Affinity set to rival InDesign - with their version called Publisher

That's a stumbling block for sure. I'd make it clear that you use Affinity primarily from the outset. And if they request Illustrator files that would be an added cost. However, if at the outset they want you to use Illustrator then you should of course use that.

Yeah, not too sure I'd do that, as most people have Adobe stuck in their head so much that they may think "if you don't use Adobe software, you can't be all that professional, as professional designers obviously only use Adobe products. I'll find a designer that specialises in Adobe" That's just me foreshadowing a likely conversation in that scenario.

End of the day, I just don't think it's worth the hassle of trying to persuading clients or companies about Affinity. No, harm in mentioning it and the money companies can save (assuming they have even upgraded to CC, as a lot of companies still use CS like myself). I also think it would take more than just one designer suggesting to make the switch for it to even really be considered. Designers are generally used to and comfortable working with Adobe, it is the industry standard, companies have it, so I can't imagine they'd care about saving the company money in order to support my suggestion.

I remember switching from Quark to InDesign, it took about 2 years to convert over. But it was totally worth it.

Absolutely, I quite liked using Quark Express back in the day but InDesign is superior. I found it quite easy and quick to switch over, it was almost natural.
 
At the end of the day - there has been a massive cryout for a competitor to Adobe. And it's here, it's Affinity.

Smaller companies and individuals will start using it as it's cheaper. And the more that make the switch it will gently filter to larger organisations.

I hear what you're saying though.
 
Yeah but there has always been cheaper alternatives to Adobe, they may not be as good as Affinity or Adobe but they could still do a job. Yet, not even small companies used them, none that I know of anyway...

When I open my own little design studio, I will be using Affinity, no doubt. I'll have it written in my contract and T's & C's to safeguard me from such issues.
 
You hit the nail on the head - cheaper alternatives, but not as good.

Affinity looks like a fierce rival to compete with them.
 
Well, that's the thing. I worry about switching over to Affinity and then a client requesting the .Ai files, which they do ask for occasionally and I have no problem with sending them. If I have created the artwork in Affinity, I'd have to recreate it in .AI in order to provide the client with their requested file.

I just send them a PDF, should be more than good enough. If they want the Affinity file they can have it but I'm pretty much done with AI now. It may sound arrogant but they've got the final outcome and a PDF file they can edit, if they don't have a native AI version, well that's just too bad.
 
Unless a PDF is made in Illustrator with preserve editing capabilites, then it shouldn't ever really be opened in another program.

In short, Illustrator is not an all round PDF editor at all. Opening PDFs in Illustrator can cause huge problems.
 
I've been looking for alternatives to Adobe for years, with InDesign being basically the last bit I'm still using exclusively. So if Affinity would release an alternative to that I'd gladly try it out. I've already begun switching over to Sketch and Affinity Designer to replace Illustrator (still keep CS6 around for legacy) but try to start new projects in Affinity or Sketch depending on their type. There are still a couple of features missing when compared to Illustrator, but then again there are a couple of things where Affinity is clearly better as well. However, as they're so cheap, if you're a professional designer I'd say it's worth the cost of getting them just to try them out if it's a chance you'll avoid a lifetime Adobe CC subscription.

As for formats, I think exporting to pdf is probably enough for most projects. More interesting I think is the SVG support that is more "native" in Sketch and Affinity. While it's not a replacement for pdf for print applications, I think svg might be a better candidate for a future standard for at least screen-based illustration and vector graphics.
 
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