I created the Life After Adobe Cutting The Cord Series years ago, and now it's more relevant than ever! I deleted Adobe Photoshop and replaced it with an amazing Photoshop alternative. Today we will look at this alternative and a half-dozen others. *** If you are cutting the cord. Grab one of my LIFE AFTER ADOBE shirts to represent freedom of choice and disdain for corporate greed! jcristina.com/product/shirt-life-after-adobe Are you sick of paying Adobe every month and never owning anything? Will you allow Adobe to use your private creative works to train its AI? Would you consider using an Adobe Photoshop alternative? Would you like me to continue the follow-up Life After Adobe Series? My class on composition from Serif Affinity's Lockdown 2020 conference - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eZNdrdxop8vIpWg.html GIMP - www.gimp.org Pixlr - pixlr.com Corel PaintShop Pro - www.paintshoppro.com Krita - krita.org Photopea - www.photopea.com Affinity Photo - affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo Subscribe, Share, and Like if so inclined! Also, after watching, consider commenting! Can't wait to hear from you in the comments below this video! 1-Hour SpaceX Starlink Setup and Network Design Consultations are available at jcristina.com/product/1-hour-consultation Don't forget to join my Newsletter: jcristina.com/join Super Chats And All Channel Donations Are Warmly Welcome! Thank You! Get a massive discount with PureVPN by visiting jcristina.com/vpn I truly hope you enjoy the video and find value in it! If so, please consider Thumbs Up, Subscribe, and Becoming A Member Of The Channel! For Media & Business Relations Contact 📧 jcristina.com/contact Thank you for supporting the channel! Interested in any products that I personally use? Visit www.amazon.com/shop/jcristina or go to the bottom of this description for direct links. If you would like to get a FREE copy of the Prologue to "How To Create A Digital Fort Knox - Backing Up Your Digital Life" or one of my other FREE books, simply visit jcristina.com/books Consider subscribing to the channel, commenting below, and signing up for my newsletter at jcristina.com/join Interested in any products that I personally use? Visit www.amazon.com/shop/jcristina or go to the bottom of this description for direct links. Highlighted Starlink Hardware I Have Tested In The Past: Ubiquiti amzn.to/3qC554s NetGate amzn.to/3cXiTTv Peplink amzn.to/3OnTsHM UTT Router amzn.to/3nJBLaL TP-link Router amzn.to/3IjkyhP TrendNET Router #1 amzn.to/3nVukx0 Small Battery Backup For Starlink - amzn.to/3ScbcrZ TP-link AC Router - amzn.to/3so07J1 TP-link AX Router - amzn.to/3sf2or8 TP-link Managed Switch: amzn.to/3EQJKZy TP-link Unmanaged Switch: amzn.to/3FVbaih TP-link Outdoor Access Point - amzn.to/4aXXGkS TP-link Indoor Access Point - amzn.to/3rV6Nzk For High-Speed Access Points (ex. Starlink or Cable) TP-Link Control Module (Gigabit) - amzn.to/3rVBqEx TP-Link AC1900 - amzn.to/3Q28y6N For Slower Speed Access Points (ex. ATT) TP-Link Control Module (100Mbps) - amzn.to/3Lduaf3 TP-Link AC1200 - amzn.to/3OLhlsK [ Social Media & Additional Connections ] 📦 20% Off Everything jcristina.com - Code YT20 🆓 FREE eBook jcristina.com/ebook 🌒 Dark Moon Teas DarkMoonTeas.com 🎬 KZfaq - kzfaq.info 🔖 Twitter - twitter.com/JosephCristina 👀 Instagram - instagram.com/JosephCristina 👨‍💼 LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/josephcristina 📖 Facebook - facebook.com/joseph.cristina 📰 Creative Discord Server - community.jcristina.com [ Equipment Used ] 💎 MB ] ASUS - PRIME X370-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard - amzn.to/2rmR9LT 💎 CPU ] AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor - amzn.to/2pSCx4S 💎 COOLER ] Corsair Hydro H115i Extreme Liquid CPU Cooler - amzn.to/2rfEpJ2 💎 GPU ] MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card - amzn.to/2rndQ2o 💎 RAM ] Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 - amzn.to/2qo8PIv 💎 SSD ] Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" SSD - amzn.to/2rmXqH8 💎 DISPLAY ] Dell - UltraSharp 34” Curved Monitor - U3415W - amzn.to/2s6pvTs 💡 Video Lighting - amzn.to/2qrDOnH 🎬 Sony ZV-1 - amzn.to/3rFkfFj 🎬 Canon EOS R & Kit Lens - amzn.to/3lEZIC2 🎙 Tascam Mic w/Recorder - amzn.to/39Xb50C 🎙 Electro-Voice RE-20 - amzn.to/37SoBQt 🎙 Zoom H4n Recorder - amzn.to/3oyF2bh 🎙 dbx 286s Compressor - amzn.to/39SLTYY The above are my Amazon affiliate links - if you purchase anything using the links above, you're supporting this channel at no additional cost to you! I appreciate your support!

I use Affinity and that's it ! I just stopped looking around for any other alternatives. Now I'm concentrated in my work.

I'm a Senior Software Architect and I cancelled Adobe subscription 5 years ago. I also got tired of paying perpetually for something that you use to be able to own. As I said I am a programmer, and I am against any company leasing their software. Just say NO!

I had the Adobe Suite years ago. Seemed like it cost in the thousands. It was registered and everything was going fine. Went to install it on a new computer and the serial # wouldn’t work. It was an extremely time consuming effort of phone and email with proof of my purchase. They refused to help. Being that I was tied into them, I had no choice but to submit and buy another Suite at full price. After researching, I found that Adobe knew they lost thousands of serial numbers but denied any compensation. You did what I wish I could have, cut the cord.

The truth is that Gimp and Krita are excellent,superb softwares.Krita for ilustrators ,designers and artists and Gimp for photographers and ilustrators.👍👍👍💪

Great video! Thanks. I just got billed between $600 and $700 dollars for a new 1-year subscription to my Adobe products. I immediately called and canceled everything. They wanted to give me an additional *free* three months to stay on board, which I declined. I have literally paid hundreds if not thousands of dollars over the past 20+ years to remain loyal to Adobe. No more. Thanks again.

If you're removing Adobe from your computer, don't forget to delete all the junk that Adobe leaves behind -- junk that takes up storage and system resources. That includes background processes as well (and there are a ton of them)!

I'm a french freelance professionnal graphic design (2D/3D/vidéo...) for 27 years and I've stoped working with Adobe products since 2018. I work in the musical industry for famous french artists (Hoshi, Claudio Capéo, Gambino, Raphael, Michael Canitrot...) and since 2018 there is not a trace of Adobe in my products (except PDF files). The products I use : Affinity Photo/Designer/Publisher, Rebelle7, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, Blender (witch I use since 2003). THX for your videos.

If paying Isn’t owning then pirating isn’t stealing! It’s that simple!

I started out with Paint Shop Pro in the early 90s, and never looked towards Adobe Photoshop, and man, am I glad I didn't! 😊

I am using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop at the moment. I am just a hobby photographer and made the mistake of signing up to the Adobe system, I also found it very difficult to use and there was not many tutorials that explained things properly. My subscription runs out in October and I have no intention of renewing. I have also started taking video and I am now looking for an editor that is not too expensive. Adobe is definitely out of the question due to the price. I am toying with Nero at the moment. My big problem is I am a pensioner with only the UK State pension. So funds are available in very small doses. I enjoy taking photos and videos even at the age of 73.

I agree with you 100%. I’m an graphic artist. I used Adobe software from the very beginning… since Illustrator 88 (Mac). I’m self taught. I bought every upgrade, tried to stay current. Then they started the subscription based "rental" software format. The only one it’s good for is Adobe. I’ve subscribed to your channel. Thanks for having the balls to put this info out there. I’ll be purchasing Affinity. I’ll look to your channel for an Illustrator replacement.

I use to use them but quit 4 years ago. Adobe is a real pos. Awesome video. Thanks!

I am still using the last Photoshop CS6 version, and it fulfills my current needs. For video I dumped Premier Pro and went with Davinci Resolve Studio, which also replaces After Effects and Audition. The Studio version is around $300 and updates forever. They also have a totally free version which is very capable as well.

I've been with Adobe for over 25 years. And I'm 78 yo and I still love photography - taking pictures and editing them them to be worthy of framing. I bought Affinity as an experient as I will try it out. For the sale price, buying it was almost a no brainer (about the cost of 3 six packs of craft beer). The issue for me is learning curve. I hope I can learn it fast to start using it. If it takes me a year to learn in Affinity what I can do Photoshop, It won't work for me. Like so many people, I think Adobe went to the dark side.

Thanks for the update Ironically, as soon as the video started up popped an Adobe advert!

I've been an adoba user for 30 years and I'm completely shocked and disappointed with the company's policies. I hope some app is good enough for me to be able to quit Adobe for the rest of my life.

I watched your series on cutting the cord many years ago and ended up using on1, which I absolutely love. I can't thank you enough for your cord cutting series

First i wasnt interested in your channel (years ago) but now im a follower for years, you have good info and always stay calm

Really agree with you. I am eager to edit my photos professionally, but i could not spend monthly basis on Photoshop. It is much expensive for a hobbyist. Thanks for your video.

I've been using Paint Shop Pro for years. It's easy to use and I'm comfortable with it, so it's hard to change, but I have GIMP and a few other programs. I was considering Photoshop, but won't after watching this video. I do appreciate that you didn't add any annoying background music.

Welcome back, Joe! I'm one of your subscribers who came onboard during the pandemic and LOVE the "cutting the cord" series. SO GLAD you're following it up... Wanted to take this moment to add to your list of potential alternatives to Ad*b* Photoshop. I've been a multimedia designer for just over 35 years now and started out (as many of us did) with Ad*b* and Aldus "back in the day." During that time, used/sampled a LOT of packages; two of the current packages found to be just as good/surpassing Photoshop: PhotoLine and Corel Photo-Paint (IMHO, they REALLY should come up with a better name...in the late 90s/early 2000s, I remember that they'd renamed the Mac version "Artisan;" maybe they should've stuck with that). One thing about Photoshop that a lot of professionals coming to it from a Photography background don't know is that the Photoshop program actually houses a LOT of features dedicated to the printing trade. My friends who are photographers and use Photoshop to make their living are unaware of this fact; which I get--they don't use it so, therefore, it's irrelevant to them. Many of the alternatives to Photoshop also do not have this functionality beneath the surface of their programs. Affinity Photo retains theirs through Affinity Publisher. In my early days as a designer, I worked in overseas locations doing graphics for the US Military. In the early nineties, the US Government (in the european theater of operations) was predominantly a PC-only environment using Windows 3/3.1. CorelDRAW (version 3) and Harvard Graphics (anyone remember THAT?) were their weapons of choice at the time. Since those days, I've had occasion to revisit CorelDRAW off and on down throughout the years; have used CorelDRAW and Photo-Paint versions 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 12. Photo-paint's Pros against Photoshop are the functionality (everything standard in Photoshop is in Photo-Paint; again, it is assumed that we are excluding the AI bells and whistles); Photo-paint ALSO has ALL of the Graphic Arts/Printing technology embedded in it that Photoshop does by virtue of a partnership with Heidelberg (which is one of the biggest companies in the world specializing in the manufacture of Printing Press, Printing workflows, and Printing Software). Photo-Paint's Cons against Photoshop are the lack of ease navigating the UI (This is admittedly subjective; I found that--coming from a background of Adobe Illustrator at the time--it took me a couple of minutes to wrap my head around CorelDRAW. Perhaps, there would have less of an obstruction had I not come to Photo-Paint after 3 years of using Photoshop. Also, I haven't used Photo-Paint in 11 years; don't know if the UI has improved or not.) PhotoLine has the same Con: the UI is in dire need of a redesign. That said, PhotoLine is--in fact--more powerful that Photoshop in many ways. Chief among them being it's ability to create a multilayered document a la Photoshop, but retain diverse color spaces. In other words, in PhotoLine, the user may create a Multilayer document (PhotoLine's native format is .PLD = "PhotoLine Document") and import CMYK and LAB files that--in turn--fully retain their color spaces. To my knowledge, NO other image editing software does this. Again, I do recognize that a lot of photographers won't need/use this functionality. I have brought these up as a matter of adding full completeness to your list. Peace.

Any company holding a monopoly on a given product is just bad news. You see it everywhere, and even if the company starts out by doing the right things, greed eventually turns them and they start to milk their customers for every cent, why?..... because they can. They have no competition! That's why content like this is really important. Thankyou Joseph, I hope to see more videos like this in future, I'm also interested in moving away from Windows to Linux, so I'd love to see content on this too.

Years ago I tried a piece of software. I liked it well enough that I paid for the full version. Occasionally, I would pay to upgrade to a newer version. One day I decided to check on upgrading only to find they had switched to a lease program. No more just buying an upgrade. You had to commit to a lease with regular payments whether you upgraded or not and even if no upgrade ever came along again. No thank you. I just continued to use the version I had until it became obsolete. I then found other options.

You are 100% right. The same could be said about Microsoft, Google and Apple. Greetings from Linux and open source software user.

I was not into the Adobe ecosystem that you were, In fact I used Adobe Acrobat the most, but when the subscription model appeared I dropped Adobe completely, and shifted to a free PDF program that gives me most of the capabilities, anything else I need I've found work-a-rounds.

I stopped using Adobe products when they started the subscription model. I tried a few softwares but settled for the Affinity suite (Photo, Publisher, Designer). So, yes Affinity products will be my recommendation. The price is also very reasonable.

Your series on cutting the cord with Adobe Photoshop is legendary and now with this video, you have done a fantastic job in this analysis and your recommendations. Wow! I applaud your work on this topic. Keep up the excellent work. BTW: I use Corel… I highly recommend it! As a matter of fact, although unsupported by Google and no longer offered by them, I still use Picassa. It is hands down one of the most intuitive software products I have ever used! Yes, please keep videos coming on this topic - it’s a sweet spot for all photography levels (pro, prosumer and novice) who love doing post processing of their photos. I do have a suggestion for a video. For us who want to start shooting RAW, how does someone get started when using a product like Corel?

My first photo manipulation software was PhotoStudio 2000 By ArcSoft. It works great on Linux running WINE. I still use it, and is frequently the go-to first software when I create covers for my books. Not bad for a 24-year-old software.

I have started using Adobe product 1993 installed on my pc using 16 pcc 3,5 disks. It was thebest software for edit pictures. But from 2011 when they introduce A creative cloud , I deleted whole Adobe product, and switched for Corel, Affinity, DxO, DaVinci.

Great post JC!! Takes me back a number of years when you did the original "Cut the Cord" series, which I would encourage EVERYONE to go back and watch! Corel Draw recently went to a Monthly or Yearly subscription. And there has been a major revolt against that. Thank you for doing all of the heavy lifting and hard work which enables us to sit back and learn from you! You da man, JC!!!

Affinity is fantastic! I use most the Affinity Designer and its fun to work with it. In Illustrator i has never feel fun at work.

I supported Affinity ever since version 1 and got the volume license for all three softwares, I never looked back since then

I have cut the cord with Microsoft. They are moving Office to a subscription service; next, it will be Windows. I have been using Chrome OS on my personal machines for years and am very happy.

Thank you very much, the paied version Sarif’s Affinity-Photo looks good for me to. 👍

I have been a Photoshop/Lightroom user for 20+ years and recently began testing with On1 and Luminar. I have been looking at other free software as well. Great video and greatly appreciated.

Microsoft started this whole subscription "pay to play" thing then AutoDesk and onward....I just cancelled the Adobe tether a few months ago and am trying DxO and will spin the wheels on Affinity as well...Glad this video popped up in my feed. Subscribed!!

I just signed up to Adobe. When my subscription ends, I'm going to look into these other sites. Thank you.

When it comes to subscription based programs, you took the words right out of my mouth.

Yes, please on Affinity Publisher/Designer!

I’m done with Adobe, all the money I have spent on their software since early 90s. I refuse to be held to a subscription. I dumped them and have never regretted doing so. I now avoid any company that tries this business model.

Great video. You had me hooked after you shared your buy-it-own-it-on-your-computer philosophy. I've never seen the attraction of subscription software - main reason I haven't bothered to upgrade Capture One now. I've been using Corel's PSP for years mainly because Photoshop just seemed like bloatware to me. Wasn't Adobe originally just graphic design software?

I switched to Affinity Photo around the time you did and I've never looked back!

It's been the Affinity suite for me ever since it first came out around 7-8 years ago. It was the fact that I could open enormous files and move around them and flip them horizontally pretty much immediately on a quite old machine that did it for me. The same files in Photoshop would take up to 3-4 minutes to do the same actions and sometimes if the file was too large they just wouldn't open or would crash Photoshop. They've just been adding feature after feature and it's just a mish-mash of code which needs a rewrite from the ground up but I doubt that'll ever happen. It's going to seriously bite them where it hurts one day. That said I'm glad I moved away all those years again and miss absolutely nothing from PS.

It's super helpful... I'm growing from hobby to small business and I just can't see talking Adobe with me as a silent partner and co-owner... I need to make changes now and get free. Photo storage and management would be a great video. It's the main reason I ever picked up Lightroom in the first place.

I deleted everything Adobe the minute they switched to a subscription model and I have never looked back or regretted in for a second, I use Affinity now.

Why does no one mention ACDSee? They have a great DAM (lightroom replacement) and Raw editing module... three tiers of user level (Home includes DAM and low level editing, Pro includes DAM and RAW engine and then Ultimate which includes DAM, RAW editing AND full layer photoshop style editing and compositing), and all include DAM... pay once or Sub.. I use 2024 Ultimate (I had to upgrade because my old 2022 Ultimate didn't support my new camera Canon R8 and lenses) as a designer I also have the complete Affinity suite on both PC Desktop and ipad. It's weird everytime I see a Adobe Alternatives videos etc.. ACDSee is never mentioned.. .??????

Hey, J, I stopped using all Adobe products twenty years ago, & in the interim I have employed some of those alternative products that you've mentioned herein. I am currently looking fo a conversion software - 35mm photographic negatives to digital files. With that in mind, which software package would you personally recommend ? In regard to the 'A' product, I won't sully the comments section with what I think, but I am certain in would be un-printable.... Thank you for an excellent overview; subscribed !!

Thank you for listening and making the part two!

I went looking for a photo processing back around 2018/19. I hated the concept of subscriptions and after trying a number of packages settled on Affinity. To be honest, I've yet to make good use of it, but I did update to 2.0 when it came out, and plan to make better use to process lots of photos once I rebuild my desktop. My laptop just doesn't have the space for the hundreds of photos I took in Alaska and Hawaii, so they sit in RAW mode still. Maybe I'll get that new computer built next year. (smiles)

The two I use are Luminar Neo and On1. Great programs. I own my copies of the program with outright purchases. I'll never do a subscription, and left Adobe decades ago. I used Corel for a number of years, but just could not justify paying a thousand dollars for PS.

You don't talk about how you can own the current version of software, but several companies make you buy the software again if you want the latest release. Also, none mentioned seem to have AI capabilities like Generative Fill. It's a game changer for removing distractions in a photo.

Great info. I dropped Photoshop years ago as soon as they announced the subscription nonsense . Have been using Affinity Photo and On1 and NIK. I certainly don't need adobe. And I OWN it.

I purchased affinity last week when you mentioned it on your video. I still plan on using my Photoshop and Lightroom classic programs, but I wanted to buy it because wanted to support them as a non-prescription company.

Thanks bro....thanks for the information. I am an ameture photographer and do photo editing every now and then. I had some older Adobe PS software for photo editing. After they have moved to subscription model...I had stopped using Adobe PS. Now I am using Nikon cameras and Nikon Studio helping me to survive. Now I will try to use the Corel or Affinity software. Once again thank you for your video.

Just because you bought an Adobe product in the past don't think you can use it forever. I had do a new install of Windows 10 on my computer, when I came to reinstall my Premiere Pro 2 (2008) in addition to the serial number there was instructions to ring a number for further authorisation, unfortunately the phone number was not recognised. So got on to the help site and was conversing via text with an Adobe employee who confirmed that I had a perpetual license with my Premiere Pro so I requested the number to authenticate my program to which the answer was "the support for the program has expired" I replied that I didn't want any support I just wanted the number so I can continue using my program which I bought and paid for. Needless to say I not be buying any Adobe products ever again and have started using the free version of Davinci Resolve.

Thank you so much, I also want freedom, and not the great reset.

Oh surprise ! I clicked on this video ...and darn it ...an ad for - you guessed it .......ADOBE PHOTOSHOP popped up !

Photopea, since you don't need installing anything and if you use chromebook you can use that and the performance is pretty good

Thank you. You just made my day. I stopped using Adobe products because I do not believe in what they do. As an armature I do not want to pay for a jail sentence. I use canons DPP ( digital photo professional )

Have you ever tried to edit a pdf 'document' using acrobat? Eew! We must realize that the prime consideration underlying the design of any product is how well does money get moved from your bank account to theirs.

Thank you!! I’ve been looking to get off Adobe for a while. Affinity seems to be the answer.

I totally agree with you, I despise subscriptions!

Hi J, I had the same problem about 4 years ago where I decided to switch. I thought ON1 had nice features and possibly better than some of the LR stuff. So, I brought all my pictures from my local drive. I keep the most recent, which is quite a bit, local and the rest on my NAS. So, I used ON1 for about 2 years and had trouble all the way through. I would get a different picture in the navigator than the one I had open. After moving around a little, they would sync. About every15-30 mins the program said it was Saving and I couldn't do anything (10-15 secs at least). Sometimes if I was going through pictures really quickly, it would save. Also, when I "X'd or P'd" a picture, there was a delay. I know you're thinking old laptop, but at the time I had new(ish) HP Omen with the second highest I rating and Nvidia Getforce RTX, or so. I told ON1 about these anomalies and they said to replace my laptop, $,$$$. Anyhow, I went back to Adobe about 2+ years ago and now I have a ton and a half pictures to import I did ask for .XMP's so I think that covered my editing. Still, a lot of work to go back and forth. I am not excited about doing that again, but don't like Adobe's policies.

I really like Affinity Photo. Like you have the other versions as well. I upgrade to each major update with the discount. I like this model.

after adobe’s subscription based service, I said the hell with that I went to affinity I use affinity always

That's also exactly my fear. The fact that we pay a serious monthly fee, but if you ever wanna stop (retire?), you can no longer do any modifications on OUR OWN intellectual property (the source, as well as the edits). Literrally held hostage indeed. So I started switching to Resolve (but as it has a learning curve) still need some time, as the daily work demands quick solutions and it's to tempting to user to 'good-old' known software. Now also looking for a Lightroom and Photoshop replacement. Paintshop looks promising, but unfortunately it's Windows only. Cause nobody needs graphical software on Mac, right? (*pun intended*). But okay, going to look at the other mentioned alternatives, so thanks for this vid!

Affinity Photo from the beginning!!!

I absolutely agree with you on Adobe and their practices over the years. But also I notice now a lot more companies are doing the same garbage as now

Your series on replacing Adobe was very helpful for me. I do miss the functionality of Lightroom. Have you found an alternative to that? What are your thoughts on ON1?

Sir. I hear what you saying. My concern is that for many years I have used Lightroom Classic and previous versions as my File Management. I don't know how or what I would replace that with.

When I've gone back to look at PS and other Adobe products - I edited solely on Premiere and MG with AE professionally for over a decade as well as PS and Illustrator - I am SHOCKED at how little has been added to the CC versions. Like...every big number there'd be a big update or feature back in the day. Last time I looked at PS it was some not great 3D features and AI fill....is that all after 1 1/2 decades? Pretty much.

I don't use subscriptions either. I use affinity.

I am a Lightroom user and have several catalogs from through the years. (Especially from my photojournalist work from Iraq etc.) But actually using only the "photography plan" from Adobe only now. I love Affinity and hope they will come out of a Lightroom alternative. Publisher is amazing as satisfied with the Designer too. I don't like Corel, I got rid of them about 20 years ago. But I think Affinity in a right way and hope they will continue. Actually they are super fast so I did not have to upgrade my computer for a more expensive one. A MacBook M3 is more than enough for me even I am working with 100MP Hasselblad files too.

Adobe also closed down my old CS 5.5 PS 6 Pr premiere pro .. but the kicker was my Master suit from 2012 all legit had license code. I bought in school years ago.. on a older computer could not transferred the programs. they said it no longer aloud outdated programs.. still waiting

I’ve been a graphic designer for over 20 years using Adobe products . Adobe suffers from treating their customers the same way that Quark did maybe they eventually suffer from it the way that Quark did. I stopped using Photoshop when the company that I worked for laid us off during Covid. I adopted the Affinity suite and Pixelmator Pro. I really love these. With the advent of generative fill I found myself with an Adobe subscription again because I make films and generative fill allows me to easily create landscapes and objects directly in my scenes without having to use a green screen. I can import the video directly into photoshop and export the video and bring it into my editor . Anyone know of any generative fill client that imports video? Yea I can do the whole screenshot thing but it’s a pain in the ass when I can just export the whole video.

I changed to teaching GIMP instead of adobe years ago as a person mentioned below inkscape is also a great product but its is not commonly known that a large amount of high end manipulation can be also done in blender's compositor but that is a steep learning curve.

This is the new craze of taking in the money. Subscription based. I hate how software companies are doing this, it's bad enough with the in 'In App' purchases model. I try to avoid and find alternatives to all forms of this type of software. Soon as I see the word subscription, I run a mile.

Just subscribed! Looking forward to your liniux videos that will be coming. And agree about Adobe. Known about GIMP for a long time, it's just kind of clunky to use or was the last time I played around with it. I have Corel too! I love it. Never bought into the hype of Photoshop and when they went to the Creative suite subscription model I bought Clip Studio Paint and it's good too. I appreciate the way you covered all this. Definitely be watching for your new content as I'm always down to learn about stand alone software that rocks!

i like GIMP and Darktable for photo processing

You'r right, subscribtion based is terrible en very costly after a while, especially for a non-pro like me. Although I like Photoshop, I'm thinkig of switching to Affinity Photo which I own already.

If one does switch to Affinity, does it handle the catalog and editing and what about switching from Affinity back to LR? Are there penalties in either direction?

I'm Adobe all the way. the subcription model works mor me just greatandˆ'm sticking to it!

The main problem with GIMP is their development cycle moves in plank time.. and they are overly opinionated on that cycle. with a typical retort like it's done when its doneTM or the obligatory "we're all volenteeers", which is valid, but when you regularly haven't released a stable version in over a year somtimes two..To me it becomes a crutch more than it is anything.. I wouldn't complain personally if they'd just release stables more often.

What is the alternative to Lightroom? That's what I use. Stopped using Photoshop almost 15 years ago.

There should be a law for all products, that only essentials like electricity and water should be billed monthly and not software and other app that people don't usually use. Now almost everything is subscription based even if it doesn't need to be like that

I totally agree 100% If I buy something I pay once, it has always been like that except for insurance

Thanks! You're speaking for a lot us. Hopefully the message is getting out to software developers.

This has been unbelievably useful !! Thanks

Surprised not to hear anything about ACDsee. Excellent on Windows, not so good on Mac. Also has a Lightroom like DAM. I presently use Adobe (much reduced cost), Affinity, and ACDsee. I’m going to quit Adobe very soon. Thanks for informative and helpful video.

Adobe have long since gone for me even though a few of PS plug-ins aren’t available on other platforms

You gotta pick the one with the most bestest interface. They could always make better tools, but nobody ever improves the interface. Like it could be the dumbest assest crap tastic looser tools toolset, but that's like a sophmoric calculus person anyway. I mean you flip a button and you got Bob Ross widget pallet, bathroom been washed days since, _happy little quadrpillepid obloidos_ I got the idea from a 3d wind pluggin, but he just left it a 12x12 empty equation, have a

Well, in this case, I'm happy I've been pirating Adobe for 15 years now. Now it's high time to look into Affinity.

I really enjoyed your video today. Thanks for telling us about these good alternatives. I agree with you that it is nice to purchase good software. I will be watching your future videos.

Thanks Joe, excellent. And yes would love to see more on this subject. Maybe just more detailed looks at the alternatives. Time consuming I know, but still…

I have used Adobe Photoshop Elements for years. It does everything I need it to do and is not subscription based. I am not a professional photographer so I am not editing on a daily or weekly bases. It might be a program worth looking into.Updates are free until the come out with the next version which is usually $80.00. John

Same exact story happened to me 2 years ago , that guy offered me 3 month for free, the keep playing and pressure me to keep subscription but after I spent long time on phone to cancel subscription. I got angry and went wild on him saying FU with high tone, I use affinity for photos and DR for video even better color grading from black magic than Adobe

Once my contract is up for renewal I'm done also. CBA with their recent antics

I still have Adobe, not that I'm loyal to them, but that's what I know. I do also have Affinity. I'm still trying to learn it. Whereas I'm not computer illiterate, I'm also not an advanced user by any means. After I got more serious about photography, I went for almost a year before doing any meaningful edits, because I couldn't find any how-to videos that provided meaningful, blow-by-blow instruction on editing. Over time I found the instruction I needed, but it has all been Photoshop and Lightroom, so I'm immersed in that, which has held me back from learning Affinity. Adobe is my safety net. The thing I love about Affinity is that I can install it on as many computers as I have, vs Adobe limiting me to two. That limitation is what drove me to look for an additional piece of software. I had tried GIMP and RawTherapee, but they require too much of a learning curve. The two biggest reasons I went with Affinity as an alternative was 1) the similarity in GUI, but also 2) plug-ins I had purchased for Photoshop were valid for Affinity. Because I do mostly astrophotography, I also like that Affinity has some features that specifically cater to that. I don't know if I'll dump Adobe. If Aafinity develops some AI functionality that's in the ballpark of Adobe, then I probably will dump Adobe. I also have Luminar Neo, but I haven't done much with that either, much less than I've done with Affinity.

A couple of years ago I turned back from canceling Adobe because of the termination fee. This past month I went ahead and cut them out of my budget. I love their software, but hate their monopolistic behavior. As a graphic designer I know that one of the requirements has been to be expert at all Adobe's software. However, the recent outrage against their behavior became a great exit point for me.