After working 28 years with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and later Indesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, I am looking for alternative software for vector editing.
I stopped with Adobe at version CS6; the last physical version, which I upgrade to for 1500€ some years ago.
In my opinion the Adobe software became worse with each new version anyhow: no more books, no more context sensitive help ( by pressing F1 ), SLOW installing, slow starting and full with bugs.
I do not want to do monthly, yearly payments for ongoing new "features" that I don't need or want and software that stops working if you do not do these repeating payments.
In some cases I find older versions ( like Adobe Illustrator 10, the last version before te CS suites ) better, faster and much more comprehensive then what they make now.
So I am constantly on the look out for good alternatives.
I own Corel draw X7 which is good, but I like Corel X3 more.
Corel is really powerfull, maybe a bit too powerfull; it can do to much. I like it simple, small and clean.
And luckily there are open source alternatives like InkScape and Gimp.
But for some reason I like to buy the software, and pay the makers ( within reasonable limits, which is not the case with Adobe i.m.o.)
I recently bought Affinity Designer by Serif: https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/designer/
they are making this vector editor and also a photo editor: Affinity Photo.
Both programs sell for 54,99 euro, which is a one time payment: you never have to pay them again, all future upgrades will be free. A lifelong license so to speak.
They are working on an Indesign alternative as well.
Serif make graphics software since the early 1990 s, rather good I think their older programs are still available, for only 22,99 euro each which is a real bargain, although they will not maintain these anymore.
I also bought their Drawplus X8 ( vector editor ) and Serif Pageplus X9 ( DTP).
Both programs come in as handy extra's for my graphic work. They cannot do as much as Illustrator or Indesign ( although some things they do better, easier, faster or are not possible in the Adobe programs). But the interface is way more logical than Adobe's. Besides the Adobe programs are stocked with tons of "features" I never use or need while they take up a lot of the user interface as well as filling the postscript files with unnecessary extra information..
Another program I like a lot and is really powerfull, is XARA Designer. This powerhouse is suitable for DTP, graphic design as well as Websites, all in one package. http://www.magix.com/gb/xara-designer-pro/
This version does it all, but is not cheap. ( opens every file you can think off, is fast and really powerfull)
But if you do not want to do the websites, they have a cheaper version as well: Xara photo and graphic designer.
The only thing about XARA that I don't like is that the company is owned now by Magix in Germany, and since a year or so they do the sort of thing Adobe does: you have to renew your license each year. Difference is that the software keeps working after the year, only you do not get the latest updates or acces to the online feature anymore.
A simple experiment with Affinity Designer:
