kirk23

Something where we could select same named , tag colored, etc things and make them on/off visible/invisible in one click . Aka "Layer comps" , And having slices remembering that tag panel states

With ability to select a group of things and make a brush from them scattering those things randomly along a vector line. With random offset, scale, rotation settings etc. in a word like in Xara

Also would be nice to have a few quick options for move tool V 1. Alt+ click > selecting layers in locked group 2.Cntrl+click . Select a layer and all other same color tagged layers or same named including inside locked groups ( with a checkbox switch in tool options) 3. An opacity threshold option in move tool options so if I set 3% any layer the move tool ignores any layer less than 3% also would be nice to have separate transforms lock for layers.

You can use a group of layers . A huge stack of them with add or whatever blending + making the group black pixels transparent in Blend ranges. And use that group as a mask to something by "mask to below". Or use group erase blending mode on top of a target thing + same blend ranges if you don't want to "realease" mask each time you want to edit the mask stack. If you need auto updating clones of same mask you could have a stack of layers saved as embedded doc, put it somewhere in the bottom to be ever accessible and use its duplicates as masks for other layers or use "pixel content" linking in between layers in masking groups. If you have Designer too you can do a symbol from a group of layers and use it as a mask in Photo. And if you want one of symbols having some of its layer be unique do pixel content linking to something other. In fact Affinity Photo offers a few different ways to do mask stacks or dynamically calculating masks . They are just not very elegant and makes you layer system too complicated vs Photoshop for example where "smart masks" are done through group clipping . And contrary to Photoshop and even Krita there are few limitations: you don't have Photoshop styled chain links and there is no transform linking in Link panel. My guess Serif wants us to buy Designer since symbols provide this transform linking but add one more level of complexity to your layer stack at the same time. "Pixel content" link works only with a single rasterized layer source. Contrary to Krita "clone" layers for example which also inherit transforms of a master and could be uniquely edited , even over-painted through added filters. Or vs Photoshop where you could use layercomps inside smart objects to make your clipping group / mask use different versions of same smart object. in a word Apinity Photo allows you to do huge masking stacks with add or whatever blending inside but still has unfortunate limitations that makes even free open source Krita looks more advanced.

Should be a checkbox in settings at least, same as in Photoshop

Doesn't we have LUT adjustment layer that could do it? You take your photo with color charts, crop it to keep the chart only, save as pict1 , overpaint/fill your square color samples with their intended values as they intended to be ( I recall the value should be mentioned somewhere, on opposite side maybe or in some pdf doc) and save pic2. Now you have original chart pic and color accurate chart pic In LUT layer hit "Infer LUT" and it asks you for original image and supposed to be image . or in opposite order maybe. Done . You have a correcting LUT to accurate color rendition. Save as a preset and apply to big image and all other images done with same lighting conditions. That said I lost my x-rite chart long ago so have not tried it in Affinity Photo but I recall I did it similar way with other soft decades ago.

Would be super helpful if we would have a special rasterize live filter so we could link "pixel content" of a host layer to somewhere since it works for rasterized pixels only. That way we could probably use linking without actually rasterizing (image), (linked) and (embedded) layers keeping them live and easily replaceable.

Coming? they have AI mask tool for pretty a while already "object selection tool" . Nothing spectacular really. Or you are talking about something new ?

Colour Selection: it's nowhere even close to a convenience of Photoshop modern selection tools . Once my Photoshop subscription is run out I am going to buy topaz Mask AI probably . it's more or less close to Psh imo. Gradient tool: yes , if the layer is rasterized to (Pixels) Smart objects: anything you drop or Alt+drop is a kind of smart object till you paint on it ( then it its rasterized automatically) it's why gradient adds as a layer btw. you see either (Image) or (Embedded) or (linked) mark jpeg or tga comes as (Image) . A nice feature over Psh is when you drop a tga with alpha it comes as layer alpha automatically ( you can off it with procedural live filter by give 1 to A) When you drop Aphoto or psd file it appears as Embedded . A huge APhoto advantage over PHs is that editing anything in an embedded file appears instantly in your master/host image. So you don't have to "save" embedded each time you tweaked something. No more waiting forever when Photoshop saves 16 bit hi res smart objects. A huge disadvantage of APhoto is it doesn't have layer comps. So every time you want to switch your embedded "smart" object from color to normal map you have to do it manually. It's tiresome Still no way to create embedded/smart from existing layers. To edit /transform something simultaniously you could use "symbols" if you happen to have ADesigner too. Once created in Designer byFile > "edit in Designer" the symbols work as containers for anything inside back in APhoto too and you can use link panel to re-link the content of a single symbol copy from some other {rasterized only} source. It recreates chain link feature of Psh for example . You also can make a mask a symbol too or use embedded as a mask if you have that same embedded accessible in the bottom of the layer stack. So it's in general slightly more non-destructive than in Psh with much more relations in between layers that Phs can possible allow . In a word there are others, more flexible than in Phs ways. Puppet warp: nope . mesh wrap could be used similarly to certain extent . Shift click issues: do a quick left click first so a the stroke would forget previous shift_click position Filter Gallery: nope. I suggest to use live filters Adjustment layers on masks: You can use a group with it's own stack of layers as a mask to anything. You can use symbol as a mask and edit it in other symbol copy. Or you can have a group, set its "blend range" the way brighter pixels would be transparent, then give this group "erase" blending mode so black pixels erase everything beneath, put it over your target layer and finally group together with the target layer so the erase group wouldn't erase everything down beyond your target layer. You can write and save a macro to do/build it all in one click.

We have link panel and live filters and that's all. A tiny bit extra over Photoshop. It's absolutely not enough for any modern needs and modern image editor. Look at Mari or Substance Painter , programs to draw on 3d models . They are both just image editors with same layer approach . Substance Painter has an "anchor" feature for example that basically a link to anything in the layer stack. Still it's so much more flexible there. Imo we need a few specific features to turn APhoto into be truly non destructive: 1. ability to link mask or layer to embedded , linked document or group. Something that would rasterize something beneath on the fly. Perhaps just "rasterize live filter" Also a link in-between RGBa channels. So I could link Red channel of LayerA to Green channel of Layer B 2. live filter constructor or maybe having 3d party solutions working as live filter. Filter forge for example. That would read certain channels of composited "beneath" as inputs o the fly. Maybe not on the fly but with "update all links" button in link panel. And please fix Displace live filter , A core to any kind of image transformation .

i am talking about pixel content, not layer blending mode or visibility

Right now we could only link rasterized layer . It's a serious limitation. Wouldn't it be much more helpful and non-destructive if we could link pixel content of a group to a certain mask for example. I think with GPU support it shouldn't be an issew. Maybe "rasterize" live filter could help the way a layer or group could be likable?

With Aperture or without Apple would always be a slow working useless toy, a kind of iphone extention with nice cool OS . At least mine is such. I would buy my next Apple only if they put Nvidia GF 3080 with 12 gb VRAM there.

You can put cursor in numeric field and use mouse wheel or tablet ring to drive the values instead but I would love kind of shift +wheel to make it slow and subtly like in Blender.

Indeed . I'd also love the ability to drag and scale several gradient nodes at once. Apply color /saturation correction to several selected nodes at once with kind of a wheel interface and complimentary colors schemes and in general have a bigger gradient editing interface . Have a split screen interface with before vs after . That tool is so critical and should be as flexible and convenient as it could possibly be. Contrary to Photoshop where beyond swatches it's inconvenient as hell.

Perhaps you don't even have to use Darktable probably or any special soft. Just buy a cheap checker card from China . Make a photo of it. Then duplicate the document and fill the color squares in that photo with supposed RGB values of each color sample ( might be written down somewhere on opposite side or in some doc/pdf) . Now you have the photo from your camera and matching picture with true color values as they have to be. Make a LUT adjustment layer out of the pair. Recreate it for a few typical lighting conditions/ light sources > you have perfectly accurate color correction LUTs/presets. ( and see colors accurate too if your monitor in calibrated ) The later BTW is much more important since monitors deviations from accurate colors are usually stronger than in cameras so editing image color temp on un-calibrated monitor is kind of useless by design. Just a mater of lack your screen is more or less accurate. I haven't tried that approach myself since I lost my checker card but think it should work

Also in my oppinion all those color temp etc adjustments in RAW developing soft is absolutely redundant. You can do all your color i.e. hue correction on already developed image in APhoto main pain itself. In RAW developing you basically need to just choose to what exposure/intensity range you want to clip your image to. And fix noise and violet fringes maybe . That's all . My guess people who do color correction in Lightroom just need it to be done for hundreds images at once. Otherwise it's much more convenient to do in image editor itself imo.

What I meant is you could export two sRGB jpegs from Raw therapy or Darktable. First default something and another after using camera specific input profile . Then In APhoto you make LUT adjustment layer preset based on that pair and use it ever since. PS. I am saying theoretically . I played with camera profiles in Lightroom couple decades ago and never since

I don't know. I never develop my Raw in Aphoto and misplaced my checker card somewhere long before APhoto surfaced. So not much of a camera profiling user. But I recall RAW therapee support camera profiles, perhaps Darktable too. And if APhoto doesnt' you can always make a picture pair , default and corrected after profile and use it to make LUT adjustment layer presets. ps. a quick find https://pixls.us/articles/profiling-a-camera-with-darktable-chart/ Also if $80 x-rite one is too expensive I've seen dirt cheap alternatives , don't think they are much different.

I remember my old e-pen camera did that so called "oly" colors by default always trying to produce something looking greater than reality, sometimes with temp shift . I am not sure if it is the issue with the color temp or not but there is always a standard solution people use for years. I mean X-rite color checker https://www.xrite.com/categories/calibration-profiling/colorchecker-classic and building a few camera profiles with help of it for a number of typcal lighting conditions / subjects etc which should provide perfect color accuracy for virtually any camera. That said I bought that checker years ago , played with it for a while then get too lazy , abandoned and misplaced it somewhere then never tried since. But my guess theoretically it could be a simple solution to keep your colors real in some automated manner. ps, there are also Darktable and RAWtherapy , free open source RAW developer softs both better imo than Olympus one . Although I tried Oly one a decade ago.

I'd like this too since clipping to groups is what I do in Photoshop instead of masks

The way we wouldn't have to rasterize the source

So after selecting same tagged layers we could invert selection and select other layers instead.

Like a mask that is being calculated on the fly by group A composited red channel subtracted from a sum of lighter blending of layer B red channel and layerC green channel. If nodes are too much of an issue let it be a math formula field in a special window. Yeah. I can do all this by layers , groups and linking. But to be honest the layer stack with layers is getting so complicated I couldn't understand a thing in my own files. Would it be just so much easier if we could just see a single mask layer with like 2-3 input button next to layers name where we could select layers involved in dynamic calculation . Would be cool if we could save it as live filter or smart mask or whatever. The whole Layer stack would be so much easier to read , manage and elegant without necessity to scroll through gazillion of groups inside groups with pixel linking etc . it even doesn't have to be 100% on the fly . Some update hotkey command would be ok . per selected layer and beneath or globally for a whole document in case APHOTO WOULD STRUGGLE TO CALCULATE IT all IN HI RES.

If you have wacom tablet you can rotate the canvas with the tablet ring