smadell

Best of luck with those windmills, Mr. Quixote.

I suppose so, @R C-R. May the Schwartz be with you.

I have always tried not to get sucked into these types of discussions, since they are usually about as fruitful as arguing politics or religion. But, I’m a little tired tonight and I thought I’d throw my 2 cents in. William, your notion that you should be paid for merely suggesting a software feature is beyond ludicrous. I apologize if I am being rude, but arguing the fine points of the difficulty in getting paid for making a suggestion is pedantry in the extreme. The whole nature of making a suggestion is being charitable (unless you are a paid consultant, and I’ll go out on a limb and guess that you are not). Now I have a suggestion. I think you should continue to make a series of long-winded and silly posts throughout the forum and follow up with post after post trying to decide how many angels can dance on the head of your particular pins. It would seem to me that you have two choices - you can (1) continue down the road you’ve been on for several years now (and, or course, pay me handsomely for making the suggestion), or (2) just stop (and save your money).

The end is near. The sky is falling. What a swift kick in the cojones this was. I am looking at my options (as I’m sure we all are) and it would be foolish not to consider jumping over to Photoshop and Lightroom. Just in case that becomes the best option for me (and others), does anyone know if there is a way to batch convert .afphoto files to .psd files? I know I can export them one-by-one, but the Batch Processing panel will not allow saving as PSD and macros cannot record a save or export. Anyone know if this is possible?

Hi, @itsRachel. I doubt that a change in color profile will solve anything for you. Your scanner has produced a “flat” result - one with very little contrast. This can be addressed easily in Affinity Photo. I downloaded your attached JPG (in the first post) and it only took a few minutes to get a result that looks more like the original photo. (And this is on my iPad, using my sausage fingers, only!) I applied 4 layers - 2 adjustments and 2 live filters (and only to the scanned photo portion, hence the masks that you can see in the Layers panel). A screenshot is attached. No change in color profile at any point.

With photos like this, I’ve found (usually)that getting rid of a color cast using the “Divide Fill” method works best. Sometimes, a simple White Balance adjustment just doesn’t seem to cooperate. I downloaded your image (in the first post) and put a white Fill layer above it, setting the Blend mode to Divide. I clicked on an area that should be white (you’ll see I placed a small red circle on an area of snow in the mountains). I’ve posted the result below - the change is subtle, but definitely a bit less blue. Also, here’s a link to a good YouTube video by Robin Whalley that goes over the technique.

At one point, I had created my own version of a sepia effect as a macro. But, I later found a website by James Ritson (one of the staff at Serif, and the creator of most of the official Affinity Photo tutorials): https://jamesritson.co.uk/ If you visit the web page, and click in the "Resources Page" link at the top, James has a large number of downloadable files. Among these is a free collection of macros called "JR Filter Gallery Macros v4". This group of macros contains one called "Sepia Effect" and it is a great implementation of sepia coloration. It was much better than what I had created on my own, and it now serves as my go-to if I ever need a sepia color grade. Adding a vignette and/or a paper texture is still an easy addition. But, the coloration provided by James' macro is superb. (Plus, you can play with all the other macros in the set, and some of them are also quite remarkable.) Here's a before and after, using a photo from Front Street in Bermuda:

Hi, @Andrew Leiataua - I'm not about to create a video tutorial (just not comfortable with that) but I had a go at twilight-ing your sample photo. I've attached the Affinity Photo file along with this post. 1) I made selections of the sky and of the windows, and saved them as Separate Channels. If you open the Channels panel, you'll see them there. 2) I selected the sky, inverted the selection, and masked the Original House photo. Then, I put a substitute sky layer underneath the Original House. 3) I added 2 additional child layers to the Original House layer, in order to adjust the lighting. First, I added a Fill Layer to darken the house and to give it a more orange color (so as to pick up some of the color of the substituted sky. I set the Blend Mode of the Fill layer to Soft Light. Then, I added a Curves adjustment to further darken and add contrast to the foreground. 4) I added a Pixel layer above the Original House layer and cloned out the shadows, since those harsh shadows wouldn't exist at that time of day. 5) I added another pixel layer and selected the Windows (using the saved Spare Channel). I created a Mask using that active selection. Before anything else, I selected the mask and applied a Gaussian Blur (from the Filter menu, so destructive) to soften the edges. Back to the pixel layer, I used the paint brush to fill the layer (i.e., only the masked areas will show up) with a yellowish color. I set the blend mode to Add. Instead of modifying the Opacity, I opened the Blend Options panel and lowered the Fill Opacity to 60%. This gave a better overall effect. I didn't have to add a separate "glow" since I was happy with the effect as it stood. 6) Another pixel layer was used to paint in the light coming from the lamps above the garage door. This had a diminished opacity, and a blend mode of Add. 7) Last, I added a Curves adjustment at the very top of the layer stack to selectively lighten, darken, and add a bit more contrast to the overall image. With more time and effort, it could be better. I'm not really happy with the pots in front of the front door (they're still too dark) and some other details. But, I think this is a good start. A lot of what I did was lifted (and adapted) from the YouTube Photoshop video you included, but I didn't like some of the stuff he did and added some of my own interpretation. Twilight House.afphoto

Glad to help you out, @Ghomul. I find Compound masks a pain sometimes, but they make things so much more powerful - a double-edged sword, of a sort.

(8Hi, @Ghomul. If I understand what you’re trying to do, you need to use a Compound Mask. The compound mask should probably contain (i) the Luminosity Range mask; and (ii) a “regular” mask. On the regular mask, make sure to paint white on the areas on which the luminosity mask should apply, and black on the other parts. Then (and this is the important part) set the “operator” to Intersect. That will make sure the compound mask applies only to areas that are white on both masks. By the way, Easter is spelled with only 1 “s”.

Hi again, @jmwellborn. I assumed you were talking about the "10,000 Feet" pdf only because we had talked about it so much at the time. Also, it didn't occur to me that I had included a pdf with the Reticulated Gradient Map macro. Anyway, you're right – the fonts are different. The pdf that I included with the Reticulated Gradient Map macro uses Goudy Old Style, boldface for the headers and regular for the body text. I think that the attractive thing about the font is the "old style" variation; it gives it a different look that I like quite a bit. Also, the Ten Thousand Feet book can be located at: Good to hear from you again.

Good afternoon, Jen! I assume you mean the "Ten Thousand Feet" pdf. In that document, the "headlines" were various sizes and weights of Avenir, and the body text was 12-point Palatino. Also, the font used on the cover and title pages was ITC Benguiat Std.

Maybe this is just another benefit of using a Mac…

Well, @lynda Stevens, that hard drive cleanup is your most likely culprit. In the absence of a local or remote backup, I'm afraid you're out of luck. (Not like any of us have ever been there ourselves…) At the very least, you could use the saved PDF version as a reference. You might be able to extract text from it, and you'll have a reference for the layout of text frames, images, and so forth. That should help.

Good morning, @lynda Stevens. Has the file simply disappeared from the “Open Recent…” choices? Or, is it really gone from your hard drives? When you did the initial “Save As…” you saved the file, with the name of your choosing, to a specific location. Do you remember where that is? If so, simply use Open… from the File menu and open the file directly from wherever it resides. If you don’t remember where you saved it, you can search for it by name using Windows (I am a Mac user, so someone with Windows know-how will have to tell you how to do that.) More than likely, the actual file is probably right where it has always been, but has “fallen off” the Open Recent list because that list will only contain the last x number of files you worked on, and you have worked on at least x+1.

Read (or search YouTube) for info regarding “Linear Profiles.” If you have your Develop Assistant set to NOT apply a tone curve, that’s effectively what you’re getting. A linear profile gives you more possibilities, but leaves you with more work to do to get your results. Linear Profiles were “all the rage” a couple of years ago, but some of the blush is off that rose. I use them only when I need to try to avoid blowing out those nearly lost whites and highlights; otherwise applying a tone curve helps the process quite a bit.

If you don't have access to Inkscape (that is, if you only have an iPad to work on) does this help? Jeep.svg

I'm happy to make the suggestion, @Furry. After all, it is precisely what you said you wanted!

Another note or two about sharpening from another voice. I have started using a live High Pass filter for almost all my sharpening. I find it gives me more controllable results, with more options. My "go to" settings are a Radius of 1 pixel and a blend mode of Linear Light. Often, I will decrease the radius or set the Opacity of the High Pass layer to a lower value. For lower resolution photos, or for photos that won't tolerate that much sharpening, I'll switch the blend mode to Overlay or Soft Light. Occasionally, I use Unsharp Mask (though less and less so lately). I find that it's too prone to artifacts, especially the dreaded "halo". I usually start with settings of (Radius = 2; Factor = 1). Sometimes, if Unsharp Mask looks good but I want to avoid the halo, I will set the blend mode to Darken. This lets me darken the "dark side" of an edge without lightening the "light side." It tends to darken the image overall, but not much. With that blend mode, I find I need to increase the Radius and Factor settings, and my starting point is usually a radius of 4 and a factor of 2.

@Stitches - it took 2 or 3 days of trial and error to get all the pieces to cooperate with other (I hope…) Once it worked, the PDF was easy. Then, it just meant having the confidence that it would work for someone else! Hope you find it worthwhile. Thanks for your feedback!

I hope you enjoy the macro, @romeosoroka.

Glad you like this, @Lorox. The reticulation noise is a actually sampled straight out of Photoshop! In the YouTube video you mentioned in another post, Brady linked to some sample files on his website (https://texturelabs.org/tutorials/grain-shaded-gradient-maps-in-photoshop/) where I downloaded a Reticulation Noise file. I took a 256x256 piece of this (to keep the macro size smaller) and had Affinity Photo. create a Pattern Layer out of it. So, you see, the “reticulation” is not actually an Affinity Photo construct but rather a Photoshop sample.

Thanks, @loukash.

Hi, @Lorox. I noticed your post a few days ago. I also watched the Texturelabs video, and enjoyed it. I have posted a macro in the Resources section (see below) which duplicates this effect fairly convincingly. You might want to take a look.

I am attaching a macro category called “Reticulated Gradient Map” which can be used for color grading or for creating an artistic rendition of a photograph. The look was inspired by a recently viewed YouTube video on the Texturelabs channel in which an image was posterized and gradient mapped, but with a specific type of grain applied to the borders of the colors. The original video can be found here. The effect relied on a filter found in Photoshop’s Filter Gallery called “Reticulation”. Although the Reticulation filter is not available in Affinity Photo, this macro duplicates the effect fairly reliably. Here is a before and after image, along with the User Dialog settings used during the image’s creation. The macro creates a number of adjustments and other layers inside a Group called Reticulated Color Grade. Because the effect is entirely contained inside the group, the effect can be turned on and off by showing/hiding the enclosing group. Also, the effect is entirely non-destructive (with one exception, discussed below) and will respond immediately to any additional edits made to the original image. I have also created a PDF (also attached to this post) with specific instructions for using this macro. However, in brief, invoking the macro will set up the Layers stack (as above) and present a dialog to the user for some initial settings. You will be asked to set the following: 1) Adjust Reticular Noise Size (destructive) The “Reticulation Noise” layer is a pixel layer in which a reticulated pattern of noise is applied. The macro invokes an “Equations” filter to increase or decrease the size of the noise. The default value is 0.8, and the slider will accept values between 0 and 1 (although anything above 0.8 is capped at that value, since the math falls apart above that value). In general, the default setting results in the largest reticular noise available, but the noise can be decreased in size by setting the slider to smaller values. 2) Adjust Reticular Noise Opacity This slider affects the opacity of the “Reticulation Noise” layer. The overall effect is that, at lower values, the graininess of the reticulation is held closer and closer to the borders between colors. The default value is 20% and the slider will accept values between 0% and 100%. In general, keeping the value to smaller numbers is usually going to be more visually pleasing. 3) Distribute Tones This slider affects the Gamma slider in a Levels adjustment. Because the Levels adjustment is applied prior to the Gradient Map, shifting the slider to the left or the right will shift the colors toward the lighter or darker tones respectively. Play with this a bit, watching for the appearance or disappearance of colors mapped to whites and blacks. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The first setting, in which the “size” of the noise is adjusted, is a destructive change. It cannot be edited once the macro has been finalized. This particular slider should be set carefully. However, other values can be edited afterward. I would suggest the following edits after the macro has been allowed to complete. 1) Open the Distribute Tones layer. This is a Levels adjustment, and sits inside of the “Monochrome Group.” I have found it to be helpful to move the Black Level and White Level sliders inward so as to meet the left and right borders of the histogram. Also, you can adjust the Gamma slider so as to shift the gradient mapped colors toward the lighter and darker values. 2) Select the Reticulation Noise layer and fine tune the Opacity of that layer. You will find that adjusting the opacity of the layer will shift how much the graininess of the reticulation involves the individual colors. In general, keeping the Opacity low will keep the reticulation noise closer to the borders between the individual colors. 3) The macro uses a Gradient Map that uses purple and orange colors for its default. Obviously, you can change this (and you probably will want to!) Open the Gradient Map Adjustment layer and change the colors as you’d like. Using an adjustment preset will make this easier, but those presets are up to you. Be aware that the macro sets the Posterize adjustment to 5 levels, and the Gradient Map has stops at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%. This means that the end result will give 5 posterized colors, as represented by the colors chosen for those stops. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The attached macro category should be imported into the Library panel, using the “hamburger menu” at the top right corner of the panel. The macro was created in Affinity Photo 2, and will not be compatible with version 1. Also, once the macro category is imported, you can drag the macro to any other category you already have set up. (I have placed the macro inside a Category that I created called “Color Grading” but you can set up your categories as you would like.) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As with all of the macros that I have submitted please remember that I am one person working with one computer. I have tested the macro in a fairly limited fashion, and it works well for me. I believe that the macro functions as stated, but of course I cannot make any guarantees. On the other hand, if you like the macro you should keep it and enjoy it. It is free to use for personal and/or commercial work, and you do not need to credit me in any way. My only requests are these: (i) please post a response in this Forum topic to let me know that you are using the macro and (hopefully) enjoying it; and (ii) please remember to “pay it forward” by contributing to the forum in any way you can. It is by sharing your experience and your expertise that we all improve our skills and our enjoyment. Reticulated Gradient Map.afmacros Using the Reticulated Gradient Map Macro.pdf