Steep learning curve?

[wiredbambi]

Hi everyone

I'm thinking of moving to Affinity Designer & Photo after using Serif Draw Plus 8 and Photo Plus 8 for around 10 years (and still learning to use it!)

I can see there are now workbooks and tutorials plus other resources (brushes etc) for Affinity which is great and makes it a viable and cost effective alternative to Photoshop/Illustrator.

I'm wondering how similar Affinity is to Serif 8 and if it's going to be a steep learning curve for me?  I am getting ready to launch digital download sales (printable paper/tags etc) and don't want to spend weeks learning new software, but I've read that .dpp and .spp files aren't compatible with Affinity so I probably need to make the switch now before I create too many files.

Any advice appreciated and thanks in advance

Joanne

[Gabe]

Hi @wiredbambi,

Welcome to the forums. 

Only you can tell how steep the curve as it really depends on how fast you learn new things. The Affinity suite is a completely redesigned software. The best way to test it would give our trial a go:

http://affin.co/designertrial

http://affin.co/phototrial

Thanks,

Gabe. 

[IanSG]

17 hours ago, wiredbambi said:

I'm wondering how similar Affinity is to Serif 8 and if it's going to be a steep learning curve for me? 

I think the main problem of starting photo editing is that you don't know what you're trying to achieve, so you don't know where to start.   If you're already an experienced user of any photo editing program you've a good idea of what you're looking for, so it's just a question of knowing where to find it.  AP's a bigger beast than PhotoPlus, and it looks like the UI has been designed to appeal mainly to PhotoShop users, but it's still (mostly ) consistent and sensible.  This video by DrippyCat is a good one to get you started, as are his other videos.  

[wiredbambi]

Thanks very much for your replies, I've had a look at a few DrippyCat videos and will look at the Udemy Affinity Solid Foundations etc courses if I go ahead with purchasing Affinity.

So far the screens and tools don't look too scary and it's obvious Affinity is much more flexible and powerful than Serif, so I'm feeling reassured - cheers