Andy Somerfield

Hi, Photo has a "Paste FX" menu item - has this not made it into Designer yet? Should be easy enough to add if not! Andy.

Thanks Goughy, I wasn't aware that it was doing such a bad job!! I'll see if this has got worse since 1.4.2 and try to fix it.. Andy.

Hi, We had a bug with Tone Mapping where it would try to use all the memory in the whole world :) That's fixed in Beta 3 - please give it a go and let us know if it works now :) Thanks, Andy.

Thanks MBd, The white scrollbars are pesky :) They only affect Sierra and I've been hunting them all week - I'll get that one fixed :) The curves thing is logged - it's on my hit list.. Macros are still very much a work in progress - we dedicated a little time this week to fixing a few old bugs which people were getting frustrated with ;) Andy.

Status: Beta Release Purpose: Fixes, improvements Requirements: Purchased Affinity Photo Mac App Store: Not Submitted Download: 1.5 Beta 3 Here This is an early beta of a substantial change to our codebase and as much as we have tried to ensure the quality of the code, it should be considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity that you may be adversely affected by the application failing. In addition it is definitely worth noting that files created in Affinity 1.5 cannot be opened in 1.4 so always make a copy of your important documents before opening them in 1.5 to ensure you do not accidentally overwrite them and are unable to open them in your 1.4 version. To use this beta, simply download the file from the link given above and double-click on the file to open the installer. Follow the instructions to install the beta version. The beta sits alongside the Mac App Store version and will not interfere with it. Improvements - Beginnings of "sticky settings" - blur filters, noise filters, sharpening filters, selection tools, some brushes and assorted other things are now sticky - more to come. - Added ability to place multiple files at once from File -> Place (they will just be added top-left of the document). - Reliability improvement for HDR merge and Tone Mapping. - Made sure the batch progress panel is shown when starting a batch job. - Batch can now use any support file type as input (not just images - so PDF, PSD, etc. work). - Added a menu item and shortcut key to re-enter Live Projection mode. - Started adding editability for recorded macro items - more to come. - Batch can now process RAW files without making them dark. - Made the Denoise filter have equivalent UI to the Develop version. - Posterise can now go down to "1 level" (zero and full). - Added a new "32-bit Preview" panel (to change exposure, gamma preview for 32-bit documents). - 32-bit documents are now faster - using GPU properly. - Improved metadata preservation for HDR merge, focus merge, panorama stitching. - Creating a new document from the clipboard contents starts up as "needs saving". - Subtle inpainting improvements. - Improved "Clone Sources" panel. - Add a default snapshot when creating a panorama. Fixes - Fixed failure to write any metadata ever. - Fixed bugs with the "Edit In" Photos extension. - Fixed TIFF export problems for OS X 10.11.6. - Fixed luminosity bugs with HSL adjustment when applied to a specific hue range. - Fixed warning when exporting a Macro. - Fixed "Invert Layer" for 32-bit documents. - Fixed "Curves" (and other things which use a curves-like edit box). - Fixed issue where Develop would look dark until you changed any setting. - Fixed multiple issues with Dodge / Burn tools. - Fixed multiple issues with equirectangular projections. - Fixed issues with perspective live filters. - Fixed issues with Split Toning in CMYK. - Fixed some UI issues for macOS Sierra. - Fixed infinite memory use bug with Tone Mapping. - Fixed issue where document would turn grey when converting to 32-bit. Thanks again for taking the time to use this beta! Affinity Photo Team :ph34r:

That would be the Photo team putting in the hard-yards for you Ash ;) Cheers, Andy.

Glad you like it! We examined a number of algorithms - including the ones you suggest - but they all appeared to be earlier / less capable versions of the two we have shipped.. That said, if there is a good reason to implement others - we will certainly do our best to oblige! I continue to be surprised at the number of Photo users who do pixel art - there are thousands of you!! That's why we added this feature - along with the improvements to the Pixel Tool listed in the 1.5 Beta launch post. We think the Alt-Drag-To-Paint-From-History is especially handy - let us know if it works for you :) We'll continue to improve Photo for pixel artists too - feel free to make suggestions / feature requests as necessary.. Thanks, Andy.

DavidMac, I hasn't gone! It just works properly now! The old scope was using HSL as a model - which is not right. The new one is based off Rec.709 YUV and has an improved graticule which shows the skin line. If you are used to a using a scope in video editing, this new one will behave much more like you expect.. Thanks, Andy.

Hi, I can reproduce this problem here - it's got broken in 1.5. We'll get it fixed! Thanks, Andy.

Hi, Makes sense - we will add a menu item "Edit projection" - which can have a shortcut key assigned which will go straight to the 360 tool.. Thanks, Andy.

Hi, I agree - the loss of consistency is not ideal.. we will see if we can improve things here.. Thanks, Andy.

Everyone, As I said a few posts back - the first beta release of Photo in each cycle tends to introduce the headline new features - because they usually take the most time / effort to test and tweak. Improvements and fixes to other features usually start to come in after a couple of weeks - sticky settings is a good example - it will become available during the 1.5 beta.. Don't think that we aren't aware of the requests existing users make - we absolutely are - but things happen in a certain order for a good reason.. Thanks, Andy.

Hi, Yep - both of those things will become available during the beta :) Thanks, Andy.

p_mac, At the moment we believe that the TIFF issue is a macOS problem - we think they broke TIFF handling for 16bit quicklook and Preview.. I'm using Sierra, and everything seems ok to me - but I'll do some more digging.. Andy.

Hi, The 13" is an excellent machine - the only thing holding it back it that it is impossible to configure it with more than 2 processors - where the 15" always has 4 processors. Number of processors is probably the single best way to make all Affinity apps to fast.. We have fixed the FFT bug too - it should work in the next beta :) Thanks, Andy,

Frank, Thanks for the feedback - we will chew through these. It's early days - but we will endeavour to get it right where others may have not. This will take some time - and users with knowledge like you to guide us.. One question about alpha - we thought that the treatment of empty alpha was the deal-breaker in other apps (ie. pixels which emit light, but do not reflect any light - candle flames, etc.). We think we have got this right. Is the (optional?) separation of alpha into a "spare channel" an equally important thing? If so, we can facilitate it.. Thanks again for your help, Andy.

Hi csp, Please understand that this is the first beta of 1.5 - not everything we intend to achieve in this beta is done yet. Some of the points you raise certainly will get done for 1.5 - although some will not. We must balance our time very carefully between adding new features (yes - in essence marketing - lots of people have not bought Photo yet because it does not have the features we are trying to add) but we do aim to improve other parts of the app for existing users. Usually, a beta starts with "features", then "improvements", then "bug fixes" - in that order.. Don't get downhearted because the fixes you need are not in the first beta - we have plenty of time :) Hope this helps, A

Hi, My recommendation would be "any Mac with at least 4 real processors" - so a MacBook Pro (15") or similarly specified iMac.. Affinity uses CPU much more than GPU - so pretty much any Apple GPU is fine. So, 4 real CPU cores, and ideally an SSD (if your work will use lots of bitmaps). I use (and have mainly developed) Affinity Photo on a "MacBook Pro 15" (2015)" and earlier on a "MacBook Pro 15" (2012)". Both machines were excellent. Hope this helps, Andy.

Hi p_mac, I saw your crash reports come in today :) Currently, D&S, Median and Bilateral filter are not available in 32bit mode - we disabled them in the menu - but forgot to disable their "Live Filter" versions - so you can easily crash the app if you use those.. The invert mask thing sounds like a bug - I will investigate :) Thanks, Andy.

Nana - I agree it needs input boxes - I'll get that done :) kirk23 - Probably about half way through this beta - so about 3 weeks - but don't quote me on it - things can be quite variable :) Also, please be careful using the beta for actual work - we never recommend it.. Thanks, Andy.

Thanks Toto, We will get these fixed :) Andy.

Hi, "How will you allow to "count" layers? Say I`m recording some workflow and select the top layer out of 3 layers in the layers panel, does AP take it as the "third layer counting from the bottom" or "first layer counting from the top" ? Will one be able to manipulate this behavior?" We're still working on this part of the recorder - we will allow multiple selections, but everything will be "layer name" based. "The same goes for resizing, if I run a macro that has a part in it that shrinks an image. Does the macro record the shrinking proportional or in absolute pixel oder cm? Will we have the choice? Probably this goes into the field of scripting..?" Everything is proportional at the moment. "Can one macro call another macro?" Yes. "Will you be able to create stopping points at which you can tell the macro to wait for a user interaction, e.g. setting of a slider and then proceed?" Eventually, yes - but not yet. "AND can a macro work cross AP and AD?" Theoretically yes, but it is not exposed in Designer. Macros are one of the prerequisites for scripting - and scripting certainly will be exposed in Designer in the future. Hope this helps, Andy.

Hello Harster13, The terminology used is not necessarily "Adobe" - it's pretty much industry standard and used by most graphics design / photo editing packages. And no - sorry - there will be no further development on the Plus range of products. Thanks, Andy.

Hi Mike, At the moment, it's necessary to use the keyboard - although we'll look into finding a nice way to assign some macros to keyboard shortcuts later in the beta :) Thanks, Andy.

Thanks Flaz, We will get that fixed :) A