Jonathan D

See ...
Greyscale to Transparency : how to ?
Converting grayscale shades into alpha channel
For bulk processing (many images) a tool like ImageMagick might be handy here, assuming an image is a greyscale PNG file then ...
... see for ImageMagick and the control of image transparency this here.

If you're using Affinity Photo, you might try the following:
Have your image at the bottom of the layer stack, and make sure it's a (Pixel) layer (rasterize it if it isn't). Place a pure black Fill layer below your image. Click on the image in the Layers panel, and invert it (Ctrl/Cmd+I (Windows/Mac)). Right-click on the image in the Layers panel and Rasterize to Mask. Optional: Then drag it to the mask position of the fill layer, or right-click and Mask to Below.  

Perhaps see if this post helps
 

I am here to help make AP better than PS. Any monopoly is not good. I am willing to work around the minor issues. My personal opinion.
 
I hark back to the 80s and 90s when installs and getting software running took some effort.
 
Nowadays it appears that many folks want to click and run without any effort or work whatsoever. No appreciation of unique configurations... No willingness to explore, learn and research.
 
Too lazy even to search forums or check drivers etc.
 
I suppose it is an App world...
 
I salute the patience of Serif staff living with the cr*p they get in these forum posts.
 
P

A more recent set of tutorials for 1.7 (and above) is available via affinity.serif.com or from Designer's Welcome screen.
The legacy tutorial set, also available on YouTube, includes:
1. Getting Started
•        Discover Affinity Designer
•        For Beginners
•        For Beginners Too
•        Using the Help System
•        CMYK Setup
•        Designing from a Sketch
•        New from Clipboard
•        Actual Size Zoom
•        Editing PDF Text
•        Using the Grade UI Kit
2. Artboards
•        Artboards: Basics
•        Artboards: Exporting and Printing
•        Artboards: Colour and Opacity
•        Artboards: From Content
•        Artboards: Design Aids
3. Drawing Lines and Shapes
•        Pen Power
•        Shapes
•        Convert to Curves
•        Corner Tool
•        Drawing Perfect Triangles
•        Stylish Strokes: Textured Lines
•        Stylish Strokes: Dashed Lines
4. Colour and Opacity
•        Complex Gradients
•        Adjusting Noise and Opacity in Fills
•        Transparency Tool
•        Changing Colours
•        Blend Modes
•        Colour Picker Tool
•        Colour Palette from Document
•        Colour Palette from Image
•        Pantone Colours
•        Global, Spot and Overprint Colours
•        Quick Opacity Setting
5. Layer control
•        Layers Panel
•        Lock Children
6. Object control
•        Selecting, Finding and Isolating Objects
•        Rotation Point: Overview
•        Rotation Point: Worked Example
•        Vector Scaling Options
7. Symbols and Assets
•        Symbols (1.5)
•        Assets (1.5)
8. Painting
•        Shading Using Raster Brushes
•        Adding Raster Texture
9. Text
•        Artistic, Frame and Shape Text
•        Text on a Path: Overview
•        Text on a Path: Worked Example
•        OpenType Typography
10. Media
•        Using Raster Images in a Composition
•        Film Noir Style Illustration
11. Saving, exporting and sharing
•        Save History
•        Soft Proofing
•        Exporting
•        Exporting: Layers
•        Exporting: Slices
•        Exporting: Continuous
•        Exporting: Automatic Directory/Folder Creation
•        Exporting: Multiple Outputs from a Single Slice
•        Exporting: Transparent and Coloured Backgrounds
•        Exporting User Settings and Keyboard Shortcuts
12. Design Aids
•        Constraints: Overview
•        Constraints: Worked Example for Web Design
•        Snapping and Dynamic Guides •        Snapping: Candidates
•        Snapping: Object Creation
•        Snapping: UI and Web Design
•        View Modes and Split View
•        New View
•        View Points
•        Grids: Icon Design
•        Grids: Floor Plans
•        Isometric Grid Drawings: Part 1 (Single Planes)
•        Isometric Grid Drawings: Part 2 (Multiple Planes)
•        Isometric Grid Drawings: Part 3 (Layers and Compounds)
•        Grids: Coloured Lines
 

Toggling blend modes from layers updates a preview on the fly, where as in Photoshop, you have to select the blend mode and wait for an update. I think how Affinity updates as you move from blend mode to blend mode is better. 

That's good to know.
 
Did a quick test of a 3 layer PSD into Motion, and that worked a treat also.
 
Jonathan

Downloaded the RC and banged out a multi layered PSD to the Final Cut Pro X setting and all I can say is "Thank Heavens!"
 
Great Job, full control on the layers and now I can really start spending CC money on getting a new MacPro!
 
Thank you.
 
Lawrence
 Pro Certified

—WOW! I have to say Affinity is definitely Adobe's grim reaper.
—We want to thank you guys for working so hard on AD & AP. 
—Affinity, please continue on this path. You really have a good thing going.
—So proud to be a part of this history in the making.
 
Real talk—

+1 for splitting... Just like the beta section each app gets its own branches of categories, beta, news, general, questions.

Would it be possible to split the forums into two: One for Designer and one for Photo?

Jonathan D,
 
I can imagine that even with separate sections there would still be a lot of 'cross-posts'. Some might be in error. Some might be about a topic which affects both (all three). A project on which I am presently working uses both Designer and Photo; where would I post were it such that I was having difficulty doing something that requires them to work 'together'? This could also possibly present some issues/difficulty for the developers/moderators who are being so active here.  Imagine how often it could happen that someone might ask a question only to have a number of people tell them that they posted in the 'wrong' section.
 
I, for one, am exceptionally pleased that Photo and Designer were designed to work 'together' and do so quite well; this will become even more apparent (and important) once Publisher goes live. I also generally like how the forum is set up; as I use both apps and thus have an strong interest in both, I would not want the forum to become over-complicated and difficult to use.  I especially would not want to see the Share Your Work section being split in two.
 
However, we do already have one section, Affinity Beta Support, which is composed of two parts: Affinity Designer Beta and Affinity Photo Beta. Were there to be two additional sections under the heading of Support, would that be what you had in mind? I guess what I am asking is, are you thinking of splitting the entire forum or do you just want two separate sections for support of the individual apps.
 
Searching need not be an issue for anyone even with the current system in use: One can simply 'google' the terms they wish to search for and then append "affinity forum"; a google search done in this manner can often be more effective than using the forum's built-in search function. Separate sections wouldn't really be of benefit when it comes to 'search'.  (I just queried Google typing "split the forum affinity forum" and your thread was the first 'hit'!)

Jonathan D,
 
That is the way it was before. I don't remember when it changed over and became one but 3 or 4 months ago (and before) the threads were divided into Designer/Questions/FeatureRequests/Bugs and Photo/Questions/FeatureRequests/Bugs. The funny thing is, it was confusing because people would post things about Photo in the Designer threads (probably because the Designer threads were on top). It hasn't been that long ago that changed to how it is now.
 
Hokusai

Quick(ish) work-around: Save each layer from AF separately as a .PNG. 
 
In Motion select these files and in one go, grab and move to workspace.

Hello MonkeyFire,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
Currently there's no way to turn off the panning when you are using a Magic Mouse (i'm not sure how it works for other brands with sensitive surfaces). Maybe we should add an option to disable it in the preferences... I've found advantages and disadvantages in both situations.