Affinity Photo - for non PS types

[dunedoggy]

I am trying not to look a fool at posting this comment, but I have only just joined the Affinity Forum today!  Not sure what to put in Topic Tags, so left it blank.

 

From reading other recent user comments about the new, fantastic "Photo", I take some comfort in seeing a fair number of comments having the same theme - help for newbies.  

I believe this generally means people who have never used PS (and didn't want to spend a significant portion of their lives trying to understand it).  I now have a Canon 6D (formerly a confirmed film-generation luddite), and determined to shoot all images in RAW.  Very happy with the thousands of images taken over past year (yes, I know they need weeding down to just a hundred or two... give me time - I have only just retired last month).

 

So this brings me to the point:  I am getting my head around Lightroom 5, and having good success in general RAW manipulation.   I like the potential of the new Affinity "Photo", as evidenced by viewing some of the brief training videos on Vimeo.  Superb voiceover, professional presentation, obvious vast experience, - BUT as others have commented, they tend to be a bit on the short side, and some of the quick clicks, tool selection moves, etc are done so quickly that they are hard to follow.  The most recent video for beginners (29/7) runs about 10 minutes, and great to see.  However it could run to 30 minutes for my likes, and point out details that I think are "assumed knowledge".  Why not a half hour presentation - taking a RAW image from Lightroom, developing it, then applying the sort of "dodging and burning" techniques that seem to win in photo competitions, and outputting to a personal web page for final viewing.

 

Fully understand the vast amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes already to produce such superb products as Designer and now Photo, and appreciate that it is still early days regarding production of training material.  I just want to add my voice the the audience of amateurs who are still slightly frightened.  The pros (and glad to know that so many former PS types are jumping ship) are able to read between the lines of your videos.  In the fullness of time please realise that there is a bigger commercial audience out there (types like me...) who long to progress in their photography but want to:  avoid cons like Adobe CC, limited usefulness of Lightroom 6.xxxxxxxx, and instead go with Affinity, but do need a bit of hand-holding.  Sad I know, but just look at the popularity of the lengthy Adobe training videos for earlier versions of LR, PS.  

 

I will probably soon exceed my allocation of word count for this posting, so will close out for now and hope I have not offended too many people. :)

 

dunedoggy

[JimGoshorn]

When you are learning a new piece of software, there is a lot of experimentation required. Read the help file, watch the videos and try working with the tool which was the subject of the video. If you get stumped, just post a question and one of us will probably be able to give you an answer.

 

Don't get intimidated and remember that the rest of us started right where you are now.

[MikeArm]

I agree whole-heartedly with dunedoggy.

 

The Included videos are very helpful but spending hours to apply a gradient in the sky in the Photo Persona means I'm either an idiot or the instructions are vague.

 

The gradient tool works very well & easily in the Raw Persona but a mystery to me in the Photo Persona. When I asked the question the other day no one was able to show me the way in simple terms that can be followed for a beginner.  

 

I'll keep plugging away due to my dislike of PS CC model but I can hardly wait for more detailed videos. I would even be very willing to pay for such a package.

 

Thanks.

[Patrick Connor]

For anyone reading this post there is a new starting point video here

 

http://vimeo.com/macaffinity/apforbeginners

 

and 50 or more other tutorials to go on to.

[MikeArm]

Hi Patrick,

 

Great introduction to several features of Affinity. These a a very good starting points but where do we go from here? All the videos feature one layer photos and then make global adjustments. I think we need a similar set of photos that go to the next level. There is so much potential but without a clear path frustration set in and I'm fearful that some users will simply walk away. I want Affinity Photo to be one of the most successful photo apps worldwide.

 

Thanks, again.

[peter]

Don't forget to visit the road map to see what's coming next.

 

AD=Affinity Designer=Vector and Raster: (Illustrator)
APh=Affinity Photo=Photo manipulation: (Photoshop)
APu=Affinity Publisher=Desktop publishing: (In Design)

This clears up any confusion and is a handy short cut. This copies Adobe's style of naming, which also copies the periodic table abbreviations. As seen in the current US TV series Breaking Bad titles.

https://affinity.ser...opic/1689-faqs/

 

Let's see what you can do...I've put my favourite pins on my Pinterest board... here's a few from it

https://www.pinteres...inity-designer/

https://www.pinteres...-family-guy-tr/

https://www.pinteres...ets-the-eejits/

 

As for the various tutorials, MEB has kindly posted these links here

http://www.miguelboto.com/affinity/

 

Should be enough to get the ball going.

 

[Madame]

I'm sure there will be a lot of videos, it's early days yet.
What I wish for are videos that shows the full potential of every tool and a thorough  walk through of the layers behavior.

 

I love playing with Affinity, and I'm learning a lot. I use the videos, not so much the Help files, since English isn't my native language and it take a lot of effort to understand some of them.

[MEB]

Hi MikeArm,

You may want to take a look at Affinity Review too (an ezine about everything Affinity).

There's some advanced written and video tutorials there for Affinity Photo (Issue #2).

[MikeArm]

You folks are the best. Thank you so much for listening and, especially, answering. Great forum. I will check out all suggestions & will keep experimenting.

[peter]

Affinity: the clue's in the title!