Author Topic: Alternatives to Indesign  (Read 4636 times)

Re: Alternatives to Indesign
« Reply #25 on: 15 December, 2018, 12:50:07 pm »
I wonder if that is your solution: obtaining an (older) offline version.

We bought a new computer in 2017. I duly installed my pre-rental copy of Photoshop. When you open the program for the first time you have to register it with Adobe otherwise it will only work for 30 days. I had all my details to hand onĂ´y to discover that Adobe has now shut down the registration server, so we cannot use our Photoshop - we can but only by not disposing of our old computer - and I suspect that would be the fly in the ointment also for a pre-rental copy of InDesign.

Really old versions, like Photoshop 7, don't need online registration.

But I recommend open source alternatives (eg Gimp) and also open file formats.

Re: Alternatives to Indesign
« Reply #26 on: 25 December, 2018, 02:26:14 pm »
Affinity have a 20% off Christmas sale on atm.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Alternatives to Indesign
« Reply #27 on: 09 April, 2020, 05:40:26 pm »
Wasn't sure where to pu this, but here seemed as good as any.

https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/supporting-the-creative-community/

During the pandemic, Affinity are offering 90day free trials of their software, and 50% off if you do buy it.

Affinity Photo - not as powerful as Photoshop, but who cares, no one uses all the Photoshop stuff
Affinity Designer - way, way better than Illustrator in terms of ease of use.
Affinity Publisher - not as all-encompassing as InDesign, but pretty damn good.

I have no connection with Affinity, just a pissed off almost ex-user of Curative Suite.
It is simpler than it looks.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Alternatives to Indesign
« Reply #28 on: 09 April, 2020, 05:50:21 pm »
Affinity Photo - not as powerful as Photoshop, but who cares, no one uses all the Photoshop stuff

I have come to truly hate Photoshop. The latest version is so bloated that I have to shut down every other app on my computer before I can even open it.

Funny thing is that since I started this thread, I realised that my work CC account allows two logins, so I obviously use one for the office and one for home. Or, in current circumstances, one for the desktop, one for the laptop.

Worth knowing about Affinity for if/when that situation changes though. Will try Affinity Photo anyway, to see if its less of a pain in the arse than Photoshop. :thumbsup:
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

ian

Re: Alternatives to Indesign
« Reply #29 on: 09 April, 2020, 06:50:09 pm »
I have Affinity and CC, so use (or have used them) them back-to-back.

I prefer Affinity by a factor of about 1000. I rarely use CS these days, it just annoys me. Everything is clunky and slow. I'm not nostalgic about 2002-era computing and UX design. The only consolation is that it isn't Adobe Acrobat.

But there's still some a significant number of features in CS that aren't yet in Affinity products (to be expected, considering the relative ages of the products), and if you've a specific workflow that requires CS components or plugins, that might be limiting.

I honestly can't say what has changed between Pagemaker 6.5 and InDesign whereitistoday, other than crap like liquid layout which I figure is used by about half a dozen people (and stuff to make the sort of XML that makes your brain bleed). It's an easy move to Affinity Publisher, it's pretty much all the same concepts, but everything is a lot more fluid. I've done a fair amount of high-end print stuff and it's all come out perfect.

Much the same for Illustrator to Affinity Designer.

I did find the leap from Photoshop to Affinity Photo a bit tougher, the latter has a slightly different way of doing things which chafes against two decades of Photoshop inculcation, so requires a bit more of a learning curve and occasional so that's how you do it.

They also avoid the Adobe way of doing things, and work as you'd expect a Mac or Windows application to work.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Alternatives to Indesign
« Reply #30 on: 10 April, 2020, 09:50:20 am »
One thing to bear in mind is that Affinity Designer handles pdf files really well, better than anything Adobe do.
It is simpler than it looks.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Alternatives to Indesign
« Reply #31 on: 10 April, 2020, 10:41:36 am »
I use Affinity Designer and Photo and think they're great - but I'm a long-time user of Serif products, and have always liked them. I've never used Photoshop or InDesign. I have used Gimp and still have no idea how it works!

I have just got hold of the Adobe Substance suite for material development (in my case for flight simulator graphics), but as yet have no real idea how it works. But it's free on an educational subscription.

Afasoas

Re: Alternatives to Indesign
« Reply #32 on: 08 May, 2020, 02:02:36 am »
I get by doing most of my stuff in Inkscape. It's really a vector graphics program (illustrator alternative) but I've laid up some fairly reasonably leaflets and flyers with it.
It's open source and there are ports available for Windows and macOS.