lphilpot

If it's of any value I'm using a Wacom Intuos S tablet with the bundled pen. I don't have any buttons mapped to Alt, I just use the keyboard.

Sometimes that happens, i.e., the access letters are highlighted but the menu isn't activated and the clone brush remains active. But just as (if not more) often the top level menu items themselves (File, Edit, etc.) become selected with a highlighted background, so I have to press Alt again to reactivate the brush. I've seen it happen both ways with no discernible difference in what I'm doing. Even if only the letters are underlined, they remain that way until I press Alt again -- Even switching to another tool doesn't "cancel" them. If we could have the option to specify an alternate (no pun intended) modifier key it would help greatly. Given Alt's intrinsic Windows association with menus, it's a "special" modifier and should be treated differently.

Sticky keys is off, has been off. Since it first appeared in, what, Windows 95? LOL

I don't have a pen / tablet button mapped to Alt, but that's exactly what happens when I use the Alt key to select a clone source. I almost always have to press it again to return to clone mode, since the OS mapping to 'menu' has overridden (or at least "piggy-backed" onto) the Photo mapping to clone source. I wish we could reassign that key, maybe to Ctrl or something.

Not exactly the same thing but I've seen the Inpainting brush become "hung" when using my Wacom tablet so that it remains active no matter what I select, click, touch, etc. Sometimes, switching to another app and back will reset it, but other times I have to restart Photo. I haven't run into it since 2.3 but I've not used it a lot yet. It definitely happened on prior versions.

Technically I agree but as you say, it doesn't need to blindly follow that logic. Which means, it shouldn't display the selected color in all cases ...so why implement a feature that will be only partially useful at best? Beside, you can see the color in the circular magnifier anyway. But it's a minor point at best, so no real argument from me. 🙂

Just agreeing with you. 🙂 In other words, it's a "solution" in search of a problem.

You'll want to use a layer mask on one or the other layer to selectively show or hide parts of that layer. Here's one of the help pages on layer masks: https://affinity.help/photo2/en-US.lproj/ For example: Load both images as separate layers On the top layer, add an empty (black) mask. That'll effectively hide the contents of this layer. Select the mask in the layer palette and with a soft-edged brush paint white where you want content from that layer to appear. Adjust the size, hardness, opacity and flow of the brush to your preference. Depending on the nature of the image and how close together good and bad area are located, you may want a harder or softer (and more or less opaque) brush. You'll just have to experiment. Also, I'm no expert. 🙂 When you're done you can flatten the image or merge down to combine the two layers into one. However, even separate they'll export as a single image so keep them non-merged if you think you'll be coming back later to re-edit. The mnemonic "black conceals, white reveals" describes how a mask affects a layer: Where it's black, the layer's content will be hidden. Where it's white it'll be shown. Intermediate shades of grey will more or less show the layer content. Note -- It's also just as valid to add a regular (white) mask which will show everything by default, then paint in black to selectively hide what you don't want to see (the opposite "polarity", as it were). I personally prefer to paint-in what I want to see instead of painting-out what I want to hide. But again it depends on your preferences, whether there's more to hide or to show, etc.

It appears to be related to the color (purity / value) itself (see below). But there's a larger question, IMO -- Why change the color of the label at all? There's zero positive functional reason but as we've seen, it can have a negative impact. Why not just make it white on black, black on white or some other sufficiently contrasting combination? Also, unrelated question, but -- Why can't we tile (or cascade, etc.) two or more image windows in the AP UI? It's impossible to snap them into the UI without taking the whole space. It's only just about every other GUI on the planet that can tile, after all....

The RGB value indicator on the color panel picker tool is unreadable for light colors: It doesn't take a bright primary to be unreadable, but this illustrates the issue. Please make it switch automatically (like it does for white) or some other behavior that makes it readable for all colors. Thanks.

Maybe I've been lucky but I've been using a mouse since the very early '90s and have made a point of having a mouse-level surface on which to rest my mouse arm -- From elbow to wrist. 30+ years so far and no RSI yet. I worked in IT for 24 years and saw soooo many people using those horrible under-desk pull-out keyboard platforms with the mouse extension that pulled out from one side. When I worked on their computers, after just a few minutes of my arm hanging in midair, it would start hurting. Keeping it supported in the neutral position (on an L-shaped desk 'wing' to my right) has worked for me. But everyone is different.

Wacom is a manufacturer that makes digital input devices such as tablets, pens, etc. iPads can be used as such but that's only a fraction of their design purpose. I'm not an Apple guy so I don't use iPads / iPhones / Macs, etc. but I don't think I'd like using a smart tablet as an input device. Something like a Cintiq 22 (where I could look directly where I'm working, instead of at a monitor) might be great but I'm not ready to drop that kind of cash. As far as conventional tablets are concerned, I have an inexpensive Wacom Intuos S tablet / pen. I use it for some tasks, but for most it's the mouse. However, when I do use it, it's good enough that I'm happy with keeping and using both devices. Maybe if I locked away my mouse for a year I'd get more proficient with the pen, but photo editing is far from the only thing I do on a computer and a mouse excels elsewhere. That said, IME how well you have your tablet set up (button assignments, sensitivity, response, etc.) and even more importantly, how much you practice and become fluent with it, will make a huge difference. I'm not phenomenally fluent, but I can get around ...OK-ish. Still, it's worthwhile for me even at that level.

To clarify, what I'd like to find is something that's most likely more of technique / workflow training in the context of Affinity Photo. Despite occasional evidence to the contrary (based on my posts here), I can usually read the documentation. 🙂 But what I don't know as well are editing techniques for photo processing, in particular landscape photography. To a certain degree, these techniques will be almost the same regardless of image editor, only the UI, units, slider details, etc., will vary. E.g., USM is USM no matter where you go, just the slider names and units change. I've looked at Affinity Revolution, Udemy, Skillshare, YouTube and the like but they're pretty much all the same (indeed, some of them just re-offer others' training). What I'm thinking of is something more on the scale of Mads Peter Iversen's big Photoshop course: https://madspeteriversen.teachable.com/p/photoshop-for-landscape-photographers but rather than in Photoshop, in Affinity Photo. That is, a professional-level AP course. His PS course includes more than thirty videos, each 30 minutes to an hour on average. That's waaayy more than the typical "how to make a drop shadow" 6 minute YT "tutorial". Any ideas? I'd kinda hate to buy a Photoshop course only to find that it's, well, VERY Photoshop-specific (duh) and doesn't really apply to AP. Thanks.

FWIW, in 2.2.1: Create an sRGB document with transparent background Hand tool is selected Color wheel shows white FG and black BG, 100% opacity Select Brush tool Color wheel shows black FG and white BG, 100% opacity (i.e., swapped FG/BG) Slider appears to work correctly

That's quite often my sequence: B, D, X