Affinity for Mac: Cheap Illustrator alternative?

[Darren Stephens]

Cheers for that Jim, that looks like a great set-up. Definitely something to think about. 

[IndigoPrime]

On another take, I'd say there's nothing wrong with an iMac, but stay the hell away from the low-end model. It's a truly dreadful offer, when you consider the next model up is only another 150 quid for a significantly more powerful machine. That said, I'm not upgrading my own (27-inch) iMac until Retina displays are in the mix, and I'd never buy another Mac that uses an internal HDD rather than SSD. The latter's so much faster and quieter.

Regarding the MacBook Pro, it's a capable machine, but be very aware that you cannot upgrade the things yourself. You therefore need to think ahead, to what you'll need during the lifetime of the machine. The same's true of the MacBook Air (which I'm also avoiding until it has a Retina display).

[Jim_Campbell]

Regarding the MacBook Pro, it's a capable machine, but be very aware that you cannot upgrade the things yourself. You therefore need to think ahead, to what you'll need during the lifetime of the machine.

Aha. Yes, I should mention that my machines tend to have a very short lifetime — I flog 'em and put the money towards a new machine on a two year cycle. I did the maths — Macs hold their value very strongly in the first two years, only dropping by a couple of hundred quid. The total cost of ownership is basically the same as buying a machine and hanging onto it for so long that depreciation brings its resale value to zero — the difference is that on my scheme, the cash flow is easier to budget for, and I get a new machine every two years. :-)

Cheers

Jim

[radiator]

I have an iMac and for me by far the most frustrating thing about them is the glossy screen which attracts a lot of glare. It's also extraordinarily bright and super contrasty out of the box (they're presumably designed more for viewing films than for working on), which makes judging colours incredibly problematic. I would advise getting hold of a decent calibrator and turning the brightness way, way down.

[Banners]

Looks good. I hope a Windows version sees the light of day at some point, and that this paves the way for an InDesign alternative too.

[Jim_Campbell]

Looks good. I hope a Windows version sees the light of day at some point, and that this paves the way for an InDesign alternative too.

No plans for a Windows version, apparently — which I can see, because they'd be going up against Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw, where there's definitely a gap in the market on the Mac platform.

Interestingly, this is phase one in the roll-out of a full suite, with Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher to follow next year.

Cheers

Jim

[Banners]

Let's hope Affinity Publisher comes quickly – and on Windows too – as I am highly ashamed to admit that I'm getting increasingly tempted by the Creative Cloud...(!)

[IndigoPrime]

No plans for a Windows version, apparently — which I can see, because they'd be going up against Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw, where there's definitely a gap in the market on the Mac platform.

Also, Mac users actually pay for stuff. Most cross-platform devs say piracy is absolutely rife on Windows compared to merely awful on the Mac, and they're way more likely to actually make money on OS X. (See also: Android vs. iOS when it comes to apps.) Plus the creative industry is still somewhat geared towards Apple kit, hence the likes of Acorn, Affinity, Coda and the like being Mac-only. (Even Scrivener is Mac-first, despite dipping a toe into the waters of Windows.)

[Jim_Campbell]

Interestingly, this is phase one in the roll-out of a full suite, with Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher to follow next year.

Another encouraging little snippet from the Affinity forums...

"Affinity Photo is fully compatible with PS plugins"
Cheers

Jim

[Darren Stephens]

Anyone know if there any cheap/free alternatives to Illustrator available for Windows?