Gregory Chalenko

Good to know.

I used a workaround with a .bat file containing just this single line: 
%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\AffinityPhoto2.exe %1 I'm pointing the third party apps to this file instead of Affinity Photo executable.

This works, but I'm personally not a big fan of the extra console window popping up in the background as Affinity launches.

Hi all. Thanks for your patience over the weekend when our offices were closed.
We've had a meeting this morning and decided to ALSO offer MSI installers, to those people who would like them. I can't tell you when this will happen, as there is engineering work that will be required to allow this to happen, but we hope it won't be long.
Thanks for your feedback!

Hi all. Thanks for your patience over the weekend when our offices were closed.
We've had a meeting this morning and decided to ALSO offer MSI installers, to those people who would like them. I can't tell you when this will happen, as there is engineering work that will be required to allow this to happen, but we hope it won't be long.
Thanks for your feedback!

@Designer1234this may not be an issue for you, but money isn't for me. Never was the issue. Better more productive software is. My industry dictates what i use. They are not moving forward with V2 of Affinity software. This now becomes a issue for me, as I follow the same path/directory structure they do.
Everyone has different uses for their software. If it was just me, I would put up with it . Not in anymeans ideal when someone forces you to put something you don't want to where the want.  But in  MY case this doesn't work, and 2 companies I contract to for FILM work dont' want to either. So this was a email to see if SERIF have some sort of compromise.
Seems that they do not. Will wait another day, and if nothing happens , will just get a refund.
Gary
 

I was pleasantly surprised that VueScan has anticipated this problem. It opens .tiff files in the program  you have designated as the default editor for Windows.
I set Photo2 as the default program for .tiff files and Lo! VueScan automatically opened scanned image in Photo2.
John

I would also much prefer to have a possibility to install Affinity applications to custom folders, like I have always been doing with all major software on my personal computers.
The way V2 is installed, it's not just about inability to maintain a certain structure of storage or the moment of confusion for the ones who install it for the first time.
Even such basic things as configuring image viewers or scanning utilities require a cumbersome workaround.

Good to know.

I used a workaround with a .bat file containing just this single line: 
%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\AffinityPhoto2.exe %1 I'm pointing the third party apps to this file instead of Affinity Photo executable.

This works, but I'm personally not a big fan of the extra console window popping up in the background as Affinity launches.

I would also much prefer to have a possibility to install Affinity applications to custom folders, like I have always been doing with all major software on my personal computers.
The way V2 is installed, it's not just about inability to maintain a certain structure of storage or the moment of confusion for the ones who install it for the first time.
Even such basic things as configuring image viewers or scanning utilities require a cumbersome workaround.

So, 
I posted elsewhere the problems with new installer . The SO CALLED option to install to another drive is terrible. Look that  the MESS of a directory it creates
It is important for a lot of COMPANIES and WORKFLOWS to have correct directory structures. The inability to INSTALL the APPS where you want is a massive problem for a lot of us in the GRAPHIC DESIGN world ( particularly in FILM ).
I create graphics for movies and CONTRACT to many companies. I have had two notices this morning to stop using AFFINITY file formats and migrate to AI and EPS only. This is due to the NEW INSTALLER and they do not want to USE V2 because of it. Many of the companies and scripts and backups and a very strict workflow based on where things are and was the reason i was given.
I just got away from finally use of ADOBE software. Now i have to start a SUBSCRIPTION again.
This is a two fold issue in my case. FIRST off, I now need to spend more more money and go back to ADOBE . Two the companies are not PURCHASING V2 of AFFINITY Software ( one of the companies alone has 35 seats of the software ) .So now I have to output money for ADOBE and AFFINITY if i wish to keep using it. 
I love AFFINITY Software. Never had any complaints about what they have done or where they are going.
BUT THIS IS A BIG SCREW UP in my eyes. We DON'T use ANY software that doesn't allow us a choice on where to INSTALL.
 
PLEASE SERIF for those  that are reading this and listening, Please give us the choice of the old installer and keep the users.
 
Hope to hear something soon.
Gary
 

I find some of these complaints in regard to update costs somewhat baffling.
8 years ago the first version of Affinity Designer was released. 7 years ago Photo. 3 years ago Publisher.
Throughout that time customers received free updates and upgrades, and many new users purchased the software at a reduced special offer price. I am one of those.
All the free updates actually made me feel I ought to ask Serif to charge me MORE, because the cost for V1 in relation to its functionality was always greatly in favour of its feature set. In short: very inexpensive for what was on offer.
V2 is a new release of Affinity. It is offered again at small cost compared to other commercial alternatives. V1 continues to run and isn't 'taken away'. There is no subscription. Unlike companies such as Adobe, older versions are not removed from the user's installation options. Serif's business model is based on the "you pay for it, you have an unlimited license" approach, which is actively abandoned by most other software companies.
Yet: like it or not, Serif has to generate revenue to cover development costs. They can't forever keep leaning on bringing in new users. The Affinity devs have always stated that free updates would be available for V1.xx. They stated unequivocally that V2.XX would become a paid upgrade.
Now, I understand that if a user purchased the software in the last 3 months, having to pay for a full upgrade is understandably inconvenient, and it would have been perhaps preferable for Serif to handle those cases differently.
But surely enough, at SOME point Serif has to make SOME money, otherwise business becomes untenable and they'll go bankrupt. Right?
Or perhaps Serif has a good reason to go down the subscription route after all: even IF you try with your best intentions to provide professional-level design software at a very affordable price level, AND offer 50% off to everyone at release time, STILL people complain about it.
If I were them, the subscription business model suddenly is beginning to look quite attractive. Because there is no use in trying to please everyone anyway.
PS I do agree that a grace period of 1 year or so to fix critical bugs in V1 would have been good to have and alleviate part of the complaints made.

This is a two-fold question.  First, where do Designer and Photo hide your files like your styles, brushes, color palettes, Assets on a PC?  I've looked in Program Files, Program Files (86) and in the apps areas, Local, Roaming, etc. and I can't find them anywhere.
And secondly, if you have a gazillion styles or brushes, etc, installed, does that slow the program down?
Thank you in advance.
 

You can do that. You just can't control the exact path.
You can Move the installed application to a different drive. Settings > Apps & Features, select app, Move.
Or you can tell Windows to install new applications on a different drive. Settings > System > Storage, then change the location (drive) for installing new content.

It bothers me personally that I can no longer determine the path for the program installation myself.
Basically, I separate the operating system and the programs as far as possible from each other on their own partitions.

For me this works to create a shortcut icon on desktop.
Then a new Window opens where are all icons displayed.
OS is Win 11 Pro



But it would be nice in the future when I can choose by myself where the App would be installed, not the installation routine. Or is there a good reason why this is now so?

I can't see them re-packaging it to install properly, and I am quite annoyed they did not say upfront and clearly that it now installed as an app, that is a major shift.

Finally found the location in the AppData/Local/Microsoft/WindowsApps/SerifEurope .....  but Adobe Bridge cannot access it.  The Adobe message is "The file cannot be accessed by the system."  I can't find much excuse for this.  The program should install in the Windows/Program Files/Affinity like any well behaved program and like Photo V1.  Stay the hell out of AppData and particularly the Microsoft section.  FIX IT. I just paid money to buy the "upgrade"

It says "Sorry, we can't show this content because you do not have permission to see it".
Also why not allow to set our own installation path. As a power user I try to keep my Windows drive clean, Windows tends to add garbage to it over the time.
Also where does Affinity 2 put the Add-Ons like bruhses? I guess in AppData too?

I have just bought and installed V2, but I can not find the installation directory!!
I need a shortcut to be able to open photos in it from another application, which I do all the time

I'd rather like to see the rulers implemented into Designer...

Confirmed on Windows 10.
The Text Ruler is mentioned in the Designer Help – on the “Frame Text Tool” page – but there is no icon on the Context Toolbar, or View menu entry, when editing Frame Text (even one that was created in Publisher).

I'm still missing the text rulers in Designer. The help says there should be an icon for activating them, but that simply doesn't show up. There also no entry in the view menu.

Would love to see this added to Designer, sometimes for simple documents (maybe less than 5) I need this feature to see quickly create tabs! PLEASE CONSIDER! This is one of the things that's not that intuitive with the tabs panel now, I can't see where the next tab will be.

I've been thinking a bit more of this comprehensive Selective Color Corrector idea, and here are new mockups.
First image - adjustment of all colors in HLS, second image - adjustment of midtones in RGB, and finally, adjustment of shadows in Lab:

Hi guys,
I find the Selective Color Adjustment extremely useful with its possibility to adjust not only selected hues, but also tones.
What seems weird in it though, is that regardless of the current document color mode, it operates in CMYK primaries.
Surely, this works, but wouldn't it be more intuitive to have RGB sliders as an option?
How about a more general selective color tool, that would allow hue range selection like in HSL Adjustment, but also with similar tone selection for shadows, midtones and highlights?
It could offer a choice whether you want to adjust the selection in HSL, HSV, Lab, CMYK or RGB.
Wouldn't such a tool be more straight forward than variety of different tools for the same purpose, that can only be applied one on top of another, distorting the input color for every next one?
Think of it: HSL, Selective Color, Color Balance, Split Toning and Shadows / Highlights are all essentially selective color tools, but for some reason each of them lacks some functionality that others offer. I understand that they are important to make transition from Photoshop easier, but Photoshop is a very old software with legacy of limitations and concepts changing over time. Affinity Photo, being a new application designed from scratch, can be more streamlined and logical, while also supporting older Photoshop approaches for those who need them.
Why can't we have one adjustment layer where all the tuning based on hue and luminance can be made in one place using same consistent logic? If you care about a possibility to separate adjustments into steps, you could just apply this tool several times, and each instance would adjust different things, but using same simple idea.
P.S.: speaking of HSL, I think it should use Lightness slider instead of Luminosity, because Lightness is what L stands for in HSL.
 

@Gregory Chalenko
If you want to create a grayscale image from the Spare Channel there are a couple of ways, one of which may be better than the other for your application:
1) Make a new pixel layer and fill it with White - we will call this new layer "BlankLayer."
2a) Right-click on the Spare Channel that you have stored and select "Load to BlankLayer Red" - repeat but select "Load to BlankLayer Green" and ""Load to BlankLayer Blue."  Now you have a grayscale pixel layer that is a copy of the Spare Channel.  You can make a Macro that will do the sequence of steps.
or
2b) Right-click on the Spare Channel and select "Load to BlankLayer Alpha."  The Spare Channel will be transferred to the BlankLayer Alpha channel.  In the Channels panel list, right-click on the BlankLayer Alpha channel and select "Create Grayscale Layer."  In this case, the BlankLayer is a temporary layer that you use to hold the Alpha channel so you can make the grayscale image from it.
I suggest that you right-click on all of the channel thumbnails in the Channels panel and see what options each one has - there is a lot going on there, but it is sort of hidden until you realize that the options exist!  Also, even though these work-arounds require additional button presses and steps, I think that all of the steps are able to be recorded in a macro, so you could automate the process by recording a Macro.
 
Kirk