OldRadioGuy

Thank you. Changing the RAW engine solved my problem.

The German photo editor PhotoLine runs Topaz Gigapixel but as a external editor, not a plugin. I no longer have Photoshop, but I'll bet it's doing the same.

The version of 1.10.0 I was using came from the Apple store if that information helps.

I have run tests with the Flaming Pear plugins: Super Blade Pro, Flood, Glitterato, Lunar Cell and Solar Cell. Although they do not work correctly right out of the box, all but one of these Flaming Pear Plugins can be run successfully in the Windows version of Affinity Photo 1.5.0.45 with a workaround. 
 
1. When run within Affinity Photo, the preview window for Flaming Pear plugins splits the image into irregular segments, making it useless for assessment of the way the rendering will look when sent back to AF. However, the preview can be made to render properly if the active layer in AF is selected with the Retangular Marquee Tool before calling the plugin. This works for Flood, Glitterato, Lunar Cell and Solar Cell because they are designed as global applications for a layer. However, Super Blade Pro is usually applied to a local selection; thus you're stuck with a hit-and-miss approach to finding your desired plugin setting for that app. 
 
2. Each Flaming Pear plugin comes with a library of presets (in a subfolder for the preset) which can be randomized in the plugin control panel. You may have to manually point the plugin to the subfolder when this is first run. 

Exposure Software X5 and Eye Candy external plugins now working in this version. Also now working are Flaming Pear Flood 2 and India Ink plugins.
Thanks.

I have run tests with the Flaming Pear plugins: Super Blade Pro, Flood, Glitterato, Lunar Cell and Solar Cell. Although they do not work correctly right out of the box, all but one of these Flaming Pear Plugins can be run successfully in the Windows version of Affinity Photo 1.5.0.45 with a workaround. 
 
1. When run within Affinity Photo, the preview window for Flaming Pear plugins splits the image into irregular segments, making it useless for assessment of the way the rendering will look when sent back to AF. However, the preview can be made to render properly if the active layer in AF is selected with the Retangular Marquee Tool before calling the plugin. This works for Flood, Glitterato, Lunar Cell and Solar Cell because they are designed as global applications for a layer. However, Super Blade Pro is usually applied to a local selection; thus you're stuck with a hit-and-miss approach to finding your desired plugin setting for that app. 
 
2. Each Flaming Pear plugin comes with a library of presets (in a subfolder for the preset) which can be randomized in the plugin control panel. You may have to manually point the plugin to the subfolder when this is first run. 

Affinity Photo Beta 1.6.0.71
 
1. Open new image
2. Duplicate Background
3. From Document menu verify that Transparency Background is checked
4. Attempt to start Topaz ReMask 5 from the plugins menu
5. Topaz returns: Transparency is locked, please unlock the transparency.

Affinity Photo Beta 1.6.0.71
 
1. Open new image
2. Duplicate Background
3. From Document menu verify that Transparency Background is checked
4. Attempt to start Topaz ReMask 5 from the plugins menu
5. Topaz returns: Transparency is locked, please unlock the transparency.

Hi there everyone :)
 
I am very happy to have completed a winter illustration entirely in Affinity Designer using a Wacom Cintiq Pro 13. I have been experimenting with Designer in my spare time in order to try out a few ideas combining vectors with texture brushes. This one was done in designer 1.5 and I have to say it has treated me very well as I progressed towards making the piece work as a whole.
 
I do quite like clean shapes with a painterly/texured feel to them, and so with this one I feel that I am moving in the right direction at last. The project was sketched out from scratch and colour completed in Designer with a resolution of 5500x5500px.
 
My main takeaway I belive was to be patient util I could start getting a good feel for the paint performance in relation to zoom level. Also, being able to customise and set up custom brushes for my liking and to match previous experience for a more traditional illustrative approach. For brushes I started out with the Daub concept brushes pack but ended up picking them appart and to set up my own in the end :)
 
It would be great to hear about your experiences and feedback in general towards using affinity designer in illustration based workflow :)
 
 

Just purchased the Windows version of Photo. Fantastic software!