pixelman

I've been trying to provide an example but so far having trouble getting consistent results. Meanwhile, can you explain why using Merge in the WB window gives different results from using Document/Flatten while the WB window is open? How is Merge different from Flatten?

I'm not sure I understand all this. Is the issue that I resized the image before doing the WB adjustment? As a test, I opened an image, cropped it as before and resized. Before doing WB, I right clicked on the background layer and selected Rasterize. (It was a bit confusing as the menu item is Rasterize... as if another window would open with options but none did). Anyhow, I then did the WB adjustment with Merge and it again blurred the image.

Running latest Affinity Photo on Windows 11. So I'm editing an image and it looks good except for white balance. I open White Balance (WB) and adjust the Tint. If I click on Merge, the sharpness appears to degrade. If while I'm in the WB window I instead do Document/Flatten the sharpness is not affected. In the attached example, the top image is the starting point. The next image is a screenshot while the WB window is open. The WB changes but the sharpness is unchanged. The next image is the result of using Merge. The final image is the result of undoing the WB where Merge was used and repeating WB but using Document/Flatten while the WB window is still open. How to explain?

Yes, but the gradient options appear to be fewer in Develop than in Photo.

What I mean is that in Develop I have the following situation (using the AP splash screen as an example image) using Overlay, gradient tool and e.g. the exposure slider in Basic: I can adjust both the gradient and exposure while viewing each adjustment's effect as I'm doing it so I can interactively reach an optimum result. From what I'm doing in Photo, I have to first adjust the exposure then create a mask to which I apply a gradient or vice versa but can't have both exposure and gradient adjustable at the same time.. I tried Quick Masks and that does seem easier (no need for extra layers) and the gradient tool will work with it. But again, it appears that I have to first adjust the gradient then apply the exposure change but not have both interactively available at the same time. I hope that makes sense and I appreciate your help.

Thanks for clarifying that. I played around with using the gradient tool on a mask layer and managed to get things to work in Photo, but there still appears to be an advantage to using the gradient in Develop - if I click on Overlay, then use the gradient tool and then go to the Basic panel to, say, adjust exposure, the exposure adjustment and the gradient tool are simultaneously present which is helpful for getting the desired result. What I do in Photo is duplicate the layer, adjust the upper layer, say by increasing the exposure, add a mask to the upper layer and draw a gradient on the mask in order to have the exposure adjustment gradually affect the image. When done I do Document/Flatten. But the exposure adjustment and the drawing of the gradient are done separately, so it's harder to get the desired result. Am I missing something?

With an image open in Develop, it's simple to click on Overlays then the gradient tool, draw the gradient over the image and then make adjustments in the Basic panel based on the gradient that you drew. However the options for type of gradient and the available gradient adjustments are limited compared to using the gradient tool in the Photo persona. There doesn't appear to be a similar way to use the gradient tool in Photo. Things I've found online appear somewhat complicated - creating layers, masks, etc. I just want to convert the gradient into a graded selection for adjustments, as in Develop. Is it possible? Thanks.

Sorry if I'm not making my question clear. Yes, what you show is what I get under those circumstances. But if I save the flattened image with text as a JPEG and then open it, selecting the text and doing Edit/Cut, the text then shows the checkerboard pattern inside that I associate with transparency, not the white inside as you show. So what exactly is the difference between the flattened pixel layer as in your example and an opened JPEG such that in the former case you get white and in the latter case you get the checkerboard. Yes, in the former case the canvas is white, but what specific property of the image determines that difference? In other words, what property of the images would predict checkerboard vs. white?

But if I open a JPEG, make a selection and do Edit/Cut, the selected area is transparent !! I seem to be having a hard time just getting at something basic here since that is not the case if I create a new image, draw a smear with the paint tool, flatten the image, make a selection and do the same Edit/Cut. So what is the basic difference between such a created and flattened image vs. an opened JPEG such that the behavior of Edit/Cut is different in the two cases? That's all I want to know.

Okay, but to get to the bottom of all this...If I do steps 1 and 2 above then flatten the image and export it as a JPEG, then open it, make the selection, invert the selection and click on Mask Layer, it makes the area not selected transparent. So what is different in the saved then opened image compared to the image created just doing steps 1 -> 4 above? If you open a JPEG is the canvas transparent by default?

If I open an existing image and do this it works i.e. the selection is made transparent. Consider the following steps: 1. File/New (transparent background not checked, image is white) 2. Draw in black with paint brush. Assistant creates a new pixel layer. I would think it is now similar to when I opened an existing image. 3. Select the black area and invert selection. 4. Click Mask Layer. Now what's inside where I painted is white, not transparent. So on a basic level why is this behaving differently? And I hope you won't refer me to ~100 tutorial videos to get the answer.

Yes, that's what I mentioned as working. But not for all images. If I create a new image with white background and add black text, then Rasterize and select the white background, clicking on the Mask Layer button does not create transparent text. What is the difference there? Also, with the Document/Transparent Background menu item, how is "background" defined?

I'm experiencing much confusion in trying to do something that I think should be straightforward. In other programs that I've used, if you make a selection in an upper layer and do edit/cut then the area corresponding to the selection is made transparent. This doesn't appear to happen in Affinity Photo. If I make a selection in an existing image and click on Mask Layer, it appears that the inverse of the selection is made transparent. So there may be a workaround although it doesn't always seem to work for me e.g. when text is involved. In any case, is there an easy way to just make a selection and have the selection made transparent? Thanks. Using current Affinity Photo on Mac Big Sur and Windows 10.