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Importing / Exporting .TGA files?


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  • 2 years later...

No export to TGA format but importing that format has been supported for quite a while, & the most recent update added support for importing transparent TGA.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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2 hours ago, R C-R said:

No export to TGA format but importing that format has been supported for quite a while, & the most recent update added support for importing transparent TGA.

 

We really do want to save files in TGA sometimes.  PS has done it forever :P

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Just curious, but why would you want or need to export to the TGA format? It does not support ICC color profiles or vector graphics.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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  • 7 months later...

It is getting so old and annoying to see everyone on this forum ask "Why do you need TGA?", "What game engines use TGA?", "Why exactly do you need to export TGA?", "Just curious,  but why would you want or need to export to the TGA format?". I check daily on here in the hopes that Affinity will add TGA support to Photo and Designer and I'm yet to see it. This is pretty much one of the fundamental features both applications are missing to have that complete edge over Adobe's product line and it frustrates me when I constantly see people on here getting so confused and wanting to justify its implementation, there is ton's of other programs and workflows that rely on the use of TGA file format.

Serif please add TGA support for exporting, it is absolutely crazy why you don't have this, yet you have pretty much every other file format under the sun available to export to.

Is there some kind of problem as to why you can't support it?

There are so many other threads asking for it, you can't deny it is a much needed feature.

This is one of the main reasons I can't use both applications in my current workflow and have to rely on Photoshop.

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9 hours ago, SlipperyBrick said:

This is one of the main reasons I can't use both applications in my current workflow and have to rely on Photoshop.

While the Affinity range is not exporting TGA with transparency some users could try the free conversion tools out there and export as 32-bit PNG.

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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1 hour ago, Patrick Connor said:

While the Affinity range is not exporting TGA with transparency some users could try the free conversion tools out there and export as 32-bit PNG.

Patrick,  Indeed, that is the point!  Why if we are going to commit to Affinity for these apps, and customer loyalty is a key factor, should those who need .tga have to go to another app just for this?  

I appreciate the input though because you are making the point very well :)

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1 hour ago, jmcbade said:

Why if we are going to commit to Affinity for these apps, and customer loyalty is a key factor, should those who need .tga have to go to another app just for this?  

What does your loyalty have to do with using more than one app to complete whatever projects you are interested in doing? Can whatever app you want to use with imported TGA files do everything Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer can do? If not, how does that affect your loyalty to that app?

Besides, TGA is only one of several dozen different raster image formats users might want or need to import into some app for some project. For example, the (not free) Mac app GraphicConverter supports importing around 200 different graphic image formats & exports to about 80 of them. How many of them do you think the Affinity apps should support?

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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20 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Besides, TGA is only one of several dozen different raster image formats users might want or need to import into some app for some project. For example, the (not free) Mac app GraphicConverter supports importing around 200 different graphic image formats & exports to about 80 of them. How many of them do you think the Affinity apps should support?

I think this is a little disingenuous. From memory, the support here for TGA export (and BMP import & Export) from potential and actual customers has been significantly higher than for other image/pixel formats, and jmcbade should only have to lobby for the ones he/she wants without expectation of representing all users.

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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51 minutes ago, Patrick Connor said:

I think this is a little disingenuous. From memory, the support here for TGA export (and BMP import & Export) from potential and actual customers has been significantly higher than for other image/pixel formats, and jmcbade should only have to lobby for the ones he/she wants without expectation of representing all users.

Don't me me wrong. I don't see anything wrong with lobbying for whatever import/export (or any other) features anybody wants, whether they are existing customers or not. However, I don't think one or a few missing ones is reason enough for most users not to "commit" to using the Affinity (or any other) app. If that was how I thought about it, there would be no app from any developer that met that standard, not from Adobe or Serif or from any other company.

There are lots of features I would love to see added the Affinity apps. But for things like TGA or BMP or any of the other unsupported export options, as long as I can use another app for that, I don't see why they should be given a higher priority than anything else.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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27 minutes ago, R C-R said:

But for things like TGA or BMP or any of the other unsupported export options, as long as I can use another app for that, I don't see why they should be given a higher priority than anything else.

I do get what you're saying, but that isn't really a valid argument in a forum specifically for Affinity software. I mean, why use Affinity photo at all when I could use other applications. Why does Serif even develop Affinity photo when we should just use other applications to do the job we need? Photoshop is a one stop shop for all my needs but it's hard to justify paying so much for it monthly. Affinity photo is cheap one off payment and in all honesty if Affinity photo were 10 times more expensive I'd still prefer to buy it over paying subscription to photoshop if only it could do the things I need it to do, like export the formats I use. 

We are all here because we like Affinity products and of course we would rather use affinity photo alone rather than with random other little applications to do small basic tasks. Affinity will develop over time, I just hope for the features I need it for to be developed too eventually.

If you could have in your kitchen;
a) a coffee machine that makes all the drinks you like or
b) a coffee machine that makes all your drinks apart from 1, then another coffee machine that only makes that 1 drink, leaving you with 2 machines

would you not choose option A?

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9 minutes ago, MattyWS said:

I mean, why use Affinity photo at all when I could use other applications.

I can only speak for myself (& fully understand it might be different for other users), but as I just said, for me there is no 'one stop shop' app that meets all my needs, & I doubt there ever will be. But that in no way prevents me from using Affinity & whatever other apps I need to get the job done.

It is the same as with the fallacy in the coffee machine analogy -- there is no one machine that does it all, which is why I have an inexpensive automatic one for everyday use, but also a small coffee grinder & a French press for special occasions. I also recently became interested in making my own cold brew coffee (after reading the Ready Player One novel), & that would require yet another machine if I was too lazy to make it the 'big batch' manual way described in that novel.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Maybe loyalty was the wrong word to use.  I apologize to all who I seem to have offended.

I really want to see a formidable challenge to PS and AI and I will continue to support Affinity. I have paid for the apps in the past and if there are any paid updates, I will buy them. They are paid for installs on my computer and my iPad :) I do it as my vote of confidence in Affinity.

For me, I will likely continue to use PS and AI as my main "go to" apps until the Affinity apps get to where I can use them as my main programs.  As the Affinity apps get better and better, Adobe gets worse in so many ways. I am confident it will happen some day that I will feel it's time to make the "full switch" as I would like.  

Quote

but as I just said, for me there is no 'one stop shop' app that meets all my needs

I guess for me, unfortunately, with PS and AI for my workflow and requirements, I seem to not need to make "other stops" still while using them.

Again, my sincere apologies for bruising anyone's sensibilities.  I feel appropriately "pounced upon".

Cheers

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I should rephrase what I said above about how not having TGA export stops me from using Affinity products, it doesn't.

But ...

For the ease of use and also having the ability to speed up the workflow of dealing with exporting to a particular format should justify TGA export being implemented into both Affinity products.

I saw a thread where you had a member of staff who works as a director at EA asking for this feature (see first post by a guy called Max) and he was ignored! Seems like you guys were given a golden opportunity there and missed it.

Surely you guys realise that games development is a highly iterative line of work and having to export to one file format and then use some free (or maybe even paid) solutions to converting into other formats is just not viable when dealing with massive projects and stressful deadlines, even automating that task just adds time (and time is money in the case of big games studios).

I'm not just talking from an industry stand point, I'm a student studying for my degree in computer games development and I just can't keep forking out the money for an Adobe subscription but this is the one thing that is stopping me from letting go and moving away from Photoshop (there are tons of other potential customers in my situation too, not counting hobbyists). You guys have two fantastic products (three when you consider Publisher) why not step up your game and support your customers wants and needs by adding something that to me seems so trivial.

I think the rewards would pay off guys, I know you would have an army of games developers coming your way to throw money at the one off non subscription model you are getting known for, who knows greater things may come along and you might get other people interested (I'm looking at you Quixel ;D).

So come on guys, lets make this happen! *play epic battle music*

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7 hours ago, R C-R said:

Don't me me wrong. I don't see anything wrong with lobbying for whatever import/export (or any other) features anybody wants, whether they are existing customers or not. However, I don't think one or a few missing ones is reason enough for most users not to "commit" to using the Affinity (or any other) app. If that was how I thought about it, there would be no app from any developer that met that standard, not from Adobe or Serif or from any other company.

There are lots of features I would love to see added the Affinity apps. But for things like TGA or BMP or any of the other unsupported export options, as long as I can use another app for that, I don't see why they should be given a higher priority than anything else.

I understand that some people are happy with getting by and using alternatives to fill in the gaps but the Affinity products aren't exactly your average image editing/creation applications, they have all the bells and whistles and there is even some features that enhance the workflow making really difficult techniques incredibly easy. We can't shy away from the fact that both Affinity products even in there current state are big threats and massive contenders with Photoshop and Illustrator (and now InDesign!)

For such a small feature (that is TGA export) to simplify a workflow for a massive multi million dollar industry, you are opening the flood gates for a big amount of people who would be attracted to the idea of finally owning their own software for an incredibly modest price, most software in games is either very expensive or subscription based. Allegorithmic are a fine example, they allow their customers to outright buy their products (Substance Designer, Substance Painter) and have put ridiculous amounts of effort into supporting nearly every workflow for every other application in the games industry and these guys are huge (they are taking over the industry), and why? Because they show they are willing to support their customers and enhance the usability of their products, before people start to verbally assault me on my previous statement I'm not saying Serif don't care about their customers but I as a sole individual get the feeling that they just don't think that a small feature like this has any impact for their average user base when in fact it does, I've seen countless forums on here asking for TGA support mostly from game developers so why don't they tap into that market and who knows they may become the next Allegorithmic ;)

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8 hours ago, jmcbade said:

Again, my sincere apologies for bruising anyone's sensibilities.

The only thing that even comes close to bruising my sensibilities is the suggestion that some missing export format option is all that is preventing wide scale adoption of the Affinity apps by the game creation industry, or that adding it would somehow turn Affinity into the mythical 'one stop shop' that would meet everybody's needs.

The staff have explained repeatedly that despite what some users think the Affinity apps have never been intended as a replacement for the Adobe ones. Instead, they are the result of a fresh start, free of the baggage that bloats older more established apps that would make it impractical to implement the features unique to Affinity, not the least of which are the low 'buy it once' purchase price & relatively modest system requirements.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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@R C-R  I am curious.  Do you work for Serif?

@R C-R So we as consumers and customers don't have a right to provide our input, needs and concerns to Serif for a product we are supporting.  That we should in your opinion just shut up and take what we get without out any comment, suggestion or point of view?  In your world we should just abandon our support monetarily and just go use something else, walking away from the expense?  Why, because you don't like us posting our point of view in a the forum or you personally don't think our point of view is "worthy" of our input here.?  This is what I get from your comment.

Although I completely support your right to that point of view, I can not defend it.

I can not characterize the support of a file format as "bloat" or "baggage".  I do not agree that some common features with other application excludes Affinity from still being uniquely poised in the industry. Uniqueness of the product does not in my opinion dictate some arbitrary minimalistic approach to the use case. This is clearly demonstrated by Affinity providing some unique features that surpass (not replace) other applications.  I also can not agree that adding the .tga format would break Serif's bank in some way.

Again, If you agree with Serif's opinion that the format is not a fit, fine.  You are of course entitled to that point of view.  Many of us simply do not agree and the fact that if we do not agree, that somehow invalidates our reasons for disagreeing with you.  

Our hope (those who are asking Serif to include .tga formats) is that Serif will at some point listen to our opinion with a response to meet our request.

We respectfully reserve the right to make our opinions know and defend them.  It's up to Serif to make the decision to respond.

 

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1 hour ago, jmcbade said:

@R C-R So we as consumers and customers don't have a right to provide our input, needs and concerns to Serif for a product we are supporting.  That we should in your opinion just shut up and take what we get without out any comment, suggestion or point of view?

No, that is not even remotely close to what I am saying, nor do I have a clue how you could interpret it that way.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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2 hours ago, R C-R said:

the suggestion that some missing export format option is all that is preventing wide scale adoption of the Affinity apps by the game creation industry, or that adding it would somehow turn Affinity into the mythical 'one stop shop' that would meet everybody's needs

Of course adding TGA wouldn't meet everyones needs, it's not the only feature stopping people from using Affinity. It is one of many important features needed to meet peoples needs. But it is still a needed feature and if I'm honest, it's a small ask. By no means at all is support for a widely used image format "baggage" either. Not sure why you would think it is. Maybe it's the mentality "if I don't use a feature, it's pointless to have". I don't use .raw file formats but I still understand the need for that in APhoto. I don't use .TIFF but it's still a feature, should I consider TIFF support to be bloating APhoto with useless stuff? Of course not, people use it even if I don't. And a lot of people use TGA.

There are  features I would like that I know are legacy, so I don't ask for it, like the support for (Indexed Palette images (because I still mod a game that's 21 years old). A feature like that I might consider niche enough for Serif not to bother with even if I want it. TGA on the other hand, is used widely today in games and apparently TV. It's the format of choice for many studios.

I push for TGA support not only because I really would love and need it, but also because as a customer, I'd like to know Serif listens and are willing to look into things customers are asking for. If the stance of TGA support is "nah, use something else to convert to TGA" then Serif isn't the kind of company I want to support or work with. Thankfully though I think even if they haven't said anything yet, I feel they can see the growing number of people asking for TGA. The staff at serif is small and stretched across 3 products so I know it can be slow development time, but I'd rather that than no development at all.

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I am in QA and have no control over the features chosen to be added to the range. The roadmaps are the public facing declared list and there are a few other threads like this one that has been leaking mainly Designer 1.7 features, but nothing has been said about this subject for some time, sorry.

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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@Patrick Connor  I understand.  Thank you for your time to add some input from someone at Serif.

Yes, I know this subject hasn't been discussed in some time but maybe it's time now to discuss it with Serif staff.  We would greatly appreciate you bringing it to the table at the appropriate meeting.

My background and training are actually in software development and support so I appreciate your position.

Regards,

-John

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