feather of a pasted layer

[deedee123]

 

i'm a new Affinity Photo user and very impressed by it. but i'm also a bit puzzled why it doesn't seem to have a simple feather edge (of a layer) function? my photo-paint 7 from 1997 had it...!  just drag a slider, that's all.

example: what i do al lot is cover a bit up by selecting another part -> copy ->deselect -> paste, then adjust/distort that new pasted layer a bit so it fits the area that needs to be covered.

---->> then blur the edges so it 'melts' much better with the background and you see no sharp lines  <<-----   (not!! because it seems not possible an easy way???)

-> then merge down the layer.

will this be added? if you could only choose "transparent" instead of a color in the "outline" effect, that would already do the trick.

i hope it can be added soon!

best,

david

 

 

[Alfred]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, David.

Feathering is one of several options available to you when modifying a pixel selection. You might also like to investigate the possibilities of cloning and healing or inpainting to blend the pasted content into its new surroundings.

[deedee123]

hi,

thank you for your reply, i feel welcome

but as far as i see, the pixel selection is -what i copy- . but i can only see how much feather i need -after pasting-.

i'm doing a lot of 360 picture editing (for which affinity is great) so i need to stretch the pasted part a bit. cloning and healing i also use, but after the pasted layer is merged down, to cover up errors.

but what do i do with the pasted layer i want to merge more smoothly without sharp edges? of course i can use transparency brush but it can be fiddly. just a simple few pixel edge feather would do miracles.

david

 

[Alfred]

3 minutes ago, deedee123 said:

as far as i see, the pixel selection is -what i copy- . but i can only see how much feather i need -after pasting-.

i'm doing a lot of 360 picture editing (for which affinity is great) so i need to stretch the pasted part a bit. cloning and healing i also use, but after the pasted layer is merged down, to cover up errors.

Since you need to stretch the pasted part anyway, don’t worry too much about the precise amount of feathering: it’s just there to soften the join (and when you stretch what you’ve pasted, the feathering will stretch too).

[deedee123]

 

i think we have a miscommunication...🤨

the point is, i want to adjust the amount of feather after i pasted, and that doesn't seem to be possible in an easy way.

 

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, deedee123 said:

i think we have a miscommunication...🤨

I think we do, David!

Maybe the process isn’t as seamless as you would like, but what’s to prevent you from selecting and feathering the pasted layer?

[deedee123]

hi Alfred,

yes, that's what i want. select and feather. but how?

i'll give a screen shot of how i did it with my "good (very) old" photo-paint.

picture 1 is the selection that's copied, and pasted (here in another document to make it more clear, but it would be somewhere else in the same document normally)

then picture 2, to that new layer i simply add "feather" so it blends better with a background.

that step 2, i can't find in affinity...

[Alfred]

I fear that we’re still miscommunicating here! I did the attached rather quickly, and in the iPad version of APh, but you should be able to achieve the same result in the desktop version.

  

[deedee123]

No fear!

but indeed maybe still misunderstanding.

from what i see (and what i know is possible) you do this before copying, right? but for me it's essential to feather after pasting.

(ps i see you're in scotland, great place! it's been so long since i was there but have nice memories)

[Alfred]

I think I’ve finally cottoned on to the source of the confusion! I’ve been talking about feathering the selection (i.e. the marquee around the pixel region) but you’re talking about feathering the edges of the pixel region itself. With a feathered selection marquee you’ll only see the effect when you copy and paste.

You could apply a Gaussian blur, but that would affect the whole region, and the extra work required to address that problem seems like more effort than simply replacing the selected region with the feathered copy.

[deedee123]

 

yes exactly!

but before i paste, i don't know how much feather is best, i can only see that when it's on top of the area i paste it on.

in my old photo-paint 7 (!!), its almost the only thing you can do with the pasted layer i never thought when buying Affinity 20 years on this is about the only thing i can't do.

there is a variety of outline colors and glow and such i can apply to the layer in Affinity, if only one of these would be transparency instead of a color, the problem is solved and much of my work would be so much easier....

so i'm still hoping for  an update of the program that has this great, and rather simple feature added.

david

[JimmyJack]

Hi @deedee123. I realize you would prefer to keep your habitualized (I say that without any connotation) workflow. It is a simple one. And a capability that Affinity should have.

While you wait for that to be implemented 😁, a slightly different workflow will do what you want.

Instead of: make a selection > copy > paste > blur edges.
Duplicate layer > make a selection > make a pixel mask > blur mask. (yes it is a couple of extra steps 🙃.)

 

[deedee123]

 

hi Jimmy,

thanks a lot for the explanation! i appreciate the clear video, i tried it a few times and indeed i can use this procedure.

but.. i count about 13 clicks, where i could do it 20 years ago in one click and move a slider a bit. and it's still not as accurate.

if only the 'outline' effect could be done with no color, but still with transparency....

and talking about transparency, i know now you can do gradient transparency to a layer with mask and color, but (i sound like some nostalgic old person perhaps), here's how i was used to: select layer, select transparency tool, set a point, drag, done! (see attachment). no mask, no extra layer. and especially no extra clicks. (now it's a bit like finding out a new program doesn't have copy and paste, it seems a standard feature...!)

don't get me wrong, i really like affinity, it's just one small step (or minus 10 clicks) from being.. perfect

david

 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by deedee123
better picture

[Move Along People]

-

[deedee123]

 

hi,

i tried that, but it's hard to see how it fits to the background as all preview modes make things difficult to see.

but after this procedure i still need to manually erase the borders, right? or is there a quicker way to just not only see the mask, but actually have the layer feathered..

david

[deedee123]

 

so, i'm sure now it's not possible as quick (saving many clicks each time) as it was 20 years ago. 😀
i'm also quite sure it won't be that hard to add, especially because colors and such around layers are already possible. it's just transparency that is missing.

i'm not sure however how i can do an 'official' feature suggestion? or is this forum already monitored?

[Alfred]

2 hours ago, deedee123 said:

it's just transparency that is missing

In what sense is transparency “missing”?

Try this:

1. Cover the photo with a white rectangle 

2. Apply a Gaussian Blur effect to the rectangle 

3. Adjust the blur radius for the desired amount of transparency at the edges 

4. Right-click the blurred rectangle and choose ‘Rasterize to Mask’

5. Optionally, clip the mask to the pixel layer to stop it affecting other layers

[deedee123]

in 1997 i did:

1 paste
2 adjust the feather slider, -> wow it blends perfectly!

in 2020 i have to do
1 paste
2 select rectangle .. oh.. my selection wasn't a square but another free shape... mess around.... try to get that right
3 apply the blur (click click click).. radius...
4 right click and a few more clicks....

and yes i can only see what feather is right -after pasting-, not when selecting what i will copy.

if you think that's an efficient way, then why are there outlines for layers while you can just take any brush tool and draw an outline? or why make keyboard shortcuts, when you can do everything with a few mouse clicks? my point is when you regularly have to apply it, you want to do it in the most efficient way.  and as the technology behind it seems rather simple, and is more-or-less already in the program, i think it's a very cool addition and it would optimize my workflow  (and i hope many others) greatly.

(just like sliders that already appear on mouse over instead of click, but that's another topic  )

so i hope this still accounts as feature suggestion. 😎
best, david

 

[Alfred]

30 minutes ago, deedee123 said:

i can only see what feather is right -after pasting-, not when selecting what i will copy

I don’t understand your objection to copying and pasting the unfeathered version and then feathering it in situ where you can see precisely what the effect is going to be. 

[deedee123]

hi,

no objection at all, in fact it's that's precisely what i want to do.

but with one click and a mouse drag of a slider, in two seconds, like i was used to in my antique program.

i don't understand what could be objective about saving a bunch of mouse clicks...

to me it's a bit like saying "i don't understand why you want ctrl+s key when you can go to menu, slide down, click save." ... or "why you need a shortcut on your desktop when you can open a terminal screen, type "open c:://..... (etc)..."

what's wrong with a quicker way? of course keeping the other way too for people who prefer that.

david

[Fixx]

Feathering should really be a layer effect instead of forcing users to tinker with masks. There are all kinds of blingbling in layer effects but no feathering which is most often needed routine.

[deedee123]

Hi Fixx,

i agree very much with you! i like the layer effects it has now but it seems to miss a basic one.

let's hope a not-too-distant update can surprise us with this feature!

thanks,

david

Edited July 22, 2020 by deedee123
spelling error