Chris Sayles

Thanks for that Ian, having experimented, I see that now!

When I first started photography many years ago most of my work was in black and white. One technique I used to employ in the darkroom was that of 'Tone Reduction', This was effected by making several different prints of the same image onto lith film at different exposures and then using those negatives to make several different screens for screen printing - the effect is one of layers of flat colour from light to dark, similar to posterization, but with full control over colour and tone. So: Is anyone out there familiar with tone reduction? Has anyone tried to do tone reduction with Affinity? Does anyone know if tone reduction is possible with Affinity? Or have I just not found my way to a tutorial about it yet?

As a newbie, I am aware of then fact that working in Photo Persona allows non destructive edits to the base image, but what about the Develop Persona? As a newbie to photo editing in general and Affinity in particular I havent had chance to check out all the tutorials and to search this forum exhaustively, but am I correct in my assumption that changes to RAW images in the Develop Persona are destructive/ permanent?

Thanks Alfred I will repost the last part of my post on the Questions forum.

Hi, Chris here. Discovered Affinity about 2 weeks ago after a suggestion by my daughters partner who uses designer. Am just beginning to get to grips with the software. Many years ago, when I first started out in photography I worked mainly in black & white doing all my own processing. With colour I became a 'snapshot' photographer leaving colour processors to do my developing for me. Now that I'm working in digital, once again I can be in full control of all my processing. This is my first serious piece of processing software, I chose Affinity because I could possess it for a one off fee, I can't afford a monthly subscription on a pension! I must admit so far it has blown me away. I shoot both Jpeg and RAW simultaneously, but I have been amazed at how much I can do with just the Jpegs that I havent even started working on my RAW files yet. To other newcomers to processing software in general and Affinity in particular, I would say it makes it easier if you have some idea of what you want to do to your image before you start. Watch as many of the tutorial videos as you can manage at first just to get an idea of the capabilities of Affinity making a note of which ones are of particular interest for you at your current stage of knowledge/proficiency. (To state the obvious, make sure you watch and digest the beginners series until the basics are second nature). To help me grasp each tutorial better I approach each one as a mini-lecture with a pen and notebook, pausing and rewinding as often as necessary until I fully undestand the how, why and what of a particular tutorial. I know some of your older users bemoan the lack of a printed guide. I don't feel it that necessary, my 'lecture notes' are as good as a manual and are customised to my needs. Back to my own work, I am currently enjoying the fact that layers allow me to mix Black and White and Colour in the same image. One thing I havent yet worked out is whether I can achieve the same tone reduction effect I used to obtain by printing onto Lith film and then screen printing the results. Has anyone out there used Affinity to obtain Tone reduction effects?