I’m not a big fan of either app’s interface, although they are relatively well-designed.

They also have very limited UI customization options, restricted to controlling which info panels are visible at any given time. Affinity Photo places the section navbar on the top left and calls them Personas, while Lightroom keeps the menu in the top right and calls them modules.īoth also favor the now-standard dark gray background, although Affinity Photo uses color to help distinguish the different UI elements, while Lightroom tries to keep most UI elements monochrome. These two apps have a strikingly similar interface concept where different features of the app are divided into different sections. Lightroom: Detailed Comparisonīoth of these apps are great image editors, so we’re going to look at how they compare in the following key areas: user interface, non-destructive editing tools, local adjustment tools, layer-based editing, AI tools, library management, and pricing. $9.99 USD / month, bundled with PhotoshopĪffinity Photo vs. Is Affinity Photo a good alternative to Lightroom?Īffinity Photo vs.Who and What is Affinity Photo Good for?.Note: this article refers to Lightroom Classic, not the newer version of Lightroom that focuses on cloud-based editing and storage. Last but not least, I’ll explain the pricing differences between the two that have divided much of the image editing world. In this comparison review, I’ll take a look at the user interface of each app, as well as the editing capabilities, advanced tools, and a few of the additional features found in each one. While that short summary covers the basics, you’ll probably want to learn more before making your final decision. I’ve been experimenting with Affinity Photo on and off ever since it was first released, back when everyone was predicting it would replace Photoshop. I’ve worked with both of these apps for many years, and I rely on Lightroom for my own RAW image editing workflow. Lightroom is only available as a monthly subscription, but it is bundled with the full version of Photoshop to provide a complete image editing workflow.īefore we go any further: Hi, I’m Thomas Boldt, a writer/photographer who specializes in both photo editing techniques and photo editing software. It offers the latest AI tools and extensive organization features, which are perfect for fashion, event, and sports photographers who need to manage large image collections on a tight deadline. It’s also available as a one-time purchase, which is a direct appeal to photographers who don’t like Adobe’s subscription system.Īdobe Lightroom also provides a full RAW development workflow, but it focuses entirely on non-destructive adjustments. Serif Affinity Photo is a one-stop shop for all your image editing needs, offering a non-destructive RAW development workflow as well as the layer-based pixel editing tools that are necessary for retouching and compositing. It can be difficult to choose which image editing software deserves your time and money, and these two popular apps offer similar but varied features for prospective image editors.

Lightroom vs affinity photo reddit