Silversnapper

Actually, it is very simple in AP2. At the base of the panel containing the layers, to the right of the Adjustment icon is the Layer Effects icon, shown as FX with lines above and below. Click on this and this panel appears: Make sure the outline option is selected and ticked, as shown. Choose your colour, mid grey in the example, (suggest from a greyness scale unless you want a colour) and your keyline thickness in pixels. I always select 'Inside' as the alignment. The beauty in doing it this way is that the Layer Effects stays within the layer, so can adjusted 'live'. You can return to it at any time to readjust any parameter.

Agree, David, coffee does help! Thank you for your suggestion for creating a separate afphoto document. That is similar to my workaround where i created a separate layer for the same effect but offers the advantage of calling the afphoto file whenever I need clouds. Thomaso, I will try your approach as it offers a lot of flexibility. Incidentally, the circular shapes were not intended - it was a quick and dirty edit with the clone brush tool - oops! firstdefence, thank you for your pointer to the transparency. I did not know that. (What a steep learning curve this programme is.) I was hoping there could be an angular adjustment variable that could be inserted into the formula, but my skills are not up to that level. Thanks again. Tony

Thank you for your replies to my request for help. I have a workaround, at best, but not really satisfactory as there is little control I can impose. I created a new layer and added the quasi-clouds as described. I then rasterised the layer and was then able to rotate to my liking. It was necessary to enlarge this cloud layer to avoid edge effects, and apply a mask to limit the 'clouds' to the sky alone. There has to be a better way: to rotate the clouds only. I attach an example of the sort of cloud pattern I am trying to achieve. It needs a lot of tweeking before it is what I need, but it at least serves to illustrate what I am wanting. Any more ideas would be welcome. Thank you.

I can create clouds using Layer/New Live Filter Layer/Colors/Procedural Texture/Thin Clouds. I can make them look like streaks by adjusting the variable. However, I now want to rotate those streaks within a layer. Does anyone know how I can do that? Also, is it possible to create those clouds on a transparent background? I hope someone can help.

Many thanks firstdefence for your post. I am in the process of deciding the short cut keys I will set up to help my workflow. If you have set up short cuts I would be grateful to know what they are.

I have just bought the Deco Pro MW Pen Tablet for use with Affinity Photo2. I understand this tablet is not supported by Serif, but certainly works. Has anyone on the Forum, or at Serif, used this tablet, or any others in the same family? If so, I would appreciate it if you could share your various settings/shortcut keys with me. My interest is with photo editing exclusively. This is my first tablet and the learning curve seems to be quite steep! I am guessing that with the correct settings, my work could be morw accurate and perhaps faster than with a mouse. Thanks in anticipation.

Thank you James and Lee. There's a lot to absorb. I will work through the details. I use capture One V22, not the latest. It does not support import of any HDR formats, though it does a reasonable job of merging raw images. Unfortunately, my camera was set on JPG only, until I realised it (OK, stupid mistake!), so it is a series of JPG bracketed images I am processing. I take your point re PhotomatixPro. I seriously do appreciate the time both of you have spent on this. I hope the explanations as they have developed today will be of assistance to other users. Kind regards

Thank you. I tried the Unmanaged and the ICC Display Transform and as far as I can tell, they show the same; no discernable difference. My monitor is a decent NEC showing (if I recall correctly) about 98% of Adobe RGB. Thank you for your time. I will continue exploring the HDR function. Regards

I made no changes. What I saw as the HDR preview I liked and wanted to export as is. Using that as the base image, I can make whatever minor adjustments I need in C1. That is what I want to do. I have tried to use Document/Export Format in the Photo Persona, but any changes (say, to TIFF 16 bit Adobe RGB) give me the flat image previously referred to. Having changed the Export Format to TIFF, I have found it time-consuming at least, or impossible at worst, to adjust back to the HDR preview appearance. It requires multiple layers of adjustments. The HDR function gives me the appearance that I want, but I can't export it as such. Am I missing the point, here? Am I expecting too much? I really don't want to start using another application that AP should be able to achieve, but I may have to. Regards

I see the same issue whether I use V2 or the Beta version so I assumed the Beta version had not changed the HDR function, so it was not a Beta-specific issue. You have identified the issue, namely the difference between the HDR preview and the TIFF exported. I expected the TIFF image to appear on screen as the HDR preview appears. I have previously used Photomatix Pro, which exports what I see on screen. I expected AP to perform in the same way. If I see the HDR preview on my screen, I cannot understand why that does not export looking the same, even though it may be a TIFF. Clearly I don't understand the use of the Merge to HDR functionality in AP. I remain confused, and so far, disappointed. Thank you for looking into this issue. Regards

Done. You should see a big difference in tonal range between the two, and an appearance of over exposure on the TIFF. This example is not as extreme as some I have processed. If you wish to phone me, you should have my number. I am UK based.

I think this is what you asked for. It is my normal screen view.

Attached as requested

Thank you Lee. I am not clear about this. This is my understanding: In the Export Settings window, the top drop-down box allows a profile to be set and a simulated image is shown to illustrate the image appearance as exported. This matches what I see when imported to Capture One. The only setting which shows the exported image appearing as AP has produced it, is when this is set to HDR; all other settings, JPG, TIF etc show the flat image. Capture One cannot open a .HDR image format. I have set the export to be TIFF as 16 bit. The small image in this window accurately reflects the flat image when opened in Capture One. I have taken a screen image to illustrate what I mean, attached. What am I doing wrong? Regards

For further clarification, the same 'flat' effect is evident using raw files to create the HDR image. It points to a possible error on my part, but I am at a loss to know what that can be. HELP!

I am trying to combine three images +/- 2 stops using the HDR function of V2. The problem outlined below is the same whether the images are JPG, or TIFs, or JPGs converted to TIFs before applying the HDR procedure in AP. The problem is that I create the final image in Affinity Photo and export as a TIFF. When I open this image in Capture One, it is totally flat and looks nowhere like the image I created in AP. Is there something I am doing wrong? I have read lots of internet help, but have not found a clue to my problem. I hope someone can help. Regards Tony

I have Capture One 22 on Windows 11 and I can connect to Photos 2. It took some time and effort and not a little frustration. However, I echo what has been said elsewhere, this is a disaster for Serif in the way it has been implemented on Windows. I would wish for a total reissue with a 'normal' installation implementation. I would be happy to uninstall and re-install.

This is quite ridiculous! No desktop icon, exe file hidden and inaccessible, WHY? This is the most user unfriendly application I have ever used. After lots of searching I now have a desktop icon and have been able to access Photo2 from other programmes, but it has taken me an hour to do it all. NOT HAPPY!

The simple way I always use is to identify an image file in Explorer, right click, Open With and a list of possible apps is presented Just click on Photo 2 and the file will be opened in Photo 2. I have Capture One, and by using this procedure, Photo 2 is then automatically listed in the external apps. Always works for me...