crabtrem

I am glad you might have found something useful in my rant. The plus about Affinity Photo over any other program is that they always seem to provide you with a hint of what you will get. This is not to be wasted. When you slide over all the blend modes available, they will show you a live preview. If you increase your brush size over a mask, the inside of the brush area will show you a preview of what you will get. Very helpful, because if you don't see what you were expecting, you can go check everything right away. When you move layer items, if you hold it over a new position you will get a preview of what it will do. Sometimes that lags for me, but is very helpful when finding what a new position on the layer will do without committing to it right away. Good luck.

I have run through this issue again using your workaround. It works. I will try and explain my process, but I am unclear on the proper terminology, so please forgive that. If you bring in a file you want to convert to a pencil drawing. Duplicate the photo using Cmd-J. On the duplicate layer, change the blend mode to Color Dodge, go to layers and invert the layer. Go to Layers, Live filter layer and add a Gaussian Blur filter. Here is where it get's interesting. If you see the screen shot for the problem layer, you can see that the Gaussian Blur filter by default is visible on the same layer line when collapsed. This is the vertical line over the thumbnail of the layer, for nesting. Add the HSL adjustment, it goes on top by default and set your saturation to the left full. Now you get a blob. Take the Gaussian blur filter layer out of the nested position and place it when the indented horizontal marker line shows, or as you said it becomes a child of that layer. When collapsed by the other screen shot you can see that the thumbnail doesn't show up on the same line, but there is an arrow showing children under the layer. Now it works. So the level that the Gaussian blur comes up by default causes an error. I'm not sure what the differences are specifically from putting it on the layer thumbnail (vertical placement marker) versus the indented horizontal layer marker (child of the layer), but in this case it is big. Hope this helps, and thanks for the work around.

Being a novice too, I can definitely sympathize with your plight. I don't claim to have even a good understanding, but I will throw in my 2 cents and hope you find something useful in it. It helped me when I started to understand the groups or classes of blend layers. Within your layers you have those that Darken, those that Lighten, those that contrast, those that work with color space. The top layer is always compared to the bottom layer pixel by pixel, although from what I've read that is not always the case in some modes. Confused. Yeah it get's better. Okay. Darken modes work with luminosity (gray scale) where White is transparent and Black is black. So when you think of a Masking Layer, it is like a Darken layer. Lighten modes work where White is white, and Black is transparent. The contrast layers work where 50% gray is transparent and White is white, and Black is black. Color modes work with color space. And the rest are call Effects modes. A pixel layer is a normal layer. An adjustment layer is a layer attached to a function that changes something. By attaching it to a layer it becomes non-destructive. The live-filter layer is the same for filters, making them non-destructive. So if you want to modify you picture by comparing the bottom layer to the top layer you will use a blend mode layer of some kind. If you want to modify just the layer you are on, you will use and adjustment layer, or live filter layer (for non-destructive modifications) Caveat, if you position your adjustment layer as the top layer, it seems to be adjusting all lower layers, but it is just modifying that top composite layer you have created. Although you can still go back down layers and effect changes that will be reflected at the top (confusing yet). But remember in fact you are still only affecting the layer you are on with an adjustment layer. a pixel layer is a basic normal layer. a mask layer is a darken layer that allows you to show and hide specific portions of the layer you are working on. And this can be added to any pixel, adjustment, another mask, live-filter layers. The specific blend mode types get more complicated based upon the algorithm used to compare the pixels of two layers. Summary: Blend layers affect the layer you are on to the layer below. Broken into categories. Normal - independent of all others. Darken - Black is black, White is transparent. Lighten - White is white, Black is transparent. Contrast - 50% gray is transparent, Black is black, White is white. Color - works with color and luminosity channels. Special effects - combinations of algorithms. adjustment and live-filter layers affect the layer you are on, non-destructively pixel layers are normal layers masks are like a cut out, selectively showing and masking parts of the layer you are on, and can be used with pixel, adjustment, live-filter, other masks. Mask layers work like Darken blend layers. I hope you find something useful in that rant. I may be wrong on some things, but that is the understanding I have come up with.

There still may be a glitch in the refine preview somewhere, but I sure don't know when it will happen to with which displays. It was very strange indeed. Thanks.

I was able to post 1 file. I was attempting to load the original file I referenced. Another file that was originally manipulated in afPhoto stable, and also viewed funny in Beta. I also manipulated the successful load in the Beta first and got unsatisfactory results, but I opened it in the stable version and was able to get it to display like a pencil drawing. It is also funny that the preview picture in Finder shows the pencil looking display, but the Beta continue to show a blob black blur version. Hopefully this helps, because I sure don't understand it, but I have been able to replicate every time. Here is the procedure. I make a copy of background image, CMD J blend mode to color dodge invert layer add gaussian blur, live channel. On same layer by default. add HSL adj layer and set saturation to minimum. open the gaussian blue and adjust levels to get display to look like a pencil drawing.

I was playing around with another photoshop tutorial and came up with this method for facepainting. This the is best one I could come up with, but there are probably better methods. I have include screen shots that show the progress before rasterizing a layer, and then after. I was actually waiting to rasterize but the Affinity assistant did it for me. The third file has a text showing the flow of actions done. I will try and paraphrase here. First select an area you want painted, in this case the face. Save the selection into a new layer with mask. You can either use the B&W adjustment layer, or an HSL adjustment layer and take the saturation all the way down to produce a black and white section. Bring in the file you want as facepaint into a new layer. Change the layer blend to color burn, or multiply. These are the one's I thought brought the best results. Copy the mask from the previous layer and paste it into the paint layer. Add a displace filter to the paint layer. You can use either Filter, distort, displace or there is layers, live filter, displace. Use the brush tool and tighten up the masks. You will have to paint both masks to have the color of the original file show through. Rasterize the paint layer. You can now select that and go into the Liquify persona and fine tune additional displacement looking adjustments. Rasterize also brightens and evens out the colors of the layer, which you can see appears much darker before rasterization. I think that's it. I hope some of you find this helpful.

I'm not sure how useful this will be. Or even it is that good. But here we go. I was reviewing a lot of tutorials talking about the in's and out's of burning and dodging. In an art class video, the base palette of skin tones was emphasized. So this got me to thinking. I would want to use the actual tones in the picture for skin to add shadows, midtones, and highlights. But I would want it to try and not disturb the skin features. So here is my attempt. I have listed my process in text in the screenshot attached, but I will try and explain myself here. First I wanted to create a swatch of just skin tones in the document. So I created a selection just covering the skin areas, saved that off into it's own layer with mask. I then selected that layer only, I unchecked all other layers, but I'm not sure if that is needed. You may just have to select the layer. From the color extended menu, the little drop down next to the brushes tab, I went to create palette from document. This gave me a palette of just my skin tones. You no longer need this mask, and can delete it. I then created a copy of my background image using CMD J. Went to Filters, frequency separation. I then selected the low frequency layer. I added a new Fill Layer, and from my skin tone swatch I selected one of the darker colors, changing the fill to that color. I named it accordingly, added a mask, inverted the mask. You can do this for any number of skin tonal ranges, just remember to place them between the high and low frequency layers. I used a brush with 0% hardness, a flow of 1%. and painted on the mask to add shadows, highlights, or midtones to my portrait. This image is not mine. I used it from Flickr, I can't remember the name of the great photographer that took it, or I would give him credit. So, if I am right on everything. This allows you a method of dodging and burning, or adding any tonal levels of skin from the photo, without interfering with the skin textures. You could also paint directly on the low frequency layer, but I found that difficult to control for me. Not sure if this is a new method, but I haven't seen anyone talk about it before. I hope you find it useful.

I am sorry. To my amazement I could not reproduce the fault again. I tried multiple files. I had problem with only one, but that was the transparency view just showing the image with no mask selection. It only happened when I was in full screen, no other files I tested would reproduce that fault either, and when I took Photo out of full screen mode, it showed the correct display. I don't know what caused the original error, but today using the same file, plus a variety of others, I could not recreate the issue. Sorry.

I noticed that when I went into the refine selection setting, when I added any amount of feather. The display of the selection in the black, white, and transparent views disappeared. The overlay, and black and white view seemed to be fine.

I am attaching some screen shots of the same file with text describing my process. Taken from a PS tutorial, I tried to make a pencil drawing look in Affinity Photo. As you can see the stable version of Photo works with a good result. But the Beta just shows a blob.

Evtonic3, thank you for your response to me. Let me clarify. I like to be proficient, and knowledge of this process if needed could be valued. It seems to be popular. But, I have not encountered an image where I found it necessary to work beyond the selection and masking tools already. As an advanced member I would think you would understand the desire to be proficient on various techniques, I would have also thought that you would not do a technique that wasn't needed. Every tutorial Affinity has put out always emphasizes that experimenting is good, and will help with proficiency and comprehension of how exactly and why exactly you would use a method. As in any program, there are normally multiple methods that can be used to get the same result. You find the one that works best for you. So I am naturally curious about popular or well liked methods, but sometimes don't see the requirement as stated by others. And therefore I asked. Thank you again for your curt and stylized response.

Forgive my newbie questions. I have used this method with Photoshop, and believe I understand the need and use of this method in Photoshop. My first observation is that I have yet to have a good example in Affinity Photo where I needed this procedure. So if you have some good examples to practice with, I would be most grateful. Next, When isolating a procedure like this I have done the following. With my image, or copy of my image selected, I go down to the channels panel on the bottom right of my workspace. I choose the channel I prefer, maybe add some levels adjustment to that display. Then use the selection tool to select the area I want to concentrate on. Is it me, or when I choose to create a mask and new layer from this, I am making it from a specific channel? It seems to work well, but again I haven't had a situation yet where I had any real problems. I have had masks that were difficult to isolate but that usually was more of an issue with the blur in an image version the contrast. So I don't think I could of done any better, because there were no real details to isolate. The other method for fine tuning a selection area I picked up on another thread that talked about making a luminosity selection using the blend options panel that is available in the colour panel in the opacity and blend mode gear icon. It seems to me the blend options panel gives a more powerful selection of options that can be used to refine a selection, much easier and more effective than the duplicate channel mask mode in Photoshop. But I again emphasize that I am a newbie. So I haven't come across that image yet that has given me the problem where I really needed it either. And I may just not be proficient enough to be talking on this issue. I am just experimenting after all. With the methods I have used above and the common tools in the selection panels using refine, and going back and manually painting and modifying a mask, I just haven't found a need for the process yet. I look forward to learning more and refining those skills.

That is a really good point. If you are first loading a RAW image, you are in the Develop Persona, and you have to develop the RAW file first to get to the PHOTO PERSONA. This is where the bandaid you want is. That has the multiple selection window where the inpainting tool is.

Hello, I am also a novice, but from what I have seen I think you will find this tutorial video the most helpful, Good Luck.

Hello Paolo, I am just a novice, so I hesitate to ask. But I wanted to make sure you clicked on the little triangle at the bottom right corner, where the bandaid shows up? This should open up the multiple selections to the right, which includes the inpainting brush. Again, I am not with Affinity, and only a novice user, so my response may be way off. Good luck.

MEB, Thank you for the response. I played with the Grid and Axis Manager a little more, and found some more information in the help files to assist. What I seem to be having trouble with now is I would like to set up an environment that I can have a horizon, one or two vanishing points, and then have the grid align to those vanishing points and horizon. I cannot figure out how to do that. I thought varying the aspect ration between the planes might do it, but I think I would have to use multiplication or maybe division on the value. I'm not sure at this moment if that's even possible, or a reasonable solution? Thank you in advance.

I just finished watching the tutorials for developing a 3D isometric building, which was very interesting. A great tutorial, but now I want to learn all the options inside the Grid and Axis Manager menu, but I cannot find anything in the Help topics. The most I found was a brief description of the grid system. Can you direct me where to find more information on the Grid and Axis Manager?

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, and I do not know how anyone else might feel about it. I have been watching some very good videos on Affinity Designer workflow, and using Apple's Motion 5 to complete a presentation. Since the inclusion of 3D text in FCPX and Motion 5, I have seen some workaround videos promoting the import of logos into a font and then being used in the 3D text function of Motion or FCP. I thought it would be a great option to be able to export an Affinity Designer project directly into a font so that you use the 3D text functions in FCPX and Motion directly. Hope this makes sense. Thanks.