Affinity Photo is also a raster-based photo editor with editing and manipulation tools. In my opinion, this software is really the first premium Photoshop alternative to go toe-to-toe with the dominant Adobe flagship product. Today, the Affinity Photo software is available for Windows and MAC machines as well as for the iPad, but is not available for Linux machines at the time of this article. Affinity Photo IntroductionĪffinity Photo, on the other hand, was first launched in 2015 by Serif, a private British software developer, essentially as a rebrand of an earlier software known as “Photo Plus,” which was originally released in 1999 and retired in 2017. Though GIMP is a standalone software, it works well in conjunction with other free and open source software like Inkscape, Scribus, Darktable, and Blender, to name a few.

It’s a free and open source program, which means it’s developed and supported by a decentralized, worldwide community of developers and users like you or me. GIMP is primarily a raster-based photo editor, with all the tools you need to professionally edit and retouch photos from start to finish, and also includes plenty of tools for creating graphic design compositions or photo manipulations. The GIMP program itself has been around since 1996 when it was created as a free software alternative to Photoshop for Linux operating systems, and is currently available for Windows, MAC, and Linux machines. In fact, May 17 th of 2021 will be the 10-year anniversary of my YouTube channel! GIMP is primarily a raster-based photo editor and uses common editing tools like the Levels tool (pictured above). GIMP IntroductionĪs many of you know I have been using GIMP, a free and open source photo editor, for over a decade now, and have been creating tutorials for the software since 2011.

So let’s start with a quick introduction to the two programs, starting with GIMP.

Affinity designer photo editing