jimh12345
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Everything posted by jimh12345
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How to show red overlay when masking
jimh12345 replied to user_0815's topic in Feedback for the Affinity V2 Suite of Products
I don't think we'll ever get it. Especially after the acquisition by Canva, I expect future releases to be all about bolted-on "powered by AI" hoo-ha while actual photography is de-emphasized. Canva has no interest in photography and will be wanting its investment in Affinity to pay off as quickly as possible. -
Good God, man, this is pure gold. You ran it up the flagpole and I, for one, salute it.
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I invested time in AP because it was becoming a full featured application for photography. When they added raw processing I was really excited, even though it turned out to be a weak implementation - I thought it was going to be developed further. Now that's probably not going to happen, because Canva has nothing to do with photography. So I start once again looking around for a new path. I'm out-of-date, I don't follow the market, just see names now and then. ACDSee? Lumina? DxO? Capture One is very good but increasing aimed at high-volume pros shooting events. They'll never add any sort of pixel editing. So I'm like a lot of users, sitting here in a stalled vehicle, wondering if it's time to get out and start walking somewhere...
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I spent half my working life in software development, on projects large and small. These deals never, ever work out. All that stuff about "transferring technology", "synergy", "joining the family", and "adding functionality" is just leveraged execs blowing smoke as they collect bonuses and sell stock. What actually happens is that after a few months the key developers are gone, they're impossible to replace, and the product becomes a zombie. There might be a pathetic "feature release", and updates to run on the latest OS versions so sales can continue, but any faith in a more glorious future is misplaced. And with that I'll stop commenting. Good luck to those of you heavily invested in this tool, I hope to be proven wrong.
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Reminds me of when Daimler bought Chrysler. The joke was: Q - "How do you pronounce Daimler-Chrysler?" A - "Daimler." When a product gets bought like this, its identity ends. Within a year its key developers are gone and the new owners realize they don't really know how to take it forward. So they hire new guys and hand them a list of "features" put together by marketing. In this case that's going to be more half-baked AI, like everyone else in the business.
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One thing you can bank on: the next major release of Affinity (if there is one) will be stuffed with "AI" features. And I'm guessing 'raw' processing of camera files will go over the side as photographers are shown out the back door...
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That's how I feel too. Sorry if I sound like a cynic, or an aging know-it-all. But I've been through Nikon Capture NX, PS Elements, and Exposure X7 before Affinity Photo. They were all either abandoned or left on life support (Elements), glowing "commitments" to the contrary. I worked in the software business and I know what acquisitions typically mean, for both customers and employees. I just read the email from Affinity (or Canva, we don't really know) with the big promises. Nice, but I've heard it all before; Affinity will end up becoming whatever some execs at Canva want it to be, period. I'd feel a lot better if I saw the word "photography" in there, somewhere, but that's pretty clearly not an interest at Canva. I wouldn't be surprised if "Affinity Photo" drops out of the branding, leaving just "Design". I'll keep using Affinity Photo for now but have already started looking at alternatives that are in active development and aimed at photographers.
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Well if Canva isn't even interested in photography, it's probably over for Affinity "Photo". It hasn't been receiving much development anyway, in areas crucial to photographers - like raw processing, and export. I've been using the combination of Capture One and Affinity Photo; I guess it's time to move on to one of several products that claim to incorporate the best of both - with no subscription, of course.
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I read this with dismay. I think we've all learned that any time a CEO makes an "exciting announcement", it means bad news for users. And I'd say most software acquisitions mean nothing but slow death for the product. The question is: who is Canva, really, and how do they currently make their money? Because all they'll do is try to torture and mangle Affinity into fitting some hole in their current product line.
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How to show red overlay when masking
jimh12345 replied to user_0815's topic in Feedback for the Affinity V2 Suite of Products
It's an odd situation. AP is great software and I see it mentioned often - it's getting good buzz. It's just inconceivable to me that it wouldn't be getting active development and be moving ahead. But this missing "feature" - a core capability that everyone expects - has been ignored for years while other things that I'll never use have been added. Every time I use AP I miss being able to see masks, and it's frustrating. I really don't get it. -
persistent print setttings
jimh12345 replied to jimh12345's topic in Affinity on Desktop Questions (macOS and Windows)
Yes that seems like just what I need, thanks. -
Where is everything?
jimh12345 replied to perfidious's topic in Affinity on Desktop Questions (macOS and Windows)
While I'm respectful of the awesome complexity of something like Affinity Photo, I will say that the problem the OP describes is one that I've encountered as well - and it's not confined to Affinity, it comes up in other big applications. I go to Help to find out how to do something - it describes how to use the So-And-So tool - but I'm unable to find that tool in the UI. Sometimes it's not even currently in the visible UI - for example, maybe it's not in a default toolbar. The Help doesn't tell you where it's hiding- and I think this is because in a big application you typically have way too many options for how toolbars are configured and what's in them... -
A simpler "export": any hope?
jimh12345 replied to jimh12345's topic in Affinity on Desktop Questions (macOS and Windows)
I use Capture One, and their Export is truly a model of logic, simplicity and easily discoverable functionality. It does what photographers need and want, no more, no less. -
A simpler "export": any hope?
jimh12345 replied to jimh12345's topic in Affinity on Desktop Questions (macOS and Windows)
It's excellent software, I'm really impressed, especially considering the price. It's made me forget all about Photoshop Elements. I actually don't have a lot of complaints, I'd have to say that Export is at the top of that list right now. -
A simpler "export": any hope?
jimh12345 replied to jimh12345's topic in Affinity on Desktop Questions (macOS and Windows)
Seems like Serif originally aimed Affinity at designers, not photographers, but hey... it's called Affinity "Photo" so presumably they want us on board. And workflow is king. They've tried to up their raw processing game, but really, they're starting from far behind, and most of us already have that covered with other software. We need Affinity to do things that we can't do in something like Capture One. So my wish would be for them to go slow on raw processing and put more effort into supporting photographers' workflow - and Export would be a major target for that effort. -
I'm just a photographer, not a designer, so Affinity Designer is vast overkill for me. But I'm using AP, the core functionality, very productively; it's great. The one thing that I don't like, as a photographer, is AP's Export function. It's too limiting; it doesn't save my settings, it just does one export at a time. Typically, I want to export 2 or 3 versions at different sizes and locations. I'm so tired of pounding in my dimensions, and hunting around with File Explorer, 2 or 3 times, on every export. It's sooo simple in Capture One, for example; create any number of export profiles that specify size, sharpening, destination etc., then when you export, just check the profiles you want used. Done. Yes, I know about Affinity's Export Persona. It's a rare piece of software that can make me cry, but I think tears were rolling as a gave up after an hour of floundering around in slices, layers, Batch Builder, Export Presets, and 100 other options I don't need. I don't even know what a "slice" is. This is just way, way too complicated for a photographer trying to get JPGs of a photo. I've posted on this before - but is there anything new in the pipeline? Some new way to do multiple jpg exports that doesn't lead down a rabbit hole of complexity?
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How to show red overlay when masking
jimh12345 replied to user_0815's topic in Feedback for the Affinity V2 Suite of Products
Yes this drives me nuts too. Really, really wish they'd add this. -
I'm not big on sky replacement - I think it's a vice. But in this case, I have a totally empty sky, and a totally synthetic image composition, so I'd like to try putting in a few clouds. And it seems like AP just has nothing in its tool box to facilitate sky replacement in complex situations. While I don't want AP to start adding bogus "AI" features, the difficulty of selecting a blue sky really surprises me. Surely, I'm missing something here.
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v_kyr, I didn't realize "select by sampled color" had a tolerance slider that can be used to refine the selection. I tried this and at first, thought it would be enough on its own. I select a layer for one of the birds, "select by sampled color", adjust the tolerance and get a nice tight selection around the bird. But the selection doesn't work like it should. First off, I apparently can't Refine it. So I just hit Delete and at first it looks like the blue on that layer is gone, but I find it's not completely removed, as if all those "selected" pixels weren't really selected, or some sort of transparency is in effect. Attached screen capture shows what I'm left with after the Delete. This is useless. I tried using the Eraser to wipe out everything in the selection. And what I found out is that the dashed border showing the "selection" is really only approximate, because I lost some of the bird that way. Some pixels inside that border aren't really "selected" and some outside of the border are. So, I had to be careful with the Eraser. But even with the Eraser set at 100% I found that multiple passes were necessary to completely remove the pixels. IMHO "Select Sampled Color" is just a mess. AP needs a proper tool for selecting by color range.