smadell

You're putting the cart before the horse. It is indeed the selection that varies in strength. This should be obvious when you inspect the Pixel Selection channel.
Also, assuming that there is an active selection, an activity such as creating a Mask or Adjustment Layer means that the selection is applied to the Mask (for example), not that the Mask is applied to the selection. This might seem like a trivial distinction, but it is crucial to understanding the way channels work.
Channels are multipliers. When displaying a color, Affinity will put up a color that is G(128) when the Green channel is 50% grey for that corresponding pixel. Basically, it uses the multiplication (Green * 0.5). If my Mask is 80% grey, then the pixels being displayed are (Full Transparency * 0.8). And, if I use a Selection whose Pixel Selection channel contains pixels that are, for example, 30% grey, then the action subsequently performed on those pixels takes the general form: (Action * 0.3).

You're putting the cart before the horse. It is indeed the selection that varies in strength. This should be obvious when you inspect the Pixel Selection channel.
Also, assuming that there is an active selection, an activity such as creating a Mask or Adjustment Layer means that the selection is applied to the Mask (for example), not that the Mask is applied to the selection. This might seem like a trivial distinction, but it is crucial to understanding the way channels work.
Channels are multipliers. When displaying a color, Affinity will put up a color that is G(128) when the Green channel is 50% grey for that corresponding pixel. Basically, it uses the multiplication (Green * 0.5). If my Mask is 80% grey, then the pixels being displayed are (Full Transparency * 0.8). And, if I use a Selection whose Pixel Selection channel contains pixels that are, for example, 30% grey, then the action subsequently performed on those pixels takes the general form: (Action * 0.3).

@R C-R I think we're arguing semantics here. I am using the term "partially selected" because that is the term that Serif uses, and it is the one that is generally used amongst most photo editing programs. In that sense, "partial" selection implies two things: (1) the entire pixel is selected, since as you correctly note – a pixel is either selected or it is not; and (2) the fraction by which it is selected can vary – not the fraction of the physical size of the pixel, but rather the fraction of the strength of the selection.
Since I think it is clear that a selection constitutes a channel, let's look at Masks instead, since these are more understandable for most of us. In the graphic below, I started with a photo, added a mask to it and drew a grey line on the mask. I've shown the result on the right side. Look at those pixels in the middle: are they masked or not? Of course they are. Are they fully masked? No, they are partially masked. And the fraction by which they are masked is exactly the fractional amount of greyness that exists in the Mask channel.

Why can we not agree to apply the same logic to Selections, since Affinity Photo clearly sees the selection as a channel?

To understand selections, one must understand channels. Because a selection is a channel.
Look at the Channels panel. Each and every layer is composed of a number of channels. When we look specifically at pixel layers in an RGBA document, each layer has red, green, and blue channels which denote color; there is also an alpha channel which is used for transparency.
Look toward the bottom of the Channels panel. There is a separate channel called Pixel Selection. This channel contains the active selection. (1) It is fluid, in the sense that its contents will change depending on what, if anything, is selected. (2) It does not belong to a layer, but exists on its own. (3) Most importantly, like all channels, it has a single entry for each individual pixel.
That last notion is important. A pixel is the most elementary unit of an image. Each pixel can contain one, and only one, color. Each pixel can contain only one level of transparency. And each pixel in the Pixel Selection channel can also include only a single value.
This is why a single pixel cannot be two different colors. This is why a single pixel cannot be half opaque and half transparent. And it is why a single pixel is either selected or not, but also why a selected pixel can be partially selected.
Let’s first clear up the “where is the 50% line” question. In the image below, I’ve created an elliptical selection and applied a 100 pixel feather to it. On the right, I’ve zoomed into the marching ants at 1400%. The marching ants line indicates the border at which pixels are 50% selected. PLEASE note that the line does not go through individual pixels. It denotes entire pixels, because each pixel can only be selected by a specific fraction (0% to 100%, or any value in-between)

The answer to questions by @R C-R and @walt.farrell about how partial selection affects subsequent operations is really a fairly straightforward one. (1) Once a selection is made, that selection is stored inside the Pixel Selection channel. (2) In many cases, for instance in straightforward use of the marquee tools, the Pixel Selection channel is white where the selection is active, and black where the selection is not active. (3) In some other cases, such as Selection From Layer, Luminosity based selection, and feathered selections, the Pixel Selection channel contains pixels that are all shades of grey. These grey pixels within the Pixel Selection channel indicate document pixels which are partially selected. (4) Subsequent use of the selection acts on whatever layer is activated in the Layers panel. The specific action that is undertaken (whether that is a Copy command, the creation of a Mask or and Adjustment or Filter, or anything else) is modified by the values in the Pixel Selection channel.
What that last clause means is that my actions are multiplied by the value of the Pixel Selection channel for each and every pixel. In other words, if the Pixel Selection channel is black for a particular pixel, then my action is multiplied by 0. If the Pixel Selection channel is white for a particular pixel, then my action is multiplied by 1. And, if the Pixel Selection channel is, for instance, 45% grey then my action is multiplied by 0.45.
Once you start thinking of selections as a separate channel, not attached to any particular layer, they become easier to understand. Also, it becomes a lot easier to understand how a pixel can be partially selected, and how a mask or adjustment layer created based on such a selection may contain areas which are grey.

Glad you liked this @Burch Russell.

So, here's another video. I've tried to demonstrate a couple of things. (1) Select All and Selection from Layer work differently, in that only Selection from Layer takes the layer's alpha channel into account. (2) The selection is independent of any particular layer. Even when layers are hidden (or when none are active) the selection still exists. (3) A selection which has been created, and which remains active, can act on a different layer. (4) The "marching ants" exist at the point where pixels are selected 50% or more. In the video, note that the marching ants are present right down the middle of the canvas (since they were based on a linear gradient). (5) When an adjustment layer is created with an active selection that contains "partially selected" pixels, the adjustment layer's mask can be anything from white to black, and this is dependent on the degree of selection of the pixels when the adjustment was first created.
I know that was quite a mouthful. So, here's a video...

Partial Selection Visualized.mp4

To say that the pixel is "partially" selected does not (I don't think) mean to imply that a percentage of that pixel's size is selected. It means, in some sense, that the selection is only fractionally active.
I have always thought of "selections" as if they were temporary Spare Channels, in the sense that some pixels are "on" and some are "off". The "on" pixels are the ones on which a subsequent action would be undertaken. For instance, if I use the Marquee tool to select some of my pixels and then Copy them, it is only the selected pixels (the "on" pixels) that are copied.
I understand the opacity of a layer to be the degree to which it occludes the layer beneath it. So, a layer that is set to 50% opacity will only partially occlude the layer underneath it.
Partial selection of pixels is some hybrid of segregating pixels into "on" and "off" pixels, and combining that with a concept similar to opacity in the sense that an "on" pixel might only be "partially on." It is like having a dimmer switch for individual parts of the selection.
A perfect example of this is a Luminosity Mask. In Affinity Photo, the simplest way to make a luminosity mask is to Command-Option-Click on a layer icon. This results in a selection, but a subsequent mask is not all white or all black, nor is it white in selected areas and black in unselected areas; it is shades of grey. This is because the Command-Option-Click thing caused a "partial selection" of all pixels based on their luminosity.

Try this, @R C-R. I was making this video while @Ron P. was posting his.

Partial Selection.mp4

I’ve created a macro that can simulate the look of Infrared Photography. It expands on the method that James outlined in his tutorial video, adding a few additional flourishes. The macro is attached and can be imported into Affinity Photo.

To import the macro, select the “hamburger” icon at the top, right of the Library panel. Choose “Import Macros…”



Start by choosing a Pixel layer. Click the macro and you will get a lovely infrared-looking image.

1) If you adjust the opacity of the layer named “Infrared Inverted” you can add more or less color to the image.
2) True infrared images have a softness and graininess to them. Because of that, I have included a Noise layer and a Diffuse Glow layer. Feel free to adjust them, or turn them off.
3) If the image has too much pink to suit your liking, open the HSL layer and switch to the Reds. Lower the Saturation until the pinkish color is muted or gone.
4) I have placed a Lens Filter adjustment at the top of the layer stack. It is a blue filter, which will cool the image a bit. By default, it is turned off. Turn it back on to apply it.

Here is the macro in action:


 
Infrared.afmacros.zip

Today, let’s have fun with Gradient Maps…
Gradient Maps are a great way to color grade photos, since they map dark, light, and midtone values according to a pre-defined gradient. This can easily define a “look” for photos that might otherwise be hard to accomplish.
Although I am not a user of Photoshop, our “arch rival” has a wonderful group of gradient maps called “Photographic Toning” that are specifically designed to color grade photos. Although you have to drill down through a few panels and dialog boxes to find them (and you sort of have to know they’re there in the first place) they are a truly nice addition. Also, they are easily obtained by anyone.
But, as they say, there’s the rub. Affinity Photo cannot import Photoshop gradient maps. Affinity Photo can store pre-defined gradients in the Swatches studio, but for some unknown reason the stored gradients are not available from the Gradient Map studio panel. Gradient Maps can be stored as presets, and can be chosen from the Adjustments panel, but I don’t believe they can be easily exported from one computer and brought into a different one.
So… after a long couple of days of transcription, I have created a set of Macros that apply each of the 38 Photographic Toning gradient maps. Since macros are easy to store, and to share, I am making them available for anyone who wants them.
There are actually 2 sets of Macros included - each as an easy-to-import Category from the Library panel. The first group of Macros is called “Photographic Toning Gradients” and these are named according to the gradient map they apply. Each macro creates a Gradient Map layer, applies the appropriate color values, and names the layer according to the gradient map it applied. The second set of macros is called “Photographic Toning Gradients - reduced.” This category also applies the gradient maps in a similar fashion, but then reduces the opacity of the layer to 30%. This reduces the effect of the Gradient Map, and produces a much subtler effect.
Here is an image that shows the full-strength versions of all 38 gradient maps.

And here is a photo to which I’ve applied a full-strength gradient map, and also a reduced-strength gradient map.

These macro categories are included in the ZIP file attached to this post, along with a Letter sized JPG that includes samples of the gradient maps. Also included in the ZIP file is another macro category that includes one more macro. It’s called “Obama Hope Poster” and, as you might have guessed, it turns any photo into an Obama Hope-style poster. Just because…
Please enjoy them!
Photographic Toning Gradient Maps.zip

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).

 

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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

Adding grain to a photo is a nice way to emulate vintage images, especially older black and white photos. It has always bothered me a bit that Affinity Photo does not include a mechanism to introduce grain, other than to use the “Add Noise” filter. While adding noise is nice, it adds such a fine amount of variation that it is often quite literally unnoticeable.
I have admired the Film Grain effect that is available in other software, such as Nik’s Silver Efex. These filters can often vary grain size and intensity; sometimes grain can be added to shadows, midtones, and highlights in differing amounts.
What I’ve attached is an .afmacros file called Film Grain. This is a macros Category and should be imported into the Library panel. It includes two macros. The first is called Add Film Grain - simple. It allows the user to add grain with 2 parameters – intensity and size.
Grain - Intensity
The grain intensity defaults to 100%, but can be set to any value between 0 and 100. At 0% intensity, the grain effectively disappears. To understand intensity, think “contrast.”
Grain - Size
The size slider accepts values between 0 and 1, with the default being 0.2. The appropriate value will differ based on the image being treated, and the same perceived size might need higher values when the overall dimensions of the image are larger. Also note that values above 0.8 are rounded down to 0.8 (and this forms an effective upper limit to the slider). This is done primarily because the math breaks down at higher values.
The second macro is called Add Film Grain - by tonal range. It includes the same intensity and size parameters, but also lets the user set opacity levels for highlights, midtones, and shadows separately.
Grain Opacity - Highlights, Midtones, and Shadows
There are three separate sliders for highlights, midtones, and shadows respectively. Each defaults to 100%, but can be set to values between 0 and 100. While the “simple” macro creates a single Film Grain layer, the “tonal range” version creates a group containing 3 layers, one each for the three tonal ranges. The Grain Opacity sliders simply vary the opacity of the corresponding layers within that group.
Finishing Touches
When each of the macros finishes, the Blend Range for the result (the Film Grain layer in the case of the “simple” macro, and the Group in the case of the “tonal range” macro) is set to diminish the effect of the grain on the highlights slightly. This is an aesthetic choice on my part, and I think you will agree. However, you can set the Blend Range to anything you might like, as desired.
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For most users, the “simple” macro will be enough. It lets the editor vary the Intensity of the grain and also the Size. I have always liked adding grain that was a bit larger, because it becomes more noticeable.
For other users, the “tonal range” macro will allow you to add some additional nuance to the grain, by letting you emphasize grain in the shadows, midtones and highlights. Do this by first setting a global Intensity and Size, and then adjusting the opacity of the 3 tone ranges as desired.
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Here are samples of the two macros, along with the settings as applied. The differences between the two results is quite subtle, but might be worth the effort in some cases.

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As with all the macros I have posted, I have tested these on one computer under a limited number of conditions. I cannot guarantee anything, but I have no reason to think they will not work for you just as they have for me. The macros are free, with the suggestion to “pay it forward.” As you become more proficient, be sure to share your experience and your work with others.
By the way, happy holidays to everyone. Here’s hoping that 2021 is a more positive, uplifting year than 2020. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to ring in 2022 in a crowd without any masks!
Film Grain.afmacros

Earlier this morning, @William Overington posted a link to a collection of Pantone Electric Pastels. I created an .afpalette document for these colors, based on the RGB values given on the Pantone web site. You can find that thread at:  https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/146854-pantone-electric-pastels-article-and-palette/
Looking at the Pantone web site a little bit more, I came across a collection of their "Colors of the Year" dating from 2021 back to 2000. A list like that kind of begged for me to create another .afpalette file containing those colors. I have attached that file below. It can be loaded into Affinity Photo through the Swatches panel, using "Import Palette" at the bottom of the hamburger menu. I have imported these as an Application palette, so that they are available throughout Affinity Photo.
Pantone Colors of the Year.afpalette

Although it would be nicer for Serif to implement something official, this solution has been available for the past 2 years. It is a free download, and I encourage everyone to see if it will work for them.
 

Good morning, @John Rostron. I was intrigued by your method, and tried it. I found that it produced a nice, sharp image in a different way. I thought there had to be a way to do all of this inside of a single file (and, therefore, make it amenable to an inclusive macro). I found that I could create the Light Edges and the Dark Edges inside of Groups, which were then rasterized. I then went about incorporating your instructions to a single macro. This brings together all of the steps you outlined above (except the creation of separate documents, of course) and then combines the Light and Dark Edges layers into a Group. In that way, the whole effect can be turned on/off with a single click. It can also be made less conspicuous by tweaking the Opacity of the group.
I have attached the macro I created to this post. It is an .afmacros file, meaning it will import into the Library as a Macro Category. Users can drag the macro into one of their existing categories, if they like, and then discard the empty category they imported. I posted this as a category instead of as a single macro so that it could also be imported into the iPad version (although I confess I have not yet tested it out on my iPad – I am assuming it will work, and I hope I am correct).
Sharpening by Blurring.afmacros.zip

Good morning, @John Rostron. I was intrigued by your method, and tried it. I found that it produced a nice, sharp image in a different way. I thought there had to be a way to do all of this inside of a single file (and, therefore, make it amenable to an inclusive macro). I found that I could create the Light Edges and the Dark Edges inside of Groups, which were then rasterized. I then went about incorporating your instructions to a single macro. This brings together all of the steps you outlined above (except the creation of separate documents, of course) and then combines the Light and Dark Edges layers into a Group. In that way, the whole effect can be turned on/off with a single click. It can also be made less conspicuous by tweaking the Opacity of the group.
I have attached the macro I created to this post. It is an .afmacros file, meaning it will import into the Library as a Macro Category. Users can drag the macro into one of their existing categories, if they like, and then discard the empty category they imported. I posted this as a category instead of as a single macro so that it could also be imported into the iPad version (although I confess I have not yet tested it out on my iPad – I am assuming it will work, and I hope I am correct).
Sharpening by Blurring.afmacros.zip

Good morning, @John Rostron. I was intrigued by your method, and tried it. I found that it produced a nice, sharp image in a different way. I thought there had to be a way to do all of this inside of a single file (and, therefore, make it amenable to an inclusive macro). I found that I could create the Light Edges and the Dark Edges inside of Groups, which were then rasterized. I then went about incorporating your instructions to a single macro. This brings together all of the steps you outlined above (except the creation of separate documents, of course) and then combines the Light and Dark Edges layers into a Group. In that way, the whole effect can be turned on/off with a single click. It can also be made less conspicuous by tweaking the Opacity of the group.
I have attached the macro I created to this post. It is an .afmacros file, meaning it will import into the Library as a Macro Category. Users can drag the macro into one of their existing categories, if they like, and then discard the empty category they imported. I posted this as a category instead of as a single macro so that it could also be imported into the iPad version (although I confess I have not yet tested it out on my iPad – I am assuming it will work, and I hope I am correct).
Sharpening by Blurring.afmacros.zip

Good morning, @John Rostron. I was intrigued by your method, and tried it. I found that it produced a nice, sharp image in a different way. I thought there had to be a way to do all of this inside of a single file (and, therefore, make it amenable to an inclusive macro). I found that I could create the Light Edges and the Dark Edges inside of Groups, which were then rasterized. I then went about incorporating your instructions to a single macro. This brings together all of the steps you outlined above (except the creation of separate documents, of course) and then combines the Light and Dark Edges layers into a Group. In that way, the whole effect can be turned on/off with a single click. It can also be made less conspicuous by tweaking the Opacity of the group.
I have attached the macro I created to this post. It is an .afmacros file, meaning it will import into the Library as a Macro Category. Users can drag the macro into one of their existing categories, if they like, and then discard the empty category they imported. I posted this as a category instead of as a single macro so that it could also be imported into the iPad version (although I confess I have not yet tested it out on my iPad – I am assuming it will work, and I hope I am correct).
Sharpening by Blurring.afmacros.zip

Sharpening by Blurring

This procedure originated from Dan Margulis and I found it described in The Creative Digital Darkroom by Katrin Eismann and Sean Duggan (Page 387). It utilizes two copies of the original file which are transformed, one into a Light Edges and the other into a Dark Edges image. These are then stacked onto the original with appropriate blending modes to create a final sharpened image.

The original used Photoshop. I have translated it as far as I can into Affinity Photo procedures.

1.      First, create two new tabbed-copies of the background image.

Photoshop allows you to to do this as a recordable command. In Photo I used the following:

Edit > Copy (Control-A, Control-V)  (or Command-A, Command-V)

Edit> New from Clipboard.

Edit> New from Clipboard.

This creates two new tabs, each with a copy of the original image.

2.      Create the Light Edges

On the first extra image, duplicate (Ctrl/Cmd -J) the Background Layer twice

Select the Middle Layer

Apply a Gaussian Blur Filter (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) with radius 1.5.

Change the Blend Mode to Darken.

Select the Topmost Layer and set the Blend Mode to Difference.

Flatten the Image (Document > Flatten).

Duplicate the single layer and set the Blend Mode to Screen.

Duplicate this top layer again.

Flatten the Image.

Rename this layer to Light Edges.

The result will be a very dark image with fine light lines corresponding to the edges.

3.      Create the Dark Edges

On the other extra image, duplicate the background layer twice.

Select the Middle Layer.

Apply a Gaussian Blur Filter (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) with radius 2.

Change the Blend Mode to Lighten.

Select the Topmost Layer and change the Blend Mode to Difference.

Flatten the image.

Invert the image (Ctrl/Cmnd-I).

Duplicate this background layer.

Change the Blend Mode to Multiply.

Duplicate this layer again.

Flatten the image.

Change the Layer Name to Dark Edges

The result will be a very light image with fine dark lines corresponding to the edges.

4.      Bring it all together

Select the Dark Edges image and Copy (Ctrl/Cmd-C).

Select the original image and Paste (Ctrl/Cmd-V).

Set the Blend Mode to Multiply.

Select the Light Edges image and Copy (Ctrl/Cmd-C).

Select the original image and Paste (Ctrl/Cmd-V).

Set the Blend Mode to Screen.


 
I have created two macros to perform the Light Edge and Dark edge manipulations of stages two and three. Although Photo will quite happily create a macro that copies and pastes layers between documents, it records the actual layers present at the time of the recording, not the command to perform the copy.
To apply these to a document, you need to manually go through the steps in stage one to create the two copies. Then Apply the Light Edges macro to one of these tabs and the Dark Edges macro to the other tab. Finally manually go through the steps in stage four.


Dark Edges.afmacro Light Edges.afmacro

John
 

Earlier this morning, @William Overington posted a link to a collection of Pantone Electric Pastels. I created an .afpalette document for these colors, based on the RGB values given on the Pantone web site. You can find that thread at:  https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/146854-pantone-electric-pastels-article-and-palette/
Looking at the Pantone web site a little bit more, I came across a collection of their "Colors of the Year" dating from 2021 back to 2000. A list like that kind of begged for me to create another .afpalette file containing those colors. I have attached that file below. It can be loaded into Affinity Photo through the Swatches panel, using "Import Palette" at the bottom of the hamburger menu. I have imported these as an Application palette, so that they are available throughout Affinity Photo.
Pantone Colors of the Year.afpalette

Nice colors, William. The Pantone website gives the RGB values for each of those pastels, and I have attached an .afpalette file for them. (Note - the colors in the palette are a match for the colors on the website, but only if the starting point is a document using sRGB as a color profile. Otherwise, they will start out too saturated.)
Electric Pastels.afpalette

Earlier this morning, @William Overington posted a link to a collection of Pantone Electric Pastels. I created an .afpalette document for these colors, based on the RGB values given on the Pantone web site. You can find that thread at:  https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/146854-pantone-electric-pastels-article-and-palette/
Looking at the Pantone web site a little bit more, I came across a collection of their "Colors of the Year" dating from 2021 back to 2000. A list like that kind of begged for me to create another .afpalette file containing those colors. I have attached that file below. It can be loaded into Affinity Photo through the Swatches panel, using "Import Palette" at the bottom of the hamburger menu. I have imported these as an Application palette, so that they are available throughout Affinity Photo.
Pantone Colors of the Year.afpalette

Earlier this morning, @William Overington posted a link to a collection of Pantone Electric Pastels. I created an .afpalette document for these colors, based on the RGB values given on the Pantone web site. You can find that thread at:  https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/146854-pantone-electric-pastels-article-and-palette/
Looking at the Pantone web site a little bit more, I came across a collection of their "Colors of the Year" dating from 2021 back to 2000. A list like that kind of begged for me to create another .afpalette file containing those colors. I have attached that file below. It can be loaded into Affinity Photo through the Swatches panel, using "Import Palette" at the bottom of the hamburger menu. I have imported these as an Application palette, so that they are available throughout Affinity Photo.
Pantone Colors of the Year.afpalette

oops…

Earlier this morning, @William Overington posted a link to a collection of Pantone Electric Pastels. I created an .afpalette document for these colors, based on the RGB values given on the Pantone web site. You can find that thread at:  https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/146854-pantone-electric-pastels-article-and-palette/
Looking at the Pantone web site a little bit more, I came across a collection of their "Colors of the Year" dating from 2021 back to 2000. A list like that kind of begged for me to create another .afpalette file containing those colors. I have attached that file below. It can be loaded into Affinity Photo through the Swatches panel, using "Import Palette" at the bottom of the hamburger menu. I have imported these as an Application palette, so that they are available throughout Affinity Photo.
Pantone Colors of the Year.afpalette