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Speed Comparison - NEW Affinity Photo - Photoshop CS6

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
I really couldn't believe the hype about speed - until I directly compared a huge 16,000 pixel layered map file that virtually comes to a standstill on my 13" Macbook Air when editing on Photoshop CS6.

HERE IS THE VIDEO I PUT TOGETHER WITH THE SPEED COMPARISON BETWEEN AFFINITY PHOTO AND PHOTOSHOP CS6:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdlXeE_S2is&feature=youtu.be


I really considered that the issue had to be my underpowered computer - and so I came up with all kinds of flattening and resizing combinations of the file - so that I could get done what I needed to get done.

Well astonishment is all I can say. When I opened the file in Affinity Photo, there were no hesitations. I have no idea how this company has managed to move huge files around without hiccups - - - but they have succeeded. Hats off.

I knew nothing about the Beta version that has been available for a while now. I was doing some updates on my Macbook and when I opened the App Store, noticed the Editors choice being Affinity Photo. It is now a legit product out of Beta stage.

At $49.95, there is no way this was going to be much of a product. Well - I have to eat my words so far anyway. It does everything I have been using CS6 for and in some cases more easily.

I actually got an additional 20% off - making it a very good value. That deal remains until July 2'rd, 2015 if you want to take advantage of it.

On the Apple App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/affinity-photo/id824183456?mt=12

Affinity Website: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I really couldn't believe the hype about speed - until I directly compared a huge 16,000 pixel layered map file that virtually comes to a standstill on my 13" Macbook Air when editing on Photoshop CS6.

HERE IS THE VIDEO I PUT TOGETHER WITH THE SPEED COMPARISON BETWEEN AFFINITY PHOTO AND PHOTOSHOP CS6:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdlXeE_S2is&feature=youtu.be


I really considered that the issue had to be my underpowered computer - and so I came up with all kinds of flattening and resizing combinations of the file - so that I could get done what I needed to get done.

Well astonishment is all I can say. When I opened the file in Affinity Photo, there were no hesitations. I have no idea how this company has managed to move huge files around without hiccups - - - but they have succeeded. Hats off.

I knew nothing about the Beta version that has been available for a while now. I was doing some updates on my Macbook and when I opened the App Store, noticed the Editors choice being Affinity Photo. It is now a legit product out of Beta stage.

At $49.95, there is no way this was going to be much of a product. Well - I have to eat my words so far anyway. It does everything I have been using CS6 for and in some cases more easily.

I actually got an additional 20% off - making it a very good value. That deal remains until July 2'rd, 2015 if you want to take advantage of it.

On the Apple App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/affinity-photo/id824183456?mt=12

Affinity Website: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/

Robert,

A great report. Interesting that we find out about such an important opportunity for efficient color-managed workflow by some creep accretion of knowledge rather then everyone talking about and there being a Time Magazine article!

After all this could be one of the most important additions to most Mac photographer's toolset. As for the speed, one has to recall that Photoshop is really bloatware. It has grown from the beginning and relies on Adobe buying new ideas, (like Content Aware algorithms, for example), and there is not incentive to become lean. They grow new features and make them all work on Windows and Mac, relying on backwards compatibility and the same work teams for 20 years.

Apple, However, in the meanwhile built from the ground up a modern color management system and everything needed for handling images. All the new company has to do is use what Apple Provides.

Apple itself did not do such a good job with Aperture when it had no way of accessing a more powerful graphics board on even a 17" Macbook Pro, even though the software was designed to run faster that way.

I do not know, as yet, how the new program uses the graphics card as opposed to the computer itself, but I do know that Adobe Photoshop 6, CC 2014 and CC 2015 are all memory hogs. Sometimes memory is not even released immediately when the program is exited!

So I think what's happened is that a company arrives and says, well, what does Apple do best natively with color and drawing in the handout files. Then they build graphic interfaces and sequences to make it work for us seamlessly. By contrast, Photoshop uses it's own massive Engine and then has get on with the Mac and Windows systems as best as possible. A very different approach.

Asher
 

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
OK - so abilities that are part of Photoshop CS6 - but I have never used them and found these much easier to find and work with:

So I didn't spend time to do an amazing job - - - and in reality picked an images that was harder to separate hair strands from the wood decking of similar colour - - - but it did an amazing job that I could never imagine getting even with meticulous fine brushing in masking. This "Selection Brush Tool" sits 4th down on the left side Tool Bar:


EPL58709-2.jpg


EPL58709.jpg


As well, the Smart Image Replacement is easily accessible and works pretty stinking good. In Affinity Photo it is called the "Inpainting Brush Tool" and sits 6th from the bottom on the left side Tool Bar. I quick swipe over the person with the brush - and he was gone:


P7103112-2.jpg


P7103112.jpg



Something else that really intrigued me - is an analysis feature that Photoshop does not have and that is commonly used for Video Editing. This is the "Vectorscope" and "Intensity Waveform".

I knew nothing of these, until I started studying up about video editing. And they are powerful readouts that give amazing insight into proper skin tone and keeping the shadows and highlights from clipping. In fact they are the main tools I use for editing my images. So taking that knowledge to still image correction, may be quite useful for me.

If you did not know that all skin tones are the same colour and just different levels of intensity - - - using the Vectorscope can be unbelievably revealing: https://larryjordan.com/articles/color-correction-make-people-look-normal/ (There is a video that watched about it - so presume this article is similar in nature)



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Robert Watcher

Well-known member
As for Lightroom being able to read files - - - Affinity does have it's own proprietary format called .afphoto. When I attempted to Import those files into Lightroom, they were NOT recognized.

However - files from within Affinity Photo can be Exported out using popular formats like JPEG, TIFF, PSD etc. All of these formats Imported into Lightroom without issue.

For my workflow though, I am always Importing my files from my memory card into Lightroom as a first step and way to keep my files organized. I who never find myself opening any files in a Photoshop or Photo style editor as a first option.

And so there are no file compatibility issues with Affinity Photo if done this way, as I would open any files required more extensive composite work, from within Lightroom and when done, Affinity Photo sends them back to Lightroom where I can continue on processing, saving and printing.

I have just put together a video showing the steps involved in setting up Affinity Photo as an External Editor for integration into Lightroom Workflow:



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Robert Watcher

Well-known member
AFINITY PHOTO has just released a Free Update to Version 1.4. I am downloading at this moment.

Version 1.4 has all-new and highly accurate image alignment technology allowing for precise alignment of image 'stacks' for tasks as simple as object removal or the blending of multiple exposure composites. (I use this a lot in Photoshop for combining elements from 2 or more images taken at the same time) - also this will offer advanced panorama stitching.

"The accuracy of panorama stitching in the app really is as good as it gets – and with Affinity Photo's advanced memory management you can build up images of 100s of megapixels and still have incredible performance when you go to edit," says Ashley Hewson, Serif's Managing Director.

Version 1.4 also includes Apple Photos extensions such as - full RAW editing capability available from within Photos - Liquify - Haze Removal - Miniature (tilt shift effect with blur) - fine control over black and white conversion - full suite of retouching tools and smart pixel selection.


http://www.techradar.com/news/photo...al-affinity-photo-gets-a-major-update-1310836

One feature that supposedly has been improved is Photoshop PSD file compatibility - - - I had some problems with this in the current version - will be interesting to see how it is improved.

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