Pentaxian

Are we the only two who seem to have this problem, or do not many people read the Features Request section?

This is a constant problem for me, in both Designer and in Photo. I think the problem stems from the fact that even if I have a photo or design open and it takes up less than the full workspace - the scroll bars are still active. They shouldn't be. If the image does NOT overflow the workspace, why are there even scrollbars there? I fully understand the need to scroll vertically and horizontally if zoomed in to only a part of the image, so that the magnified image extends beyond the visible workspace. But a photo, for example, that is sitting in the middle of the workspace, with blank workspace all around it, should NOT have any scroll bars there at all, and certainly not active ones. I'm always just touching the top of my Magic Mouse (yeah, I know, it'll send me blind ;) ) and the problem of the jumping image is really annoying.

Thanks Callum :) And say "Hello" to my old home town for me. Grew up in Hucknall, but now in Australia.

I have a request, regarding something that bugs me no end. Every time I go to open an image file in Affinity Photo, the dialog box pops up (1) in its default location, and (2) - even more annoyingly - in its default size. Now I have a whole stack of images that have very long filenames, including version numbers, topics, etc, and I have to adjust the dialog box to increase its size, and increase the width of the filename column. Would it be possible either to make it an option, or simply just to do it - have AP remember the last size, column widths, and screen location? I run dual monitors, and I like things such as dialog boxes to open on my secondary monitor. But nope - they pop up smack in the middle of the main monitor and I have to drag it across. Would this be difficult to do? Am I the only one who would find this extraordinarily useful? Thanks for considering it. — Pete ====

Thanks MEB and MacGueurle - I did a combination of both. MEB - the app is in the Applications folder, not Documents. But I did what you suggested and deleted the cache file. Then when I ran the App Store app again, I went to the "Purchased" tab, and found AP and simply re-downloaded and installed it. I didn't do it for Designer - I'll use that as a comparison. I'll run the App Store app again tomorrow and see if AP shows up as still needing an update. It's all working hunky-dory at the moment - if you don't hear from me tomorrow (Australia time) you can assume that all is well. If it once again shows up as needing an update, I'll post back on this thread. Thanks to all for the help :)

Yup - I have and use DiskWarrior too. Very good utility :)

Hi Paul -thanks for the reply. Couple of points though - I've been using App Cleaner for years, and it seems to be by far the best of the uninstallers out there. Even that forum you link to only has a couple of generic negative comments. However, the other one they refer to - MacKeeper - really IS a scam. That has made headlines a lot. But App Cleaner seems to do its job thoroughly, and when backed up by Hazel to root out even the most arcane linked files, a clean uninstallation usually results. The other point is that I only used App Cleaner to uninstall the beta of Affinity Photo - it had been installed alongside AP v1.3.4, and when I uninstalled the beta, the original version still worked perfectly. I also checked which files App Cleaner was going to delete before I told it to go ahead an do it - nothing except those referring to the beta version. So I went ahead and did the App Store update for BOTH Affinity Photo AND Affinity Designer (remember I'd never had a beta of AD installed, and nothing uninstalled) - and the updates went fine. Everything working. But every time I pull up the App Store app and check for updates - lo and behold, there is AP and AD in the list to update. So I update them - again - and it's the same v1.3.5 update. The release notes are identical. For some reason, the App Store doesn't seem to recognise that I'm using the latest updates. I just tried the App Store app on my Macbook Air (the main problem has been on my iMac) - and the problem is NOT occurring on the laptop. So presumably it's something specific to the iMac - but I don't know what. Oh yes - I also had the AP Beta on the laptop and uninstalled that using App Cleaner before updating - yet everything works just fine. Go figure, as they say in the movies... ;)

I have Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer on an iMac running Yosemite, fully updated. I did the App Store update when 1.3.5 came out - but every time I do an App Store check for updates, both AP and AD keep coming up as needing an update, and then proceed to download and install v1.3.5 all over again. My list of Recently Installed apps has AD and AP at least 5 times each - all for v1.3.5 The only thing I can think of is that I installed the beta version of AP (but not AD) alongside my v1.3.4 AP a couple of weeks ago. But I Uninstalled that using App Cleaner before I updated my v1.3.4 to v1.3.5. All went well. But now it somehow seems to think it needs to be constantly updated.... Any clues? One other question - how is the progress at getting Photoshop plugins to work in Photo - in particular, the Topaz plugins? All of them? Any luck collaborating with the Topaz folks on getting this to happen, now that you have release versions of the program? Keep up the great work - I'm loving both AD and AP. Once thosae plugins work flawlessly in AP, I'll be making a complete switch from Photoshop CS6.

Thanks Callum - appreciated muchly :) Please don't take my post the wrong way - I wasn't having a snipe at your progress, etc - I was just wondering when the first post-release update would be. I'm happy to download the Customer Beta and run that, and thanks for the link to the progress report re plugins :) Keep up the good work, team.

Affinity Photo has been out on general release now for some weeks. It is a fantastic effort, and remarkably bug-free. However, there ARE still some things to be worked out, not least of which is compatibility with Photoshop plugins such as Topaz and others. This needs to be seemless and fully operational, and fully automatic. I know you guys said you'd be working with the plugin makers once you had a full release version of the Photo software out there. So I'm just wondering if this is being worked on, and when can we expect to see the first update - most initial releases are followed by bug-fixes and minor updates fairly quickly after that first release. This just seems to be taking a while.... No pressure - just asking :)

Daisy - why are you downloading your photos into iPhoto at all? Why not simply import them directly into Aperture? You can either connect the camera or slip the SD card into the card reader on the Mac, open Aperture, and tell it to import directly from the card. To be safe, I actually copy the card into a new folder on the dektop first, remove the card, then open Aperture and import from the new folder. That just avoids the risk of automatically deleting the files once imported, as I want to keep them. Yes, I know you can say not to delete them, but just in case... (call me paranoid). Then in Aperture, you can set Affinity as your external editing app, so that when you right-click on a photo in Aperture, and select "Edit with Affinity", the photo should open in Affinity. I can't guarantee that the two-way trip is flawless yet - I'm gradually using Affinity more and more, bit by bit, but I haven't cut the cord to Photoshop yet - I'm going to wait until Affinity is just a tiny bit more mature, and has all the problems sorted out with plugins, etc (especially Topaz) before I finally ditch PS. So I don't have Affinity yet set as my external editor in Aperture - but I will as soon as I'm happy that Affinity is out of its post-natal phase :) So, until Affinity introduces photo management facilities, like Aperture has (or Lightroom), it will remain as a separate editor for doing stuff (eg layers) that Aperture doesn't do.

'Scuse me butting in here, but I had something similar - but then I realised that I hadn't flattened the image before saving/exporting. So I was only exporting the layer with the overlays on. On the main menu, the Layers menu has an item WAY down at the bottom, with no keyboard shortcut (shouldn't there be one there?) called "Flatten Image" which causes your new layer(s) to merge down into the background image. That then becomes a single image that you can save or export. Maybe that's the problem?

And by the way - Aperture IS still around, as long as you bought it before they stopped further development. It's just that they are no longer developing it. Which is a great disappointment, and a silly move by Apple.... But who am I to criticise Apple? Hah...! Affinity Photo is ALMOST there to take over from Photoshop for my usage - but I just need it to work properly with all my Photoshop plugins, from Topaz, to Nik, from Photomatix to OnOne, etc. But Serif already know that, so I just hope they're working on it as we speak :)

In the Adjustments panel on the right - the one with the long list of adjustment icons - about half way down is Shadows/Highlights. Is that what you're looking for? By moving the Highlight slider to the left, it does the highlight recovery thing. Moving it to the right brightens underexposed highlights.

There seem to be several processes which don't work UNLESS the base layer is specifically selected. One example is loading a new document, selecting the Fill tool, then trying to fill the blank image with a colour or a gradient. Another is that after applying ANY adjustment (eg lightening the shadows) on a photo, if I then want to perform something such as Liquefy or Warp on that image, again I have to leave the Adjustment panel and clikc to enter the Layers panel, then specifically click on the base layer to activate it before I can actually do anything else to the base image. Wouldn't it make more sense (or at least be an option inPreferences) to assume that the base layer is the default active layer at all times, UNLESS specifically told NOT, by clicking on a different layer? That would seem to avoid a lot of the frustration that I, and others, seem to be having by constantly having to remember to click on the base layer (or background image/layer as Photoshop calls it) to do things to it.

I can't find anywhere in the Preferences or elsewhere that I can set Affinity Photo to display the full path of an image at the top of its screen. I often do preparatory work on a COPY of my original image, and I constantly need to know if I'm working on the copy (usually saved to the desktop) or on the original (in a different folder). But the title of the image at the top of the screen is just the name of the image file - no path. Am I missing something? Or is that something that could be in the Preferences?

This is related to a point I raised on another thread. After performing an action - any action that creates a new layer (eg adjusting shadows on a photo), if I want to do ANYTHING to the base layer - the original photo (eg Liquefy, Warp Mesh, etc), I specifically have to click on the Layers tab to switch from the Adjustments tab, then click on the base layer to select/activate it, and only THEN can I do my warping or whatever. Wouldn't it make more sense - or at least be an option - to assume that the base layer is ALWAYS selected by default unless another is specifically selected? That way, workflow is streamlined if I lighten the shadows on a photo, adjust the colour temperature, tweak the sharpening, and then decide that I want to do a bit of liquefying or warping. Rarely would I envisage needing to do that on any of the additional layers - surely it makes sense to assume that I want to work on the base layer? And as per the original post, having the base layer selected by default would make much more sense, requiring specific activation of different layers if actions are to be performed on them? And a new document SHOULD be the base layer by default - even with no content. Filling with a background colour, or gradient, for example, should be able to be done as soon as a new document is created. My vote goes to having the base layer active by default unless specifically changed, or at least make that an option in Preferences. ;)

I can't find anywhere in the Preferences or elsewhere that I can set Affinity Photo to display the full path of an image at the top of its screen. I often do preparatory work on a COPY of my original image, and I constantly need to know if I'm working on the copy (usually saved to the desktop) or on the original (in a different folder). But the title of the image at the top of the screen is just the name of the image file - no path. Am I missing something?

Aha - thanks Travis - appreciate the info. Will give that a try. It may make more sense though to have the program assume that when I go into Liquefy mode, or use the Warp Mesh tool, that I want to work on the base layer UNLESS I specifically click on another layer...? Or maybe at least have that as an option in the Preferences? I'll look into this when I get back to the computer I do that work on. Thanks for the help :)

Hi team :) Maybe I'm missing something here, but I'm having a problem with the Liquefy persona and operation. If I load a fresh photo (JPG) and go straight to the Liquefy persona, I can warp it beautifully (or grotesquely) :). No problem. However, if I perform a tweak on the photo FIRST (eg bring up the shadows in "Shadows/Highlights"), and THEN go to liquefy something - it doesn't work. The liquefy mesh sort of moves a bit, but nothing in the image itself. If I click on "Apply" still nothing. If I then close the photo (without saving it) and then reload and go straight to Liquefy - it works again. So it seems that liquefying isn't working on a photo that has already had some processing done on it. Can anyone else confirm this, or is it just me missing something?

As a very recent buyer of both Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer, but a LONG time user of Photoshop (heavy user) and Illustrator (occasional user), I absolutely LOVE these first releases by Affinity/Serif. Sure, there are still a few tweaks to be ironed out - not least of which is to get Photoshop plugins working flawlessly in Photo. So why don't you do what I'm doing? I'm using the Affinity pair of apps alongside the Adobe pair. My use is mainly on clinical and anatomical photos and diagrams. (I'm a surgeon and surgical anatomy prof). Apart from sessions with large numbers of photos to process (I use Photoshop exclusively for those at the moment, especially for the plugins), for sessions with just a few photos, I first use Photoshop, then using a copy of the original, I use Affinity Photo. That way, I'm learning my way around AP and I'm also finding out just what it WILL do as well as what it WON'T do (not much). So I'm running them in parallel. Currently, I'm amazed at what Affinity Photo does, and does flawlessly, and most of all - very quickly. Once they get the plugin problems sorted out - especially for Topaz, Nik, OnOne, Noise Ninja, and Photomatix - then I should be familiar enough, and confident enough, to wean myself off Photoshop and onto Affinity Photo. This will probably be a reversal of what I'm doing now - I'll start to use AP as my primary processing app, but still use Photoshop on copies as backups just in case, for a little while. Eventually, I hope to be on Affinity Photo alone, and can retire Photoshop (CS6) to the "Not Used" folder. So far, Affinity Photo continually surprises me when I go to do something new, and it just does it. Yesterday it was creating a new layer, changing the type to "Multiply", perform a selection on the new layer over some labels on a clinical diagram, fill them with bright yellow highlighter, flatten the image, save. Bingo - perfectly done images with some labels highlighted. It worked as quickly or even more so than in Photoshop. The day before, I had to remove some stuff from some clinical photos taken during surgery, using the inpainting brush - worked perfectly first go. (By the way, I still get confused by the terminology. In Photoshop, what AP calls the Healing brush is the Clone tool, and what AP calls the Inpainting brush is the Healing brush). Bottom line - Affinity Photo is just about there. Plugin compatibility needs to be sorted, but once that happens, I'm all over it and will kiss Photoshop goodbye. Just one person's experiences so far, but I hope it helps.

One thing just occurred to me, regarding the original post: those tool icons are only grey when there is no picture loaded. Once you have a picture on the workspace and active, then all those tool icons are in glorious bright colour. And certainly not hard to see - even for these aging eyes...! Maybe you are just looking at the bare interface with no picture loaded? Perhaps Affinity could/should consider making those icons remain in full colour even when there is no picture up? Just a thought.... In fact, I can't actually think of a valid reason for greying them out at all - they simply won't do anything anyway if there is nothing there to do it on - if you see what I mean. Just leave the tool icons in full colour all the time. Hope that helps.

Before complaing about response time, I think you need to take into account that: 1. Affinity/Serif are probably in a completely different timezone than you are, 2. They are dealing with a HUGE amount of support calls and messages during the launch period of Affinity Photo. I've only been on here for a week or so, but I have been VERY impressed at not only the speed with which somebody from Affinity or one of the Mods will respond, but also the fact that several of those who DO respond are the actual developer team. So you're talking directly to the programmers/coders. For a $50 piece of software, that is as sophisticated and powerful as Affinity Photo is, and considering that this is the initial release, I am amazed at what the app will do. Sure, there are some teething bugs to get sorted out - there always are. Things like tweaking the UI such as your concerns, or things like getting some of the Photoshop plugins to work in Affinity Photo - still to be fixed. But given that the programmers are trying to divide their time between actually coding the tweaks, responding on here, and getting some sleep, I think you're being unnecessarily harsh and too quick to jump to criticism. I'd put money on you getting a response from Affinity within the next few hours. The initial post on this thread was still only 5 hoours ago - and you're accusing them of not responding? Holy mackerel - this isn't a Skype call or a real-time chat...!

Wow..! Brilliant :) Thank you, thank you, thank you :)

Just to throw in a plea for putting the Foreground/Background colour "flipper" at the bottom of the Tool selector bar, where it lives in Photoshop. Or even just duplicating it there - leave one where it is at the top of the Colour panel on the right, but have another that does the same thing at the bottom of the Tool selector panel. Yes, I know I can drag the Tool selector panel elsewhere, but again, I'm so used to it being down the left edge.... Also, in Photoshop, to flip the colours, I click on the little two-headed arrow on the "flipper" as I call it. If I click on one or other of the colours itself, it brings up the colour selector. That is very quick and direct, with no whizzing all over the screen of my 27" iMac. Muscle memory is very powerful, and I find it very distracting to have to select the Paintbrush tool, for example, way over on the left, then go all the way to the far right to flip the colours. A small thing, I know, but annoying. I'm referring here to Affinity Photo, by the way.