Five years. That’s how long it’s been since I ditched Adobe, and honestly, I sometimes wonder—what was I even thinking? Maybe it was one of those late-night work shift YouTube rabbit holes where I stumbled upon a “2 Years After Switching from Adobe” video. That got me curious… Wait a minute, when did I actually make the switch?
Checked my blog post history—oh wow, five whole years. Time flies, especially after 2020. Since then, I’ve settled into my workflow, found alternatives that just work, and—spoiler alert—haven’t looked back.
Why not Adobe? Simple. Personal reasons. Their subscription model is still annoying, and I refuse to rent software forever. Plus, Adobe’s been making headlines for all the wrong reasons—shady subscription practices, sneaky ToS updates allowing them to train AI on users’ work. Hard pass. And let’s be real, pirating software? Been there, done that. If there’s a solid free or open-source alternative, I’ll take it. If it’s a one-time purchase, even better.
Photoshop was the first to go, replaced by Serif Affinity Photo back when it was at version 1.8. Now, with version 2.x, it’s even better. One-time payment, no nonsense. When they offered a discount to upgrade, I grabbed it instantly. Affinity’s licensing model? Chef’s kiss. Pay once, use forever, upgrade when you want and if you want to newer major releases. And here’s the kicker—it’s a universal license. That means my purchase covers Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher across Windows, macOS, and iPadOS. Easily one of my best investments, right up there with my WinRAR and Unraid licenses. And would I ever switch to another photo editor? Nope. Affinity Photo handles everything I need, including PSD mockups (yes, Smart Mockups still works if you enable it). If I’m on Linux, GIMP gets the job done (long live GIMP!), and my Affinity license covers macOS, Windows, and even iPadOS.
For quick social media graphics, whether for personal use or the parish, Canva Pro does the job. Yeah, it’s a subscription, but at least it’s under the same company as Serif/Affinity, so I’ll allow it. Works great on mobile too, which is a lifesaver when I need to make a quick post on the go.
Illustrator? Still out. Affinity Designer has been my go-to for vector work since the 1.8 days, and now with version 2.x, it’s even better—all under that sweet universal license that covers Windows, macOS, and iPadOS. Between Affinity Designer and Inkscape, all my vector needs are handled. No changes there. Moving on.
Premiere Pro was the toughest to replace. Back then, Sony Vegas Pro 13 (Steam Edition) and Movavi Video Studio covered most of my editing needs. Now, there’s a new player—DaVinci Resolve. Took some time to learn, but absolutely worth it. Covers everything I need, and Fusion helps with After Effects-style work, plus the color grading? Absolute top-tier.
Adobe Reader/Acrobat? Nah. Screw them again. These days, even online PDF editors are good enough, and built-in PDF viewers in Firefox and Chromium work just fine. The only time I need something else is for special government documents (dang it), and for that, SumatraPDF is still my go-to. At worst, I’ll use a portable Adobe Reader—no installation for you on my devices.
Adobe Dreamweaver? Still no. These days, I mostly use WordPress with Elementor or WPBakery for visual design, and for actual coding, Microsoft Visual Studio Code is my weapon of choice—free, open-source, and just works. VS Code has become my main tool for work, thanks to its great Git integration and smooth workflow with PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. That being said, Notepad++ and Sublime Text (legitimately bought back in the days) are still in the toolkit when I need lightweight, quick edits.
Adobe XD? Tried it a few times, played around with Figma, Gravit Designer, and Lunacy, then realized… I don’t even need these apps. Out they go.
Oh, and let’s not forget the other Adobe apps I never touched back in the day but later discovered could actually be useful—except, of course, I found non-Adobe ways to handle them too. For instance, Adobe Audition? Never used it, because Audacity has been my go-to for audio editing since forever (and still is). Lightroom? Tried it a few times, but Darktable is my pick now for photo editing. Adobe Animate? Nah, Blender handles all my animation needs, whether it’s basic 3D stuff, personal tests (like the classic classroom or BMW benchmarks), or just messing around to see what my PC can do. And Adobe InDesign? Affinity Publisher has me covered there too—thankfully, my universal license for Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher covers Windows, macOS, and iPadOS, so it was a no-brainer.
Five long years, but hey—no Adobe in my life, no Adobe piracy, and no stupid subscriptions (except Canva Pro because eh, why knot, ya know, why not? Gotta have at least one, right?).
Would I ever go back? Highly unlikely. The software I use now does everything I need, without the baggage. Here’s to another five years—Adobe-free.
Note:This post was proofread and slightly refined with the help of OpenAI ChatGPT-4.0, Deepseek R1 and Google Gemini Advanced 1.5 Pro for clarity and style.
Cover image was created using Canva Pro and Affinity Photo.
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