3DL, CUBE, MGA, PNG)
Spring is one of the most pleasant times of the year, known for its vibrant colors and the beauty of nature. With these 25 bright spring Affinity Photo editing presets, you can achieve this dazzling look with just a few clicks. Download them and try them out!
5. 90s Affinity Photo LUT Presets (3DL, CUBE, MGA, PNG)
The 90s are still trendy, which is why we continue to see social media flooded with photos and videos attempting to recreate the nostalgic style reminiscent of the cameras from that time. Achieve this vibe with these 20 Affinity Photo LUT presets. The download includes files that are compatible with a variety of programs, including Affinity Photo.
Discover More Affinity Photo Tutorials and Resources
I’m excited to get to know Affinity Photo even more and continue to discover all it has to offer! You can join me by checking out some of our other Affinity Photo tutorials.