Ldina

It's Command + I to Invert the layer, not Option+I. You're trying to run before you've learned to walk...It's time to study the Fundamentals...Tutorials, Help Files, practice and experimentation. Without understanding the basics, you will continue to be frustrated. I'll bow out now.

Exactly. There is ONE way to access the destructive Denoise filter...Filters > Noise > Denoise. Destructive filters must be applied directly to a PIXEL Layer, and once applied, they are permanent and non-editable (other than using CMD-Z or Undo from the Menu). Destructive Filters modify the content of that layer, and once done, it's baked into that pixel layer. There are TWO ways to access the Live Filter. One is from the menu...Layer > New Live Filter Layer > Noise > Denoise. The other way to is click on the Live Filters icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel (it looks like an hourglass). Both of these methods generate the exact same filter; they're just different ways to create the exact same filter. This Live filter can be readjusted at any time and is non-destructive (i.e., it does not permanently alter data). It can reside on its own layer, above other layers, or it can be "nested" inside of a given layer or group. It depends on what you want to do, and how your Assistant options are set up. From what I have read in this thread, I think you are confused because you need a better understanding of how to use Live Filters and Adjustment Layers, how they are applied, the Layers Panel and layers management, nesting layers, etc. These are basics, but very important if you want to use Affinity Apps effectively. So, if you watch some tutorials on these subjects, I believe your confusion will vanish. Check out the Tutorials on this forum, (Browse > Forums > Tutorials > Affinity Photo), or on YouTube. There are hundreds of instructive tutorials at your disposal. https://www.youtube.com/@AffinityPhotoOfficial https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=affinity+layers+tutorial

BMP is an uncompressed, RGB, bitmap, cross-platform file format created by Microsoft somewhere around 1990. I'm sure it has niche use cases, but other file formats are often preferable these days. I haven't used BMP files in decades, though they are fairly widely accepted. BMP files are typically huge, and do not support CMYK, layers or transparency. They are RGBA only, to the best of my knowledge. Affinity doesn't even export to the BMP file format, though it obviously can import and read BMP files. I only mentioned it because it is so rare that I see it used. As mentioned, it probably has some important use cases, so it is still a viable file format. I'm on a Mac, and screenshots are captured as compressed PNG file format images. It's been ages since I used a PC, but at one time, I think screen grabs used to be saved as BMP file format??? (I may be wrong about that.) Perhaps those BMP files in your document were screen grabs from a Windows system? PNG files are much smaller than BMP, use lossless compression, and they also support alpha channels and transparency (but not CMYK). TIFF files are huge, uncompressed (similar to BMP), but they also support CMYK and other features, which makes them suitable for CMYK output, press, and also for archival purposes, where quality must be retained. It's also pretty universal. PSD file format (native Photoshop file format) supports all Photoshop features (but not all Affinity features) and is widely used, especially for jobs heading to press. Like TIFF and BMP, files are large, but PSD supports RGB, CMYK, layers, transparency and many other features. JPG is a lossy compression method, but the quality is usually fine, even for Press, if not overly compressed (I usually use 85% Quality, or higher if 85% shows too much loss or artifacts). JPG is a flattened file format and does not support layers or transparency, but can be RGB or CMYK. Its big advantage is reduction in file size. I agree totally. Live Filters can be very processor intensive, especially if you have extreme values set in the filter, and even more so if you have many of them in your layer stack. They need to recalculate whenever a change is made, which slows things down. If you need them, turn them off temporarily to improve system performance.

Haha…I missed that live filter. Good catch.

@Paresh Lots of ways to do this (if I understand what you are asking for...I hope I do). You can add a Live Gaussian Blur Filter, with a high radius (start with something like 50 pixels), set the Blend mode to Screen, Overlay, Soft Light, or try them all. If it's too strong, lower the layer opacity to your liking. See screenshot below. Affinity Phot has a built in "Live Diffuse Glow" filter, which is also fairly flexible. Then again, search for Orton Effect on Google and you will find similar YouTube tutorials on similar effects. I'd also check the Tutorials on this website for Affinity Photo, both version 2 and the legacy version 1 tutorials. Hope this is what you were looking for.

@smallman FWIW, it lags a bit on my MacBook Pro too, which isn't a very high powered machine (specs below). It's usually pretty responsive for the work I do, even with some very large files. I'm not sure why your file lags, but I did notice you have Five identical BMP files embedded, each of which is 25MB in size. I've never used a BMP file inside of APhoto, but I doubt that's the issue.. You have a LOT of layers and groups, and it seems like a rather complicated and inefficient way to construct the file. Since you only have a handful of tripods and cameras, I'd probably strip them from the backgrounds and place them on their own pixel layer (either together or each on its own layer, depending on what you want to do). I think the complexity of your file is part of the problem, because as mentioned, my low-powered machine works without much or any lag on all of my projects. I didn't notice any Live Filter Layers in your file, but I looked for that first, because some live filters can be resource hungry and slow things down. If you don't want to redesign your file, try turning off some of the layers and groups while you are working on a specific task, then then them back on to see how the final image looks. Then again, perhaps you aren't so much worried about this file as you are checking the performance of your machine. I'd also play with some of your performance settings in Preferences to see if you get better performance. Not sure anything here is of much help.

@augustya there is also a Live version of this filer which is non-destructive. They both work well, but are not AI based.

I agree totally. That's why I was so flummoxed by the results! I'm convinced this is a Bug.

Thanks, Walt. Good advice...I'll wait and see and if it doesn't get picked up, I'll write up a bug report.

@walt.farrell Wow...amazing find, Mr. Sherlock Holmes! You're right, my macro works perfectly if I disable that "eyeball" and it doesn't rasterize the RAW Image layer, even if that is the only layer in the stack. Thank you so much for digging into that. 😃 It was driving me nuts. 😵‍💫 So, do you know if this has been posted as a bug, or do I need to create a bug report? Thanks again...amazing investigative work!

One more "discovery". My original macro used a Live Gaussian Blur Filter within the Vignette Group and above the shape layers (which I prefer). When that macro is applied to a single RAW background Image layer, it forces rasterization unless "Applying filters to vector layers:" is set to "Take No Action" in the Assistant. Oddly, that does not happen when performing these steps manually, regardless of how that Assistant option is set. So, the macro doesn't mirror the manual steps exactly. If I DO NOT use a Live Gaussian Blur Filter, and instead apply a Gaussian Blur to the vector shapes using Layer FX, it works without rasterizing the background layer. Seems like a bug that the macro doesn't work the same as doing it manually, but I'm not sure about that.

@walt.farrell Okay...I ran a few tests. First, it doesn't matter if I use the Move tool or Layer > Deselect Layers to makes sure all layers are deselected, so they both work exactly the same (inside or outside of a macro). Then, I tried tried your suggestion, to set "Applying filters to vector layers" and set it to "Take no action". With that set to Take no action, I recorded the macro and ran it. That kept the RAW background Image layer from being rasterized, whether it was the only layer in the stack or not. So far so good. (thanks for the good suggestion) However, that same macro did not work if I later change the assistant to Rasterize layer and apply filter. I was hoping the Assistant settings would be "hard coded" into the macro when it was written, so anyone else running the macro will avoid rasterizing their RAW background layer. Apparently, the user must have that set to Take No Action, otherwise it can force rasterization. I still don't understand why it is forcing rasterization of a background image layer, since the macro adds all the steps ABOVE that layer.

@walt.farrell Thanks, Walt. You've given me a few things to try. On my MacBook Pro, I do have a Select > Deselect Layers menu command, to which I have assigned a shortcut. When I use that command outside of a macro, it deselects all layers, the same as clicking outside the canvas with the Move Tool selected. James Ritson suggested using this when creating macros as the first step to insure new layers are added to the very top of the stack. That seems to work properly, without rasterizing my linked RAW file, when I have a couple of layers above it in the stack. It does NOT work if the RAW Background Image Layer is the ONLY layer, and it rasterizes it. If Select > Deselect Layers works in a macro as it does manually, seems it should not modify the background layer at all. I will try re-recording the macro after changing that one vector layer setting in the Assistant, as you have shown. I never thought of a linked Image Layer as a vector layer, so perhaps that is what is happening. Still, it seems deselecting all layers should work. That's why I was wondering if this is a bug. BTW, here are my assistant settings currently. I add layers at the top of the stack, not as child layers, so I would think this should avoid rasterizing my RAW Image layer. Thanks. I'll report back on my findings.

I need some help. I just posted a Macro in the Resources section that creates a flexible Vignette. For some reason, it is Rasterizing the RAW DNG background layer, which is a destructive process. I want this macro to be totally non-destructive. When developing the RAW file, I used the Link option, so the file is brought into Photo as linked in the Resource Manager. When I apply these steps manually, it works fine and leaves the RAW DNG background layer un-rasterized. But running the macro rasterizes it, which I do not want. My first step in the macro is Select > Deselect Layers, so new adjustments and live filters are added to the top of the layer stack. Deselect Layers is recorded as "clear selection" inside the macro. I even closed APhoto and restarted my computer to make sure there wasn't some glitch. Either I'm doing something wrong, or it's a bug in v2.5.3. Anyone have a solution? Is this a bug? Thanks. EDIT: When I run this macro on the same DNG file, but AFTER adding a Curves Adjustment layer and a Live Unsharp Mask Layer above the Linked RAW DNG file, it works properly. Having those two adjustment layers present prior to running the macro works exactly as it should! But, if I run the macro with only a single background DNG Image layer (no additional layers above it), it rasterizes the linked image layer. Is that correct or normal macro behavior? Seems like a bug to me, but I'm not sure. Is there a way to prevent this rasterization when there is only a background Image layer? HSL Vignette (ND).afmacro