sveto

I see what i can do. No promises. I'm on the verge of giving up on Affinity, with all the problems i had recently and the time i lost.

Of course i can do that. When i find the amount of time that is needed for: - choosing a proper example so that everyone can understand - searching for the right image in my archive - checking publishing permissions - making an understandable explanation in English, which is not my main or second language [EDIT: this post alone took me 10 minutes to write] - making probably additional graphics of curves that go with the written explanation So, basically, you are asking me to write more or less a short article, because i asked a simple technical question that can be answered by official staff in seconds? Wow.

I usually have to postprocess a bigger amount of images from a job. I open between 20-40 images at once, striving for uniformity, editing, switching between them, saving, and then closing everything. Then i repeat that with the next 20-40 images. I noticed that the loading of the images gets slower each time. On the 3rd, 4rd or 5th batch Photo freezes completely. I have to end the process in task scheduler. Looks like a memory leak. But i'm no programmer, just a photographer. The images i open are just 1300px wide. I shudder to think what will happen if i try this with full size images. My hardware is Intel i7 6700k, RTX 2070 Super graphics card and 16GB RAM that has worked for 3 years without a single hiccup. Nothing is overclocked, and the mainboard is a popular MSI model.

I made a macro that places a PNG watermark (file from hard disk) onto the image. It worked as long as i kept Photo open. As soon as i restarted the program, the same macro crashes Photo. Any thoughts?

My example was a theoretical one. In practice my curves a more complicated. It's not that i don't know how to do it. My point is that in Affinity it would cost me double or triple the time compared to Photoshop, because i need to adjust each point separately when i decide to change a broader part of the already edited curve. I thought that stacking curves might be the answer because i can do it faster and keep it editable. What i don't understand is why do i need to explain my workflow in detail when all i ask is a technical question with a probably easy answer from an Affinity employee with inside knowledge. Is this not an official Affinity forum?

Why don't you try it out? You seem like practical person, judging by your posts. How would you compress the highlights but simultaneously keep midtone contrast the same? I'm well aware of that. The question is: Is the result the same between case 1 and case 2? Or is case 2 worse quality because of rounding errors? Case 1: i achieve a certain thing with just one curves layer Case 2: i need to use several curve layers to achieve the same thing

You didn't read my initial two posts, it seems. I quote myself then:

If i could define that i wouldn't be asking. And as well - i wouldn't be asking if the software didn't force me to do that, given that i can't select multiple points in an Af.Photo curve. My question is meant to prevent me from doing harm to my files that i could discover only later. Hell, even normal adjustments are hard to see when the eyes are tired.

How would i know? I'm just a photographer. That's why i'm asking.

Rounding errors? (In the audio world we edit in 32 bit floating point resolution, just to avoid rounding errors.) I don't know how much rounding errors play a role in image processing in 16 bit per channel data. That's why i'm asking.

Ever done adjustments in 8 bit per channel? Ever saw the image degrade? That's what i mean. And probably other things that i can't think of. I guess in 16 bit it is safe enough to stack 2 or 3 curve adjustment layers, but you never know. That's why i'm asking. I appreciate you trying to help, but i'd rather hear some statement from the Affinity staff, because they should know the technical details, right? But they rarely read this forum, or do i have the wrong impression?

Well, i meant things like posterizing or color shifts. Very difficult to detect with the naked eye until (if) you do some serious further processing. Isn't this an official forum? I'd normally expect people from Affinity to help here. Sadly, when it comes to the more technical issues and/or questions, i feel ignored.

It looks like the macros get processed before the resizing. Although i still would appreciate a heads-up from an official source. I lost half an hour testing this, because Af.Photo crashed multiple times when i did the batches. Turns out that the macro that places the logo/watermark crashes the program. But that's a topic for the bugs forum, i guess.

Am i expected to do multiple technical tests to determine if the software can deal with advanced editing? Do you realize that some artifacts could remain invisible until later in the workflow when you can't go back anymore because you are approaching the deadline?

I know that i can stack them. My question was if i'll get rounding errors and/or artifacts when pushing around the same tones multiple times in a row. I always work in 16bit per channel, but maybe it's not advisable to stack different curve adjustment layers on top of each other. I need a clarification, because i'm looking for a workaround for not being able to select multiple points. I had the idea to do my fine adjustments on one curves layer, and then some coarser adjustments on another, etc.

Are you sure we're talking about the same "curves"?

OK, here's another thought. Is it possible to stack adjustment curves without degrading the data, provided i work in 16bit?

Example: I have a logo/watermark that is intended for 1300px wide images. If i want to batch resize the original images (4200px) and apply the logo/watermark, it should resize first. Actually, with this pretty clear example, i could try it out. But it wouldn't hurt to point out such things in the manual - some processing is best applied on the full size image.

In the batch processing dialog you can choose macros. My question is, and i think it is an important one: Does the macro get applied before or after the resizing?

Really? I'm doing it for 15 years with Photoshop now.

Well, given that curves are one of my most used tools in postproduction, i'm a bit bummed right now, if i really can't select multiple points simultaneously.

It's part of my workflow. I often establish a good combination of contrasts for different parts of the curve that i like and then want to raise or lower a broader part of the curve without destroying the relation between the points. I find your question a bit strange. Is advanced use of curves so uncommon here?

I have a curve adjustment layer and want to move two of the points at the same time. But i can't manage to select both points simultaneously - i tried Shift+Click, CTRL+Click, Alt+Click - nothing works. I can't google this issue, because all i get is vector curves topics. Please help.

Sounds like quite the overhead. Strange that this issue is not more widespread. I wonder how other pros (weddings, concerts, events etc) keep their jobs consistent. They probably don't use Affinity, LOL... But i've been thinking: for now, i could try to do #3 with all serial shots, and open the rest at once (where the order is not important). Thanks for the help.

Somehow the point of this topic got lost. I have a problem and i need a solution.