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Hello, I just bought Affinity Designer and I'm trying to use mockups that were created in Photoshop but the problem I encounter is I can't edit the Smart Objects so basically, if the smart object have some text I can't edit it or move it around etc,... my question is if Affinity Designer is capable of editing smart objects imported from PhotoShop. Best Regards

I don’t see the option to tick the box to import PSD smart objects on the iPad version of Designer 2. Am I missing something?

Hi ! Everyone I imported a PSD mockup in Affinity Photo. In the begining i use it normally but after i save it, i can open it but i cant use smart object anymore. When i move embedded file, main mockup won't follow.

Hello, Affinity Designer seems like a great photoshop replacement, although I am wondering if there is support for smart objects created in photoshop. I use a lot of phone mock ups to preview app designs, which depend on smart objects. Thanks

Hi, I already tried the beta version with same result. Every time I try to modify a smart object it keeps crashing. I think it should be related with prospective but im not sure. Unfortunately I cannot share anything as im working on a template I bought (PSD) and the work is full of customer images and logos. I know at this point is pretty useless this thread but maybe im not the only one having this issue? I did send several crash reports thru Apple if this can be usefull. thx in advance.

Hey guys, so this is my first post for here, and honestly I have also no background in digital art/photoshop, I’ve just learned in the past year how to work with procreate. I’ve downloaded affinity photo on my iPad so I could make mock-ups for my needs. So I got some smart objects file from Envato Elements. At the first time something weird happened and the images was “broken”(?) I have no idea why...you can see in image #1. however this weird issue “solved”, and everything works fine. I’m adding the image, the perspective looks good. Image #2. but when I’m enter the file again, the perspective seems way off. Image #3. any suggestions how to solve this?

but it can open correctly in Photoshop(solved) solution:you can't set link refresh the broken link to no link then save, if now open the file with affinity you will get a not correct one , but in photoshop all seems still working (if you create new blank image with Photoshop and place the broken-linked PSD with smart object inside you will get an error said link broken ,please relink the missing PSD file) so it's the Broken PSD made the smart object function of Affinity Photo no-working BTW: how to export the presets file in My Preset list or how to copy it out and reinstall correctly to 1.9(Pre is 1.8.5.703)(still not sloved)

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In Affinity Photo for windows 10, objects are not embedding within the smart object. The image is imported into the Embedded window and when the image is closed, the embedded image is on top rather than embedded. The image can also be moved around as if it is a separate layer and not embedded

When trying to make a 4 photo collage, I wanted to find an easy way to feather the edges of the photos together, without having to start drawing shapes and be precise (to speed up workflow). I did find a work-around for it, though not very practical or speedy. But, in searching, I stumbled upon something that could be improved. When using the Live filter: vignette, the effect still applies to the whole document, even when the filter is linked to only one of the layers, as you can see in the screenshot. What are your thoughts? Have I maybe skipped a step somewhere? Also, does anyone know a good way to quickly feather edges of a layer? Only the edges I choose though. If I did not skip a step: I suggest, to improve workflow and practicallity: A dropdown menu when applying a Filter where you can choose between "Full document" or "Selected layers", so you can choose to have it logically affect only the layers/area you need. Using my own document as an example, to only vignet the top right object/layer. As an extra suggestion: the option to quickly select a layer, to convert it to a smart object that you can edit in its own document. Perhaps an extra option in the Layers menu and when Right Clicking a layer to "Edit in seperate document" Which will automatically convert the layer to a smart object, create a new seperate document and allow you to edit seperately with no extra steps in-between. Live editing of the seperate document, where the adjustments directly transfer to the main project, would be a nice added feature, so you don't need to constantly close and reopen the smart object. Though, I see how that could be more difficult to implement. I've already run into the issue several times that I need the ability to edit a smart object seperately and have read of several others that have too, so I do see a need here that could be filled, at least in a more practical/intuitive way.

Hello! They are always some bugs in Affinity Photo with some mockups as in this attachment. Is there a solution to this problem? Thanks for your answers! Magazine-Mockup.psd

Hi Everyone, My Explanation: I'm new to Affinity programs and I'm in the process of preparing all of my PSD files for Affinity Designer & Photo. I've been using Adobe Photoshop for a long time during that time I have created a lot "Smart Objects" within my files. Yesterday, in adobe photoshop, I spent two hours preparing my main device templates and eight hours preparing one single file to be imported and used in Affinity Designer. I went into each smart object individually and pulled the full resolution images, shapes, etc.. and placed them on a separate artboard in the main file. Below is an example of a simple template that has multiple layers of smart objects. This example has several instances of 3 layers of smart objects. Even though that doesn't add up to too many smart objects in this file I have lots of files that are similar, or even more complex, and the method that I have been using is incredibly time-consuming. My question: Has anyone found a better way of preparing smart objects, or assets within smart objects, for Affinity Designer & Photo?

Hello everyone ! Well i will try to make it short, today ! With all recents improvements brought into Affinity line of product, i believe it is time for Serif to develop what i would call smart layers. Well this smart layers would be similar to what one have on photoshop (smart object) but will be more flexible and would allow users who convert from Adobe products to not lose it all: Smart layer would : a- bring more non destructive possibilities as when we uses the develop persona Case: i open a a photo and switch to develop persona then do my thing there, the minute i click Develop the software should actually not apply all those tuning liek it does now but instead convert the photo into a smart layer and embed all settings in there as sub Adjust. layers or Live Adjust.layer allowing us to fine tune it later if wanted. b- handle smart objects from PS and make it possible to fine tune them or even better convert them (only convertible functions) into what we actually have and use on AfPhoto then allow users to continu and finish their work started on PS with AfPhoto with ease. c- help us go beyond what we do and actually make it possible for AfPhoto users to create Dynamic Mockups that would be used among all 3 softwares and even exported for use with PS but discarding non compatible stuffs also allowing to open and process Mockups crreated with PS without losing anything. implementing Smart Layers would actually open to new possibilities and this is only a glimpse of what i think it could be, anyone here more talented or aware of stuffs then i do should had inputs here to help the Dev's to figure it out even better. Blessings

A quick search and I couldn't find anything. There should be a way to easily export a selected embedded document. This is especially important when you have to share open files with colleagues who need to use assets in other software or suites. Many web developers I work with require the original images I use in my layouts - so the can set up their websites to automatically crop and treat images in the same manner.

My use case is for editing the device mockups that can be found around the net in Photoshop PSD format but not others. They often make use of the Smart Objects feature the Adobe app to make placing the "screen" in the virtual device a lot quicker. Support for at least opening the layers within a smart object would be wonderful in Affinity Photo. Currently I can usually get most of the way there by manually getting the projection right with Filter > Distort > Perspective but on some files, I can't omit other layers because some of the device itself is within a smart object. For instance, on one there's a shadow added that I don't want. Supporting Smart Objects would make this easier and more flexible.

Hi, I would like to buy your Affinity Photo and use it instead of Photoshop, but the most important thing for me are smart objects which I can use in photoshop for mockups to portfolio.... There are many free psd mockups for graphic designer, so we can just add some layer to the smart object, and it will be displayed on the 3d mockup. Now the question is -- Is it also possible in Affinity Photo?

Does Affinity Photo support 3D Smart Objects in PSD format performing tasks like the ones in the YouTube video for Photoshop link here including DOF effects?

I'm loving using Affinity Photo on my iPad, it seems to be a great replacement for Photoshop, and I'm using beta versions with TestFlight. However, there is one feature that I really miss and forces me back to Ps eventually: Smart Objects. Every time I import a PSD file into the iPad Affinity Photo that has Smart Objects, the app recognizes it as a simple layer of pixels. I work daily with mockups, and it would be very useful to be able to replace the layers easily. I hope that comes to the app soon, thank you, keep up with the good job!

Hey Affinity, I've been using both Designer & Photo since its beta and I really enjoy it. I have gained nothing but enjoyment and happiness using your software and the progress you make. My only concern about Photo is the lack of smart objects. I understand there's a few posts from last year that mention them, but I'm not sure where this feature sits on your list of things to do as I couldn't see it on either of the roadmaps. It's basically the only thing I need Photoshop for at this point. Ability to read .PSD with Smart Objects instead of flattening the file into a pixel layer. Smart Objects This would be amazing, and I know that I'm not the only person that use mockups with this feature. I tend to make my own, but sometimes it's more suitable to use an existing one, which is made using Photoshop. I understand you aren't Adobe, so I'm unsure what you can and can't do, so even if the feature works in it's own way, I would be overjoyed. Keep up the good work Affinity, Cheers, Lachlan

This is going be longish but if, like me, you work extra large complex files read on ............ Yesterday there was a post that revolved around my need to work very large images which I keep down to manageable size in PS by compressing multiple layers into smart objects. I have always been nervous about how AP, without the ability to do this, would handle my extra large files. Today I decided to make some tests. (The tests are made in PS6X which is what I use and therefore need to compare with AP. It is entirely possible that later CC versions could produce better results). I took an existing PS file. It is in round figures 9500px x 9500px at 300ppi. It contains 26 smart objects each of which contains many layers when expanded for edit. The file size on disc is 3.86GB. That is to be expected with so many smart objects each of which is a discreet PSB file which need to be contained within the single master file. When opened up in PS the file uses roughly 8GB of memory and is perfectly workable although slow downs start to build up after a while. It is however, awkward, because you have to edit in ‘segments’ by opening up the smart objects for edit one by one. I ended up working like this because, before compressing the file into smart objects, it was becoming too slow and memory intensive to work very satisfactorily. To create the file I needed for my test I went through this file smart object by smart object and expanded them one by one for editing. Once opened I saved each smart objects contents to an external file. I then loaded these one by one in their layer order and combined them into a single file containing all the contents of the 26 smart objects ….. now as normal layers. The result was a very large image containing 767 pixel layers, 217 mask layers and 541 adjustment and FX layers each with its own mask layer as well - a pretty heavy image by any standards! I saved this to a normal PSD. Without the smart objects the file size came down to 1.87GB, which is to be expected. I then shut down PS and re-opened it with a clean empty memory. The new file when loaded now occupied 17GB. It was just about workable but despite there still being over 8GB of free RAM still available there were lots of delays and waiting for beachballs. In practical terms it was no longer really viable. Now comes the interesting bit! I imported the same file into AP (BTW you really DO need barometers for this I was starting to think the import had hung) and, once I had checked its integrity, I saved it in native AP form. The file created was 1.76GB, so just very slightly smaller than PS’s. But now comes the huge surprise ....... when I loaded the new Affinity file back into AP it not only loaded faster than PS loaded its PSD, but it used only a little over 2GB of memory as opposed to PS’s 17GB!! I was so flabbergasted by this I was sure I must have done something wrong ……. so I did it again ….. and again ...... four times! I got, within a few MB, exactly the same results each time. I have no idea how they have worked this magic but AP’s developers have made it quite dramatically streamlined in memory usage as compared to PS6. Here’s a summary. Image size 9500px x 9500px @300ppi. 767 pixels layers. 217 mask layers. 541 adjustment / FX layers with their own mask layers. Size on disk as PSD 1.87 GB. Size on disc as aphoto 1.76 GB Size in memory in PS V6 17 GB leaving 8GB free memory. Size in memory in AP V1.5 Beta 9 2.1 GB leaving 23GB free memory. I still can’t quite believe this but it’s wonderful news for me and has removed one of my last remaining doubts about AP.

Hi, the main thing affinity designer needs, for my workflow, and for me to decide to definitely switch from adobe products, is the ability to correctly import and retain vector smart objects from PSD files (often produced by other designers) without rasterizing them. Thank you, regards

Affinity looks amazing! Will it work with smart objects like this video - http://www.screenr.com/Tgk8

First of all, I want to congratulate you for having a very successful launch with Affinity Photo! I am seriously considering buying it, but I am not sure if it has all the functions I require with my workflow. I tested out the beta a few months ago, and I found that this could be a potential PS-killer for me. (Especially considering how fast it is!!!) Anyway, the only reason why I'm having a difficulty with jumping into Affinity Photo is because of the Median Stack mode. I am an astrophotographer and I exclusively use PS's Smart Object and Median Stack mode to increase SNR of high ISO images (a complicated way of denoising images). The only workaround I have found is to manually set the opacity of each layers, but that's not really practical if you're working with 100+ layers. So, is there some easier workaround for this feature?

Hey folks, I am wondering how to adapt the shape of an embedded object (=of the corresponding layer) to the shape of the mockup? When I want to build a screen in an iPhone mockup I have no problem putting the screen as a rectangular shape in the frame. But when the iPhone is tilted, lets say in a hand, I want to transform the screen in the frame accordingly. Anybody solved that? Best, David

I didn't know where else to put this topic so I figured "Feature Requests" was as good a place as any. I just recently answered a question helping a user move his AD assets to After Effects and felt the overdue need to post this statement: Just remember one thing....Affinity Designer is NOT Illustrator and Affinity Photo is NOT Photoshop. All of the functionality that Adobe put in most of their products was simply to make the user buy more than one of it's products. "Release to Layers" was put there so that they could sell Flash and AE to Illustrator users (and the inverse is also true). "Smart Objects" was created to increase sales of Photoshop and Illustrator for InDesign and GoLive users (not to mention that Adobe was in bed with whomever owned Maya at the time; there were video tutorials at the time that have long since vanished about using Maya with Photoshop and smart objects to dynamically adjust content in InDesign and GoLive). The point is that there are certain features that Adobe popularized in their products that are NOT ever likely to be included in Designer and Photo because they are ADOBE features. Smart Objects: STOP asking the devs if "Smart Objects" will ever be included in Affinity Designer or Photo. While I do understand the question (like many of you, I also have a ton of work previously done in AI and/or PS that may/may not have utilized Smart Objects), it's time to realize that Adobe left us behind and we chose to move on with Affinity. Designer most likely (unless the devs are working on something I don't know about) will never have "Smart Objects." That being said, it DOES have Embedded Document Editing for artwork created in Designer. Release to Layers: This was a feature that Adobe hijacked from Macromedia Freehand when they acquired Macromedia over 10 years ago. It was originally created to move animation-ready artwork from Freehand to Flash. Adobe used it to move artwork from Illustrator to Flash and After Effects. Affinity--from what has been stated on this forum--is not looking to create animation/motion graphics software (although, personally, I think this is a mistake...but have to respect their position. NOT video editing--motion graphics). Therefore, those of you who can, I suggest looking into Motion, HitFilm, or--an open source newcomer with an interface similar to Nuke--Natron (http://natron.inria.fr). Ronnie McBride has already put up a tutorial on moving assets to Motion from AD. I can testify that the same technique he used--AD to PNG ("Selected without background")--works just as well on HitFilm and Natron. I have used both. You may have to now animate the assets yourselves, but they work. In the old days BEFORE Release to Layers/Smart Objects, the user base would have had to come up with workarounds. I am, unfortunately, old enough to remember when Path Text was not part of Illustrator. How did one make it happen? They studied their tools and came up with new ways how to use them. Adobe has spoiled everyone and, in doing so, made it harder for some designers and users to detach themselves from Adobe's teet. The artists will find workarounds...everyone else may just be an "adobe user." The ONLY way I understand the situation if you HAVE to continue using the Adobe product is if--truthfully--there is no (reasonably priced) equivalent/alternative, then you're stuck. Thank You For Your Time.