GFS

Sorry MBd, talking at cross purposes. I'm simply saying that technically, there is no reason why AFPhoto cannot do this. However, in its current state, as you say, it can not. Who knows, perhaps Serif will move forwards towards the past and make AFPhoto more of a vector app. Would be nice ... especially for the speed.

You can actually ... it depends on how you go to the final image. AFPhoto mixes pixel and vector, so you could apply a pixel width to a vector shape, which AFPhoto could 'interpret' for the screen preview and then rasterise to an actual pixel width when you decide to actually use your file, e.g. print, build to tiff, send a jpeg etc. etc. (alternatively known as flattening). I know this can be done, because I've been working like this in a 100% vector photo app since 1997. (If only AFPhoto had the speed of that app, I'd be happy enough).

There is one aspect of using blur to soften the edges that's not so good and that is that it blurs them. Having a pixel width to the mask would make the mask's edge increasingly transparent toward the outer edge, but not blur it. So the image is still sharp, but the mask is soft edged. So I guess there's no way to achieve this in AFPhoto?

Thought of something else! Is there a way to apply the fx blur as a gradient?

Thank you chaps! (Very useful other post MBd ... thank you).

Doubtless simple ... but I can't find how to do it. I'm using the Pen tool in AFPhoto to make a shape, which I want to use as a mask for a pixel layer. I also want to use it as a mask for a fill/paint layer. How do I alter the width of the mask/shape edge? It is by default razor sharp. I would like it to be somewhere between 4 and 20 pixels (not sure yet) ... so that the edge is soft. How do I achieve this?

Does the 1.5 beta support Pentax K-1 pixelshift files? Would be very very nice if it did.

I think that if Serif make a DAM, then they will do so with the hope of selling as many copies as possible. The only way they can achieve this goal, is to completely and reliably take care of the migration. The task is too daunting for most individual users to consider. Adobe, in a fairly typical Adobe way, half did this for Aperture to Lr. They do the easy stuff for you (text) but made no effort to carry adjustments over. Since Aperture's adjustments are all text-based and brushes are simply alpha masks, it may have required some investment in programming, but as ever, Adobe only look at the bottom line. So I hope very much that Serif will invest in making a smooth transition simple. How incredible would it be, to simply import your Aperture libraries into AF-DAM and boom! Everything is there. (Sounds like the sort of thing Jobs would have liked to do right.)

Any feedback on this MEB?

Uploaded as GFS.zip File should have a black background. Only way I can find to see it is turning OFF Composite Red, Green and Blue and leaving Composite Alpha turned on.

I've tried this a few times, but cannot make it work so that the background is visible. The new masks (on the layer) just mask everything totally. If I subsequently clear the Background Apha, so that there is no alpha at all (so that the entire image should be visible) it just clears the entire image. The only way I can get to see the background is by toggling the Composite Alpha channel. Nothing else works.

Hi MEB, I just tried in the beta and I'm getting the same thing. I can see my background if I Invert the Background Alpha, but then the part that I want to see is masked and I just see the transparency. I can't find any way of being able to toggle the alpha's visibility so that I can either see my image with the alpha or without it as I would in PS.

In AF Photo, when I open a PSD or Tiff that has an alpha channel the background is missing ... I only get the transparency. How do I show the image's background (everything outside the alpha)?

Indeed! And we hope that Serif take their inspiration from Aperture AND NOT from Lightroom. Aperture still a wonderful UI and such a shame that Apple have moved away from pros ... but it's another opportunity for Serif.

It's just like when you were a kid, getting excited in the lead up to Christmas.

Thanks MBd. Very interesting thread and provides great hope for AF Photo on the iPad Pro ... which I have to say, I find quite exciting.

Thanks MBd, but I have no idea what this means, at least, not in context of the question I asked. Can you elucidate a bit?

I have to agree ... even although I would love to see a DAM. I realise it's all secret at the moment Andy, but can you tell us how you are planning to use the iPad Pro in practical terms. Specifically, will we be able to work on a jpeg on the iPad then transfer our edits to a full sized file on the Mac, or will it work directly on a raw file or afphoto file etc.? I'm seriously considering the iPad Pro and Affinity Photo running on it will be a major point regarding purchase.

Affinity have been stunned by their own success (as much through a fluke of timing as their own efforts). They have been unable to resist going for the massive market that has been dangled in front of them ... but ... as ever, it can disappear as quickly as it appeared. I think they made a big mistake going for the Windows market so soon. They should have waited for at least two years, until their Mac products were mature enough and the teams solid enough before diversifying. But what do I know? Anyway ... the DAM was a big carrot for me ... now I don't have that carrot.

I am also very keen to see an Affinity DAM. I have used Aperture since its introduction and have tried Lr 3 times, most recently this last couple of months. As a DAM, it is not as fine a piece of software as Aperture *was*. So I'm hobbling along with a Mac on an old OS until something better comes along. I was hoping this new alternative would be Affinity DAM this year, but it would seem this is not going to happen. Windows appears to have stolen its wind!! (BUT watch out Affinity, because you're massive current success has come thanks to a total dedication to a single platform and a unique opportunity. Diluting your efforts is a dangerous game.) Anyway ... the word, or explanation you're all hunting for, to describe what Photoshop and AF-Photo do ... but Lr, C1, Aperture etc. do not do, is 'compositing'. Us old timers used to use the word all the time. You can't 'composite' with Lr or C1 or Aperture.

Hi, I'm working on an image where I'm using simple paint on a layer. Painting with a soft brush (8%) at 50% opacity shows horrible banding in the paint. Exporting to Tiff shows no banding at all, so it's clearly a screen-res issue in the working environment. This is on an 8-bit file. Is there something I can do to fix this for display when working?

I have this issue too. (1.4.2) I copied/pasted 2 images onto another for compositing and the layers became blocked. I can't move adjustments layers either. Saving and relaunching AFP fixed the issue. (I hadn't saved the document up to that point).

How does AFPhoto handle highlights and shadows when using Adjustment layers? I can't see any way of telling AFPhoto what levels I want it to affect or at what point I want it to stop doing anything (there are no selection tools in the Adjustments dialogs) so what I'm asking, is how does AFPhoto decide where to 'tale off' or if you prefer, stop applying an adjustment in order to avoid clipping at either the 255 or 0 end of the scale? It seems to allow things to stretch to 254, but can I set it lower if I want?

What is the best/simplest way to apply a grad to an adjustment? Specifically, I have a masked HSL adjustment, with a blur on the mask. I'd like to apply a grad to the ensemble.

Thanks Madame. I can't find an Adjustment layer that can do anything similar, so it looks like AF-Photo just can't do this. Shame.