A RAW image in Affinity Photo appears with muted colours compared to the image in Irfan View. Camera Nikon D780, Windows 10 (64bit)

[Phil Jackson]

See screen shots below:

[walt.farrell]

I think that Irfanview is showing the JPEG preview, not the RAW image. That preview would have the full camera settings applied to it.

The RAW data shown by Photo doesn't have any of those settings applied, as far as I know. You get to have the fun of deciding how the photo should look.

[IanSG]

Compared to other image processing S/W, AP does minimal processing to RAW images before displaying them.  You can change the behaviour in the Develop Assistant.  1st image is AP, second is IrfanView.

[v_kyr]

Just take Nikon's Software (ViewNX-i & Capture NX-D) in order to get an idea how the image should look like!

[Phil Jackson]

Thanks for your replies and suggestions. I tried the Nikon software suggested by v_kyr - the image looked the same as in Irfan View. I did not have this issue with my previous camera (D7200) so maybe it's due to the software in the newer camera. I'm new to Affinity Photo so I'll persevere with it.

[v_kyr]

44 minutes ago, Phil Jackson said:

...so maybe it's due to the software in the newer camera

No, it's the way APh's RAW conversion engine and default settings do interprets and handle that cam's NEF data. If you tweak some of the APh settings, apply a little bit of WB, lighting, sharpening etc. you will get a similar looking result.

[Phil Jackson]

OK. Many thanks v_kyr for your help.

[Bryan R]

I have this same issue.  I use Adobe Bridge to view my photos and they open in Affinity Photo.  In AP the images are muted compared to how they look in Bridge.  I have tried changing the display monitor settings and also the AP colour profiles, but this results in only minor differences.  This happens on my Macbook Pro, but does not occur on my iMac. I realize they have different monitors but I've read that AP uses the system settings for its display, so why do the Bridge and AP colours match for one monitor but not the other? I know I can edit the photo but I would rather not have to make major corrections for every image I edit.  

I have the Macbook monitor colour settings to "Color LCD". My RAW photos are from a Canon D60.  The images in Bridge most closely resemble the images on my camera display.  I've included a screenshot of the images side by side.  On the right is the Adobe Bridge display, and on the left is how AP opens the same photo.   

 

 

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums, @Bryan R.

Affnity Photo tends to apply fewer automatic adjustments, leaving that for the user. But in the Develop Assistant (View > Assistant Manager, then click on the Develop Assistant... button if needed) you'll find several functions you can enable. One of them, Apply Tone Curve, may help with what you're seeing if it's not already enabled.

Also, some programs may only show you the embedded JPG image from your RAW file, and that will have a lot of adjustments applied to it, beyond what the RAW photo would show. That's another possible reason for there being a difference between what different applications show.

[Phil Jackson]

Thanks everyone for all the posts on this topic - you have helped me understand a bit more about how APh works.