DaveS 71

I understand the near impossibility of a detailed manual, especially when updates are totally 'brand new' and frequently added to Affinity but a short 'starter' pdf (to keep it cheep) is totally possible. EXAMPLE: It took me literally an hour (+) to figure out layers / adjustments. THIS IS A BASIC operation not likely to be modified and readily explained (with legible images) in a pdf doc.

I got so frustrated with Affinity Photo that I use it only with very specific applications. Yeah there's a LOT of Affinity Photo vids on YouTube and yeah, if you pour through the various Affinity Photo workbook 'projects" (and remember where you saw a particular application) and have the time a patience to plow though ... I bought Photoshop Elements as it's much logical, at least to me. There is absolutely NO excuse (other than profits) that Affinity Photo cannot SELL (and make money!) a brief manual of the very basics. The excuse that Affinity Photo evolves so often that it's impossible to have a manual is horse pucky! The basics don't change.

Yes it would! This is incredibly cumbersome.

The edge or outline of the brush becomes extremely difficult to see and work with. When working on a very light, or even white, background, is it possible to change the color of the brush''s outline to improve the contrast between the tool and the work? Thank you. Dave

Actually Affinity Community is pretty good. Not as 'mysterious' as most communities. The only problem when asking for help is using terminology and sentence structure, i.e., how to pose a question. Most of my learning is through trial and lots and lots of errors. Fun project while enduring COVID. (FUN? Not so sure about that!) RE: A manual. I don't see the problem with a simple manual addressing the most basic operations. I would hope that basic operations remain unchanged. An example: In the very beginning it took me quite a while to learn that to SAVE an image you EXPORT it. I'm still learning LAYERS. It took me a long time to figure out how to modify a SELECTED part of an image. Simple. You turn the SELECTION into a separate LAYER. Picked that up off the Internet. These very basic, simple operations could be explained (with decent screenshots) easily in a 20 page user's manual. I can almost guarantee that these very basic operation would not be subject to editing by Affinity Photo. Thank you.

I understand and I can also understand your 'General Note,' but are updates to such a huge degree that a 'basic' manual would ever be out of date? Updates that would be so profound that the user (that would be me) would make re-learning the basics a real chore. As an example, it took me a very long time to understand, at least to some degree, the concept of 'nesting,' which in Affinity Photo is a very basic operation. I don't want to sound like an ungrateful pain because I really like AP, but just as with electronic products there is a 'manual,' usually as a PDF for economy, and which no one bothers with, there is usually also a 'quick start' just to get the user up and running. Anyhow, I thank you for the opportunity to throw in my two cents. Dave

I'm addressing the opening question of why there is no user MANUAL for Affinity Photo. I've had in my possession several 'work books' and returned them all; mostly because I'm not interested in 'lessons,' but also because of crummy screen shots (I'm much more visually oriented than text oriented) in either size (unreadable) or quality. Videos DEFINITELY don't make the cut as a reference tool except for the MOST basic of operations. I, and apparently a good number of others, are looking for an actual manual with a detailed index. I do not want to work through exercises and then when I come to a question of a technique I need to use I have to remember which lesson out of witch book utilized that technique. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Farrell for the help and clarification. Dave

Thank you. I tumbled onto this 'solution' myself after an hour or so on the internet. One of the problems that I had with a forum answers was the use of the word 'nesting.' To understand this concept one needs to have an introduction to terminology and examples of how 'nesting' is achieved. Generally I find forums, all forums, is that it is (mis-) understood by those providing help that people like myself go to forums as novices without more in depth knowledge of procedures such as 'nesting.' It would be nice if there was an Affinity Photo detailed manual with a detailed index. Affinity Photo Workbooks ... I want to be able to find the answer almost immediately and not have to think, 'now where did I see this issue in one of Affinity Photo's workbooks?'

Brand new to Affinity Photo. Can you clarify step by step (as in 'simplify') how to adjust one layer without affecting all the layers. Thanks. Dave