GrahamMYC

I tried the Documents app by Readdle
Well, DM1, that seems to work. I did the following
1: I was able to set it up to see my Google Drive and also my NAS
2: I took a photo on the Ipad
3: First attempt at transferring from photos on Ipad to NAS or Google Drive failed because the file format was .heim which seems to be a uniquely Apple format
4: Processed the photo via Affinity to Photo to produce a .afphoto file (it could have been a jpeg, but I thought the special affinity format would be a more severe test)
5: The image was successfully transferred both to my google drive and to my NAS by a drag drop process. The Google drive route was slow, but did not need a sign in. The NAS route was much quicker, but required a signin on each attempt
 
I also move a jpeg image in the other direction
 
In short, this app solved the basic problems. I have not yet worked out some of the more elegant features such as having 2 docs open at once, but this result is far better than anything I had seen before.
Thanks for the headsup
 

I must confess, Paul, that I am hoping for some response from someone who has not taken the Apple shilling!

A wonderful set of tutorials. Thankyou, Serif.
 
Rather than access the forum each time I need to view a tutorial, I find it easier to use this index which I have as a bookmark in  my browser
 
http://www.miguelboto.com/affinity/
 
It seems to be kept pretty well up to date, but maybe Serif could publish an 'official' directory that could be accessed as a bookmark?

A wonderful set of tutorials. Thankyou, Serif.
 
Rather than access the forum each time I need to view a tutorial, I find it easier to use this index which I have as a bookmark in  my browser
 
http://www.miguelboto.com/affinity/
 
It seems to be kept pretty well up to date, but maybe Serif could publish an 'official' directory that could be accessed as a bookmark?

Windows 10. Sffinity 1.6.0.82 beta
Could not delete a preset in the details section when processing a raw picture. The preset did not work.

OK. Noted.

I have been a Serif customer since 1991, and have kept many of their products up to date. Their achievment, capped by the still developing Affinity series is remarkable, and is to be celebrated. However, I remain an amateur, and I hope I am forgiven for occasionally seeking clarification or response to adverse comment, whether ill informed or not. At least that process provides a justification for a public refutation which might otherwise sound shrill.

I gave a presentation about Affinity to the Southampton Camera Club. It is one of the oldest camera clubs in the country and runs an international photo competition that is widely supported from many countries. As suggested on this Forum,I used some of the Serif promo videos and a couple of the tutorials.
The audience was probably 60% professional or seriously competent amateur photographers, and 40% amateurs, like me. If you cut the first group in half, you would see “Photoshop” written there like a stick of rock.
The presentation was well received, and all acknowledged that Affinity was a serious product. The amateurs could see the cost advantage. The professionals, and semi professionals, however, had some criticisms (based on having tried Affinity). The principal ones were
1: Files are very slow to load into Affinity Photo. It was suggested that this is because Affinity is a 32 bit program, not a 64bit program. I queried that assertion and suggested it could be that the way Affinity handles live views so well including real time repaints, such as real time views of blends and brushes,  and scans of large files might mean the files would take a bit longer to load at first. Clarification requested.
2: The print functions were regarded by some PS addicts to be poor (to the extent that they looked like an afterthought), though others suggested this might be due to different terminology. I have seen suggestions that print improvement is high up the priority list. More clarity please.
3: The RAW engine was regarded as much poorer than Photoshop. I pointed out that it is planned to make the RAW operations non-destructive, Additional comment welcome.
4: The absence of a DAM (data asset manager) that could match lightroom’s file handling capability was seen by many (including me) as a major weakness, and it was suggested by one PS acolyte that by the time we were charged for the DAM we would be up to the cost  of Lightroom (which, of course, ignored the fact that Lightroom is only available on subscription). I pointed out that even if major pais-for upgrades (i.e. Version 2 etc)  came out every 2 years, Affinity would still be easily competitive with Lightroom on price.
Even the hard bitten PS professionals welcomed the real time display of brushes, blends and filters, and the automatic addition of masks to filters,
It was a relaxed and friendly discussion, and it was clear that even the professionals expect Affinity to put right its weak points. I would love to be able to respond to the comments in a positive manner.
 
 

Hi GrahamMYC,
Thanks for your report. Regarding the second point this is by design. The Beta and the Retail versions are independent from each other so they don't share any settings/user files. Affinity Designer 1.6 (Retail) should keep the settings/user files from version 1.5 (Retail).

Hi,
 
I'm new to photo editing and to using affinity photo
 
Yesterday I started editing photos using the develope persona and I ran into a couple of issues
 
I have a batch of photos in the same scene with the same lighting conditions
 
So I thought of editing one photo and then applying all the edits to the rest of the photos - but that option of batch processing doesn't exist for the develope persona.
 
So I tried a suggestion from the forums -  to use presets
 
Now it took me some time to understand how to use presets - it's not self explanatory. You have to make your changes completely and then create a new preset for each category - he basic, lens correction, tone curves, detail categories
 
Two issues I found were:
 
1. White balance settings don't get saved to the preset - thus I have to change white balance again for each photo
 
2. When I open a new RAW file, the previous preset (for example "outside preset") is selected but is not applied. I have to switch back to default preset and then select "outside" preset for it to effct the changes
 
 
Any ideas? I'm pretty sure I have the latest affinity photo version for windows

A wonderful set of tutorials. Thankyou, Serif.
 
Rather than access the forum each time I need to view a tutorial, I find it easier to use this index which I have as a bookmark in  my browser
 
http://www.miguelboto.com/affinity/
 
It seems to be kept pretty well up to date, but maybe Serif could publish an 'official' directory that could be accessed as a bookmark?

A wonderful set of tutorials. Thankyou, Serif.
 
Rather than access the forum each time I need to view a tutorial, I find it easier to use this index which I have as a bookmark in  my browser
 
http://www.miguelboto.com/affinity/
 
It seems to be kept pretty well up to date, but maybe Serif could publish an 'official' directory that could be accessed as a bookmark?

For more information about the launch and how to buy go here. 
 
Here's a recap of the new features in Photo 1.5, along with tutorial videos which will accompany the features...
  Focus Merge Support   Focus merging allows you to generate a detailed composite image from a number of images focused at differing lengths. Use File -> New Focus Merge to get started.   Video tutorials: Focus Merging Focus Merge Retouching Focus Merging Bracketed Images   HDR Merge Support   HDR merging lets you create a deep, unbounded 32-bit image from a number of exposure bracketed source images. Use File -> New HDR Merge to get started.   Video tutorials: HDR: Merging and Tone Mapping HDR: Tone Map Presets HDR: Panoramas HDR: Preprocessing HDR: Advanced Editing HDR: Ghosts Removal   New 32bit RGB Editing Mode   Photo now offers a full compositing / editing environment for 32bit unbounded images.   Video tutorials: HDR: 32-bit Editing   32bit Develop   Photo can now Develop RAW files directly into a 32bit document - so all highlights / shadows are preserved and recoverable at any time.   Video tutorials: 32-bit Raw Development   OCIO (OpenColorIO) Support   Photo now support end-to-end OCIO colour workflows.   Video tutorials: OpenColorIO Setup OpenColorIO Adjustment   Tone Mapping Persona   Full tone mapping Persona for both HDR and LDR images. This is obviously best used with an image merged by HDR merge - although you can use it on any image.   Video tutorials: Regular Tone Mapping   OpenEXR / HDR (Radiance) / 32bit TIFF Import / Export   Photo can now import and export .hdr (Radiance, RGBE) and .exr (OpenEXR) images. It correctly deals with 0-alpha cases (as per the OpenEXR spec) and generally operates in linear space. It support multi-layer EXR files and offers control (through Preferences) over alpha association and premultiplication.   Video tutorials: OpenEXR Multichannel Import/Export OpenEXR Import Options   Macros   Using the View -> Studio -> Macro and View -> Studio -> Library menu items, you can access new panels which will allow you to record actions, save them, then play them back later. You can also store them in a handy gallery.   Video tutorials: Macros Macros: Equations   Batch Processing   Using File -> New Batch job, you can queue up processing on a large number of files. You can resize, convert format and apply any number of macros to each file. The batch processing happens in the background - so you can continue working whilst the jobs are processed.   Video tutorials: Batch Processing   Live Projections   Photo 1.5 contains a new mechanism which allows you to edit an image in different spatial domains - we currently support the “Equirectangular” domain (360 pano - Ricoh Theta, etc.). You can use all tools when editing - and you can convert back once you have edited. This is especially useful for cleaning up stitching artefacts, or artefacts at the zenith / nadir of the image. Use the options in Layer -> Live Projection to get started.   Video tutorials: 360 Live Editing 360 Advanced Editing 360 Retouching 360 Multiple Views Live Perspective Projection    Improved Pixel Tool   The pixel tool is improved in 1.5 - you can hold shift when dragging to constrain the direction of painting (sorry we did not get this working sooner!). You can also select what happens when you hold Alt and drag - erase to transparent, erase to background colour, or erase to whatever the nominated snapshot / history location is (like in the Clone tool).   New “Pixel Art” Document Resizing   Photo now contains an alternative way to resize a document - using well known pixel-art resampling algorithms. If you work with pixel art and want to use this feature, it’s located under the Document menu.   Video tutorials: Pixel Art Resize    New “Accumulation” Brush Dynamics   Many users have asked for “Opacity Jitter”. For us, opacity is a constant thing and will remain constant. However, we have added a new property to brushes - “Accumulation” - which should allow you to get what you need         Text Styles   Affinity Photo now has the same Text Styles support as Designer - it’s all shared code so it should work right out of the box         New Marquee Modes (Polygonal, Magnetic)   Photo now has 3 modes for the freehand selection tool - Freehand, Polygonal and Magnetic.   Video tutorials: Freehand Selection Tool   Even more RAW cameras supported   Over 70 new RAW cameras are supported.   Improved Metadata Mining   Our detection of RAW / JPEG / etc. metadata has been upgraded and some serious bugs have been fixed.   Massive Improvements to Export Persona   Our Export Persona has seen huge upgrades in this cycle - you now have total control of exactly what resolution sets get exported. You can also use our handy batch export builders to quickly generate content for external consumption - ie. Xcode .assets - even Spline compatible metadata can be generated!   Layered TIFF Interop   Users have constantly asked us to support “Layered TIFF”. Layered TIFF is not a thing. TIFF with embedded data is a thing - and I’m happy to report that we now import embedded PSD / Affinity data and can write TIFF with embedded Affinity data.   Halftone Filter   We have a marvellous new halftone pattern filter in 1.5 - it can approximate monochrome, colour, circular and line halftones.   Video tutorials: Halftone Scanlines Effect   Improved Apply Image Filter   Users can how use the current layer as the source for Apply Image - or drag any layer from the layers tab into the dialog to use that as thr source. We also offer handy equations in the filter to control how channels are transferred - in an arbitrary colour source.   Video tutorials: Apply Image Apply Image: Equations   Improved Select Sampled Colour Filter   You can now select by intensity in the select sampled colour tool.   Equations Filter   A new Equations Distortion filter allows users to create custom spatial filters.   Video tutorials: Equations filter Macros: Equations   Dust & Scratches Filter   Many user have asked us for a “Dust & Scratches” filter - so we have made one. It’s extremely useful for removing sporadic small defects in images. Please let us know if it works for you.   Video tutorials: Dust & Scratches Filter    “Edit in Affinity Photo” Photos extension   This is something which we didn’t think we could do - a Photos extension for Mac OS 10.9 and above which simply allows you to use the full Photo app to edit your images - and stores the changes you have made as a layered document.   New Colour Picker Tool   After literally thousands of requests, we have implemented a dedicated picker tool for colours.   New Clone Sources Panel   We now have a new studio panel which allows you to store up an unlimited number of global sources for the Clone / Healing brush - it even works across multiple documents.   Video tutorials: Clone Sources Clone Sources: Texture Creation   Direct PSD Write-Back   One of the most requested features - direct write-back to PSD. A number of 3rd party DAM applications will happily deal in PSD - but until now, Photo required you to File -> Export for PSD. No longer! You can now just hit File -> Save! You will need to turn this on - in File -> Preferences - please read the warning there carefully!   Video tutorials: Direct PSD write-back (round tripping)   No Thumbnails Option   This is more a Designer feature, but I promised it some time ago so here it is - you can choose (in Preferences) not to write out a thumbnail with your documents. This has the advantage of making your documents use less space - but obviously you won’t get Finder thumbnails, etc.   Improved Vectorscope   Our old HSL vectorscope is no more - replaced by a vastly more appropriate Rec.709 YUV scope with an improved graticule         Improved Photoshop Plugin Support   We have found a significant bug with our plugin code - it has been fixed       :) We are now finding the majority of plugins work properly.   Multi-monitor Colour Profile Support   Sorry it took so long to get this fixed - we now can profile different on different monitors.   Adjustment Performance Improvements   Found and fixed a simple issue which made changing adjustment parameters appear to be slow. Fixed.   Automatic Lens Corrections   Automatic lens corrections (distortion and vignetting) are now supported for a wide array of lens profiles. This option is available in the Develop Assistant (enabled by default).   Video tutorials: Automatic Lens Corrections  
Improved RAW Colour Handling
 
The way colour operations are handled in the Develop persona has been improved - the difference is most noticeable in images with intense, saturated colours (think low light photography with lots of artificial lighting).
 
Video tutorials:
Raw Colour Quality     This update also includes literally hundreds of fixes and small improvements, some of which are listed below:   - User control over two pass rendering on Retina devices. - PSD import / export improvements. - PDF import / export improvements. - Snapping improvements - candidate-free snapping, gaps-and-spans (Alt key in Move Tool), so much more! - Performance and stability improvements for macOS Sierra.

This topic has appeared already, and numerous people have commented. I agree it is too dark, and the fonts are a bit small for geriatrics like me. Specifically, when using the cutiut function it is not easy to see whether the context is set to 'add' or 'subtract'. The active one should be ;it up somehow.
 
But to add a positive comment, I have spent a lot of today trying the cutout features.In my opinion the facilities offered in AD are superior to anything I have used, including photoshop Elements and Fluid Mask 3. Absolutely brilliant! Some operations are slow, but this is a beta, so I would expect these issues to be addressed. It has been frustrating having to use photoplus for some operations. Bring on Affinity Photo and the DAM please!

1. Whatever I do in Designer, it's superslow. Even opening a menu takes some time.
2. I can't work with dark interfaces. I always see a mirror image of my face in the monitor. Please give us an option to switch to a GUI with light colours (or simply the default Windows look).
 
Would be nice if these two things were fixed in the final version.
 

Hi guys,
 
Just started using the beta, and thought I would make something.
 
Started using the gradient tool and it's a little bit clunky. I can't select the little colour points. They are not coming up properly...