Panorama issue with MacOS Catalina

[kerraddoo]

Hi -

I am new to Affinity and looking to import files from MacOS Catalina Photo Library to create a Panorama. If I look to "add files" I am not able to select the Photolibrary (it is greyed out). I am able to edit the files in Affinity directly from Photos but that is nor what I want. Presumably I'm doing something wrong. MacBook Pro early 2015, MacOS Catalina 10.15.7, Affinity 1.8.4

Thoughts anyone.

[Lee D]

To use images from the Apple Photos to create a panorama in Affinity Photo you would need to export/copy them to another location first. Then using the panorama Add option select those files to use. This is due to the Photos library file not being accessible. 

[R C-R]

In the Add Files window, make sure "Show Sidebar" is enabled in the 4 line 'hamburger' menu at the top. Then look for a "Media" item in the sidebar (you may have to scroll down in the sidebar to see it). If there is nothing indented immediately below the "Media" item, hover the pointer on it so that the word "Show" appears & click on that.

One of (& possibly the only) items in the "Media" sidebar category should have a camera icon & be named "Photos." If you click on that, in the right pane of the window one of the items should be your Apple Photos photo library, with a Finder-like disclosure triangle. If opened, it should display all the library categories like Favorites, People, Albums, & so on.

[kerraddoo]

Thanks both for the replies. 

R-C-R - I may be mistaken but I think you are referring to use on iPad but thanks anyway. Please correct me if not.

Lee D - Thanks. I was afraid that would be the answer. Was hoping there was something I'd failed to activate or whatever. It's a solution, and not a huge hindrance but clearly would be much slicker if it linked. I have Lightroom Classic so have produced Panoramas directly from Lightroom. Would be good to see closer integration between Apple and Affinity on this.

Many thanks again both of you.

Cheers

[R C-R]

43 minutes ago, kerraddoo said:

R-C-R - I may be mistaken but I think you are referring to use on iPad but thanks anyway. Please correct me if not.

No, this is something available in the Mac desktop apps.

The "Media" sidebar item is actually provided by the macOS, not by the Affinity apps. It can be used in several places to access the library content of several different Apple apps, among them Photos & Photo Booth, for example in the Open dialogs of AD, AP, or APub, as well as in some other Mac desktop apps like Vectornator Pro (for Catalina or later) or GraphicConverter.

Below is a simplified view of the sidebar (with all the items in the categories besides the Media one hidden) showing what you should be able to see in the AP panorama 'add files' window if you make sure the sidebar & Media items are visible. This screenshot was made in the AP panorama 'add files' window on my iMac running Catalina, not on an iPad. The window can be resized larger in the same way as with any other macOS window, & the divider between the upper & lower panes on the right can be adjusted by dragging the white dot up or down to show more or less of each pane's contents.

It may take some time for the Photos library contents to appear. On my old & slow low end iMac I also sometimes had to click on the Photo Booth (or the iPhoto) item before the Photos item would appear; however, on my spiffy new 2020 iMac everything appears within a second or so.

Also note that only the contents of the designated "System Photo Library" set in Apple Photos > Preferences > General > Library Location will appear here. If the "Use as System Photo Library" button is greyed out in that preference, it means the current photo library is the system one.

Although I do not currently have any photos in my Photos library very well suited for panorama creation, this selection method does work fine for that; creating a new unsaved, untitled document that stitches together as best as it can whatever I throw at it.

[kerraddoo]

Excellent - thanks for this, you're absolutely right! Much appreciated. Have the window open now and will go through it. Any issues I'll let you know but looks like this has solved my problem.

Many thanks.