smadell

Before you reset the Studio, try grabbing the Library panel (by click-dragging over the “Library” tab at the top) and dragging it out of the Left studio. Leave it free-floating and/or drag it into the Right Studio. This might cause the panel to be forced to redraw, and might give a more normal looking result. Worth a try...

Check out the AP Panorama Stitching tutorial (especially, starting at around 1:13) which goes over the process of correcting problems with panorama stitching. At present, panorama stitching has to be corrected at the time the panorama is first made (since AP will not save individual layers and masks – only the final output). Basically, you can tell the Panorama stitching algorithm to fill in a particular area of a panorama from a different source image. This might be the solution to your issue.

Glad to have helped you. Masks were always hard for me to wrap my head around; once it started to make sense, though, it really became second nature. The mental gymnastics you go through to get comfortable with creating masks is worth the time.

Here is a really simple explanation of what a layer mask is. It is 8 years old, and uses an old version of Photoshop. But, it gives you a good explanation for just what a mask is and why it is preferable to just erasing pixels. Also, remember that there will be differences between Photoshop and Affinity Photo – the Layers panel is laid out differently, showing and hiding masks works slightly differently, etc. But the basics are there. Now, here is an Affinity Photo tutorial. It's one of the "legacy" tutorials (the ones that were available prior to version 1.7). It, too, is a pretty basic overview, but it gives some pretty good examples of masks applied to Pixel and/or Image layers, Adjustment layers, and Live Filter layers. https://player.vimeo.com/video/130972598

First things first - your result is really nice. Using Erase to get rid of the portions of the flag that don’t overlap the sky is a fine solution, but it is “destructive.” That is, those pixels are gone forever. Using a mask is a “non-destructive” way of doing the same thing; the difference is that all of the flag layer is still there, but part of it is hidden. Your solution certainly works (and, as noted, your result speaks for itself). But, if you’re going to use Affinity Photo you really should spend the time figuring out Masks. Take your time; it is admittedly a bit of a mind-bender early on. But it opens up so many possibilities that it’s well worth the effort.

You can (i) increase the "Radius" setting of the Gaussian Blur filter layer; or (ii) choose another type of Live Blur layer.

1) Use Place... to put the second image (the flag) in a second layer, above the sunset layer. 2) Click the New Mask button at the bottom of the Layers panel. That will put a mask on the Flag layer so that only the area corresponding to the selection will show. You can Deselect now. 3) Lower the opacity on the flag layer to let some of the sunset (in the layer beneath it) peek through. Note: you might want to Feather the selection before creating the mask, so that it fades in and out at the edges.

I recently watched one of @dmstraker Dave Straker’s InAffinity tutorials about “Pastel Colour Grading…” and it gave me some ideas. So, thanks to you for the inspiration, Dave! I’ve attached another macro for creating a specific Artistic Look – this one called a Pastel Watercolor Effect. The attached file is a macro category (even though it only contains a single macro); you can import it into the Library Panel in the Desktop version of Affinity Photo, and it is compatible with the iPad version as well. (In my own preliminary testing, the macro works fairly well on an iPad, although there are some issues with missing items in the dialog box that appears for setting parameters.) When you click the macro, it creates a number of layers inside of a group. The group is called “Pastel Watercolor Effect” and it can be turned on and off by simply showing or hiding the entire group. When you invoke the macro, you will be presented with a number of options in a dialog: 1-6] Lighten Color - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue All of these color ranges are initially set to a value of -200%. As you move each of the sliders to the right, that particular color range will be selectively lightened. If you set any of the sliders all the way to 100% then that color range will go to white. 7] Set Amount of Pastel Blurring This slider defaults to a value of 25 px. Setting it higher or lower will adjust the amount of “smudging” that the pastel layer displays. 8] Set Intensity of Outlines This slider defaults to a value of 0.7. You can set it to values between 0 and 2, with higher values giving you darker and more intense outlines. If you set the Intensity slider to 0, the black outlines will effectively disappear. 9] Adjust Brightness Brightness defaults to a value of 20%. You might want to increase it if (i) you have increased the outline intensity significantly, or (ii) to compensate for changes (particularly decreases) you might make to the Contrast. 10] Adjust Contrast Contrast defaults to 0%. Adjust this to taste. I’ve attached 2 photos (below) to show Before and After versions using this effect. Included in the photos are the settings that were used (which are a bit different from the default values). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As with all of the macros I have submitted, please note that I am only one person and have tested this on a limited number of images on a single computer. There is no way to have foreseen every possible scenario. I am hopeful (but obviously won’t guarantee) that you’ll like the results. If you do like the macro, please keep it and enjoy it. This is “pay it forward software,” the happy result of an abundance of learning gleaned from the members of this forum who are so generous with their time and expertise! Pastel Watercolor Effect.afmacros

It is very possible! Try importing this macro (into the Library panel): Dodge & Burn (50% Grey Layer).afmacros

Good morning, Andy (well, it's morning here...) Studio Presets are still really buggy - lots of crashes. Also, still bummed out that the Presets still seem to update themselves if changes are made to a preset. I also noticed that the App always seems to start up with the "Default" preset chosen, rather than remembering the most recently chosen preset. Any hopes that these issues will change?

OK, maybe not exactly what you asked for. But, I posted this about 3 years ago, and you might want to take a look.

If you simply want to move the selection, you can (i) make the selection; (ii) press Q to invoke the Quick Mask; (iii) choose the Move Tool (or just press V); (iv) move the selection where you want it; (v) press Q again to leave the Quick Mask.

More to the point: 1) To merge 2 or more layers into a single layer, (i) select the layers you want to merge in the Layers panel; and (ii) choose Merge Selected from the Layer menu. This will merge your selected layers into a single pixel layer (the original layers will no longer be there). 2) In order to change the opacity of a mask, you can select the mask in the Layers panel and use the opacity slider (although I don't think that's what you want). That will alter the opacity of the areas of the mask that show through – the "masked" areas (the ones that are Black in the mask itself) will not be changed. In order to do what I think you want, you can do one of 2 things (probably more, but I can only think of 2 right now). You can change the mask from black to a shade of grey, which will alter the degree of opacity in that portion of the mask. Or, an easier way, apply a Levels adjustment to the Mask (create a new Levels adjustment and drag it over the Mask's thumbnail in the Layers panel). Set the channel of the Levels adjustment to Alpha, and then use the Output Black and Output White sliders. [see below] Mask Opacity.mp4

Use a Gradient Map.

Walt... I don't think anyone is suggesting that the layout of the Studio be forgotten. I agree that if I move a studio panel to a new position, or close it, or open another one, then the configuration of the Studio should survive a closing and re-opening of the application. The bone of contention, however, is whether or not the Preset itself should be updated. If I create a Studio Preset and then close out a single panel, (i) should the studio look just as I left it when I re-start the application? and (ii) if I then choose that newly-created Studio Preset, should the panel I closed after creating the Preset be re-opened, or should the Studio Preset itself update to reflect the closed panel? So far, my hunch is that the majority of us think that (i) the studio should look the way you left it; and (ii) the Studio Preset should look like it did when you created it (rather than after you selected it and changed the layout). I think you are conflating those two conditions, and they are not mutually exclusive. i.e., both conditions can be true – the Studio Preset is fixed in stone once you create it, and the current layout of the studio is remembered from session to session.