Five Photos

One of my biggest struggles with Affinity Photo, as well as with other photo editors, is to make a decision wether I should do the majority of my adjustments while developing the RAW file or later in the photo persona. For instance, right now I am working on an image which needs quite a bit sharpening (details), straightening, cropping, heavy exposure and withe balance work, and a gradient overlay to further adjust the sky. 
  I could do all this in the develop persona. But I could also do all this in the photo persona with the benefit, that I can change my values for a specific adjustment whenever I want. I assume there must be a benefit of doing some adjustments in the development persona, but I don't see it. What am I missing?   I would like to know what kind of adjustment work you guys are doing in the development persona versus the photo persona for RAW files. Thanks!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Yes! But that’s not the topic/question. I (we) want to know if Affinity is developing their own DAM as previously teased or if they abandoned those plans in the meantime. 

Yes! But that’s not the topic/question. I (we) want to know if Affinity is developing their own DAM as previously teased or if they abandoned those plans in the meantime. 

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Thanks for the big update! Great work!
 
Unfortunately the new version does neither resolve this bug nor add this feature we are so desperately waiting for.
 
Any timeline for that?
 
Thank you
Patrick

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

A very sensible post, with which i wholeheartedly agree. Gotta stay realistic with the expectations.

And use what works for you in every moment. Couldn't get simpler. 

Hi guys,
I'm the original poster of this thread and I feel all your pain. When I started this thread, Serif said they were thinking about creating a DAM for a couple of years already (and yes @R C-R you are right, somebody indeed said once  "I'm sitting next to the guys that are writing the DAM... It's a thing". It was @MattP and it was in this thread in December 2017). Today, more than a year later, it feels like they're still about as far in the process as they were before. 
My humble advice to all of you is to stop worrying about it. I bet that nothing will be released anytime soon and even if so, it won't be the Lightroom killer we're all hoping for. Even if they actually are developing a DAM right now, it will take Serif another year or two to come out with something and even then, that product will probably be way behind of what Lightroom with its 20 years plus history is capable of today. 
The best example of this is Skylum with its Luminar software. They said in 2017 that they'll release a DAM in 2018 – pushing everybody's hopes up high. They barely kept their promise with a December 2018 release that was so underwhelming that many of us wished they wouldn't have created anything at all. It will take them another couple of years to catch up with Lightroom, if ever. 
It's my prediction that, even if Serif puts all their resources in the development of a DAM today, they won't be able to build anything great before 2021 or even later. I think it was a different story creating Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher as both these apps have quite a lot of similar features to those of Affinity Photo. A DAM, on the other hand, is a whole different kind of beast and I started to realize that quite a while back. I still wish they would give us more clarity about the roadmap or if there's even one in existence, but I buried my hopes for an Affinity DAM and believe me or not, I'm a happier person today.
Lightroom is great and what Adobe is doing with the new Lightroom CC ecosystem is only pushing them further ahead of the competition.
My two cents.

Hi guys,
I'm the original poster of this thread and I feel all your pain. When I started this thread, Serif said they were thinking about creating a DAM for a couple of years already (and yes @R C-R you are right, somebody indeed said once  "I'm sitting next to the guys that are writing the DAM... It's a thing". It was @MattP and it was in this thread in December 2017). Today, more than a year later, it feels like they're still about as far in the process as they were before. 
My humble advice to all of you is to stop worrying about it. I bet that nothing will be released anytime soon and even if so, it won't be the Lightroom killer we're all hoping for. Even if they actually are developing a DAM right now, it will take Serif another year or two to come out with something and even then, that product will probably be way behind of what Lightroom with its 20 years plus history is capable of today. 
The best example of this is Skylum with its Luminar software. They said in 2017 that they'll release a DAM in 2018 – pushing everybody's hopes up high. They barely kept their promise with a December 2018 release that was so underwhelming that many of us wished they wouldn't have created anything at all. It will take them another couple of years to catch up with Lightroom, if ever. 
It's my prediction that, even if Serif puts all their resources in the development of a DAM today, they won't be able to build anything great before 2021 or even later. I think it was a different story creating Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher as both these apps have quite a lot of similar features to those of Affinity Photo. A DAM, on the other hand, is a whole different kind of beast and I started to realize that quite a while back. I still wish they would give us more clarity about the roadmap or if there's even one in existence, but I buried my hopes for an Affinity DAM and believe me or not, I'm a happier person today.
Lightroom is great and what Adobe is doing with the new Lightroom CC ecosystem is only pushing them further ahead of the competition.
My two cents.

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Yes! But that’s not the topic/question. I (we) want to know if Affinity is developing their own DAM as previously teased or if they abandoned those plans in the meantime. 

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

Hey guys,
 
We desperately need some clarification. For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months. And in your Twitter feed you mentioned a couple of times now that you are currently not developing a DAM. So which is true?
 
With the recent changes from Adobe with their Lightroom software and with Apple still not improving Photos really, it would be a great time to put a great DAM out there right now. Many, many photographers are looking for a new solution to this old and essential problem. Also, MacPhun just announced a DAM for their Luminar app. 
 
In any case, we just need to know if we should wait for a DAM to be released by you guys or if we should look for other alternatives. Thank you!

@HVDB Fotografie True, clipped highlights are not recoverable – not with any program. However, @befehr's concerns are justified and I think it's no secret that Affinity's RAW development module lacks the quality of the rest of the app.
 
I did a comparison myself (see attached file). The original photo has both, overexposed and underexposed parts. I simply pushed the shadows slider all the way up (+100) and pulled the highlights slider all the way down (–100) in Lightroom, Luminar, and Affinity Photo. I'm aware that, in a normal post-processing workflow, one probably wouldn't go all the way with those sliders. But... the results in this little test still speak for themselves. 
RAW.pdf

I get very poor results with Affinity’s RAW development module, especially for highlights and shadows adjustments. Lightroom and Luminar are waaaay better for RAW development.
 
However, it seems like I get superior results with Affinity Photo for iPad compared to the desktop version! Anybody experiencing the same? And if so, why is that? Is the iPad version using a different/better algorithm?