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Hi all. I have looked and Googled to try to find a fix before bothering you with this but I can't seem to find out how to fix my problem with AP. I was working on an art piece in Affinity Photo for a few hours and had added and edited layers just fine and then out of the blue I wasn't able to make any more edits. Does anyone know why? I'd like to continue making modifications but can't seem to get it to work. I've unlocked all the layers, checked the assistant which seemed fine although I am still relatively new to AP still. I'd appreciate any advice. Thank you in advance!

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"...any more edits ... modifications"
– Could you specify more detailed what you tried to edit in which way, and what result you got or what app behavior you experienced? And/or upload screenshots or a screencast?

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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Hi thomaso,

Thanks! Here's a screenshot after going back and reopening the file so it doesn't show all of the steps I've tried in the panel. The issue I'm having for instance, is the "steam" above the coffee cup, I would like to erase and add something a little different. When I click on that layer and try to erase the steam, nothing happens. I then tried clicking on the background color layer and tried to just paint over the steam since I couldn't erase it and again, nothing happened. Another thing I'd like to do is maybe change the background color to a lighter yellow and when I click on it the selection is highlighted with the blue lines but I'm not able to make any changes. It's worth saying again that I'm new and feel like it's probably a simple fix but I've tried everything I can think of including looking through the AP workbook, Affinity Revolution course, and internet search. I'm stumped! Thanks so much, I appreciate any advice you can share.

Screenshot 2020-01-17 17.57.20.png

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Sorry, for now I only can guess, have no idea yet.

I am a little confused by your layers panel, it seems to contain a lot of layers.
Might it happen you try to edit a layer which is covered by another above and you brush behind that on a covered (invisible) layer?

To be sure the selected layer is the part of the drawing where you use the brush tool:  alt-click the layer's icon to make it the only visible layer. Does it show the steam you want to edit, and still doesn't react with the brush?

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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I appreciate even a guess as to what it could be, thank you! I unchecked all of the other layers so we can see just the layer I'm working with. When I did that I see that I must have somehow painted on some of the background color at some point (by the steam) but that isn't a big deal. I tried to then make edits like erasing or painting and still can't, even with everything else gone and this layer selected. It sure seems like it should be working and I'm baffled. I included another screenshot below.

 

Affinity Screenshot.png

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Copy just that layer and make a new document with File > New from Clipboard and see if you can erase then.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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Old Bruce I tried as you suggested and this is what I got. I tried copying it flattened and just normally as well and still got the same response. I also tried to just copy it and open in a new document (not from clipboard) and nothing showed up. It's like the layer doesn't exist which I don't get because I put it there and was editing it. 

HVDB I did realize I was using the Background Erase brush but that was only after trying everything else. Thought maybe that would maybe work but it's as if the layer isn't there at all. It's so bizarre and I've worked long enough on it that I don't want to start over if I don't have to.

Thanks again,

Jaime

 

Screenshot 2020-01-18 09.39.16.png

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What @thomaso said. I selected all and then I was able to work on it.

Have to say that is the weirdest little file, lots of layers with the selected pixels being black and others with them being clear. Where is it from originally?

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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Old Bruce, consider that the uploaded .aphoto contains only a cropped area of the entire OP document, so some layers content might have been outside this area before cropping.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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Actually the whole thing is there. Cake, bird and table top etc.

Here it is after erasing the steam.

1673632404_ScreenShot2020-01-18at4_32_35PM.thumb.png.d53623602353a18f3842e8ae83f37e80.png

This is what it looks like before resizing the canvas

656056580_ScreenShot2020-01-18at4_23_48PM.thumb.png.368f2f6c966c3e668905cba1d2ff5012.png

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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5 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Actually the whole thing is there.

Interesting & good to know. I haven't been aware that .aphoto is this kind of nondestructive when cropped.
I think what we see is a work in progress with content of various previous states, in particular the masks seem to have been painted for a former layer content.
(A pity that the shiny fork layer is hidden behind the plate.)

By the way, how would one 'really' crop = get rid off exterior parts + reduce file size?

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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Old Bruce and thomaso, THANK YOU!!

I did what you suggested and was able to make the steam finally go away and can now continue to work on it. The artwork was originally scanned at home and then I just opened it in AP to make changes so the original is a jpeg file if that helps. Thanks for pointing out thomaso that the shiny fork layer was hidden. I've since moved it to the front, good catch. Do either of you know why I had to "invert" the pixel layer to be able to continue to make edits? I don't recall clicking on that tab in the first place so I'm curious if that is something that happens automatically at some point or maybe I unknowingly clicked it. Because I obviously still have a lot to learn about AP, are there any resources either of you or anyone else reading would recommend?  Like I mentioned earlier, I have the Affinity Revolution video course (which helped me a lot to get going) and I have the AP Workbook but don't always find answers there. I have no experience with Photoshop or any other photo editing software so I'm doing a lot of trial and error. Would love to simplify the process if possible.  I can't thank you enough for your help!

 

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39 minutes ago, ArtistJaime said:

I have the Affinity Revolution video course (which helped me a lot to get going) and I have the AP Workbook but don't always find answers there.

Reading the Help ( https://affinity.help ) as kind of a reference manual might help to understand how the app thinks & works. ( I wish Serif would offer it as printed brochure, or PDF at least )

39 minutes ago, ArtistJaime said:

why I had to "invert" the pixel layer to be able to continue to make edits?

I guess you talk about the "Pixel Selection" layer. Possibly you hit a layers icon with the Strg/cmd key pressed. That would change the content of the default "Pixel Selection" layer.

1428874263_pixelselectionlayer-Help.jpg.072da0854ad50aa028734672e5275a7f.jpg

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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15 hours ago, thomaso said:

Your issue appears to be related to the pixel selection layer: After clicking its "invert" icon I am able to brush-erase the coffee steam.

FWIW, you can also right-click on that layer in the Channels panel & delete it.

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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11 hours ago, thomaso said:

By the way, how would one 'really' crop = get rid off exterior parts + reduce file size?

Layer > Rasterize & Trim... or right-click in the Layers panel and choose Rasterize & Trim....

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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4 hours ago, R C-R said:
19 hours ago, thomaso said:

(...) the pixel selection layer: After clicking its "invert" icon I am able to brush-erase the coffee steam.

FWIW, you can also right-click on that layer in the Channels panel & delete it.

The "Pixel Selection" layer in Channels Panel seems to be compulsory and a non-deletable item. I am just able to change its content but not to get rid of this layer object. As far I understand, the "Pixel Selection" layer continuously auto-updates according to any current selection in the document window or layers panel. It enables me to invert or save a selection as extra layer (alpha channel) within this panel, display a selection on canvas as colored mask or release all selection (to have nothing selected = strg/cmd D).

1296091743_pixelselectionlayermenu.jpg.2545b5bcd7d6f10bbdd62e9146726ea4.jpg

So, for the OP, it would solve the issue simply to hit strg-D to have access again to edit the coffee steam.
@ R C-R, was this "deselect" what you meant with "delete it"?
 

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:
14 hours ago, thomaso said:

how would one 'really' crop = get rid off exterior parts + reduce file size?

Layer > Rasterize & Trim...

Isn't there a way to Trim without rasterizing? Rasterizing is destructive + also can increase file size depending on the rasterized content. What if I want to crop without loss within the cropped area? As for instance in this thread to upload a part of the .aphoto file, e.g. to prevent delivering the entire illustration and avoid kind of misuse.

When using this command I would expect a dialog window because it is labeled with ellipses... / instead it just rasterizes. Is that how it is meant to work? Or are there specific needs to get a dialog window? – I can't find an Help article for Rasterize & Trim... , just for Resize Canvas and for Rasterize. In my experience it doesn't trim, neither to a selection nor to a active area done with the crop tool.

Also I wonder why this command is in the Layer, not in the Document menu – as if it would apply to specific layers only, e.g. selected ones, and not to the entire document?

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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53 minutes ago, thomaso said:

What if I want to crop without loss within the cropped area? As for instance in this thread to upload a part of the .aphoto file, e.g. to prevent delivering the entire illustration and avoid kind of misuse.

For that, possibly do a Copy and then File > New from Clipboard?

I don't think there's a way to Trim without also Rasterizing.

55 minutes ago, thomaso said:

When using this command I would expect a dialog window because it is labeled with ellipses... / instead it just rasterizes. Is that how it is meant to work? Or are there specific needs to get a dialog window?

There are other cases where the menu has the ..., too, and usually that indicates that there is some circumstance (or set of circumstances) where an additional menu will popup, but others where it won't. Affinity could check for all of those, and only include the ... when the additional menu will pop up, but it doesn't. One such circumstance I think, is if there are layer effects applied. You get a dialog asking if you want them rasterized or discarded.

 

57 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Also I wonder why this command is in the Layer, not in the Document menu – as if it would apply to specific layers only, e.g. selected ones, and not to the entire document?

Rasterize clearly belongs in the Layer menu. Probably they put Rasterize & Trim there for convenience, rather than having Rasterize in the Layer menu and "Trim" in the Document menu.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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9 hours ago, thomaso said:

@ R C-R, was this "deselect" what you meant with "delete it"?

Yes. Sorry for the uncaught typo. :$

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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12 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

 

13 hours ago, thomaso said:

Also I wonder why this command is in the Layer, not in the Document menu – as if it would apply to specific layers only, e.g. selected ones, and not to the entire document?

Rasterize clearly belongs in the Layer menu. Probably they put Rasterize & Trim there for convenience, rather than having Rasterize in the Layer menu and "Trim" in the Document menu.

Rasterise & Trim operates at the layer level not the document level hence it belongs in the Layer menu.

There have been numerous requests for a "Rasterise & Trim" type command that will operate across multiple layers at once rather than just the selected layer

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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