Illustrator Whereas Affinity Designer is a most simplistic interface and encourages beginners and professionals alike, Illustrator is perhaps the slightly more complicated to use from the two. Dengan kemampuan untuk mengedit dan membuat layer pixel Affinity Designer seolah-olah berfungsi sebagai Illustrator / Photoshop hybrid, tapi mungkinkah ini bisa menjadi alternatif lain bagi desainer yang sering bekerja di kedua program tersebut? Apakah Affinity menawarkan fitur yang cukup menggoda untuk pengguna lama Adobe? Atau apakah affinity lebih cocok dipakai oleh pemula?
Affinity Vs Illustrator
When it comes to creating some of the highest quality of graphic designs, several software choices triumph in this industry.
Having already compared the immensely popular Inkscape and Illustrator against one another, here we attempt to determine the better choice between that of Affinity Designer and Illustrator.
Focusing on issues such as background, best features, flexibility, ease of use, and pricing, we highlight both software packages, alongside detailing any potential cons of Affinity Designer and Illustrator in action.
Contents
- 1 The Background of Both Software Packages
- 3 Affinity Designer vs. Illustrator for Flexibility and Ease of Use
- 4 Affinity Designer vs. Illustrator for Price
The Background of Both Software Packages
Affinity Designer Background
Affinity Designer makes powerful claims to being world changers and leaders of the graphic design software industry!
Largely due to the intensive rebranding of their software, spanning no less than five years of reworks, this software is aimed at improving overall workflow while allowing individual creativity to shine through.
An award-winning designer, Affinity has been crowned with App of the Year, Application Creator of the Year, and even given the prestigious Apple Design Award Winner.
Illustrator Background
Adobe Illustrator also makes claims to be an industry-standard graphic software that is used by millions of designers and Illustrators worldwide.
Creating the most detailed and striking of designs, Illustrator believes there are no limits to what their software can visually create – and all with a faster and more precise finish each time.
A pioneering company, Adobe Illustrator is one of the world’s largest software companies and thrives on digital media and digital marketing innovation.
Affinity Designer vs. Illustrator for Best Features
Both Affinity Designer and Illustrator certainly score highly for their extensive features. Here are just a few that we rate as some of the most impressive offerings for both packages:
- File formats are exactly the same whether working on MAC, Windows, or iPad – Allowing seamless teamwork with same files over different devices.
- Fantastic cross-section of vector tools – Created for the sole purpose of obtaining high productivity while maintaining the most accurate geometry.
- Powerful floating-point accuracy – to 1,000,000% zoom!
- Impressive color control – Ability to work in LAB or RGB color spaces plus ICC Color management, Pantone support, and end-to-end CMYK all built-in as standard.
- Almost unlimited grids and guides options – Full control over the standard to advanced patterning, over spacing, angles, gutters, and sub-divisions.
- Unlimited selection of artboards – Create artboards for all sizes, elements, formats, resolutions, preset devices, and export them.
- Advanced file support – All major images and vector file types supported.
- Sophisticated typography – Control, convert and customize typography.
- Live pixel preview – Ability to view your work in pixel preview mode.
- Linked symbols – Create linked symbols to speed up workflow.
- Designed to work seamlessly with other creative cloud apps – Includes Premier Pro, InDesign XD, and Photoshop.
- Creative Cloud Membership – Offers continual updates and regular new features with several plans to choose from.
- Pro Power as standard – A faster, responsive performance with precision tools encouraging a focus on design over process.
- A vector-based software – Reuse vector graphics across documents, scale down to mobile screens, scale-up for billboards.
- Crisp and concise finishes – Regardless of the size of the project.
- Exquisite attention to detail – Ability to use illustrations anywhere, create freehand drawings, re-color, and trace imported photos to turn into works of art.
- Stunning typography selections – Manage styles, add effects, and edit individual characters to express creativity in all messages.
- Extensive range of drawing tools – Everything to help turn the simplest of colors and shapes into intricate and sophisticated icons, logos, and graphics.
- Step by step tutorials for all areas of software – Covers the basics to the more advanced techniques.
Affinity Designer vs. Illustrator for Flexibility and Ease of Use
The ability to use your chosen graphic software with ease may be top of your list. This is especially so if you plan to use it regularly and need it to work for your specific requirements, day in and day out.
However, we realize that not all users of graphic software have an in-depth graphic or illustration knowledge nor background and, therefore, may be concerned with the flexibility of such software packages.
Though Affinity Designer and Illustrator have some extensive and in-depth features, they aren’t overly difficult to use when creating projects.
Affinity Designer
One of the major things designers and illustrators love about Affinity Designer is its simplicity when it comes to working on it.
This is a fantastic choice for beginners to start with, and a great way to access a practical learning tool.
However, Affinity Designer is also well recommended for those graphic experts who are looking for a more powerful graphic design product.
Affinity Designer allows users to work with vectors in the most efficient ways while making the entire creative process one of the simplest.
Thus, this is a package whereby you can play around and find your feet sampling many of the additional features it has to offer without major hassle.
Overall, Affinity Designer’s entire flexibility and ease of use ultimately mean users can think more creatively and, therefore, less technically. This means it allows the creative mind to wander and soar while not getting too bogged down with the how’s and whys.
Individuals, professional designers, and or course smaller businesses needing effective but deliverable graphic design solutions can all benefit from the accessibility and functionality of Affinity Designer.
What’s more, the many video tutorials available on the Affinity website are more than capable of taking you from the basics to professional standards on this package in next to no time.
Illustrator
Whereas Affinity Designer is a most simplistic interface and encourages beginners and professionals alike, Illustrator is perhaps the slightly more complicated to use from the two.
However, if you’ve got good graphic and illustration knowledge and find such applications easy to pick up, you may well have the advantage here over those lesser experienced users.
This in no way though detracts from the flexibility that Illustrator offers for creativity. The integration process, automatic alignment, and indeed sheer stock of creative resources allows for plentiful projects.
A flexible tool when it comes to the creation of vector-based graphics, the many features you can work through here ensures that creativity will never run dry as users are encouraged to both create and practice throughout their time spent on Illustrator.
However, for those new to the software, and beginners to designing and illustrating, it’s still worth accessing the software and using it side by side with the extensive learn and support section that is offered on the website.
Here you’ll find sections to take you from the very basics, through to the more expert of sessions while working on expanding your skills throughout.
Furthermore, if you do have some knowledge of the plentiful Adobe software packages, then you’ll be better prepared to use Affinity Designer.
Affinity Designer vs. Illustrator for Price
In general, the prices that you can expect to pay for a software package will tend to vary greatly.
There are a few graphics packages on the current market that cost nothing. But, it’s usually assumed you’ll have to pay out for some elements of a decent working design software choice somewhere down the line!
The question here may well be just what you’re willing to spend on your graphics package. This may be more to do with how often you intend to use the application and whether your intended use is personal or professional.
Affinity Designer
There are three pricing options for Affinity Designer that we believe are very well rated for what you get in this graphic software.
For those using the software on Mac and on Windows, you can opt for a free trial of the software before purchasing it for around the $60 plus mark.
Or, if you’re intending to use the software on an iPad, though there is not a free trial as such, there is a very low price attached here, around the 25 dollar mark.
Affinity Designer doesn’t have any hidden subscription charges, and these are all the only prices you’ll pay to own the software. Then, each time there’s an update, you’ll automatically receive this.
Affinity Designer
Illustrator
Once again, Illustrator also requires payment to use, but unlike Affinity Designer, this will cost more to purchase.
However, Illustrator does offer a selection of price plan choices based on your exact design needs.
For individuals, there is a photography plan, a single app, all apps, or all apps plus Adobe stock. With prices starting from 10 dollars plus per month and ranging through to 100 dollars plus, users can select to pay for their software every month or annually.
Illustrator also goes on to offer business plans, student and teacher plans, and schools and university plans, so there are several more payment choices here as opposed to Affinity Designer.
Limitations of Both Affinity Designer and Illustrator Packages
Now that we’ve covered some of the many pros of purchasing and using both Affinity Designer and Illustrator, we should also direct your attention to possible limitations of either package.
All software packages, when used over time, will present minor grievances and disadvantages. Sometimes, the only way these become apparent is by ongoing use!
Here we offer some potential limitations that you may well find with these two graphic packages.
- Some experienced designers may find the simplistic working area of Affinity Designer rather limited and in some sense, too easy!
- Professionals may, at times, discover that, unlike Illustrator, Affinity Designer lacks several essential design tools.
- Some shapes aren’t yet located in the software, meaning many designers tend to copy and paste from other software packages here, including that of Illustrator!
- Complex Features – Illustrator is not always recommended for those beginners or with little knowledge of graphics, Illustration, or even Adobe experience.
- Requires a high-grade PC to run smoothly on. Illustrator is often suggested as slowing down your PC due to the amount of space it requires.
- The ongoing subscription element of Illustrator can often be annoying, particularly if you’re on a very tight budget!
Before we get onto our final thoughts and the interest of fairness.. check out the video below from Affinity Revolution comparing Affinity Designer and Illustrator – always good to get a second opinion!
Final Thoughts on Affinity Designer vs. Illustrator
When deciding between these two industry giants, it can often seem as though the two are on a par with one another. This makes it difficult to suggest which one comes out on top!
However, our expert opinion, having worked in this industry for many years now, suggests both are equally as good as one another – but it may all come down to your current level of user experience.
Affinity Designer is certainly the more accessible when it comes to catering to beginners and those with minimal graphic and illustration experience.
Illustrator, on the other hand, is often the more preferred for its increased extensiveness and more professional interface, encouraging the more experienced and professional of users.
Both software packages are, once again, applications that we here at HeatPressHangout are happy to use on various occasions. We’ve personally found that the best one is all about personal choice when working on selective projects.
Therefore, if you’re looking to get quality design solutions from your graphics software package and want to be assured of selecting the most reputable to get your projects completed successfully first time round – we recommend trying both Affinity Designer and Illustrator for yourself and see which one works best for your individual needs and requirements.
Written by Echo Rivera and Jason Rivera
So you’re an academic, researcher, scientist, or evaluator interested in learning how to create your own visuals and you’re wondering what application to use?
Chances are you already know about Adobe Illustrator, and maybe you’ve even heard of Inkscape. But have you heard about Affinity Designer?
I mean…we’ve only been talking about it for the last few blog posts 🤣, starting with this one about why you should learn how to make your own visuals. And then there’s this post which shows examples of how researchers, academics, and researchers could use it in their work.
So maybe the real question you’re wondering is: Why do we talk so much about Affinity Designer and not Adobe Illustrator?
We ditched Adobe Illustrator for Affinity Designer and are thrilled with this decision. In this blog post, we’ll provide the 4 reasons that we love Affinity Designer and not Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe Illustrator used to be something you could pay for upfront and then use it for years and years.
LOL not anymore! Sorry, suckers, you’ll now need to pay EVERY SINGLE MONTH FOR ALL OF ETERNITY 💸💸💸, even if you don’t use any of the new features they add or if they remove features you already use.
So, if you want to start learning how to make your own illustrations, and you choose Adobe Illustrator, you could be locked into paying $31.50 EVERY month…FOREVER 💸💸💸. Well, no … actually not forever because they’ll raise their prices so it’ll be even more than that over time.
In contrast, Affinity Designer (cue angelic choir song 🙌) charges a ONE TIME fee for their product. Plus you get free updates (which includes bug and feature updates).
Just in case you think subscription is better for something like Affinity Designer and Adobe Illustrator, you probably won’t benefit from a subscription model because you’re not a graphic design professional. You only need these to do things like make visuals for your PowerPoint or Keynote presentations, visual abstracts, or other materials related to your research or teaching.
Let’s do the maths: in TWO months, you’ve already saved money by choosing Affinity Designer over Adobe Illustrator. Plus if you take our Affinity Designer course, you get 20% off Affinity apps, so you can save even more money. #JustSayin
How much could you save in 1 year by choosing Affinity over Adobe?
COST OF ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR AFTER 12 MOS: $378
COST OF FULL-PRICE AFFINITY DESIGNER AFTER 12 MOS: $50
SAVINGS AFTER 1 YEAR = $328 ($338 for our online course students)
How much could you save in 2 years by choosing Affinity over Adobe?
COST OF ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR AFTER 24 MOS: $756+
COST OF FULL-PRICE AFFINITY DESIGNER AFTER 24 MOS: $50
SAVINGS AFTER 2 YEARS = $706+ ($716+ for our online course students)
Yes, you do need to buy a license for each type of operating system, but even if you have to buy every version of Affinity Designer (Windows, Mac, iPad), you don’t have to endlessly pay a subscription fee, so you will still come out ahead.
Maybe you think Affinity Designer is cheaper because it comes with less features?
Nope.
We check in with the Illustrator updates just to see if we’re missing anything that Affinity Designer doesn’t have and have never felt like we were missing out. To us, it’s not worth the monthly price and we actually do graphic design work(e.g., comics, custom illustrations and visuals) for academics, researchers, evaluators, and scientists. If we don’t feel the need to have it, then you—someone who will probably use it mostly for your own work—probably won’t either.
We use Affinity Designer almost every day for things like infographics, web graphics, social media graphics, theoretical models, and more. It has everything we need. Plus, just like Illustrator, you can add things like brushes, fonts, textures, etc. to Affinity Designer if you ever want to make more advanced images.
Affinity has done things like make a full-featured version of their software for the iPad before Adobe did. So a smaller company like Affinity is just as able to innovate and include features as the big, industry-dominating one.
Maybe you think Affinity Designer is cheaper because it’s harder to use?
Nope.
We totally get why you might be worried about this. Have you ever tried using Inkscape? It’s a free, open-source alternative to Adobe Illustrator. When we went looking for Illustrator alternatives, we started there. Jason, who hadn’t used Illustrator very much, found it kinda annoying but okay. Echo, who had used Illustrator for a few years, had a really difficult time figuring it out. Especially after coming from something so easy to use, Inkscape was a frustrating nightmare.
So, we were both skeptical that Affinity Designer would be much better. We’ve never been more happy to be proven wrong.
If you’re worried about the learning curve for digital illustration software, then you’ll be pleased to know that we both find Affinity Designer significantly easier to use than Adobe Illustrator (and a million times easier than Inkscape). Compared to Illustrator, Affinity Designer has a much more user friendly setup that will be easy for beginners to learn.
And get this: If you’ve used Adobe Illustrator in the past, there will be very little learning curve and adjustment for you. Echo used Adobe Illustrator for something like 3-4 years before switching to Affinity Designer, and was able to pick up almost everything in Affinity without even looking up how to do it. And yes, Affinity Designer can open .ai files (and .eps files, obvi) just fine.
Affinity is great because they aren’t overcharging for their software or trying to lock you into a never-ending subscription. They are also great because they don’t do things that Adobe does which we find…disagreeable.
Adobe has done things like “testing” higher pricing for customers even though they didn’t officially raise the price of their subscriptions, so some new customers paid a higher price than they had to. They’ve also tried to scare customers that still use their older, non-subscription software into thinking they could have legal trouble if they keep using their old software. Adobe has also been known to try to make it difficult and annoying to cancel your subscription, kind of like cable companies.
Given these actions you would think Adobe is strapped for cash and selling their products at a loss, but no. These actions are coming from a company that made about $2.5 billion in profit in 2018. And a great way for them to make more money is to just keep increasing their subscription prices without a corresponding increase in features. A quick internet search will lead you to plenty more critiques of Adobe’s business model and practices. (See also: Additional Reading below)
(No, Affinity hasn’t paid us a dime or given me a free license. After a year of publicly telling everyone how much we love Affinity Designer, we were finally able to secure a discount on their apps for our Affinity Course students. We don’t make any money off that, the savings are passed directly onto you. We really just love this program and think it’s a perfect fit for academics, scientists, evaluators, researchers, and educators).
Additional Reading: