Can Linearity replace all Adobe apps?

What's included in a free Linearity subscription?

Can Linearity replace all Adobe apps? Picture 1

Linearity - formerly Vectornator - is a free design software. There are two separate programs available together: Linearity Curve, an illustration and vector drawing application; Linearity Move, animation software. Both are available for Mac and iPad OS, aimed at designers and casual users who love design.

In both Move and Curve, you can integrate files from other software, like Figma, Adobe or Sketch. Like the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, users can create animations, social media posts and digital ads, illustrations, and create marketing and branding content.

Free Starter plan users are limited to only being able to edit the three most recent projects. There are no collaboration tools, application support is not a priority, and export formats and resolutions are limited. Free users also cannot export as SVG or PDF and are limited to a resolution of 1024 x 1024 pixels.

The Pro plan costs $9.99/month for an annual plan or $14.99 for a monthly plan. The Pro plan includes everything in the free plan with the benefits of unlimited projects, more export options, collaboration tools, and priority support.

Can Linearity replace Adobe apps?

Is Linearity as good as all Adobe apps combined? Can your entire Adobe workflow be migrated to Linearity Move and Curve?

Image processing

Can Linearity replace all Adobe apps? Picture 2

Adobe Photoshop is a program used to process images. Including the integration of AI tools, Photoshop has earned a leading position in digital design software and image processing capabilities.

Linearity Curve's image processing options are quite limited by comparison. While it is possible to use Auto Trace to turn rasters into vectors and edit with Node tools, there are no tools to directly edit images or raster images.

Linearity has layers and blend options, so even though it can't handle raster images, you can still edit and merge images in a variety of ways. Linearity also boasts a background removal tool suitable for isolating subjects in images.

In terms of image processing capabilities, Adobe Photoshop wins Linearity.

Create animations

Can Linearity replace all Adobe apps? Picture 3

Adobe offers After Effects and Premiere Pro for video and animation, as well as the ability to create animations in Photoshop. Linearity Move is an animation tool that works in tandem with Linearity Curve.

With Linearity Move, you can animate vector graphics as well as raster images, rivaling both Photoshop and After Effects in terms of offerings. Linearity Move for iPad is a great animation tool, while Adobe doesn't have a native app on the iPad.

The ability to switch between iPad and Mac to create animations is very useful. You can also easily access your content from Linearity Curve using Linearity Cloud - both online and offline.

It is not possible to add audio to animations in Linearity Move at the time of writing. It looks like this will be a future feature, but until then, it's still possible to create incredible animations using the Auto Animate tool and manual editing features.

Linearity Move offers all that is needed to create animation for free, especially for hobbyists, and its ever-improving tools could eventually be as powerful as Adobe After Effects. Although it is less powerful, Linearity Move's capabilities are comparable to the animation services of Adobe After Effects and better than the tools in Adobe Photoshop.

Video

Unfortunately, Linearity Move focuses more on animation than video design. In most cases, Adobe Premiere Pro is usually at the top when it comes to video editing tools.

If you want to use Linearity and maintain a free workflow that includes video editing capabilities, Capcut is similar to Premiere Pro and is a great free option.

Vector drawing

Can Linearity replace all Adobe apps? Picture 4

The biggest advantage of Linearity is that it provides vector drawing and design tools. This is comparable to Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Fresco - one of Adobe's free apps - but Linearity stands out as a free design app available on both Mac and iPad.

For easy vector design, Linearity Curve provides the standard and expected tools you'll need: Pen; Pencil; Node tool (similar to Illustrator's Direct Selection tool); Brush; Shapes and Shape Builder. All of these tools are available in Illustrator for desktop, and some are available in Adobe Fresco for iPad.

Using Linearity on both Mac and iPad creates a seamless workflow where you can draw and edit your vector designs from wherever it makes the most sense.

It's possible to replace Adobe's vector drawing workflow with Linearity and take advantage of the benefits of using the same program across multiple platforms.

Layout design

Can Linearity replace all Adobe apps? Picture 5

For layout design and publishing, Adobe offers InDesign. Adobe Express can also be used for digital publishing such as online posters, PDF documents, or social media layouts.

Printed documents can be easily designed using Linearity Curve. The layout tools are similar, allowing for great layout designs for a variety of uses. There are masking tools for placing images, text tools, layout and layer tools, and more.

If you're comparing Linearity Curve to InDesign in terms of layout design, Adobe InDesign takes the lead thanks to its more intuitive tools. However, if you compare Linearity Curve with Adobe Express, they are comparable in terms of design. The Adobe layout design process can be replaced with Linearity, depending on the use case.

AI features

Can Linearity replace all Adobe apps? Picture 6

In the world of ever-evolving AI tools, graphic design software is also expected to have at least a few AI features. Adobe software implements AI using Adobe Firefly, including integrations such as vector recoloring, text animation, and generative vector AI.

While Adobe's AI features are interesting, many of them seem trivial and are more entertaining than supporting serious graphic design. Adobe Express has a lot of AI tools; but not all of them can yield useful results.

Linearity has some AI features that are more practical and time-saving than just novel and fun. Linearity Curve's background removal tool uses AI very successfully; Its only downside is that it's difficult to edit the selection if the tool makes a mistake.

Linearity Move's Auto Animate feature uses AI to apply animation to content. This can save time animating social media content or GIFs, and it's still possible to edit the resulting animation to fine-tune it.

Auto Trace is also an AI feature included in Curve. The most similar is Adobe Illustrator's Image Trace function, which allows changing images from raster to vector. Auto Trace can convert raster sketches, photos or illustrations into beautiful, smooth vectors instantly.

While Adobe software offers more AI tools, Linearity's smaller offerings appear to be more useful in use cases. Most designers do not rely solely on AI features, so it can be said that Adobe can be replaced with Linearity to use AI.

Overall, Linearity's free version offers many features that can replace Adobe. If you're looking to cut down on service subscription fees, you should try replacing Adobe apps with Linearity Curve and Move. If you feel limited by the free plan, Linearity's Pro plan is much more affordable than Adobe's cheapest subscription plan. Unless you are a professional designer who needs Adobe capabilities, Linearity is the perfect tool to replace most Adobe applications.

Kareem Winters

Update 04 June 2024