GrantCee

That's a good thought; I didn't try that. In the meantime, I managed to solve the issue: It seems that there is some bug in how macOS 12.xx (Monterey) and/or Affinity Photo applies monitor calibrations. As I noted in my initial report, I only recently upgraded to Monterey from Big Sur (macOS 11.xx). I had profiled my monitor (which I do every 3 months or so) just before the upgrade. Doing some research, I found out that Apple significantly changed how monitor calibrations are done in Monterey — which led me to suspect that the old calibration might be the cause of the issue. I simply recalibrated the display, and the problem went away. As to why the problem only showed up in Affinity Photo, and no other image-related app on my machine, I don’t know; perhaps it has something to do with the hardware performance settings, as you suggested, and their interaction with the OS.

As noted, I have the automatic brightness adjust turned off, as well as anything else that can affect the brightness on an iMac. Also, I pointed out that this only happens with Affinity Photo — no other image-editing or viewing apps have the problem, which they would if any system-level brightness adjustment was turned on.

Thanks, but I'm not using an external monitor on a Mini; this is with the built-in iMac monitor.

Okay, I fixed the problem (but still not sure what caused it.) System Preferences > Printers and Scanners > + (Add New Printer). Named it "Null Printer", chose Canon Pro1000 series (NOT the Bonjour option, which is Apple's own driver), and added that printer. All of the profiles were assigned to the new printer, but also magically returned to my existing printer! (I don't want to actually use the new printer, because I have several extensive custom options set for the existing printer. Over a period of time I'll recreate those and delete the old printer, but for now everything is working perfectly.) Here's the odd part: if I delete the new printer, the profiles disappear from the old printer! Adding another new printer, using the aforementioned procedure, once again restores them. Definitely an odd Monterey bug. Mark this one fixed.

I'm not sure if this is a bug or a macOS problem... Since upgrading my 2020 iMac 27" to Monterey, when I open an image (either TIFF or AFPHOTO), the display dims noticeably within a second or so. Popping out of AP to a Finder window (which has a white background), the finder background is noticeably gray. Closing the image (while leaving AP running) restores the entire display to normal brightness. My display is calibrated; the options to automatically adjust brightness are turned off, and there is no screensaver or dimming active. No other image app in my arsenal — including Preview, DxO PhotoLab, GIMP, or FastRawViewer — show this problem, which leads me to suspect an Affinity issue rather than macOS Monterey. However, that doesn't mean I don't have something set incorrectly somewhere — or that there's a Monterey issue that AP is exposing. So, before I make an Affinity bug report, what should I try? Edited to add: Running macOS 12.4 and AP 1.10.5

I recently updated my OS from Big Sur (macOS 11) to the latest version of Monterey (macOS 12). Also using the latest version of AP. (I did search the FAQ and found nothing.) After the OS update, I opened an image and added a Soft Proof adjustment layer. I went to choose my layer parameter (Canon Pro 1000 and the paper I planned to print to), and that selection was nowhere to be found. In the past, there was always huge list of printers and papers (as well as offset printer choices); those are all gone. Where do I start to fix this problem and return the printer/paper choices to the Soft Proof parameter chooser?

Screen recording?? There's nothing to see; the next time the file is opened, the layers have disappeared. If I happen to look at the file size before opening, I can see that the file is 1/4 or 1/5 of the expected size.

This is a problem I've experienced occasionally over various versions of AP. It's random, but today it happened three times. Not sure what's causing it, and I can't seem to pinpoint — let alone solve — the issue. My workflow is to use TIFF files saved from my RAW developer of choice, DxO Photolab 4. I open those TIFFs in AP, add a number of layers, then re-save it as a TIFF by pressing "Cmd-S"; on the first save, it presents me with the option of "save with Affinity Layers", which I always choose. After that initial save, as I'm working I save periodically by pressing Cmd-S. Here's the problem: on occasion, AP will save that file and collapse the layers into the background pixel layer. When this happens, the file size shrinks from, say, 250mb (or more) down to 80mb (or less). The problem is that it doesn't necessarily include all the layers, leaving me with a file that often doesn't reflect some of the time-consuming edits I've done. I've been trying to diagnose the problem by deliberately triggering the behavior, but as yet haven't been able to. I'm not opening the TIFF in any other application other than AP, at least until I'm finished with it. The collapse always happens when I've used AP exclusively to open and save the file. Running 10.14.6 on an iMac; AP version is 1.8.4, but this has been happening over all versions in the last year. (I'd rather not save as a native AP file, because my DAM solution (digikam), along with some other apps, doesn't recognize Affinity files. It would also require a convoluted save process and increase the amount of space to keep both the TIFF and the AP file. This is an internal AP problem, not one of an interface with any other app.)

Thank you for this! From your test protocol I noticed a discrepancy between your workflow and mine, which allowed me to isolate the problem a bit further. When I open the TIFF in AP for the first time, I do not Export it — I simply save it (CMD-S on a Mac), because it's already an open TIFF file and I'm simply re-saving it. When I do that, the metadata is stripped. Editing the metadata, re-opening, and re-saving it again strips the data. If, however, I Export it as a TIFF (which is a PITA because it doesn't default to the source directory the way Save does), it retains all the metadata. If I then re-open that same TIFF file in AP, make another change, and then Save it as I'm accustomed to doing, the metadata is, again, retained. It seems, then, that in order to retain the metadata the first save with Affinity layers must be done via Export, and once done the file can be opened and saved at will. This appears to be a bug rather than a feature issue as I first surmised. It would be interesting to see if you can replicate this behavior in your Windows environment to determine if it's a Mac-only issue.

Spotlight indexes (which are built from the data in the document/file) are a different matter. EXIF/IPTC data most certainly is stored in the image file and goes with the image wherever it is moved.

I've searched the support forums and found a variation of this problem going back to 2016. I make extensive use of the metadata fields (both native Mac and the standard EXIF/IPTC fields) in cataloging photos. My workflow is to shoot RAW and develop those raws in a separate application (DXO), generating a TIFF file. I then catalog those TIFFS, add metadata (using NeoFile) and keep them until such time as I need to work on them in AP. When I open the TIFF in AP and edit it, I always choose to save it as a TIFF with AP layers. This gives me compatibility with other apps that I may use later. When I save that edited TIFF, however, all of the metadata I've added is stripped from the file. (Yes, I've tried "embed metadata" both on and off.) After much experimenting I have failed to find a combination which allows me to save as a layered TIFF and retain the data. Problem persists even in the 1.70 Beta. This seems like a basic functionality issue, so I can't believe it would be unresolved for several years. Am I missing something in my workflow?

"- Metadata is now dynamically synchronised with your document - so if you resize then export, the values will be correct." Does this mean that AP will now retain the previously-existing metadata in the document? For instance, I add XMP/IPTC and Mac system metadata (star ratings, etc.) to the TIFF files with a cataloging program (NeoFinder). That metadata is viewable in Preview and searchable with Spotlight. However, when I do any manipulation of the TIFF in AP then save it again (with the layers intact), all of the metadata that existed is erased. Gone. Does this change address that problem? -------- EDITED TO ADD UPDATE: Finally got the beta version to download (server was stalling out when I posted this), and have discovered that the metadata issue remains. Not sure what this change was intended to do, but it certainly is not what I expected! -------

Update: I sent a file to the PSu developer who examined it and pronounced it fine. It looks like another instance of not all apps completely adapted to the El Capitan system changes, not a bug in AP. Consider this closed.

Have run into an issue with TIFF exports which may or may not be related to the El Capitan TIFF issue. Using Beta 5 on El Capitan 10.11.6 I have an image of a B&W film negative. The image is a Lumix RAW file processed in DxO and exported as a TIFF. I've take that TIFF and opened it in AP, applying invert and curves filter layers. I've merged the visible layers and exported as a 16-bit greyscale TIFF using Lanczos resampling. The TIFF displays correctly in Finder and Preview, but when imported into Aperture or Photo Supreme it shows either "unrecognized file type" (Aperture) or simply a black rectangle (Photo Supreme) — which was the behavior of all TIFFs until the tile fix in the 1.5 Beta 4. However, if the image is exported as a 16-bit greyscale using bilinear resampling, it displays correctly in both applications. That led me to try all the other resampling methods, and it turns out that a 16-bit greyscale export using ANY resampling other than bilinear shows the problem. I also tried exporting it as a 16-bit RGB file, and regardless of resampling method the RGB files display properly in both apps. It seems something is broken in the 16-bit greyscale export routine!

Thank you - rasterisation was the step I was missing. Here is the resulting workflow: 1) Crop image as desired 2) Merge visible layers 3) Uncheck all except the merged pixel layer 4) Rasterise that layer 5) Change the document size to the desired dimensions 6) Change the canvas size to the size of the paper I'm using 7) Move the merged pixel layer around the paper until I have the placement I need (Just to be clear: Affinity Photo's printing functions need some serious work; they're woefully behind what the competition offers.)

I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how to print a section of an image to specific dimensions. Let's say I have a picture which I'm cropping to a specific ratio; the cropped area is significantly smaller than the full document, is of a different ratio, and is off center. I want to then print that cropped section to a specific size on paper (to fit within the window of a matte.) How can I achieve this? Setting absolute dimensions (say, 7.6x9.6 inches, which is the matte's opening) makes a crop that is much tighter than what I want. Resizing the canvas to the specific dimensions produces the same result. Resizing the document is hit-or-miss, because I have to guess at the resulting size to get the cropped area to the dimensions I want. I can print the cropped area and specify sizing in percentages, but again I have to guess as to what percentage gives me the size I want. All I want to do is make a crop, then tell AP to print that crop to a specific size. This is easy to do in Aperture or LR, but seems devilishly difficult to do in AP. What am I doing wrong?

Here's one I grabbed at random which illustrates the problem. _1040060.tiff

I have an extensive background in conventional film processing and printing, but I'm still relatively new at using Affinity Photo. I'm digitizing a large number of color negatives using a macro lens on my camera. My procedure has been to white balance on a blank piece of the film to zero out the base color layer of the negative stock; this is conceptually identical to the old days, when we "balanced" roll and package printers for each type of negative being printed. This method works extremely well, giving me a negative that with just a little massaging in Affinity Photo (channel levels and whatever individual color balance adjustments the individual frame may need) produces a print that is at least as good as what I used to be able to get in the darkroom (or on my various roll printers) -- sometimes better. However, I have encountered a problem: I'm digitizing a bunch of negatives from a very different color stock, but none of them have a big enough piece of the base layer for the camera to white balance; all I have is the blank area between frames. I've tried manipulation without neutralization, and although I can get an acceptable print it's never as good as what I've gotten with my regular method — and it takes far more time. What I think I need to do is sample the base layer color, invert it, and use that as a filter to neutralize the base color so that I can do my other manipulations. How can I do this in AP? Thanks!