Fujial

I've now got Acdsee. When I'm in Affinity Photo in Windows, I've liked being able to use File / Open and then being able to go anywhere in my filing system complete with decent sized icon images to choose an image and then maybe File / Place to get an image to use in my processing and then File / Export to save directly back in my filing system (often checking the nomenclature of adjacent images to help me name my masterpiece). On the Mac if I try this I'm taken to a Finder window with tiny thumbnails at best. I can 'edit with' Affinity direct from the Acdsee viewer but can't Place another image from Acdsee or Export back via Acdsee only via Finders woeful dialogue box/window. Is the Mac OS just fundamentally different in this regard so you've maybe got to work via the desktop and accept a new way or working? or do I need a windows emulator on the Mac or maybe a new laptop?

Thanks for your responses Dan C and V_kyr - I'll prob try ACDsee to see if it helps. I do miss the easy control of my file structure / management that windows offered (but not some of the other windows stuff!). Should have picked up the clue that the guy in the Apple shop, who was a photographer, used a windows emulator and external SSD! I feel a Dell coming on....

After 30+ years on Windows I took the plunge and bought an M1 Macbook Pro earlier this year – how difficult could it be to move over? At first glance I thought Photos was quite clever but when I tried to import photos and interact with Affinity and access/save files OMG…. I’d like to import images into a date based filing system from SD cards and then easily access them from Affinity and export processed images back with a related file name via a system that allows me to easily view and compare said images. I’d also like to be able to view, compare and cull images easily. At some stage I'd like to use/access an external SSD. The only way I can get near this is via a folder structure in Desktop but even then access seems convoluted and the viewing options are very poor. Finder and Preview don’t seem helpful. The Photos Library is just a massive stack of thumbnails and saving processed images back to it complicated. Would something like ACDsee help or should I go and get a new Windows laptop while I'm still alive? My skills in Affinity and overall output have nosedived while I try and fathom the Mac. 😞 Any help greatly appreciated.

Thank you PaulEC - I found the Paint Brush 'under' the Colour Replacement Brush tool that I was trying to use. I suspect I'm struggling with an elementary layer issue. I can see the yellow on the new pixel layer alone but when I tick both that and the original background layer the colour shows as dark blue, the same tone as the image. Also, I can't see an obvious way of experimenting with blend modes unlike with adjustment layers where it is offered in the dialogue box?

It's a bit weird I know 🙄 an inverted infrared image - I was going to try and add a yellow colour to the doorway. I've wanted to do more conventional painting in the past but never been able to.

I'm trying to colour part of an image in Affinity Photo and made a duplicate layer, picked a colour and tried various brushes but couldn't get it to work. Does anyone have any advice as to how to achieve this? Thankyou

Duplicate Layer!!! 💡 🤯🙄 I initially added a pixel layer using the little checkerboard icon in the layers tab in studio (I think I've got the nomenclature right?) thinking that the layer would overlay the original but as has been said, I now see that there is no data in it to be dodged or burned. The duplicate layer worked immediately with dodging and burning and also carried brushing using the grayscale palette. The added pixel layer also worked with the paint brush because I now see that you're actually adding something but only when you use more than 50% grey. Thank you for your responses and patience everyone. I'm coming at this as a newbie to post processing and not from PS (I've had a couple of false starts with affinity). If anyone knows of any truly idiots guide stuff online, youtube, books etc I'd be grateful of any recommendation. I think there may be a need for baby steps tutorials or book of key principles for people like me. And I've not even started thinking about mask layers, adjustment layers, fill layers ................ Thanks again and stay safe😷

Hi Kirk - yes, got that to work thank you. I think I've seen that demonstrated on a youtube video too? I guess I'd just like to understand why I can't access the dodge and burn tool - the official affinity tutorial wades straight into brush set up and the nuances of shading rather than assuming the observer needs help to set up the fundamental layer stuff.

Hi I'm using Win 10, Photo 1.7.3.481. (I've not run the 1.8 download yet) I added a pixel layer (and renamed it dodge and burn), clicked on/highlighted that to work on. Assistant is enabled. I also went into Layer / rasterise. When i turn off (untick) the background (original layer) I see a blank faint checkerboard layer and no sign of any brush strokes. I sense that there is something simple that I'm missing ...... (a brain maybe ....)

Hi - I'm fairly new to affinity and despite looking at countless youtube videos and a couple of books I'm unable to make any impression on an image using the dodge and burn brushes. I believe I understand the brush settings in the context toolbar but even if I make the brush hard and the opacity and flow 100 % I cannot make any impression on an image and am close to throwing either myself or my laptop under a bus ..... If you can help perhaps assume I have uploaded a jpeg image as a starter. Thank you in anticipation ....

Thank you Smadell - I'll try that. Cheers

John - you're a star - it works perfectly. I hadn't tried that approach. Thanks for your prompt and helpful response. Alan

Newbie here - I was trying to record a macro for the first time (in the photo persona) using a sequence of commands that produced the effect I wanted but didn't manage to get beyond the first step. I opened a jpeg image which showed as a Background pixel layer, switched on the macro recorder and attempted to right click and create a duplicate layer but the drop down wouldn't appear. Switch off the recorder and it appears allowing me to create the duplicate. I fear learning AP might be a long process ..... Thanks in advance for any help