Here is Link Again

affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/

Structures

Here's a quick look around the Exeter area of my layout that I built after getting reasonably comfortable with Affinity. Everything from structures to decals to palm fronds was designed in AP.

Just bought it

I just want to do some fairly basic work with my Model Railroad photos to start with. I don't have a lot of time to spend with it right now so I hope the initial learning curve isn't to steep.

How does it compare to Photoshop?

I have Photoshop CS5 that I purchased years ago my only real complaint is that it won’t run on the newer MacOS.

thoughts?
 

Mike

FYI ... training coming to TMTV

What does Affinity do that

What does Affinity do that GIMP (free) doesn't?

Affinity vs Gimp and/or Photoshop

GIMP vs Affinity  (Summary: Affinity is easier to learn, more intuitive to use, and in this example about 30% faster)

Affinity vs Photoshop (Summary: Affinity feels and looks like more modern software, more responsive real-time non-destructive view, and far cheaper -- and this was at the $50 regular Affinity price)

Looks interesting

I’ve tried GIMP and it wasn’t for me. I’m currently trying to learn Adobe Illustrator better and I have access to photoshop, but maybe it’s worth trying Affinity.
 

I’m really looking forward to Rick’s article.

I'm with Greg

I tried GIMP as well and was not real happy with it. With this offer, I hope to give Affinity a go. Thanks Rick & Joe for the heads up.

Excellent idea

I just bought the software and was going to suggest (plead) that Rick Sutton post some information about how he used the software to get the modeling results he showed in his post.  This is a great idea and I'll be following along intently.  That is some nice modeling. 

I've been using GIMP for

I've been using GIMP for years...   since there doesn't seem to be any substantive advantage to Affinity, looks like I'll be sticking with GIMP.

Unless your time is important

Unless your time is important. Almost everything you do in Affinity is easier and faster, in the example video, the aggregate total effort was 30% less. In my case where I can be editing a hundred plus images across two magazines, a 30% savings can save me days every month.

Yes, there was the hassle of learning a new piece of software, but it took me a couple days of constant use to get comfortable with Affinity Photo. It’s very well designed and I found most everything I needed was right were I thought it should be after a little orientation. 

For those interested in doing their own art for decals...

Grab a copy of Affinity Designer while you are at it. You want vector art for the best decals, and you don't want Inkscape, it has massive issues with interfacing with todays advanced decal printers and has a lot of trouble with exporting a decent pdf.

how much easier is it to learn Affinity Designer vs. Inkscape

I tried Inkscape and never could figure out how to do anything with it. Is Affinity Design easier to learn and understand? I've installed and uninstalled Inkscape a dozen times just because I got so aggravated with the program but that may not be the programs fault....the fact I have no clue how to use it doesn't help!

Denzil

Inkscape/Affinity Photo

As I understand it:

Inkscape is a VECTOR graphics program.

Affinity Photo is a photo editing program and works primarily with BITMAPS/RASTERIZED images.

The two approaches are very different.

 MY OWN OPINION.....proceed with caution.

 If you are doing railroad logos and text oriented artwork for decal production use a VECTOR program.

If you are going to do photo laminated structure scratch building get a BITMAP editor like AP.

I started out with two programs to learn how to use them in model railroad projects. Since I was told that a vector program was more accurate, cleaner, easily modified files and what all the pros use I figured that vectors was the way to go. Design the structure then move the files to a program to add textures or photos.

 After about six months of trying that method I realized that I just wasn't getting what I wanted.......I won't list all the bloody details....it wasn't pretty.

OK, before giving up totally I tried using the bitmap approach. Take the photos myself (or borrow from the internet...easy but often the resolution is poor) and learn how to manipulate them into structures for the layout. That clicked with me. Still takes some learning and I often find my homemade approach lacking in some areas but it is doable with breaking your brain and at the end you have a layout that is yours and yours only. Oh, did I mention it's fun?

 To me vectors is like doing calculus. Bitmaps are like using an artists brush. Right brain/left brain. In my case probably a half a brain as I'm sure I lost a lot of brain cells in the sixties in university........another story for another time.

Decals?

   What are the economics of the situation? If I just want to have a couple of sheets of engine decals is it worth buying this program and learning to use it  instead of just paying the decal printer to design them?

What about making signs for buildings on the layout which I'd need many more of ?  Designer or Photo? ......DaveB

Learning Curve

Any Vector Graphics ,Photo editing or 3D design software has a big learning curve.  I started learning Corel Draw as a home user 25 years ago and I am still finding out new things that I can do with the software on a regular basis.

I have dabbled in Photo editing on a much less regular basis and find that even more challenging.   More recently, I have been using Fusion 360  and now Lightburn.  The more you do the more you find that there are big similarities in many of the processes and the easier it becomes to learn a new one.  We also now have the benefit of thousands of tutorials on the internet both written and video.  Like learning any new skill, it takes persistence and practice.  In most cases the basics can be learnt very quickly  it is the nuances and advanced techniques that take more time. Bottom line though anyone can do it.

What I find frustrating these days is the trend towards annnual licence fees that follow the MS Office model.  Buy the product and then face paying a not inconsiderable sum to keep using it each year.

Many of these programs now follow that model.  The exceptions are Affinity and Fusion.  Given the special price, Affinity has to be the best deal around.  You pay once and the program is yours for life.  Fusion 360 is free for hobbyists and updated on a regular basis.

DaveB

Howdy Dave,

 Affinity Photo is not the best way to do decals that are text oriented. I attempt on occasion (I can hear Bill B. groaning) but you are way ahead to just pay the Canadian flash or whoever is your decal guy to do it for you. You'll get a much higher quality that way.

Signs are a whole other ball of wax. I go with AP on my signs and am very happy with them. Many of them I just print in a photo quality inkjet and some I send out for decals. The biggest issue for decals is that that bitmaps require a white underlay and it can be really tricky to design them tight enough so they look crisp.

Price too good to pass up

I have very little experience with photo editing software besides just basic crop, rotate functions and the limited use of filters. My first experiments so far with Affinity have been sky replacement. I don't quite have the hang of it yet but I'm already better at it on my third attempt than I was my first. It took me a 7 minute video on YouTube to be familiar with the basic tools used. Time will tell how much I use it and for what but while I may have balked at 50 bucks, 25 wasn't easy to pass up especially knowing Rick, Joe and others here that I trust speak well of it.

  "Time will tell how much I

Hi Michael, Yeah the price is right. I'm just wondering if it would become a big distraction from getting things done on my layout. I could build and  install a lot of stuff in the time it would take to learn the program. It would be nice to kick the can down the road a ways so maybe I'll buy the program and just save it til there's nothing left to do but edit or photoshop something :> ) ...DaveB

For decals ...

That is correct, that's why you want Affinity Designer (also on sale now for $25) as the Inkscape replacement, since that's Affinity's vector graphics program alternative to Adobe Illustrator. Affinity Photo is the Adobe Photoshop or GIMP alternative.

The beauty of the Affinity suite (Photo, Designer, Publisher) is they all share a common interface. So once you've learned one, you already have a leg up on the other two.

Here's an Inkscape user's take on Affinity Designer ... bottom line, Affinity has some very nice ease-of-use features.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/427790353?color=ffffff&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0

For those that don't know,

For those that don't know, the advantage of Vector Graphics is that they can be re-scaled without losing quality, unlike bitmap graphics that lose quality when made larger or smaller.

barr_ceo

Succinct and oh so true! When using Affinity Photo it is very important to start with as high a resolution image as possible. Luckily we are going for relatively small final images so there are some tricks that can be employed to preserve as much resolution as possible. But if you find a small blurry image via a Google search and try to use it as the basis of a scratch built photo lam building you will be s*** outa luck if you proceed.

 I know that dance all too well. 

Photopea

https://www.photopea.com/ is a Photoshop lite program that is free. It does a pretty good job of the basics of photo editting. I would say it is better than GIMP but it does not touch real Photoshop of course. Hopefully it helps some of you.