Affinity Photo Dropshadow Spread Capability

[LarryStew]

I searched on Affinity's forum for this topic but it wasn't the same "spread" as to what I'm referring. I want to know (when creating dropshadows) if there is a comparable "spread" attribute such as the Spread attribute in Adobe Photoshop where one can increase or decrease the intensity of the dropshadow near the object. I'm not referring to the overall radius spread of the dropshadow. Thanks!

[firstdefence]

In the comparison below, we have a circle 1000px x 1000px The settings are comparable but the difference is in how the drop/outer shadows look, Photoshops gradient is smoother while Affinity has a definite halfway line prior to a faster drop off and while Affinity Photo appears to max out at 100px you can go further than that by typing in a higher numerical figure such as 200px, Photoshop gives you a bit more latitude on the sliders initially.

• Distance is comparable to Offset
• Spread is comparable to Intensity
• Size is comparable to Radius

I think I have that right

Photoshop.

 

Affinity Photo.

[LarryStew]

Thanks, firstdefence! Apparently, to see the Intensity setting, the art must first be rasterized. But even then, I could only find the Intensity setting when I clicked on the fx next to the layer name. If I looked in the FX panel, Intensity is not there. ????

[firstdefence]

2 hours ago, LarryStew said:

Thanks, firstdefence! Apparently, to see the Intensity setting, the art must first be rasterized. But even then, I could only find the Intensity setting when I clicked on the fx next to the layer name. If I looked in the FX panel, Intensity is not there. ????

Really? In my example above from Affinity Photo the ellipse is a curve not rasterised, it will rasterise on export due to the layer fx but while it stays in the affinity app the ellipse will remain a curve.

As for the intensity slider not being on the fx panel that’s odd because I’ve never known it not be there. Maybe screenshot your panel and maybe what you are working on to give us an idea of what you are applying a drop shadow to.

[LarryStew]

Here's a screenshot of the document with the FX palette selected in the right side toolbar along with a screenshot of the fx icon options when clicked on the Layer.

[GarryP]

The Effects Panel (shown in your first image) only shows a selection of the settings for each effect. (It only shows them all if there aren't many, e.g. Gaussian Blur.)
You need to have the Layer Effects dialog (shown in your second image) open to see all of the settings.
There’s no way to customise which settings are shown in the Layers Panel.

[LarryStew]

I would prefer to have all available settings show in the various FX panels wherever they are. That’s a bit inconsistent. Actually I’d rather have one place where those settings are found instead of two. With two it becomes a bit confusing as to where I should look, causing me to click on both places. 

[GarryP]

If all of the options for each effect were shown in the Effects Panel then it might start to get a bit cramped when you are using something like 3D or Bevel/Emboss.
I think the developers give us the Effects Panel for the basics so that beginners don’t get overwhelmed and everyone has the basics there if that’s all they need.
If you don’t like using the Effects Panel, or using two panels/dialogs is confusing, then just use the Layer Effects dialog exclusively instead – either click on the “fx” button at the bottom of the Layers Panel or click on the “fx” icon to the right of a layer which already has effects added to it.
Maybe we will get an option to specify what we want in the Effects Panel at a later date – or you can put in a feature request if one doesn’t already exist.