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Affinity, we need clarification: are you or aren’t you working on a DAM?


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6 hours ago, IanSG said:

I'm waiting on a reply from Macphun, but having downloaded the Windows beta I can't see any way of using it as a DAM.

 

I believe it's supposed to be a forthcoming module for Luminar – which means the DAM element has not been released yet (scheduled for 2018 AFAIK), even though the PC beta of Luminar has been released.

 

*think of it as a DAM 'persona' for their version of AP (i.e. Luminar). 

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I don't think Affinity ever said they were doing a DAM? In any case, there's other software areas where I think their time would be better spent, like improving Photo and releasing Publisher.

Anyway, Luminar seems to be a really great choice for developing RAW, now that has a Windows version and lens correction I'll be purchasing it once available.

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On 23.10.2017 at 8:15 AM, Medical Officer Bones said:

Really nice DAMs out there already. For example iMatch, DigiKam, Daminion, Photo Supreme, and many more. No need to wait, right?

Some searching led me to this page - which mirrors my opinion. Always plan for contingencies - is there an escape route? Software may be discontinued (or go rental only, in spite of "a certain company's promises").

https://www.bkwinephotography.com/technology/found-best-digital-asset-management-dam-system/

The problem with all this DAM Software is, that they don't understand the Affinity format. Also I have to save my work as a PSD file to work with another DAM.  I have till end of Feb. 2018 the Adobe Abo, I hoppe that Affinity will bring a DAM Software, that is the big chance for Affinity to generate a lot of custumer. So as I know there are a lot of Adobe custumer that are unhappy and are looking for a alternativ to Photoshop and Lightroom.

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Pixave is a decent image manager, plus it reads Affinity files. 

 

FWIW, I don’t think Affinity should release their own DAM. It’s a saturated market and besides a handful of companies, this software often seems to be produced by one man outfits. I’m not sure there’s enough money in it.

 

It’d be smarter to outreach to other developers and ask them to add the Affinity format. Something that can be done with a few phonecalls and a PowerPoint deck.

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18 hours ago, Takis2017 said:

The problem with all this DAM Software is, that they don't understand the Affinity format. Also I have to save my work as a PSD file to work with another DAM.  I have till end of Feb. 2018 the Adobe Abo, I hoppe that Affinity will bring a DAM Software, that is the big chance for Affinity to generate a lot of custumer. So as I know there are a lot of Adobe custumer that are unhappy and are looking for a alternativ to Photoshop and Lightroom.

 

Just curious, what would you need a DAM that reads Affinity files for?

Andrew
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Win10 x64 AMD Threadripper 1950x, 64GB, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD + 2TB, dual GTX 1080ti
Dual Monitor Dell Ultra HD 4k P2715Q 27-Inch

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On 26/10/2017 at 11:24 PM, EddCh said:

 

I believe it's supposed to be a forthcoming module for Luminar – which means the DAM element has not been released yet (scheduled for 2018 AFAIK), even though the PC beta of Luminar has been released.

 

*think of it as a DAM 'persona' for their version of AP (i.e. Luminar). 

 

Well, Serif could actually create a paid DAM persona for affinity photo and just the ones interested could buy it. There's no reason to have another program when they have the perfect one for the job. I've decided I'm going to wait for Serif, money and time are very tight right now and I can't start playing with different software. I may not like it, but I'll use adobe's DNG converter and work with Lightroom until Affinity's DAM comes. I hope it's worth it.

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10 minutes ago, ivanhurba said:

 

Well, Serif could actually create a paid DAM persona for affinity photo and just the ones interested could buy it. There's no reason to have another program when they have the perfect one for the job. I've decided I'm going to wait for Serif, money and time are very tight right now and I can't start playing with different software. I may not like it, but I'll use adobe's DNG converter and work with Lightroom until Affinity's DAM comes. I hope it's worth it.

 

In case you’re a Mac / iOS user and only need a simple DAM that works well with Affinity for editing, then Apple Photos is actually a solid and free solution. (Well, you might need to pay for more iCloud storage depending on if you want to use the iCloud Photo Library and how many photos you want to store in the cloud). 

 

I used that combination for a long time and only switched to Lightroom because of Apple’s very limited Metadata and filtering options etc.

Check out my site: https://five.photos

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13 minutes ago, ivanhurba said:

Well, Serif could actually create a paid DAM persona for affinity photo and just the ones interested could buy it.

I am not sure that would be very practical, if for no other reason than Affinity's native file format would have to support whatever DAM features that Persona would provide. That means changing the file format for everybody. Otherwise, there would be different versions of the format that users who did not buy the Persona could not use.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.0 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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On 10/29/2017 at 1:09 AM, AshTeriyaki said:

FWIW, I don’t think Affinity should release their own DAM. It’s a saturated market and besides a handful of companies, this software often seems to be produced by one man outfits. I’m not sure there’s enough money in it.

 

It’d be smarter to outreach to other developers and ask them to add the Affinity format. Something that can be done with a few phonecalls and a PowerPoint deck.

 

I disagree. I think if they would release a great looking and fast working DAM today, they would “sell out” immediately.

 

Basically, they just need to build a new, better and faster Lightroom / Aperture from scratch, like they did for Photoshop with Affinity Photo, add a cloud solution and boom... we have a product. I know that this is not a simple task, but it can be done!

 

A new DAM with the power of Lightroom Classic (but fast), the cloud features of Lightroom CC (yes, I think any forward thinking DAM program should have an optional cloud integration and a companion mobile app), and the speed, look and feel of Affinity Photo would be hard to beat by anyone. I’m 100% sure it would attract tons of paying customers. 

 

And it would complement Affinity Photo so well. If I’d be their product manager, I’d suggest to keep all the editing features in Affinity Photo and just develop a separate DAM that does only asset management. Adobe’s approach with some editing options built into Lightroom and others only available in Photoshop just doesn’t make sense to me. 

 

In other news: More than a week later, Affinity has still not responded to the initial question of this thread. Amazing!

Check out my site: https://five.photos

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21 minutes ago, Five said:

I disagree. I think if they would release a great looking and fast working DAM today, they would sell out immediately.

How can any company that distributes software electronically "sell out" of it?

21 minutes ago, Five said:

Basically, they just need to build a new, better and faster Lightroom / Aperture from scratch, like they did for Photoshop with Affinity Photo, add a cloud solution and boom... we have a product. I know that this not a simple task at all, but it can be done!

The first Affinity app, Affinity Designer for Mac, was the result of five years of development effort. It took about two more years just to port it to Windows (& there are still some issues that need to be sorted out before the Windows version performs equally well as the Mac one). Affinity Photo built on the original AD development effort, using the same 'core' code, but it took a couple of years more before the raster filters & other features specific to the app were developed well enough to release it.

 

There is no reason to think developing the features specific to a DAM & integrating them with the two existing apps could be done any quicker. Adding integrated cloud support would complicate things even more, or even that making it all run faster than apps that have been in development far longer than the Affinity apps have existed would be feasible without pushing back the product release for years more.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.0 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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1 hour ago, R C-R said:

How can any company that distributes software electronically "sell out" of it?

 

They can’t. It was a metaphor. 

 

Quote

The first Affinity app, Affinity Designer for Mac, was the result of five years of development effort. It took about two more years just to port it to Windows (& there are still some issues that need to be sorted out before the Windows version performs equally well as the Mac one). Affinity Photo built on the original AD development effort, using the same 'core' code, but it took a couple of years more before the raster filters & other features specific to the app were developed well enough to release the app.

 

There is no reason to think developing the features specific to a DAM & integrating them with the two existing apps could be done any quicker. Adding integrated cloud support would complicate things even more, or even that making it all run faster than apps that have been in development far longer than the Affinity apps have existed would be feasible without pushing back the product release for years more.

 

I get your point, I really do. And I know it’s hard, really hard, and time consuming. But I never asked Affinity for a timeline or the like. I am simply wondering if they are developing something (as previously mentioned in these forums) or not (as some recent twitter posts suggest). 

 

Look, I would be thrilled if Apple would pick up their old Aperture, modernize the whole damn thing and keep it under active development again. But I don’t think that this is going to happen. Apple forgot about the photo enthusiasts and professionals. And Adobe’s paths with Lightroom and Photoshop are just so confusing to me. 

 

That’s why I hoped Affinity would step in. I like their way of thinking and their commitment to the photography community and mobile platforms (AP for iPad is just killer!). Every product they released so far is just awesome (maybe minus the RAW development module in AP). So when I read about them working on a DAM about 2 years ago, I was excited and thought: that’s gonna be it! Now I don’t know what to think anymore because they leave us in the dark. 

Check out my site: https://five.photos

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18 hours ago, Five said:

 

I get your point, I really do. And I know it’s hard, really hard, and time consuming. But I never asked Affinity for a timeline or the like. I am simply wondering if they are developing something (as previously mentioned in these forums) or not (as some recent twitter posts suggest). 

 

Look, I would be thrilled if Apple would pick up their old Aperture, modernize the whole damn thing and keep it under active development again. But I don’t think that this is going to happen. Apple forgot about the photo enthusiasts and professionals. And Adobe’s paths with Lightroom and Photoshop are just so confusing to me. 

 

That’s why I hoped Affinity would step in. I like their way of thinking and their commitment to the photography community and mobile platforms (AP for iPad is just killer!). Every product they released so far is just awesome (maybe minus the RAW development module in AP). So when I read about them working on a DAM about 2 years ago, I was excited and thought: that’s gonna be it! Now I don’t know what to think anymore because they leave us in the dark. 

I have to second your thoughts!

Their talking about a DAM being in development made me buy AP and supporting the company that way. I would hate to start my search for a longterm Aperture switch from scratch...

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  • 1 month later...

I bought Affinity Photo partly because of it being a Photoshop replacement but also because they were originally talking of developing a DAM. However I find Affinity does not suit me and I prefer Luminar from MacPhun (now SkyLum). MacPhun had also promised a DAM in their previous version (and didn't deliver!). So I use Lightroom as a DAM (only) as I much prefer Luminar (and Aurora HDR) as my processing tools. Lightroom is an excellent DAM but not so good for image processing and though there are other Library/DAM apps in the market, they cannot match Lightroom in my opinion.

 

My issue is the Adobe business model and I will not sign up to a subscription service, so if the current desktop version of Lightroom ceases to be supported, I will be left high and dry. MacPhun are now stating publicly that they will deliver a DAM for Luminar during 2018 and if it is nearly as good as Lightroom I will jump ship. If, in the meantime Affinity developed a DAM I would look at that as a serious alternative but I fear they are way behind the curve and that will loose them a lot of custom to MacPhun.

 

Finally it is worth noting that although people bandy the acronym DAM about a lot, very few actually specify what they want from such a system. I have tried most of the digital asset management systems on the market and I have to say that none can match my requirements. Lightroom's library features (including the use of publish and export plugins) are excellent.

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@PhilHurd +1

 

I have given up on the idea of an Affinity DAM and switched to Lightroom in the meantime, too. I also use Luminar for most of my post-processing needs these days. However, Affinity Photo certainly will stay in my toolbox as a Photoshop replacement, which it is ideal for in my opinion. By combining Lightroom, Luminar and Affinity I created a very powerful workflow that matches my needs.

 

Honestly, at this point, I don't even want Affinity to build a DAM anymore.

 

I also made peace with Adobe's subscription model. Frankly, I don't think it's expensive at all for what I get from Lightroom. And I love the direction the all-new Lightroom CC is heading. For me, a cloud is essential and Adobe's new approach fits my needs perfectly. Right now I am using Lightroom Classic, though. But as soon as Adobe integrates smart folders (aka smart collections), plugin support for external photo editors like Luminar and Affinity, and more metadata options into Lightroom CC, I will switch to the new solution. 

 

Luminar would have to build an excellent DAM for me to jump ship.

Check out my site: https://five.photos

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I agree with most of what you say, though I have no need of the Cloud or Lightroom's processing functionality, apart from the occasional crop that is. MacPhun (SkyLum) would indeed have to build an excellent DAM to compete with Lightroom. I see a lot of posts on Social Media about DAMs and many users seem to use Apple Photos, which to me is a pretty dire bit of software. I like the ability to send my original RAW files (not TIFFs) to Luminar/Aurora HDR (and back), publish direct to Flickr and the like and drag & drop images into a hierarchical Collections structure. I also appreciate that Lightroom doesn't litter my hard drive with XMP files as lots of other library apps do.

 

The only thing that used to bug me about Lightroom was not being able to make the Library Panes wider, that is until I discovered this man . . . . http://regex.info/blog/2007-03-13/395

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Whilst I would like to keep it in the Affinity family, I have a 200K+ Aperture photo library running on Macs that will ultimately need upgrading so cannot wait indefinitely for a pro level DAM. 

 

I have tried many of the alternatives and, sadly, nothing seems to come even remotely close to my needs. 

 

If Luminar and its forthcoming DAM module lives up to and delivers on their hype then great. The price is affordable and fair – but the fact that their EULA permits installation on up to five computers is a big plus. 

 

However, Aperture has had a new lease of life since High Sierra was released. I've had the opportunity to test my main Aperture library on the latest MacBook Pro models and it runs very smoothly. I've now updated all my Macs to High Sierra and they're all running Aperture with no issues as yet. Looks like Apple has bought some extra time for Aperture. 

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25 minutes ago, PhilHurd said:

I see a lot of posts on Social Media about DAMs and many users seem to use Apple Photos, which to me is a pretty dire bit of software. I like the ability to send my original RAW files (not TIFFs) to Luminar/Aurora HDR (and back), publish direct to Flickr and the like and drag & drop images into a hierarchical Collections structure. I also appreciate that Lightroom doesn't litter my hard drive with XMP files as lots of other library apps do.

1

 

With the newest version of Photos it's possible to send original RAW files directly to Luminar or Affinity for further editing. That said, whatever you do, don't switch to Photos! That's where I came from after Apple lost some of my photos in their iCloud Photo Library. Lightroom is a much more robust solution. The new Lightroom CC looks and behaves a lot like a better version of Photos anyways.

Check out my site: https://five.photos

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