ovisan

iMac 2017, i5 3,5 GHz quad core, 40GB RAM@2400MHz DDR4 (upgraded), Radeon Pro 575 4GB RAM, 1TB SSD (upgraded)

M1 Ultra 20 cores CPU, 48 cores GPU, 64GB RAM

 
Tested with Affinity Photo Beta 2.1.0
I had upgraded from the iMac to the M1 Ultra and, as expected, it's a totally different world. The M1 Ultra is overkill for Affinity Photo, I think the M1 Max or the M2 Pro would work just as well.

There is no guarantee it will become available. You can visit https://lensfun.github.io where you will find more information on the lens database that Affinity uses, and in the Calibration section you will learn (a) how to perform your own calibration and (b) how to request that someone else calibrate your lens. Once you or someone else has done the calibration it can be added to the database, and then after that Serif will pick it up for Affinity Photo. And once it has been calibrated, you can also install the calibration file into your system manually, rather than waiting for Serif to incorporate the update.

The third party lens database we use for lens correction as yet to have that model lens added. We can't say when the lens will be added, it's a case of waiting for the database to be updated and released. We can then pull the new update and include it in our next available update.

Yes, but the Auto White Balance in the Photo Persona doesn't work as well as the Capture One or Camera Raw, besides the fact that there are absolutely no color temperatures given, with no way of adjusting and it's a destructive operation. All in all i think the raw development still needs a ton of work before it can compare, until then i will process RAW files in the other tools.
Also highlights/shadows recovery is better handled in the other tools. I like Affinity suite and this suggestions come only from the desire of improving the software.

In both Capture One and Camera Raw from Photoshop, the raw development is way better and i would like to do the complete development only in Affinity Photo, rather than using the raw development elsewhere.
The White Balance does not have an Auto option and it's difficult to set it manually with the picker. In both Capture One and Photoshop the Auto option is creating a correct white balance as well as removing color casts. The details from the raw file are poorly extracted, both on shadows and highlights. From a poorly shot raw (i can provide the raw file), both Capture One and Photoshop could recover the highlights better with more details while keeping the original color and more shadow details without too much noise. In Affinity, the highlights were changing to white when lowered, and the shadows details contained more noise as well as a red (in this case) tint. There is no Whites and Blacks adjustment. Split Toning is nice, but also a color editor would be good. I have included the screenshots with the same settings applied to the raw:
Exposure set to 1,47
Max Shadows
Min Highlights

Hey Alewa,
I think the issue here is that we're trying to stack and then merge too many images/layers.
Our in-house expert, James Ritson who also does these types of merges usually does 30 to 50 images.
He recommends shooting with a longer exposure time so you only need to stack a max of 50 or so images.
When it comes to merging, it is likely going to use more memory than the initial stack (which is the bit I'm struggling with). Affinity does this non-destructively unlike other apps that stack which will do is destructively, this is why it takes longer and uses more resources. 
James has done this on an iMac with 24GB memory using 120 16-bit TIFF files and when trying it on his MacBook, it ate right into the 16GB memory and was failing. I think we are asking too much from our little iPad—as powerful as they claim to be! 

Hi Andre,
To get more insight on this it would be better to attach a log (please see the picture attached that shows you where to find them) Settings->Privacy->Analytics Data and look for an ips file with the name  Photo iPad and date. Save that file and upload it here.
As an immediate solution i would suggest lowering the autosave interval in Affinity Photo settings in General tab to something like 60-90 seconds.
Hope that helps.

Yeah, set autosave to 30 seconds. Thank you

Maybe few use this, but it’s a great feature. Sure.

Hi ovisan,
I will feed this back to the developers. I'm surprised I haven't seen this reported more often. Thank you.

Hello,
Trying to load any image with Infer from LUT adjustment will crash the application. I’ve attached the crash log.
 Cheers!
Photo iPad-2020-05-04-114905.ips

Hey ovisan,
I came across this a few weeks ago.
I tried to check with dev but didn't get a reply so I'll chase this up again. I'll let you know when I hear back. Cheers

Hello,

If the double tap is enabled in Settings, when double tapping in Develop Persona, will automatically trigger Develop and move to Photo Persona, instead of doing the action is set to do.
To reproduce:
1. Settings->pencil->enable double tap (choose any action in double tap)
2. Switch to Develop Persona and double tap the pencil
3. Develop will be triggered and the picture will move to Photo persona.

Thanks 🙏 , that’s true, i am either using a high pass with linear light or overlay, or unsharp mask. Saw this when i tried to move the high pass below the unsharp mask and nested it instead, so decided to open a bug for it since it shows the grid.

Thanks 🙏 , that’s true, i am either using a high pass with linear light or overlay, or unsharp mask. Saw this when i tried to move the high pass below the unsharp mask and nested it instead, so decided to open a bug for it since it shows the grid.

Interesting effect. I suspect you’re not meant to apply filters to filters 😀
To use the Live hp filter to sharpen just apply it and change the filters layer option to overlay or similar. It really effective too.
edit. Just saw your other post. Good pickup there. 👍

Hey ovisan,
This is logged as an open issue so I've updated the original report with your info. It seems to affect Windows, macOS and iOS.
Thank you. 

This also happens to Unsharp Mask live filter, perhaps other live filters as well

Hey ovisan,
I see what you mean. The issue is more apparent when using a smaller Cell Size. I set it to 2.0 as seen in your screenshot and the problem appeared instantly.
I thought it might be a 100% view mipmap thing but the filter redraws and looks different at a number of different views. I'll pass this over Thanks for replying! 

Status: Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Photo
Mac App Store: Not submitted
Download DMG: Download
Auto-update: Available.
 
Hello,
We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of the latest beta of Affinity Photo 1.7 for macOS.
Photo 1.7 is a (very) significant change to the currently shipping 1.6 version, so, as ever, I would strongly urge users to avoid the 1.7 beta for critical work. This is especially true as this is only an early build of 1.7 - we will release many more builds before 1.7 ships. Things will be broken in this build - please use it to explore the new features and not for real work.
If this is your first time using a customer beta of an Affinity app, it’s worth noting that the beta will install as a separate app - alongside your store version. They will not interfere with each other at all and you can continue to use the store version for critical work without worry.
It’s also worth noting that we aren’t done yet - we are still working through reported bugs from previous releases and hope to fix as many as possible before the final release of 1.7.
With all that said, we hope that you will enjoy the new capabilities introduced in this release and we look forward to any and all feedback you give to us.
Many thanks (as always),
Affinity Photo Team  
 
Changes This Build
 
- Fixed incorrect RGB / BGR / Red-major-order export of LUTS.
- Ability to either rasterise or rasterise and trim a layer. Previously recorded macros will trim.
- Fixed issues when parsing autofocus rectangles in RAW develop.
- Show which autofocus rectangles were in focus and which were selected by the camera (yellow, green respectively).
- Fixed inability to open photos from Apple Photos from file -> open. Now correctly asks for permission.
- Threshold adjustment will always present an intensity histogram.
- Improved histograms on curves and levels adjustments.
- Fixed LAB issues with edge detection filters.
- Switching between adjustments and filters will close any existing panels accordingly.
- Fixed incorrect ability to drag a locked layer when there is no layer selection.
- Fixed loading of 8/16bit images with linear RGB profiles.
- Can now double-click most sliders in adjustments UI to reset the individual parameter.
- Make it obvious which nozzle is selected in the brush editor UI.
- Other small fixes.
 
Changes In Previous Builds
 
- Improved Metal stability / performance with large documents.
- Fixed a number of dark mode issues.
- Fixed preview glitches in split preview mode for filters / develop.
- Fixed batch processor not obeying dimensions correctly.
- Improved Procedural Texture UI in light mode.
- Allow brush rotate / size key changes while dragging.
- Numerous text engine improvements.
- Fixed cursor issues with HSL and other adjustments.
- Fixed issues with some menu shortcut keys.
- Improved PDF export.
- Improved localisations.
- Numerous other small fixes.
 
- Fixed CMYK rendering when using Metal.
- Fixed loading of huge JPEG files.
- Added “Alpha Similarity” to Select Sampled Colour tool.
- Fixed a number of crash bugs in the adjustment panel.
- Fixed issues with some existing user documents crashing in 1.7.
- Assorted other fixes.
 
- Show the Curves / Levels histogram in the correct colour space.
- Fixed some GPU memory management issues.
- A further attempt to fix the HSL UI crash.
- Improve performance on Intel Iris Pro GPUs.
- Improved help.

- Numerous other small fixes.

- Fixed hardware acceleration issues on certain iMac devices.
- Fixed a number of brush bugs.
- Fixed hang in HDR merge with GPU enabled.
- Fixed HSL adjustment UI crash,
- Fixed Procedural Texture UI issues when switching from dark to light UI.
- Fixed Curves adjustment clamping issue when GPU is enabled.
- Fixed 3DLUT adjustments when GPU is enabled.
- Fixed issues with sub-brush UI.
- Numerous other small fixes.
- Added pixabay.com to Stock panel.
- New welcome screen graphics.
- New persona icon graphics.
- New splash screen.

Changes Since 1.6 Release

Performance
- The core processing engine in Affinity Photo has been rewritten to take advantage of the powerful discrete AMD GPUs in modern Mac hardware. It will now automatically use any compatible discrete GPU, alongside the Intel GPU support present in 1.6. Typically this improves compositing / editing performance by at least 1000%. Performance when using integrated Intel GPUs has also been massively improved.
- External GPUs (eGPU) are also supported - including hot-plug-and-unplug support.
- Multiple GPUs are supported - if you have more than 1 GPU (ie. Intel + AMD in MacBook Pro, or Intel + eGPU in other Macs) Photo will use them all, at the same time, to improve performance. There is no limit to the number of GPUs which can be used.

Brushes
- Photo 1.7 introduces a new “sub-brush” mechanism, developed in conjunction with Paolo Limoncelli (DAUB® Brushes). This exciting feature allows any brush to have a list of other brushes attached which will draw at the same time. Each sub-brush has a fully separate and customisable set of dynamics. You can control when the sub-brushes are drawn and how they blend with the main brush.
- The brush engine in Photo has been rewritten to use the new GPU architecture described above. With GPU support, even huge brushes with 1% spacing will perform well. All brushes / brush tools are accelerated.
- Symmetry (up to 32-way) is now supported - including on-canvas controls and optional mirroring. We have more symmetry features on the way - so stay tuned during the beta process.
- Wet edges and accumulation are now available on colour brushes and brushes with HSL variance.
- Brushes with multiple nozzle textures have always chosen the nozzle at random. In 1.7, the nozzle choice has a dynamic controller and ramp for greater control.
- All brush tools now support left and right arrow keys for rotation - a common feature request 

RAW
- The RAW processing engine in Photo has been rewritten - producing better results and improved performance. It also takes advantage of the GPU architecture changes described above.
- RAW files now load much more quickly - especially if you have a compatible GPU.
- Reimplemented support for XTrans sensors.
- The denoise algorithm has been rewritten. It produces better results and takes advantage of the new GPU architecture.
- Hot pixel removal is now automatically performed by the Serif Labs engine.
- Profiled lens correction are more stable, apply more quickly, and can be toggled in the Develop UI.
- The histogram in the Develop persona is now presented in the output colour space - as opposed to always being linear.

Filters
- New “Procedural Texture” filter with advanced presets support.
- New “Voronoi” filter.
- Denoise, Clarity and Shadows / Highlights filters have been rewritten (using technology from the Develop Persona).
- More filters are now available as Live Filters - including the new Procedural Texture filter.
- Live filters have been rewritten to improve performance - especially when multiple filters are used in a document.
- Improved Polar to Rectangular and Rectangular to Polar filters.

Adjustments
- The HSL adjustment layer has been rewritten. It now supports custom hue ranges, a new algorithm, new UI and picker controls.
- The Levels adjustment layer now supports output levels - a common feature request.
- The White Balance adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- The Selective Colour adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- PSD import / export of adjustments has been improved.
- The Vibrance adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- The Recolour adjustment layer has gained a lightness slider.

Tools
- The Crop tool has been rewritten - it now supports resolution changes, absolute pixel size and has a much improved preset mechanism.
- The Sponge Brush tool now gives more correct / pleasant results.
- A general tools overhaul has been performed - providing editing of grids, guides, page origin, across multiple tools (not just in the Move tool)

General
- “Alternate futures” for document history have been added. Traditionally, if you roll back the undo history then do something else all your changes after that point are lost. Photo will now display a small branch icon in the history tab when you do this. Pressing that button will cycle between all the different “futures” after that history entry - meaning you will never lose work you have done.
- HEIF images can now be loaded directly into Photo. If they contain a depth map, this will also be loaded as a second layer. Because depth maps are typically lower resolution than the main image, optional “smart” upsampling will be performed.
- A large number of new cameras are supported for RAW development (we will provide a list of the new supported cameras as soon as possible!).
- The batch process dialog now fully supports expressions for height and width - available constants are “w”, “h” and “dpi”.
- Photo now supports custom document presets - a popular feature request.
- A new blend mode - Linear Burn - has been added.
- New “Move inside / outside” commands have been added - useful for quick operations on clipping masks etc.
- The Hard Mix blend mode has been improved.
- New provider options have been added to the stock panel - support for Unsplash and Pexels. Both of these providers offer full-resolution stock imagery which is free to use.
- Metadata is now dynamically synchronised with your document - so if you resize then export, the values will be correct.
- Numerous text improvements have been made - including new features.
- Significant PDF import / export improvements and fixes.
 - Numerous other bug fixes - too many to list!