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When editing portraits I add the same layers over and over again using layers with masking. I would like to make a macro to handle that in one process and thereby ease my workflow. But as it is now, I cannot control where the mask layer is added. Often it is added as a new layer. Some times it is added to the adjustment layer. In the end my macro creates all the elements spread around in the layer window. After the macro I need to drag/drop layers before I can start my editing. It's better than adding all the layer manually, but a simple tweak to the macro would help me make the macro a lot better. I suggest that you add a new function when recording macros. Every time I add a new element the program ask me where that element should be placed. As a parent or as a child to another layer. It could be a window popping up with the nested layers where I click and maybe tick off if it is a child or parent to the chosen position. I'm running Photo v. 2.0.3 on a Macbook Pro 2018, MacOS 12.3.1 (Monterey).

I LOVE this editor, and I still can't believe I picked it up for 25 bucks! It's a very powerful piece of software and I'm overall very satisfied. The one issue I have is, I struggle to organize my photos when using this Application. Viewing photos with just the windows file manager because I shoot in RAW + JPEG, and the Windows photos app does not offer easy access to tools like histograms or exif data. I could just open the file in affinity one by one, but clicking through hundreds of photos and having to exit out of each of them every time would be far too slow. I could also use other programs like Lightroom or some other raw viewer but having it all in one piece of software would greatly increase my workflow, as well as not costing 20 bucks a month. Is it possible to make a raw catalogue persona or something similar? You'd scroll through your photos and clicking on them, you could easily see all of the tools you would in the develop persona, including things like over and underexposed areas. The only difference is, you wouldn't be able to edit the photos until you choose one to take into the actual develop persona. Also, affinity would automatically hide the JPEGs, but attach them to the RAW file equivalent if copying is needed for stacking, panoramas, etc... (of course you could change it to not attach the JPEG, or show JPEGs along with the RAW files, or other options). I don't know if many people would care for this but I really wanted to throw this out there because I think that's the only thing that really holds this astounding application back.

Feature Wish list item: "Clip To Canvas" toggle available in app preferences ---------- As-is / the problem If I toggle "Clip to Canvas" so what I call the "pasteboard" is visible. Then I leave the file going out the Home screen. When I go back in, it Clips to canvas again, hiding whatever I left on the pasteboard. I have to reset it everytime I go back in. To-be / solution Ability to set it up as a default view in preferences. I suggest logical place for it is under "Interface". --------- Why it's a wish I often do a lot of boolean work with shapes. I'll do a whole sequence of boolean operations on one shape at times. I'll often do several versions too, before choosing one to include in the illustration. Sometimes I clone the shape several times. As insurance incase it all turns out a bit "wut?" and to subtract/divide + manipulate + re-add (re-assemble). There may be a lot of cleaning up to do as well. So all-in-all, a fair amount of work. Once complete I move it back on to the canvas. Sometimes, I'll leave a previous state on the pasteboard incase when I come back in with fresh eyes, I end up deciding the original was best. As an illustration gets complicated, doing this kind of work insitu can become a bit tiresome. Visual noise, but especially selection easily becomes hard work (other shapes end up being moved or selected). Being able to quickly drag a shape, or a clone of a shape, onto the pasteboard into some completely free uncluttered space in a moment of inspiration is what it's about. "The flow". Switching off/on or locking/unlocking layers is a distraction, tbh. --------- In the scheme of things, it's a finesse.... I'm hoping it's an "easy win" that can be lobbed-in with other changes.

For the last 8 to 10 months, I have been tacking a lot of flower picture using both an iPhone 8 (12MP camera) and a Sony RX100 III (20 MP camera) mounted at the end of selfie sticks (I have MS and am confined to a wheelchair). I have little control of the photo image composition with the two cameras. I used Affinity Photo to process both the HEIC images from the iPhone 8 and the Sony RAW images (Sony ARW files) and to develop both *.afphoto and JPEG images of the flowers. My workflow is to generate the highest quality image as I can and to adjust the images quality/file size for different uses. For example, I gave prints of my flowers to family members last Christmas using the highest quality JPEG files I could generate. I use lower quality images for email etc. and inclusion in PowerPoint presentations. I have been asked by several friends to prepare one or more PDF files showing some of my flower images. I now have over 150 processed flower images. I am using Affinity Publisher to prepare these PDF files to present selected flower images. I have found that the images need to be edited to accommodate the available size limits in the PDF file. I have also found it desirable to adjust colors and other properties to allow presentation of image combinations in a pleasing manner in Publisher. I often modify the image crop to better work in Publisher. I have copies of all the images I could use in Publisher into set of folders that will be used for developing the Publisher PDF file. This will leave the originals images alone. All modifications for the PDF file will be done to the copied images. My questions 1 - What is the best way for me to use these images? 2 - Should I import *.afphoto images or jpeg images into Publisher? 3 - What resolution should I use? 4 - How do I edit an image in Photo and have an updated image in Publisher? 5 - Is the updating in Publisher automatic or must I edit the *.afphoto file and replace the image in Publisher? I am a novice at this, and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have included a Photo image as an example of my flower images. White_flower_w_3_types_of_pedels_v2_DSC00547.afphoto

This is a personal partial feature wish list that would make AD even more outstanding. Most of these are work flow enhancements. The ability to use them would enhance, simplify and speed the work process. Some of these may exist already. If that is the case - the options are not clear or only available thru perhaps unnecessarily complicated steps. Brushes: Add a contextual menu item for Brush menu: Copy (Duplicate) to (another) category of a brush selected in brush menu. The present Duplicate and then having to manually copy the duplicate in the popout Brush menu calls for un-needed extra steps. Menu (top of working interface): Set Brush/Controller to Brush Defaults as the default setting. Reason: Remove the extra and sometimes forgotten step of setting the brush. Just about every custom brush is made with specific settings. These should be available from the start. My big number one wish list item: Identify and switch brush by selecting a stroke on the canvas. Select a stroke would identify the stroke and make it active in the Brushes menu. This should be the minimum action/behavior when selecting the brush on canvas. However, switching to this brush should also load the attributes applied to the stroke: Color, Width, Transparency, Direction. The Brush tool should inherit all of these attributes on selecting a stroke on the canvas. In the Brushes menu - if another Brush is selected while all the attributes are active - only the Brush would change but all other attributes would remain the same until manually changed. If this is problematic. Add an option in the pop up contextual menu - when clicking an item: Switch to this Brush/attributes. Alternately - IF the above brush switch is not easily implemented: Identify Name of Brush in the menu: Curve (clicking on the brush preview and mini adjustment panels) and make switching to the identified brush and option from this menu. The Brush revealed in this menu would be the bare minimum to enhance the brush palette to being quick switch usable. —— Fills: Same as above (Identify and switch…)- applied to fill. —— General context switching in menus based on selection: Context switching of adjustment menus or tools. For instance. If a stroke (only) is selected - the color options should switch to stroke on top (make it active on top) so that any adjustment can be made to the stroke without further clicking to activate/prioritize the stroke color. The attached image here shows the selected stroke - but the color circles remaining on fill as priority - requiring attention to change. ------ Select (enhanced select menu options) Under an overarching Select: Select (others) by same attribute (as a selected) For instance: Select (others) by same brush/stroke. Select (others) by same stroke color Select (others) by same fill color The attached image shows how bare the cupboard is under the Select menu. I may be unaware of a way to select an item where the selection is not dictated by the items bounding box. If this bounding box is the items selection area: Selection: Make option to select stroke center (outline) instead of bounding box when selecting strokes on canvas. And additional contextual option wish: Contextual (right click or Option Click(Mac) )menu option from canvas (drawing area) to Lock Selected (Item). Associated Context menu to Unlock All —— Color dropper: Color dropper should be a tool in the tools collection and easily invoked with a key command. Color dropper should be stroke or fill sensitive. If stroke only is selected - stroke should be on top in color stroke/fill menu. If an object has both stroke and fill - color menu does not change (will require manual changes). —— Copy and Paste effects: Copy and Paste Effects from one item to another. Either thru the Effects menus or another means. Drag and drop attribute option. Either a tool (similar to dropper) that acquires attributes and can carry the attributes to another item… Or a contextual menu that copies brush or style etc attributes and pastes them to some other object. ------ All of these features were built into original Creature House Expression3 in 2004. They would make outstanding feature tool enhancements to AD, E3's clear successor. Thanks!