Affinity Photo 2

Budget software doesn’t have to mean compromise – or a monthly subscription £59.99/$69.99

-  James Abbott

Specifications

Licence: Perpetual

Platforms: Windows. macOS and iPad

System requirements: Windows 10 (May 2020)/macOS 10.5/ iPadOS 15 and above

RAM: 8GB recommended

Display: 1280x768 or larger

Who would have thought that photo editing software released as a Mac-only version in 2015 could take on the software behemoth Adobe? Well, that’s exactly what Serif has achieved with its Affinity products, where Affinity Photo has undoubtedly become Adobe Photoshop’s main rival. With some revolutionary new features alongside an inexpensive perpetual license, the latest Affinity Photo 2 provides an even more compelling alternative to the market leader’s subscription-based photo editing software.

Affinity Photo 2 is pixel-based photo editing software available for Mac, Windows and iPad, and it offers most of the functionality of Photoshop CC alongside its own unique features. The software uses a single interface split into ‘Personas’ that are used for performing specific editing tasks, such as Raw processing or image adjustments/manipulation, etc. It’s highly capable, and indeed powerful software, that’s only let down by the lack of Raw image cataloguing or some kind of image browser for viewing and managing images.