The Rise of Photoshop
You don’t have to be a photographer to know what photoshop is. It’s one of the most well-known programs in existence, and while it’s available as a standalone product, most people who use it know it as part of the Creative Cloud. The Adobe Creative Cloud consists of more than 20 different programs, a cloud storage solution, and a pretty hefty monthly bill. In fairness, Photoshop has never been cheap, and it’s always been able to justify the price. The first version of Photoshop launched in 1990 at a cost of $895. That would be nearly $1,800 in today’s money according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Over the years the pricing has gone up and down, but in 2011, Adobe introduced a subscription model as an alternative to purchasing the software with a large, one-time fee. Two years later, they got rid of the other option altogether making the subscription the only way to get access to Photoshop, Illustrator, or any of the software in the Creative Cloud.
The Competition
Over the years, many products have attempted to take on Photoshop and other apps in the Adobe universe. Between free apps like Gimp, Inkscape, and Krita, and paid apps such as Corel and Sketch, no app has ever come close to dethroning the king. There is one company, however, that seems to have come closer than anyone else. Serif, the maker of the Affinity line of software, has cornered the market in recent years as the premier Adobe alternative. They don’t have anywhere near the market share of Adobe, but their apps can go toe-to-toe with their Creative Cloud counterparts in a way no other app has been able to do.
While many apps in the graphic design and photo-editing space have felt like cheap knock-offs, I think Affinity has found the correct balance between cost-effectiveness and premium quality. Personally, I love open-source software. In fact, WordPress, in which Red Zone specializes, is open source, and that has allowed it to take over more than a third of the internet. When it comes to photo-editing and graphics software, however, I just don’t think open-source software like Inkscape, Gimp, and Krita have what it takes to become a true Adobe alternative. Affinity, however, seems to be getting somewhere.
How Adobe Took Over The Industry
It’s hard to deny that Adobe has a lot going for it. One of the most important keys to Adobe’s success has been the early mover’s advantage. They’ve been able to corner the market and become the industry standard. After all, I rarely hear someone say they’re going to “Affinity” a photo. By making Photoshop synonymous with photography itself, it’s become a tool that until recently, no self-respecting photographer would be caught without. But can Adobe maintain its dominance on name recognition alone? It’s hard to imaging a future where Adobe isn’t the go-to software suite for creatives, but the potential emergence of an alternative that could eat into Adobe’s massive market share without taking over as the industry leader feels much more possible.
What Makes Affinity So Special?
When it comes to taking on Adobe, Serif isn’t the only company trying to cut out space in the market, but the Affinity apps seem to have found their way into the runner up spot, even if it’s a distant second. So how did they get there? Affinity’s apps are widely regarded as the best Adobe alternatives out there, with Affinity Photo currently sitting in the #10 spot for all paid apps in the Mac App Store, where all three of the apps in the Affinity Suite are Editor’s Choice Apps. Creative Bloq, a popular graphic design and digital marketing blog recently put Affinity Photo at the top of their list of best photo editing apps for 2020, even above Photoshop. Not to mention, Affinity’s first app, Affinity Designer, which takes on Adobe’s vector graphics app, Illustrator. Affinity Designer launched the Affinity line in 2014 and instantly became an apple sensation. In fact, just 2 months after it was released, the Mac App Store named it the #2 Mac App of 2014. And that’s not a fluke. Both Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher took the #1 spot as Apple’s Mac App of the year for the years they were released.
It’s not just the experts who give Affinity high reviews. I personally have switched entirely, and find Affinity very easy to use, (although I know that if I started working for a big agency, I would likely have to go back to the Creative Cloud.) The integration between the three apps in their suite is excellent, especially the persona feature which, in addition to providing a clean, less cluttered user interface, allows users to use tools from the Photo app in the Designer app, and from both the Designer and Photo apps in the Publisher app. Also, while it’s impossible to be fully compatible with another company’s software, their compatibility with PSD and other file types tends to be smoother than some other apps. Speaking of integration, just the fact that they’ve released three integrated apps over the last five and a half years is a huge advantage in taking on Adobe. One of Adobe’s strengths is the fact that they offer a suite of tools. Inkscape, Gimp, Krita, Sketch, and other popular Adobe alternatives tend to be one-offs, while Affinity is building an integrated suite. Of course, the most alluring feature of the Affinity Suite is the price. Rather than a monthly subscription, they’ve opted for the classic one-time-purchase model, where you pay $50/app and you have access to it for life. Updates are free, although major version upgrades are available as a separate purchase. This means that for the cost of two or three months of access to the Adobe Creative Cloud, you can get lifetime access to all three apps in the Affinity Suite.
The Future Of The Industry
Well that leaves the question, if Affinity is so great, why doesn’t everybody just switch? Nobody likes paying Adobe every month, so why is it still on top? Well, there are a few reasons. One reason is that Photoshop, Illustrator, and many of the other apps in the Adobe library have just been around for so long, that they have features Affinity doesn’t have yet. The most notable example is Illustrator’s Shape Builder tool. Affinity will tell you that you can do the same thing with Boolean Operations, and that is true, but it’s sort of like the difference between taking the stairs and taking the elevator. The Shape Builder tool just cuts out a few steps. Another reason is that many of the people who work in the industries that use Adobe products have been in the industry for a long time, and don’t want to learn new software. Although Affinity’s interface is relatively similar to Adobe’s, any transition can be hard for people and it’s understandable why it might not seem worth it.
Will Affinity Ever Be On Top?
It’s hard to imagine Adobe losing the top spot any time in the near future. It seems like they have the “industry standard” moniker locked up for probably the next decade at least unless they do something to mess it up, but just because you hold the majority of market share, doesn’t mean you have to be the only game in town. I can see a possible future in which Affinity becomes a true competitor to Adobe. Maybe they’re not the industry standard, but they’re something that every photographer and graphic designer knows of, and given the low cost, perhaps even has a copy of. Maybe big agencies don’t switch over, but smaller agencies do. I think it’s entirely possible to see a future in the next few years in which Adobe is still the industry leader, but Affinity is the Hulu to Adobe’s Netflix. The Samsung Galaxy to Adobe’s iPhone. With the right marketing, maybe even the Pepsi to Adobe’s Coke, but I do think there are a few things the Affinity team needs to do to make that happen.
I think if the team at Serif continues expanding their app suite, that would help and continuing to implement those last few missing features from the Adobe world would certainly help as well, but the truth is, I think the one thing that would do more than anything else is a major marketing campaign. I’ve never seen Affinity do any real marketing and I completely understand why. Not paying for ads is how they keep their costs down, and in turn, why I can download all three of their apps and use them for life for the same price I would pay to use Adobe’s Creative Cloud for two months. Plus, I’m sure being Editor’s Choice in the App Store and having a loyal fan base make it easy to forego marketing altogether. Still, I think even one really big marketing blitz could vastly increase Affinity’s name recognition and immensely improve their credibility in the field, and unless they really put some time, effort, and money behind it, the delta between “industry standard” and “not industry standard” will always be too wide for many to cross.