Jump to content

ch22

Members
  • Posts

    83
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation Activity

  1. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from Affinity_Pro in Various issues in Develop Persona   
    Version 2 certainly is a huge improvement to working from RAW files, but there are still many points to be resolved or, at the very least, improved. Below is a short list (probably not exhaustive), ranging from clear-cut bugs to more debatable questions of software ergonomics. Its items are not listed in order of importance.
    1.     The Highlights adjustment remains very poor (in fact, it's been a persistent weakness of the whole Affinity Photo from the start).
    2.     The clipping alerts for blacks (blue) and partial clipping (yellow) are not reliable. This is all the more surprising as it works well when you open Develop Persona on a pixel layer, but not on a RAW file.
    3.     In the online manual, the notion of "clipped (mid-)tone" is not sufficiently explained. In this way any fully saturated tones would be clipped tones. I'd have preferred to be spoken for black, white or partially clipped pixels.
    4.     The online manual claims that once the Develop Persona output mode has been chosen, it cannot be changed.  On the contrary, it seems to me that a file with a linked raw layer can always be transformed into a file with an embedded raw layer.
    5.     It would be nice to be able to rename lines in the Snapshots and Overlays panels. 
    6.     The Show Overlay option should be an option in the Overlays panel rather than in the Brush and Gradient tools.
    7.     The same set of adjustments cannot be applied to several raw files at once. At most, you can create setting configurations on a first image and then manually apply these configurations to subsequent images, one by one. It would have been nice to automate the procedure with a kind of batch processing. 
    8.     In the layer panel, the RAW layer lines should have an identifier (i.e. the pictogram to the left of the thumbnail).
    9.     The Colour Range and Tonal Range selection menus do not work on a RAW layer.
  2. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from Ron P. in Is really radius in Unsharp Mask filter that large?   
    Hello
    When enhancing a layer, one can check that identical results can be obtained by 
    (i)             Adding a high-pass filter in linear light blend mode
    (ii)            Or adding an unsharp mask filter (in normal blend mode) with a gain factor of 1 and a radius curiously threefold larger than the high-pass radius (for instance, 10 px for the high-pass filter and 30 px for the unsharp mask)
    The same comparison performed with a well-known competitor software (somewhat more expensive) cannot lead to the same exact identity because of different definitions for the high-pass filter, but one can look for the best agreement when varying the gain and the radius in the unsharp mask. Then, the best radius is not exactly that of high-pass filter, but it remains close to it. I wonder whether the radius scale read in the unsharp mask dialog box of AP is not threefold too large. 
    Obviously, this does not prevent the good operation of unsharp masking in AP
  3. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from John Rostron in What Contrast Negate blend mode is doing   
    I'm not sure how DR evaluated in the equation? 
    This is not  a real equation, but a kind of pseudo-code.  DR is the previous DR in the right hand side and the new one in the left side. For instance, the product blend mode would be obtained with DR=DR*SR (to be understood as DR_new=DR_previous*SR). Only the right hand side is to be entered into the AP box
    roundup(0.5-0.3*SR-0.59*SB-0.11*SB) Should that be 0.59*SG?
    Of course. I suffered from many mistakes in the process, I corrected a lot of them directly in the AP box and  I did not always reported these corrections in my text processor... and unfortunately I used this text version to prepare my post.  Sorry!  Actually, I did not dare to directly deal with color pictures. I began the work with grey pictures, where the code is far simpler. Not that simple to get it right the first time, but I succeeded fast enough to be reasonably confident  to tackle the color case.
    Now, I want to emphasize that my misadventures are not at all a condemnation of this Apply Image menu. Simply, in case of complex equations, better to have a true text editor at hand with a compatible copy and paste function!  
     
  4. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from dmstraker in What Contrast Negate blend mode is doing   
    By November 2017, dmstraker was asking for information about Contrast Negate (https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/49811-your-big-friendly-guide-to-layer-blend-modes/&tab=comments#comment-250891) . As I found nothing about this point in more recent posts, I give my opinion.
    I think that the luminosities of the two layers are analyzed, but in the sense of lumas, i.e. L'=0.3R'+0.59G'+0.11B' where all quantities are normalized quantities varying in the (0,1) interval. First a selection is built of areas where lumas are both below 0.5 ou both above 0.5. Then, the upper layer is replaced with its negative within the selection.
    I enclose a macro, simu_Contrast_Negate.afmacro which (hopefully) does this job —to be imported in the Macro panel. Select the upper layer and run it. An Invert adjustment should be created above the upper layer (allowing to recover the selection  from the adjustment mask)
    simu_Contrast_Negate.afmacro
  5. Thanks
    ch22 got a reaction from Yves KOSKAS in Photo : plus de mode incrustation pour les calques ?   
    Additionally, switching to English in Preferences dialog makes the Overlay item reappear in the drop-down list with seemingly the expected behavior. 
  6. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from dmstraker in Saturation Mask   
    Alfred : thanks
    dmstraker : finally the sorcery can be easily explained, provided that HSV model is really the cylindrical HSL model used in Photoshop Adobe color requester. In this model, if the RGB components are sorted in decreasing order as (Max, Mid, Min) — think of these components as reduced quantities varying from 0 to 1— the HSL components can be then written as
    H =(Max-Mid)/(Max-Min)    ;    S = Max -Min   ;    L = Max   
    where H  actually is the decimal part of a reduced hue varying from 0 to 6, with an integer part depending on which colors correspond to Max and Min components. This formulas can be inverted as
    Max = L   ;  Min = L-S   ;  Mid = L-TS
    Now, following the dmstracker process :
    (i) putting S to 0 in the first HSL adjustment makes the three components replaced by L (the largest component)
    (ii) switching to the Difference blending mode replaces the (Max,Mid,Min) trio with (0,S,TS). Since T<1, the largest component is now S  (there is also a hue jump but it does not matter) 
    (iii) opening the 2nd HSL adjustment and putting the Saturation slider to 0 makes the three components all equal to the largest component, i.e. S : we thus obtain the wanted mapping of the initial picture saturation.
    Unfortunately, I am not sure this Photoshop model really is the HSV Affinity model, since when one moves the Luminosity slider the above RGB components do not change in agreement with the above formulas... But maybe that's another story! 
     
  7. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from F_J_Woods in [AP] How to apply curves within a mask ?   
    Well, I succeeded in achieving a simulation of the Highlights Filter following the idea of Darren Bernhardt. A demonstration file is attached. I first explain what I made and then I state new remarks ; maybe the operation of AP could be improved—or my brain reoriented ?
     
    When you open my file, you see the background layer only : a little girl with a hat a bit too luminous, which would be better somewhat darkened. In the Layers Panel, the 2nd line is a group containing the simulated filter ; for completeness, the top layer shows the corrective adjustement I made in Photoshop, namely a curve adjustment with the ad hoc mask. Please do not activate the two corrective layers simultaneously ; also do not pay attention to the strength of the correction, this is only an exercise.
     
    The simulated filter is made of three layers :
    (i)            a curve adjustment with a luminosity mask within its mask ( “Strength“ layer). The curve applies a very strong contrast to the lighter tones. Normally this would result into a strong darkening of medium and dark tones, but this effect is contained by the dark tones in the luminosity mask.
    (ii)           This containing action is not sufficient, it is necessary to put black in the darkest tones of the mask. This is made with a Level ou Curve adjustment  (“Range“ layer) acting on the mask of the first layer  ("Strength")
    (iii)         At this point, the lightest tones of the picture are darkeneanxd, as wished, but also somewhat flattened. This is counteracted by blurring the mask of the first layer (“Strength“), through a live filter adjustment in the “Radius“ layer. As a gaussian blur may easily lead to undesirable halos along edges, I used a more sophisticated bilateral  blur.
    Obviously, the names Strength, Range and Radius come from the control sliders of the Highlights Filter. And obviously as well, in Photoshop, steps (ii) and (iii) are not reversible.
     
    Now the new remarks :
     
    (1) when I open the Level or Curve adjustment over a mask, as in step(ii) above, I have to switch to the alpha channel.  Cannot this be done automatically, since it should be possible to recognize that one is working on a mask? More comfortable !
    (2) When you apply a Curve/Level adjustment to a mask and switch from RGB channels to the alpha channel, the bottom histogram suddenly disappears, which is a little alarming, especially for a beginner. Would not it be possible to display the histogram of the mask alpha channel?   
    (3)  Mere curiosity : would it be possible (simply) to merge the three layers into a single curve adjustment layer, Photoshop-like, with a mask including the action of steps (ii) and (iii) ?
    (4) More annoying : I did not manage to run the dodge/burn tools on a mask. Try with the upper layer in my file ; alt-click its thumbnail in order to display the mask. I could paint it with the brush tool but I got nothing with the dodge/burn tools.  Did I miss something again ?
    la_bonne_glace.afphoto
  8. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from anon1 in [AP] Unsatisfying histograms   
    I would be far happier if the various histograms displayed in the Histogram panel and the dialog boxes in Levels or Curves adjustments were more consistent between themselves. More specially, when a selection is activated, I would like all these histograms to be restricted to the pixels within the selection.
     
    Seemingly, the Histogram panel shows this selection histogram when the Marquee option is activated. Fine!  But at the same time the histogram in the Level adjustment conspicuously corresponds to the whole image (see attached file).  And the histogram in the curves adjustment shows nothing readable (added in my file).
     
    Generally speaking, what is the meaning of the histogram in the curve dialog ? 
     
    I found no information about these questions in the online manual.

  9. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from anon1 in [AP] Display of clipped pixels   
    In Level adjustment, holding ALT whilst moving the Black Level or White Level provides a real time clipping preview. Unfortunately, this preview does not work in individual channels Red, Green or Blue.  Also, I would appreciate the same clipping preview to work in Curve adjustment (as in another well known competitor software)
     
  10. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from anon1 in [AP] Accurate node trimming in curves adjustment ?   
    I would enjoy the possibility of typing numerical values for nodes input/output values
  11. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from Petar Petrenko in [AP]For a more comprehensive gradient tool   
    Letter to Santa Claus :
    (i)       make the gradient tool operation closer to the brush tool, so that it no longer erases the initial content of the layer when applied with a reduced opacity. 
    (ii)      Make it reminiscent of the previous color choice.
    (iii)    Allow for a few useful presets (such as Black to White, Foreground to Transparent, etc.) or allow to save and reload various adjustments.
     
  12. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from shojtsy in [AP]For a more comprehensive gradient tool   
    Letter to Santa Claus :
    (i)       make the gradient tool operation closer to the brush tool, so that it no longer erases the initial content of the layer when applied with a reduced opacity. 
    (ii)      Make it reminiscent of the previous color choice.
    (iii)    Allow for a few useful presets (such as Black to White, Foreground to Transparent, etc.) or allow to save and reload various adjustments.
     
  13. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from velarde in [AP]For a more comprehensive gradient tool   
    Letter to Santa Claus :
    (i)       make the gradient tool operation closer to the brush tool, so that it no longer erases the initial content of the layer when applied with a reduced opacity. 
    (ii)      Make it reminiscent of the previous color choice.
    (iii)    Allow for a few useful presets (such as Black to White, Foreground to Transparent, etc.) or allow to save and reload various adjustments.
     
  14. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from Steveral in [AP]For a more comprehensive gradient tool   
    Letter to Santa Claus :
    (i)       make the gradient tool operation closer to the brush tool, so that it no longer erases the initial content of the layer when applied with a reduced opacity. 
    (ii)      Make it reminiscent of the previous color choice.
    (iii)    Allow for a few useful presets (such as Black to White, Foreground to Transparent, etc.) or allow to save and reload various adjustments.
     
  15. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from oquendoG in [AP]For a more comprehensive gradient tool   
    Letter to Santa Claus :
    (i)       make the gradient tool operation closer to the brush tool, so that it no longer erases the initial content of the layer when applied with a reduced opacity. 
    (ii)      Make it reminiscent of the previous color choice.
    (iii)    Allow for a few useful presets (such as Black to White, Foreground to Transparent, etc.) or allow to save and reload various adjustments.
     
  16. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from Licensecart in Affinity Photo for (French) beginners ?   
    Hello
     
    I teach post-processing of digital photos to beginners in a French photo club. So far, our teaching was based on Photoshop and I wonder if the time has not come to switch to Affinity Photo, so as to operate on a simpler but yet very powerful software. I know that quite a lot of video tutorials already exist which potentially should be helpful to beginners, but all of them are English-speaking, and thus, sadly, nearly useless to most of our French ears (by the way, I apologize for my possibly approximate English).
     
    So I'm trying to find out how our beginners could find their way into the software and, for that purpose, I try to follow the same path as we did with Photoshop and I list the things that seem odd to me in the software. I give below a first list of these remarks. I am using v1.5.1 on Mac OS. 
     
    Preferences :
    —   in color preferences, the option Warn when assigning working profile to unprofiled files does not work, there is never a warning
    —    the Artboard Background Gray Level slider does not work
    —    the choice of the language works for the software only, not for the online manual (which remains in French for me and which refuses to pass in English)
    Colours
    —   in the slider display, logically, the Granger chart should not be affected by the Saturation slider in HSL mode
    —    I am puzzled by the logic of the small reset button, just at the bottom left of the foreground / background patchs (instead of the black/white reset button in Photoshop). It removes any color information in a tool like the brush. What good is it for?
    —   when working with the brush, one can pick a color from the image through an ALT-click on the image. However, the software is not very responsive and sometimes the ALT-click has to be repeated several times. Also, it would be nice if the ALT key could temporarily replace the brush circle with the color picker icon.
    —   In the Fill dialog box, it would be nice if a click on the custom colour plot automatically activated the Custom Colour option.
     
    Selection brush tool : why not add a feather option ? Since the shortcut CTRL+ALT+click-and-drag (Mac OS) is already implemented for the size, it could also control the feather.
     
    Infos panel :  length and position information can be displayed either in pixels or in cm (depending on the choice in the options of the Main tool). However, curiously, when you choose "cm" and draw a rectangular selection, the position of the starting point is displayed in cm, but the width and height remain in px.
     
    Hoping these remarks could be dealt with in the next upgrade.
    Charles
  17. Like
    ch22 got a reaction from Fixx in The dialog in the resize dialog box is not satisfactory   
    Hello
     
    The dialog in the resize dialog box is not satisfactory. I explain  :
     
    (i) with no resampling, when the size is displayed in length units (i.e. inches or centimeters), the size boxes should be active. For instance, if I wanted to print a 10x8 cm picture, I should be entitled to directly enter 10 cm and 8 cm in width and height boxes.  Currently, I cannot.
    (ii) More annoying, still with no resampling, the size indications should vary accordingly to the dpi slider. They do not.
    (iii) Some of the options are memorized when the dialog box is reopened, but not all of them. I can accept the systematic reset of the resampling to ON,  so as to learn not to forget to deactive it when necessary, but why is the resampling algorithm reset to bilinear, the poorest of all ?
     
     Charles   (MacOS user)
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.