MEK

You know, it just occurred to me that I should be able to do what I want by using an inside stroke. This wouldn't give me all the flexibility I'm looking for since I'd also like to add a drop shadow to set the image apart a bit from the matting (to visually look like you had glued the photo down onto a piece of cardboard or something like that). But at least it would be a start.... So I used the 'Outline' effect from the effect panel, adding a white inside-aligned outline. But the outline doesn't show up on the photo! I can create a new solid color filled layer and add the inside outline effect and it shows up, but it doesn't show up on the cropped photo.... But then I rasterized the photo layer and suddenly the inside outline effect showed up. So, I think I'm again bumping up against the non destructive workflow issue...And I'm not finding it as helpful as I would have thought...

Hi MBd! Hey, thank you so much for the video! How nice of you! I like your idea, but it leaves an uneven border. Since the image isn't square, when it's resized proportionally, the sides don't resize by equally amounts. You can see on your video that the resulting border is thicker on the sides than it is on the top and bottom.... Hmmm.... still thinking! Thank you so much! Mary

Ok! Thanks for the explanation! Yeah, I'm looking to add a colored matte around my photos. The easiest way I've found to do this is to enlarge the canvas and then add a colored layer underneath. So that was what I was trying to accomplish. Working from your idea, I've found another way. First add another layer. Then, instead of cropping, do a selection outline, then invert the selection and delete. That can work to give space around the photo but doesn't guarantee that that space is even all around... So I'll probably stick with the Rasterize Layer method MikefromMesa suggested... But thanks again for your input...! Mary

Hi again! MikefromMesa, thank you so much for the suggestion about rasterizing the layer. That worked beautifully! MBd, thank you for your input too! I was thinking that the issue had to have something to do with the non-destructive editing. But I couldn't find the preference to turn that feature off. And I'm not sure what you mean by 'clip the image'. In fact, I have to say that the use of the 'Clip' and 'Unclip' commands remain a bit confusing to me. I've used the Clip to remove transparent pixels from around a photo. But when I use either of these commands on my cropped image, the cropped portion reappears. So, could you please give me more details on what you mean by 'you could clip the image and if it´s not the base layer I guess it won´t effect the canvas and you can separately resize them.'? Thanks again for all of your help! Mary

Hi, I'm having some trouble resizing (enlarging) the canvas after I've already cropped an image. When I do the resize (enlargement) using the Document>Resize Canvas command, I would think that I would get a blank (or maybe colored using the primary color swatch) around or to the side of the photo but instead I get back some of the area of the photo that I've cropped away. Does that make sense to anyone? Is that how it's supposed to work? Thanks. Mary

Hi MEB, Thanks for your response! And sorry I have taken so long to get back...been traveling! Anyway, back to the trimming issue! I thought that the clip canvas command should do what you said, but it doesn't seem to be working that way. Anyway, I'm attaching 2 afphoto files... Lucy1 is the "original" file, although note that this file was cropped earlier in the editing process. If I use either the clip or unclip canvas command on this, an uneven transparent border is added that corresponds to the area that I cropped away earlier. You can see this effect in Lucy3. Using the clip or unclip command again doesn't remove this area. Lucy2 is that same file, but with a transparent border added by resizing canvas. If I use the Clip Canvas command on this, nothing happens. Hope this helps and thanks for your help! Lucy1.afphoto Lucy2.afphoto Lucy3.afphoto

Hi Mike, I don't know if this helps, but I tried to reproduce the problem you're having and I couldn't. I opened a raw file, made some changes to it and then saved it as an afphoto image. I then re-opened the raw file and, with that still open, reopened the afphoto image. No problem. And when I closed them, no crashing. But I also noticed that the afphoto image file created from a raw file seems unusually big in terms of MB. So, if I open a 10.8 MB raw file in AFP, develop it and then save it as an afphoto image file, the afphoto image file is 115 MB. That's a lot bigger than when the file is brought into Photoshop and then saved as a PSD file (36.7 MB). So maybe there's something going on in RAW development that makes the file big. And, along with that, maybe you're running into resource issues? The raw file that I used came from my Nikon S300s and since that's an older camera-it's 12.3 MP-the raw files are smaller than the ones you may be using. Thoughts on that? Good luck! Mary

Can anyone give me some thoughts on this? Thanks!

Can I add a way to trim transparent from around photos (in Photoshop, that's Image>Trim) to the list?

Hello, I was looking for a way to trim away the transparent areas around a photo. I read on the Affinity Designer board that the command Document>Clip Canvas command does this. So to test that, I added a transparent area around my photo using the Document>Resize Canvas command. Original Photo: Photo with resized canvas to add transparent border: Then I used the Document>Clip Canvas command to try to remove the transparent border, but noting happened. The transparent border was still there. (I also tried Document>Unclip Canvas just to see...but again nothing happened.) Photo with resized canvas after Clip Canvas command: I then un-did the Resize command to remove the Transparent border. And then I did the Document>Clip Canvas again. This time, it added an uneven transparent area around my image. Original photo again: Photo after Clip Canvas command: I realized that the added area corresponded to an area I had cropped away earlier in the editing process. With overlay showing area trimmed in earlier crop: Is that supposed to happen? So I'm not sure what either the Document>Clip Canvas or the Document>Unclip Canvas commands do. Can you please explain? And is there a way to trim transparent pixels from around an image? Thanks! Mary

Gear Maker! Perfect! That's exactly what I'm looking for! Thank you so much! Mary

Hi! Is there a way to see the size in pixels of the object that you are transforming? And the x,y coordinates of the object on the canvas? Thanks! Mary

I've moved my comment here to a new post...

Are you making that comment toward me? And what exactly is that supposed to mean? You know nothing about me or my problems so shut it. And obviously the horizon is level. But my question is how is that effectively any different than a straighten tool. And BTW, I do use a tripod and a level. But reality is that photos don't always turn out level, especially when you are shooting fast. I don't need you making nasty comments. You know nothing about my skill as a photographer, so keep your critique to yourself. I'm not asking for it and I don't need it. I thought that this forum was about trouble shooting the software and making suggestions about features. And that's exactly what I'm doing. If that's not the point, I'll be happy to sign off.

I don't think I've heard of a horizon tool. Is it different than a straighten tool?