SwitchPad
A migration assistant that converts Photoshop PSD files into editable Affinity or Pixelmator projects and recreates your most-used actions and presets so designers can leave Adobe without losing their work.
Designers and illustrators actively leaving Adobe Photoshop for Affinity Photo or Pixelmator Pro
- Batch PSD-to-Affinity/Pixelmator converter that preserves layers, groups, and common layer styles
- Action-to-macro converter that records Photoshop actions and exports them as native new-app macros
- Preset and brush migration for custom brushes, swatches, and gradients
- Side-by-side cheat sheet mapping old Photoshop menu locations to the new app's locations
Designer backlash against Adobe (subscription traps, malware-like updaters, web-based UI breakage) is reaching a public tipping point, and concrete migration tooling is still nearly nonexistent.
Adobe backlash is genuine and widely covered (Fstoppers, Creative Bloq, esign.ai), but the source HN thread has only 3 points / 0 comments and Affinity/Pixelmator already ship native PSD import that handles most files.Why Creatives Are Abandoning Adobe in 2025 | Fstoppers ↗How to open a PSD file in Affinity ↗
Whitespace is narrow: Affinity's official import handles PSDs with layers, smart objects, adjustments and color profiles; Pixelmator Pro v2.1.3 explicitly rewrote its PSD engine; and open-source tools like atntools already convert Photoshop actions.Importing Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator documents - Affinity Help Center ↗Pixelmator Pro Rewrites PSD Engine ↗atntools: Convert Photoshop action files ↗
Tough to monetize: the destination tool (Affinity Studio) is now 100% free under Canva, capping willingness to pay; designers are already saving money, and the work is fundamentally a one-time migration rather than recurring.Canva's Big Move: Affinity Studio Now Free to Use ↗Adobe's User Backlash ↗
The Adobe-to-Affinity flow is a structural multi-year shift, but a migration assistant is largely a one-shot purchase — once the install base has moved, the market collapses rather than renewing.Why Creatives Are Abandoning Adobe in 2025 | Fstoppers ↗
PSD parsing is documented but mapping Photoshop action steps (hundreds of operators, blending modes, layer styles) onto Affinity macros and Pixelmator equivalents is genuinely hard and must be maintained as both apps evolve.Importing Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator documents - Affinity Help Center ↗atntools: Convert Photoshop action files ↗