jimh12345

I need an easy way to add a realistic frame and mat to images in AP. (Yes I know Publisher has a Frame tool but I don't have Publisher). I'll need to do this often so I'm not interested in learning how to create them myself, with rectangles, 'emboss' etc. I just want to slap a mat and frame on an image, for my photography web site. I've seen posts from people saying you don't need AP for this, there are all sorts of free online tools that do it. And I've been unable to find a single one that isn't either a scam or a complex mess like Canva. This is one of those things that you'd think would be simple.... but apparently is not. Any ideas out there?

Easiest way (and it's not that easy) I've found is to add a Recolor layer and create a Group with that layer, your adjustment layer and its mask. Then move the mask up to Group level so it affects both adjustments. Now the color overly matches the mask and you can turn it on and off.

Thanks guys, I will take the plunge shortly, including the Workspace thing.

I need to get rid of the sandboxed 'app' version and get back to a standard EXE installation. I know this is now possible, but I've been putting it off. And now it's like a lot of things: there are so many old posts about it that you can't find the answer. I realize it's probably simple but I don't want to screw up my system and have to fight my way back. There's probably a 'best' way to to do this. Is there a post giving the official steps?

Yeah I saw that immediately. So this is useless. The only thing that works - and that I'll be able to remember - is to put the masked adjustment in a Group, add a Recolor adjustment tied to the Group, and toggle it on and off as needed.

To say the least. But ok - assuming I remember I have to right-click on the icon, not the layer label, and I get Refine - I can see the mask and edit it. But I have to click Apply or the edits are lost - and isn't Refine then doing other stuff to the mask that I don't want?

Yes V2.

Someone, please explain this. To me, "context menu" means right-click, but when I right-click a mask there's no "Refine" in the menu. I am today going totally mad from being unable to see the mask as a red overlay, as is possible in every other photo editing application since time began. The workarounds posted here are far too complicated. In Capture One, for example, I just hit 'm' to turn the overlay on and off...

Haven't used AP macros, but hey, here's a repetitious task that seems like a natural. So I enabled the Macro panel, clicked "start recording", clicked File/Export.... and got a popup saying "can't record Export Item". Well, that sure ended quickly.

But it doesn't. I just tried it, no matter what I put in that field, AP ignores it and creates the file in whatever folder I pick with File Explorer. I'm giving up on Export Persona, it is at minimum a huge overkill for just exporting JPGs of processed photos. Photographers don't need the "slice" stuff, that's for "designers". Affinity should improve File/Export to fit photographers' workflows, and model it on Capture One's excellent Export.

I don't get it at all. If I click on the path, I see this dialog: If I mouse over it, a tooltip says its "a common path for items exported from this slice". But it's ignored when I actually export.

Of course. As I said, I've been on Microsoft systems since the 80s. Today, Windows 11 works very well, boots quickly, and never crashes - it's not the same old Windows we came up with. I did use a Mac for a while, on a project, years ago and found it pretty smooth - although the Linux file system was a head-twister, and some of the UI conventions seemed a bit contrived.

Then I'm even more confused. I created a preset. I define a path where I want exports to go. I see that path: I click the little "export" icon to the right of the file name. And up pops File Explorer, asking me where I want the export to go, and defaulting to the folder I last used (the one from which I opened the file). The path I entered in Export Persona is ignored. It doesn't seem to be used for anything.

Windows has no codec for PSDs. Adobe won't give one out. So Windows users can't see thumbnails of PSDs in File Explorer. I've switched from PS Elements to Affinity Photo, which handles my old PSDs just fine. But finding the old PSD I want is a real pain without thumbnails. There are a couple of 3rd party codecs available. One is in Sage Thumbnails, which I foolishly installed once, and it messed up all my file extension assignments, jumped in on various right-click menus, and screwed up my system in other ways. I uninstalled it. I'm not expecting anything to change here, but it doesn't hurt to ask once in a while - is there anything from Affinity that can create the missing PSD thumbnails?

I think you nailed it with that video. Since the early days, Apple always courted the creatives. Microsoft on the other hand quickly aligned with corporate business, treated home users as a bit of a nuisance, and ignored creatives entirely. Microsoft didn't sell software to users, they sold licenses to managers. And they never confused their "users" with their "customers". And they never, ever got "design". Their software was always as ugly as it was irritating.

It would actually be fun to get an Apple - just to keep my aging brain working. And I could run Windows apps on it via some sort of virtualization...right?

Well that's disappointing. 😡

Interestingly, I re-enabled GPU acceleration in AP, and did a fair amount of editing yesterday without crashing. Maybe the current V2 build doesn't have the problem that caused me to disable GPU some time ago. But it didn't seem to make performance difference, and AP soon became unusable - Clone tool, for example, lagging the mouse by several seconds. Task Manager showed AP's CPU usage bobbing up and down from 40-100% with me sitting there doing nothing! Clearly, AP is trapped in something, but I have no clue. Disabling acceleration again didn't help. These situations are frustrating - when an application just won't run properly, and there are no answers, because the root cause can't be identified. I really hate to just throw money at this...

That obviously makes a lot of sense. I've used, and written code for, Windows systems since 3.0 - and I used to tell friends that if they just wanted things to work, they should buy Apple. I could conceivably buy a Mac, but I think that although that would eliminate all the analysis paralysis regarding hardware, it would also force me to spend a lot of time learning my way around Apple software, and finding Apple equivalents for all the software I use.

debraspicher, thanks for the detailed replies. I've bought, and built, numerous PCs for myself, starting in the 80s. Today I'm totally out of date and don't care - I just want to buy what I need for AP. So... does "gamer PC" capture the type of system you're all talking about?

I feel like I got burned on the last GPU. I bought an nVidia with pretty good specs for the time. But image editing applications that used it were never reliable. I always ended up having to disable hardware acceleration to avoid crashes. If I get a new GPU it had darn well better work reliably with AP. Do they have a list of officially supported cards?

Ha ha. Sorry I asked. I want to know what it takes to actually enjoy using the program on a serious project.

I'm getting into more complex processing with AP, and it's obvious my PC doesn't have the juice. With a bunch of layers going, I try some complex selections, the fan starts whining and everything...slows.....down..... Task Manager shows AP owning the system and still, the screen labors to update. Sometimes AP just dies. My PC is a few years old and it was never high performance - intel i5-8400, 2.8 gHz,6 cores, 15gb RAM. My video card has acceleration but I had to turn that off or AP crashed constantly. I could buy a new system - and I hate that process. What specs will be "good enough"? What makes the difference - more cores, faster clock speed, more RAM, a hot video card? I know I can get good input on this forum, but of course not everyone agrees and it's hard to get to a bottom line. So - anyone want to stick their neck out and tell me what I need to buy? Does Affinity maybe have official recommendations?

Thanks guys, I'm making some progress.