Frozen Death Knight

Okay! I sure hope so, since it's a fairly important part of my workflow in Photoshop. ^-^

Checked out the latest Beta build and noticed we are still missing rasterize & trim, rasterize to mask, merge selected, and create new fill layer in the R click menu while in the Layer window. It is such a simple quality of life change that I would really appreciate being addressed by the developers for 1.7!

Good to know! While we are on the topic of shortcuts, can you please take a look at your context sensitive menus like R click while using the layer window? It's missing a significant bunch of shortcuts that exist in your layer menu at the top of the screen. Merge selected, rasterize & trim, rasterize to mask, and create new fill layer do not exist in the R click menu, which are commands I use a lot while working, especially merge selected.

I may be wrong, but I guess it has something to do with how photographers need to process their RAW files and other camera image formats before dragging in their files into the Photo Persona, which then converts the image into a non-RAW format to be edited there. I know Photoshop has a similar feature in their Camera Raw addon where you preferrably want to edit your RAW photos in before exporting them into Photoshop.

Great to hear. I made a list of some of other features for symmetry in a feedback thread about 1.7 in the suggestion forum that I hope you will consider as well. Things like being able to mirror across symmetry lines to retain symmetry easier if you've accidentally deactivated it temporarily, being able to use the snapping feature to align the symmetry lines more precisely, and of course resetting the lines back to the center of the canvas. A more minor thing I would like to see is making the symmtetry line when first activated to be aligned against the y-axis instead of the current x-axis by default. Maybe it's just me, but I usually start off doing symmetry horizontally instead of vertically. Would also be cool to see the amount of degrees you have rotated the symmetry lines that looks kind of like this:

The good news is that brush size adjustment already exists in Affinity Photo. The bad news is that the keybind for it is ctrl+alt and L click+R click on your mouse. You can't change it either in your keybinds, which makes it pretty awkward to use unless you are able to make a macro that only needs one button to press. I hope the developers make the feature more user friendly with a simpler macro and/or allow people to actually change the keybind altogether.

Wanted to make a thread with a more comprehensive list of stuff I would like to see changed/added into Affinity Photo that goes beyond just the features being tested in 1.7, but also addresses them as well. In no particular order, let's begin! To get more details on this point, go to this link where I and a few other artists discussed the issues of transparency and how soft brushes in AP create jagged transitions when working with transparency. I made a few brushes in that same thread using the new 1.7 feature sub brushes that were able to fix some of the issues, but I still had to use settings like flow instead of transparency to do so. It was honestly a lot harder to recreate my soft brushes in AP than in Photoshop, so it would be nice to get this looked into when soft brushes are such an important tool in any image editing program. More shortcuts need to be added. Especially to the R click menus. For instance, merge selected, rasterize & trim, rasterize to mask, and create new fill layer are all absent on the R click layer menu. There are so many useful tools that are hidden away because they are not where you expect them to be. Just adding features isn't enough if people can't easily find them in your context sensitive menus. While I can create and make my own shortcuts while using my keyboard, the main issue here is that I am a Wacom tablet user. I don't have enough buttons to map out all the hidden tools, so having the option to R click for menus with these shortcuts are pretty important to me. It would speed things up significantly by having these menus actually have the features the program is capable of. As a side note, another solution to this would be for users to actually customize their own R click menus to add these things on your own. However, it's not a feature I think is a necessity, and is only a band aid to fix simple UX and UI problems. The export persona needs more love overall. Right now it is not possible to create actual presets for changing things such as export size. You have to always type in stuff like "1000w" or "5000h" to actually export an image with resolutions 1000 pixels in width or 5000 pixels in height . Also, it is not actually possible to see a preview of an export setting with the right dimensions before exporting, so you can only see the final results once the export is done. I like the potential of this feature, but as of now it feels less developed compared to the other personas in AP. It's not possible to create a brush nozzle from a selection inside AP. Instead you have to export an image first, then create a new intensity/image brush, edit the brush by going to the texture tab, find the exported image, and then you have a brush with the actual texture. In Photoshop you just select a layer/make a selection using any selection tool, and then go to a menu to create a brush. I'm not saying that Photoshop is perfect in this regard either since it's also hidden away in a menu instead of being a part of the brushes windows, but it's a feature that I have come to expect in other programs as well that can create custom brushes. R click when using the brush tool does literally nothing right now. You can't assign a new functionality to it like adjust brush size and/or hardness by holding down the button, instead you have to hold down ctrl+alt+L click+R click to do so, despite there being a button that is completely freed up for use to make things a lot simpler. Another option would be to add a brushes panel like how it's done in Photoshop, but also in other programs like in ZBrush (it's a 3D program, but you get my point). Either way, just make use of the button for something useful at least, as well as address the issues regarding the overly complicated keyboard shortcut, since there is no way to actually click all those buttons on a tablet at the same time without making a macro for it, which shouldn't be needed as I mentioned before. Now, for the new 1.7 feature, symmetry. Very useful tool, and I can't wait for it to be officially released. However, there are a bunch of things that could be done to improve this particular feature. First off, it's too easy to move the symmetry lines while working, and you can't lock them in place. Second, the lines need to be able to snap to your grid using snapping, since you can't align it in a precise manner. Third, you can't reset it back to its starting point with a button, so I have had to close down my entire file to reset it back again. Fourth, if you shut down symmetry, make changes, and activate symmetry again, there is no fast way to mirror to the other side/sides of the symmetry lines, therefore making it difficult to add the new changes to the rest of the image. To show what I mean, here's an image where I started off using symmetry, but because I deactivated it I can't mirror the entire thing over to the other symmetry side/sides without going through a rather complicated process. On a side note, I would recommend moving the symmetry feature out of the brush tool menus and put it in the toolbar alongside quick mask, selection, snapping, etc. It's a feature that really shouldn't be hiding under a few specific tools. Speaking of mirroring, it would be nice if when you use the move tool ("v") and then go R click menu->transform, there was a menu shortcut so that when you flip a layer, say horizontally, the layer actually mirrors over to the opposite side instead of just flipping it right on the spot, like in this example where the layer just flipped the layer in one place. Another thing that would be nice to have in the transform menu would be shortcuts to mesh warp tool and perspective tool. As an old Photoshop user I liked having all the transformation tools in one spot (changed the keybindings so that "v" also include the other two tools, but it still would be nice to have). Either way, I think my overall message about more shortcuts in AP menus have been hammered down in this thread pretty extensively. Add an icon for add fill layer next to add pixel layer in the layers panel. Brought up earlier that this should be done as well when using the R click menu, but considering that this feature is hidden in a menu at the top of the screen is pretty odd. It's actually a pretty useful tool since it actually changes colour on the fly when picking up a colour, so it's a bit of a shame that it's not easily accessible on the layers panel. The alt key for colour picking doesn't work when using the fill flood tool and gradient tool. Would improve their usability a bit if you could use it. Create two shortcuts for the move tool when using R click that combine cut/copy from one layer and paste onto a new layer called "copy to new layer" and "cut to new layer" respectively. While on a similar note, while using a selection tool like the lasso tool, make R click show the exact same menu as when you are using the move tool, to make it a bit faster to get access to the earlier features. In combination with the above point, add an R click shortcut for invert selection when using any selection tool. While on that note, add this to the R click menu when clicking on layers as well, like when working on masks. Lastly, I would like to bring up the issue of no proper straight lines for brushes when using shift. While I would just be content with just having the ability to create 90 degree angles, what I would I think could be done to improve this altogether is to allow you to create a ruler from a point using shift and then be able to rotate the line from 0 to 360 degrees that you can then draw on across the entire canvas, while also take into account as pen pressure for size and other brush settings. The usability for drawing in this program would skyrocket through the roof with this feature alone. Those are most of the things I can think of as of now. I also have an older feedback thread where I made some other points that are still relevant to improving AP. If I think of something else, I will try posting them here. Anyway, Happy New Year from Sweden btw!

Apology accepted. Anyway, here are the brushes (you have to use the 1.7 beta btw). Bear in mind that they are not 100% identical to how the soft brushes work in Photoshop. Specifically the first few brushes in the file are built around a creating a smooth transition, so I recommend trying those. They're not perfect, but at least sufficient in my eyes. Also, my solution is not what I consider a permanent fix. I agree that the developers need to address these issues and I hope that something gets done about it, since basic brushes like these should work right off the bat with little hiccups. Soft Brushes.afbrushes

We are just fellow artists trying to share what we know to help. Don't really understand why you decided to take such a passive aggressive tone when we are all in the same boat trying to figure things out.

Didn't expect my thread to blow up like it did. Think you should report that as a bug or something. I tried replicating the problem in the 1.7 version. I did notice those jagged lines a bit at certain resolutions, but not to the extreme that you got. This particular issue does not affect me that much because I always work with big canvases, so I rarely zoom in at these levels. Either way, I would prefer if you brought this topic up in another thread, so we can stick to a select few subjects (otherwise I will need to make a brand new thread when I share my work).

I only have time to respond to this before going to bed. As I said, the technique I used with the adjustment layers was just that, one technique. In the latest image that I painted I was picking from the colour wheel and then on the fly used the colour picker to grab any colour gradient I needed using the alt key while using the brush tool. As I said earlier, I haven't noticed any particular problems using the colour picker tool on the fly using alt when painting, so I am honestly a bit confused by what you mean that the feature isn't functioning for you. Some further explanation of what you mean would be appreciated.

I think that that image is an older version of the sign. If you look at the image at the very top of the thread, you can actually see the letter being in capital already.

While I agree that there are issues with the program, I disagree that it isn't possible to create satisfactory workflow to make painting work. I have been experimenting with the tools for creating brushes in 1.7 today, and I was able to create solid soft round brushes that come fairly close to how they work in Photoshop along with the pressure sensitivity that will help mixing the colours. Made a fairly quick speed paint using almost primarily one single soft brush I made from scratch (required a bit of work to fix the edge problem you had in your image). Didn't really feel like had any problems mixing my colours, and they were able to flow between each other fairly naturally I think. If you want, I can post my brushes for you here in this thread, and see if they are satisfactory to you (some of the brushes only work in 1.7 because of the new Sub Brushes feature, however).

Don't know if Adobe changed anything regarding brushes as of late, but over the last 10+ years I have been using Photoshop, it has always had build-up brush strokes as described by people online. I just tried both Photoshop and Affinity Photo and they behaved practically identically in regards to brush stroke. Don't really see any issue since I have been painting with this type of build-up from the very start. Would sure be nice to have a specific setting for it in AP, though. This video here shows the behaviour inside Photoshop: Affinity Photo for reference:

Not sure what you mean by that.

I really don't see the point of having an image editing program completely built around a node system, especially in regards to the layers. Just because using layers is an old way of doing things is not much of an argument, especially if the system already works just fine, which it currently does. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. There are far more pressing matters that could be addressed than completely reworking a feature that is industry standard and widely accepted by pretty much every, single image editing software out there.

I didn't use any colour picking in this case. The coloured painting above was done using adjustment layers, primarily selective colour, to create the skin tone (the painting is completely in grey scale). I separated the skin of the character from the rest (clothes, hair, etc) by using separate layers, and then masked the adjustment layers applying them to the skin layer. The big advantage of this method is that you have a lot of control over every single colour on the image, but at the cost of variance in the colour scheme. It works well for getting 80-90% of the colouring done for a lot of objects, but it can get a bit taxing on your computer. Also, if you want to breathe even more life into the painting you still need to start mixing your own colours a bit to push the results even further. I have more than one way of colouring my paintings, however. I do paint using actual colours as well as use the colour picker, but selective colour I use a lot in my workflow regardless to fine adjust my colours as I move along. Most of my workflow I've been able to translate over to Affinity Photo, although with hiccups here and there (I especially need to have things like merge selected, create fill layer, rasterize & trim, and rasterize to mask added to the L click menu when using the layers tab). I haven't really had a lot of trouble using the colour picker, as far as I am aware. I use it to pick up colours I need on the fly, and don't really do anything more advanced than sometimes switching the source to current layer when I have a bunch of other layers sitting ontop of the one I am working on.

Tried out Affinity Photo 1.7 a bit just to have some fun and experiment with the program, using a bunch of blurs, live filters, and more. Was a fun speed painting to work on.

I can understand if you would like to have 3D in Affinity Photo, but it "needs" it to compete with Photoshop? I really don't think so. There are other programs that handle 3D texturing and modelling a lot better than Photoshop (including the example given in your post), and the feature is honestly a typical example of feature bloat from Adobe's end (it is a very underdeveloped tool compared to other 3D programs). No serious 3D modeller nowadays is going to use mainly Photoshop to paint their models or create stuff like text with 3D effects on it simply because it lacks a lot of essential features to handle things like PBR (physically based rendering), among others. If you want to use 3D in your work you can check out actual 3D programs like Maya, ZBrush, and a bunch of other alternatives that are specialized at handling 3D. Heck, I would strongly recommend picking up Blender, which is a free 3D program that is currently developing 2D animation tools in a 3D environment as a part of its latest beta build, which can greatly compliment any image editing program. If Affinity wants to get into the 3D business, they should honestly be focusing on getting better addon support by other 3D softwares like ZBrush by making it easier to export UV maps directly into AP like how it is with Photoshop for some final texture editing, and/or make a new brand of software focusing on 3D like Substance Painter.

That's great news! I guess the feature will be in a future update and not a part of the 1.7 builds currently being tested in the current beta?

Made this suggestion as well earlier this year. Would be greatly appreciated if this was added into the menu, especially since the functionality already exists inside the program as a shortcut. I hope someone on the Affinity team has the opportunity to work it into their production pipeline for 1.7 before it ships, since I can't imagine it being too time consuming to code (could be wrong as well, but my gut tells me that it shouldn't be too hard).

Yep, I am. I do know Mac commands as well since I used them while I studying at university. I also own a MacBook Air, but I don't use it that much when I work, since my go to workstation is my custom made desktop PC.

Thank you both so much for the help! I ended up using mainly ownr's method, but I used the 1st paragraph of el.gato's as well. The issue I had with following the 1st method 100% was that it created a solid background (same colour as the one you used when filling the selection) around the character on the same layer, so if I needed to remove it I would have had to manually erase it with either a mask or with the Eraser Tool. Here's an image showing what I mean. This became the final method I used in this specific order of events: Duplicate the grouped layers of the character and rasterize them into a single image layer. Use ctrl+I to turn all the dark areas of the rasterized image into light ones (this removed the background). Use ctrl+shift+R click when pressing on the rasterized image, creating the desired selection with the correct opacity. Created a new layer by either using New Fill Layer or simply adding a new one, then I used the Fill Tool to create the image with the added transparency I wanted. Deselect everything. Here is the final result.

I concur. On a similar note, Affinity Photo would highly benefit having Lazy Nezumi Pro support that has straight lines built into the plug-in. I contacted the creator of said plug-in today and the main reason given that this particular plug-in isn't able to work with AP is because of how the input coordinates are currently working inside the program. Something having to do with low-resolution mouse coordinates vs. high-resolution tablet coordinates. I am far from an expert on the subject, so anyone with more knowledge could perhaps fill me in on what that means and what would be needed to address this issue. Affinity would greatly benefit having more 3rd party developers support this platform to ease the transition between Adobe products to Affinity for newcomers.

There is this technique I want to replicate in Affinity Photo that can be done in Photoshop, but I can't get it to work in AP (see video link below). What I basically want to do is select all the pixels of an image from all the visible layers by using the Channels window, create a new layer, and then finally fill the entire selection with a single colour that has translated the shades of the selection into transparent pixels (i.e. pure white is 100% transparency, black is 0% transparency, and grey is everything in-between those extremes). Video link in question: https://youtu.be/WZOJqbSBPxI?t=7m1s