Better than DrawPlus?

[feri]

Is it really so much better than DrawPlus?

Of course this is how it is advertised, but before I buy, I would like to know.

I'm using DrawPlus and I like it, but to be honest, I never felt it was serving me completely, so I see a chance here.

Thanks for any feedback.

[Butler To Cats]

They are both good tools, and at the moment it is not a case of Affinity Designer directly replacing DrawPlus - it is an alternative tool for your toolbox.

I haven't seen Affinity Designer advertised as "better than DrawPlus" anywhere by Serif.

Some aspects in Affinity Designer, like the different Persona interfaces, are sheer interface brilliance that could not have been achieved in DrawPlus.

 

DrawPlus is a Swiss army knife - a mature product with lots of great features added on over the years, but they've had to fit in with existing features.

Affinity Designer is a shiny new chisel at this stage - possibly less features but what it can do is more streamlined. (This is not the greatest metaphor, because there are already lots of detailed features in Affinity Designer)

 

Your project starts with a piece of wood.

If you definitely need the little file or the screwdriver feature (for example, the blend tool in DrawPlus)  for what you are going to do to your project, DrawPlus is (for now) still your choice.

However, for smoother and easier carving, Affinity Designer is better - and you can do amazing things with a chisel.

 

Have a look in the Share your work area here in the forums, or perhaps this collection of Affinity Designer artwork on Behance.

If you're not sure, and you didn't get a chance to play during the beta period, I believe there will be a trial version at some future time.

[Patrick Connor]

feri,

 

Affinity Designer is not being promoted as better than DrawPlus, it's being promoted on the features that it does well.

 

Serif DrawPlus and Affinity Designer are different programs and do not share the same features. Affinity Designer is an illustration program that has been written new, from scratch, and does not share any code with DrawPlus. We have designed Affinity Designer from the ground up to and consequently it already has many features that we were never able to put into DrawPlus. Equally there are some features of DrawPlus have not been added to Affinity Designer yet. Some features like animation that do not fit in the concept of what Affinity Designer is will most likely not be added.

 

We would suggest before you purchase that you look at the existing features of Affinity Designer and the vast array of video tutorials (and the roadmap of features that are coming) and decide if the software is right for you.

[Patrick Connor]

There will be a trial version for Windows before long.

[feri]

Thanks guys, I will keep looking.

[acacia]

I played around with the beta a few months ago and it looked like some really powerful DP X8 tools (Auto Trace for one)

had been removed in lieu of fancy effects brushes and filters

 

After receiving a 20% off Affinity offer by email yesterday I searched high and low for a Windows demo to give it a try again to see

if any of DP x8's exclusive features had made it to the final cut but after some frustration and several useless dmg files I found that

Draw Plus x8 is selling for roughly $19 (after using a voucher currently still in circulation on the net)

 

Now with a solid copy of x8 under my belt I'm just hanging out for a sale on Art Rage.

[Patrick Connor]

Acacia,

 

DrawPlus is on version 14 of its codebase and Affinity Designer is on version 1.5, so it is unsurprising that the features differ. No features have been 'removed' from Designer, as it's all new code, but I understand what you mean.

 

I am pleased that you are satisfied with the choice you have made, knowing that DrawPlus X8 won't be developed any further.

[feri]

Thanks, Patrick, for the link to the tutorials.

I watched some of them, and I'm impressed.

So in time I plan to buy it. :-)

[Redback]

 

 

'After receiving a 20% off Affinity offer by email yesterday I searched high and low for a Windows demo to give it a try again to see

if any of DP x8's exclusive features had made it to the final cut but after some frustration and several useless dmg files I found that

Draw Plus x8 is selling for roughly $19 (after using a voucher currently still in circulation on the net)'

 

Could you point us to where you can get it at that price? I could only find it at amazon over a hundred.

cheers

 

[Alfred]

DrawPlus X8 is available direct from Serif for £19.99 / $24.99 / 22,99 €.

 

http://www.serif.com/drawplus/

[Redback]

Thanks Alfred, that's a huge saving.