Vulcan

Well. today I tried to use the Brush tool for retouching during raw development. Help files left me completely frustrated; this tool to that panel to some tab to some kind of menu and back again… Finally, I imported the raw file into Aperture (limping along on Catalina thanks to Retroactive app) and used the Spot & Patch tool to quickly fix the problem. An important difference is that Aperture's Spot & Patch is found in one adjustment panel. Tools (adjustments, controls) in Affinity Photo seem to be scattered by comparison. "Overhaul" could mean different things to different people (e.g., I stopped using Photoshop when Aperture 1.5 was released) but I would like to see Affinity Photo's instrumentalities consolidated. Short of that, help files could be improved by showing pictures of items in context, instead of just an icon that leaves the user searching for pieces of the interface, which may vary depending on persona.

I think this problem was solved in a previous version, but… it's back! Files from the old Sony DSC F-828 are a bit odd, and Apple has dropped them from CoreImage, but some other raw engines can develop them fairly well. The attached files show the problem. 'Camera.jpg' is a jpeg straight from the camera with no adjustments. 'None.jpg' is from the corresponding raw file, developed by the Affinity raw engine with no adjustments. 'Adjust.jpg' has white balance altered to produce better skin tone; exposure and highlights adjusted (if the tone curve is applied the highlights are completely blown out). Even with these adjustments some colors are clearly not right, and I'm not happy with the highlights. Any ideas?

Yes, the .SRF files look good with the 1.7.1 update. White balance is slightly cooler than the output of the Apple engine (which seems to me to be a bit too warm). Thanks!

FWIW, the same color shift appears if .SRF files are converted to .DNG files, and then opened with the Serif Raw engine…

Raw files from Sony DSC-F828 camera appear to have weird colors using the Serif raw engine in Photos 1.7.0 and seem even weirder if the Develop Assistant applies a tone Curve. White balance adjustments in Photo help a bit but cannot correct the problem. Raw files from Sony DSC-F828 camera are OK using the Apple raw engine in Photos with or without the tone Curve. Attached files are the original camera raw file, an exported JPEG file from the Serif raw engine with no tone curve and another with the tone curve applied by the Develop Assistant. No other adjustments. Ditto for the Apple raw engine, for comparison. DSC00024.SRF