Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Loss of Sharpness when Exporting to Jpeg


Recommended Posts

Hello,

When I export an image in Affinity photo to a jpeg I loose the sharpness of the detail. The Jpeg becomes quite blurred. I've been using Affinity photo for a while and never noticed this before. I've not changed any settings. Any one else come across this issue?

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Abtex said:

I've not changed any settings

But what settings were you using? It sounds as if you have inadvertently changed the quality setting.

John

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you move image on the canvas? Check this:

Force pixel alignment.png

 

If you moved image without a pixel snap, the image will lose clarity and not only on the edges, but also on other details of the image.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Preferences -> performance -> View quality

Do you have bilinear selected? Try best quality if that is the case - perhaps the image will look like the output file then.

  • "The user interface is supposed to work for me - I am not supposed to work for the user interface."
  • Computer-, operating system- and software agnostic; I am a result oriented professional. Look for a fanboy somewhere else.
  • “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.” ― Confucius
  • Not an Affinity user og forum user anymore. The software continued to disappoint and not deliver.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, jstudley said:

I've had the same issue, just started happening. Saved a jpg at 100% and it is noticeably not as sharp as the AP file. 

Gotta say I do not see difference (when both carefully set to 100 % view). Maybe it is my eyes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Fixx said:

Maybe it is my eyes.

Mine too?

I see no obvious difference in sharpness when I take the uploaded jpg and paste it to the top of the stack in the supplied APhoto document and click that layer on and off

If it's not a setting in the OP's setup then maybe the OP is checking the exported JPG in another application where the sharpness is being affected

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Repeating: The image looks sharper than it is with bilinear selected in view quality in preferences, performance. Best quality reflects what I get after saving to JPG.

  • "The user interface is supposed to work for me - I am not supposed to work for the user interface."
  • Computer-, operating system- and software agnostic; I am a result oriented professional. Look for a fanboy somewhere else.
  • “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.” ― Confucius
  • Not an Affinity user og forum user anymore. The software continued to disappoint and not deliver.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

Hi @jstudley
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
I'm seeing the same issue as you (lack of sharpness compared to the original) when the View Quality is set to Bilinear which i believe is the setting you have selected in Affinity Photo Preferences, Performance section, View Quality dropdown. Can you confirm please? What OS are you running? Windows or macOS?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

Actually the issue occurs before exporting, so jpeg is not a factor.

Tested on iPad:

  • merge visible
  • set blend mode to difference
  • add a levels adjustment with white level set to 30% to visually amplify issue
  • At the edges of the rock you see relevant loss of sharpness
  • If you merge visible again, the results changes again, but is still visible.

the file contains two unsharp mask layers atop of each other. If you deactivate them, the issue vanished.

The issue is visible with only 1 unsharp mask  layer.

My conclusion: 

  • the reproducible difference is related to unsharp mask layers
  • Exporting or Jpeg file format is not a factor 
  • Rendering quality settings are irrelevant as „merge visible“ can be used to reproduce (based on the assumption that merge visible does not depend on rendering settings)
Edited by NotMyFault

Mac mini M1 A2348 | Windows 10 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080

LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5

iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589

Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

Hi @NotMyFault,
Checked this again and there's still no difference for me. There seems to be an issue which might explain why we are getting different results. I've checked this on iPad and the difference blend mode does accuse changes there, however on macOS and Windows it doesn't. Are you checking the image at 100% zoom? Can you check on your PC if you get the same result please? Make sure you set the zoom to 100% (View > Zoom > 100%). Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is no noticeable (relevant) difference on my Windows PC.

There are slight differences when putting the jpg file as top layer (+ blend mode difference + levels adjustment 20% white level to amplify), but these are in the range what to be expected by reduced color depth (8 vs. 16) and usual unavoidable jpeg compression artifacts.

See screenshot below.1345708772_2020-07-26_Crescent_City_and_Redwoods_3999-duotonescreen.thumb.png.5bf0304df41c1f8e6519dbaec47ac312.png

I tried this comparisons with both the jpeg file provided by the author, and with merged layers / lossless PNG exports freshly created.

 

However, whenever i change layer active/hidden, the rendering becomes temporary blurry (fraction of a second) before reaching full quality.

Mac mini M1 A2348 | Windows 10 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080

LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5

iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589

Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/28/2020 at 1:51 PM, jstudley said:

View quality is set to Bilinear. I am running Windows 10.

 

@jstudley: can you please explain your personal process and method how do you judge sharpness, and compare sharpness between 2 images / files?

As explained above, i cannot spot any relevant difference (in sharpness or any other quality criteria) expect what is technically unavoidable by JPG compression (banding, 64px blocking artifacts, etc)

My method:

  • For .afphoto file: always "merge visible" before starting comparisons. You can get deviating rendering in special cases (but never observed loss in sharpness). You may even export this file using uncompressed formats (tiff, png).
  • put files to compare into (new) afphoto document (of suitable color space / bit depth).
  • Set zoom to 100% (may use 200% )
  • (1) Eye test: repeatedly activate / hide the layer to compare. Wait the 1-2 seconds until the rendering has become stable (i always get split seconds changes in sharpness and luminosity)
  • (2) digital test: When test layer is active, set blend mode to "difference".
  • Add levels adjustment and set white level to 20%. This boosts lightness changes by factor 5 to make them easy to spot.

Mac mini M1 A2348 | Windows 10 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080

LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5

iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589

Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.