Affinity Photo: bugs and co (?)

[nicoppc]

Hello,

 

I am using Affinty to replace PS for about one mounth.

It works mostly, but there are many glitch which feel weird. I will list a few:

- Select (lasso) is extremely slow. The lasso is late compare to the mouse pointer. Sometimes is also does not work: You draw your selection, but nothing is selected, you redraw it, it works.. This kind of function was already instant on an Amiga 500.. how can it be slow on a modern PC ?

- Change the brush size using the mouse (using Ctrl-Alt) is totally weird. Sometime the position on the pointer jumps to somewhere else. And even it it does not change, its a total painful experience. One ends up using the brush properties in the tool bar on the top

- Exporting to Tiff (16bit with layers) usually produce a corrupted tiff and the picture is lost

- Performance is sub optimal. PS CS6 on a MBP 2012 feels way faster than Affinity on a PC i7 8 cores/64Gb/RTX 2080

- I deeply dived in mask.. still could not figure out how the works. I could not thing about any logical function.. Sometime it works, sometimes it does, sometimes, it remove parts of the pictures..

 -> Is it possible using one mask, to mask the content of a group ? If yes, how

 -> Would it be possible to add the option: "Mask behaviour like in PS" `?

- Open a big tiff, resize, correct prespective and then flatten -> Affinity can not save this picture anymore. -> Work lost.

 -> the same without flatten -> it works

- The Level tools only show the per channel clipping, if the master level is >0.

- Afffinty crahes a lot. mainly while loading big file, Inpainting or just like this.

 

Questions: Are others experiencing such issue ? Will the usability of the software be improved anytime soon ?

 

Regards

[Dan C]

Hi @nicoppc,

I will do my best to cover your points below, please do let me know if I've misunderstood anything, or not answered your query for any reason.

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

- Select (lasso) is extremely slow. The lasso is late compare to the mouse pointer. 

This isn't something I'm seeing here - but certainly could be related to your hardware and the document in use. Can you please confirm your specs for me, and what pixel size your document is (if known)?

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

Change the brush size using the mouse (using Ctrl-Alt) is totally weird. Sometime the position on the pointer jumps to somewhere else.

This hasn't been reported previously and the retail version is a little slower than the beta in this regard, as there have been a few bug fixes applied in this area. Could you possibly provide a screen recording of this for me?

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

- Exporting to Tiff (16bit with layers) usually produce a corrupted tiff and the picture is lost

Sorry to hear this - when this happens, what is the average file size of the corrupted TIFF file? I am aware that TIFFs have a hard limit at 4GB and past this point data cannot be written.

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

- Performance is sub optimal. PS CS6 on a MBP 2012 feels way faster than Affinity on a PC i7 8 cores/64Gb/RTX 2080

Have you tried the latest beta version on Windows? We've had GPU hardware acceleration on Mac for a while, however this has just been added to Windows and certainly closes the performance gap.

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

I deeply dived in mask (...) Sometime it works, sometimes it does, sometimes, it remove parts of the pictures

I'm going to need further information here unfortunately, the more you can provide the more I can help

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

Is it possible using one mask, to mask the content of a group ? If yes, how

Simply select the Group in the Layers panel, then add your Mask to that layer.

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

Would it be possible to add the option: "Mask behaviour like in PS" `?

I recommend making a post in the Feedback section of the forums for this.

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

Open a big tiff, resize, correct prespective and then flatten -> Affinity can not save this picture anymore. -> Work lost

How big is the TIFF you're opening? When you resize this, what size are you going from / to? As above, a TIFF file has a hard 4GB limit, so anything larger than this cannot be saved.

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

The Level tools only show the per channel clipping, if the master level is >0.

My apologies, could you please provide some more information regarding this? 

On 11/22/2020 at 9:35 AM, nicoppc said:

Afffinty crahes a lot. mainly while loading big file, Inpainting or just like this

There's a large possibility that these will be repaired or resolved in the latest beta, as the hardware acceleration has helped the loading time for documents and reduces certain crashing behaviour.

I hope this helps!

[nicoppc]

Hi!

Thanks for your reply. I will do my best as well.

My hardware i7 10875H, 64 Gb RAM. Intel GFX and RTX 2080 Super Q

Quote

This isn't something I'm seeing here - but certainly could be related to your hardware and the document in use. Can you please confirm your specs for me, and what pixel size your document is (if known)?

Usually 26mpx pictures, so about 4000*6000. Sometime, bigger panoramas with 12 000 * 18 000 pixels. Using lasso is smart, but pressing shift to get straight line is painful slow.

Quote

This hasn't been reported previously and the retail version is a little slower than the beta in this regard, as there have been a few bug fixes applied in this area. Could you possibly provide a screen recording of this for me?

A screenshot will not show much. It a video is better.. I can just wait for the next release for this.. I am currently using the panel on the top and it's ok.

Quote

Sorry to hear this - when this happens, what is the average file size of the corrupted TIFF file? I am aware that TIFFs have a hard limit at 4GB and past this point data cannot be written.

It usually happen with the big pano. The last corrupted file was 2.99 Gb. However, even if the pictures is too big for a tiff, it should pop up an error and NOT corrupt the file..

Quote

Have you tried the latest beta version on Windows? We've had GPU hardware acceleration on Mac for a while, however this has just been added to Windows and certainly closes the performance gap.

Not yet. As I already experienced some difficulties, I was not in the mood to beta test. Do you have any release date ?

Quote

How big is the TIFF you're opening? When you resize this, what size are you going from / to? As above, a TIFF file has a hard 4GB limit, so anything larger than this cannot be saved.

Ok. Same here.. If the Tiff can not handle it, Affinity Photo should warm user and propose an alternative format.. but not corrupt the file without error!

Quote

My apologies, could you please provide some more information regarding this? 

Sure.

Open a "normal" photo from your favorite camera. Most of the time, the picture is not "leveled". So the black is not black and the white not white. Using the level tool you can level it. Fine.

If one press the alt key while adjusting the level, Affinity display everything black and the cliping pixel. Try:

Add a level layer, go to master, press alt and adjust the black level. You will notice everything is black and when you adjust the level up, you wou get the clipping. Same true for the while level.

Now, one as the possibility to adjust the level per channel, and one can use the same alt-key function too see the clipping.

However, the per channel clipping function only works IF the master level is >0%. This is a bug, IMO. PS does it differently.

Quote

There's a large possibility that these will be repaired or resolved in the latest beta, as the hardware acceleration has helped the loading time for documents and reduces certain crashing behaviour.

Ok. So I'm crossing finger for the upcomming version! Any date ?

Thanks for your reply.

Regards

[nicoppc]

About the layer. How could you explain this behaviour ?

A desactivated layer influce the result of the picture..

This is very confusing to me.

[nicoppc]

I then just added a curve, then added a point of the curve.. and Affinity crashed.

Probably OpenCL related.. (?). I hope the next version will be much more usable.

 

-

2 minutes later: Restarted Affinty, reload the file, added my curve (no crash). Affinty crashed while saving the picture (in .afphoto)..

-

I mean this is really painful to work with Affinty for now.. As a production tool, I constatly have to switch back to PS CS6 on my 8 years old mac.. because it's faster and just never crashed.

[nicoppc]

Good morning

 

I installed the latest Beta (1.9.832).. and it's smoother and more stable. Looking forward the final release..

There are still some glitch -> it did crash, and lasso line are still slow.

Keep going!

[nicoppc]

Well.. I have been using afphoto file because tiff were problemating.. Now, Affinty failed to save my work as afphoto and I just lost half a day word.

 

-> You should really fix the software it's great but just unusable for work.

-> PS: Was using the final release, non beta.

[Dan C]

On 11/24/2020 at 1:28 PM, nicoppc said:

Usually 26mpx pictures, so about 4000*6000. Sometime, bigger panoramas with 12 000 * 18 000 pixels. Using lasso is smart, but pressing shift to get straight line is painful slow.

Thanks for confirming that for me, I'm seeing strange behaviour when constraining the tool using shift on larger pixel dimension documents, so I'll get this logged now!

On 11/24/2020 at 1:28 PM, nicoppc said:

It usually happen with the big pano. The last corrupted file was 2.99 Gb. However, even if the pictures is too big for a tiff, it should pop up an error and NOT corrupt the file..

I absolutely agree, my apologies if this seemed as though I was approving the app creating a corrupted file - this is already logged as a bug with our developers, as no error is shown when the file exceeds 4GB.

If the file isn't exceeding this limit however, it certainly shouldn't be corrupted. Does this happen for all of your exported Panoramas, or only some?

On 11/24/2020 at 1:28 PM, nicoppc said:

Do you have any release date ?

Unfortunately we don't tend to give release dates in advance, as lots can change when in the beta stage and we don't wish to disappoint customers by 'missing' these dates.

On 11/24/2020 at 1:28 PM, nicoppc said:

Open a "normal" photo from your favorite camera. Most of the time, the picture is not "leveled". So the black is not black and the white not white. Using the level tool you can level it. Fine.

If one press the alt key while adjusting the level, Affinity display everything black and the cliping pixel. Try:

Add a level layer, go to master, press alt and adjust the black level. You will notice everything is black and when you adjust the level up, you wou get the clipping. Same true for the while level.

Now, one as the possibility to adjust the level per channel, and one can use the same alt-key function too see the clipping.

However, the per channel clipping function only works IF the master level is >0%. This is a bug, IMO. PS does it differently

Many thanks for this information, I have logged this with our developers, as I can see the behaviour is different from PS and I am not currently sure if this is by design in Affinity

On 11/24/2020 at 1:38 PM, nicoppc said:

About the layer. How could you explain this behaviour ?

A desactivated layer influce the result of the picture..

Absolutely! With only the Mask object within the Group layer, this Mask will be applied to all layers beneath the group layer - which is why it masks out the Pixel layer.

Once you introduce an Adjustment layer to the Group (whether enabled or disabled), this will Clip the Group to the Adjustment layer, meaning the Mask is now only affecting the Adjustment and not masking the Pixel layer.

I hope this clears things up

On 11/25/2020 at 8:36 AM, nicoppc said:

I installed the latest Beta (1.9.832).. and it's smoother and more stable. Looking forward the final release..

There are still some glitch -> it did crash, and lasso line are still slow.

Many thanks for letting me know! Please post any feedback in our beta section, so our dev teams can continue to improve the apps!

[nicoppc]

Quote

 

Hi!

Thanks for your reply

 

Quote

 

 

I absolutely agree, my apologies if this seemed as though I was approving the app creating a corrupted file - this is already logged as a bug with our developers, as no error is shown when the file exceeds 4GB.

If the file isn't exceeding this limit however, it certainly shouldn't be corrupted. Does this happen for all of your exported Panoramas, or only some?

No. However... I stop using tiff with Affinity for now. I can not really confirm if the corruption only happen when the tiff got bigger that 4gb because I was not aware of this issue at that time.

Tiff are practical because I can see them in CaptureOne. Now, I am using afphoto only.

-> Tiff are really required for my workflow

Quote

Unfortunately we don't tend to give release dates in advance, as lots can change when in the beta stage and we don't wish to disappoint customers by 'missing' these dates.

Sure. Keep going

Quote

Absolutely! With only the Mask object within the Group layer, this Mask will be applied to all layers beneath the group layer - which is why it masks out the Pixel layer.

Once you introduce an Adjustment layer to the Group (whether enabled or disabled), this will Clip the Group to the Adjustment layer, meaning the Mask is now only affecting the Adjustment and not masking the Pixel layer.

I hope this clears things up

Yes. it's clear but still not "logic" for a 10 years PS user. I think I will manage

I notice it's possible to disable the GPU acceleration in the latest beta so I did disabled it.

-> Hope to see a solid implementation coming.

 

Keep going (fixing) !

[nicoppc]

Hi!

One update to today. I got the latest beta (1.9.0.864). I lost again a file while saving to tiff. the file was NOT bigger as 4gb.

I uploaded the corrupted file there:

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=kZCLYLXZ3ET8lp6WoEhyK0bIcCY2053hL95X

PS: I must have lost about 1 day work on the week because of this issue.

Regards

[Leigh]

@nicoppc Sorry for the delay in replying. For some reason it won't open in the latest Windows beta but does in the latest macOS beta. I've been able to resave the file to an .afphoto file in the macOS beta and it now opens in the Windows beta. Can you remember what you last did in the file before having this issue?

Here's a fixed version of your file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3nr5ycuxccijryw/202009_lahnstrasse_drohne-DJI_0538 Panorama_fixed.afphoto?dl=0

[nicoppc]

7 hours ago, Leigh said:

@nicoppc Sorry for the delay in replying. For some reason it won't open in the latest Windows beta but does in the latest macOS beta. I've been able to resave the file to an .afphoto file in the macOS beta and it now opens in the Windows beta. Can you remember what you last did in the file before having this issue?

Here's a fixed version of your file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3nr5ycuxccijryw/202009_lahnstrasse_drohne-DJI_0538 Panorama_fixed.afphoto?dl=0

Thanks!

I did not think you could recover it using the Mac version.. I have a Mac too for this case.

 

Sorry, I can not reproduce nor remenber how it happened.. Actually, I wish it will not happen anymore !

I remenber they was a requester saying something the access has being lost. I'm using an external disk but did not have any kind of issue. I also did a disk and filesystem check and everything was fine,

 

Regards

[nicoppc]

Hi!

Just lost another file. Affinity was saving an afphoto. FAiled.. and I lost my work. It mostly happen with big file.

 

Unfortunately, Affinity Photo has serious stability issue making it unusable for prod. Hope to see a new stable version soon.

Regards

[Dan C]

On 12/4/2020 at 10:51 PM, nicoppc said:

I remenber they was a requester saying something the access has being lost. I'm using an external disk but did not have any kind of issue.

29 minutes ago, nicoppc said:

Just lost another file. Affinity was saving an afphoto. FAiled.. and I lost my work. It mostly happen with big file.

Thanks for letting us know and I'm very sorry to hear this is the case. As outlined in the below post -

On 8/10/2020 at 10:21 AM, Dan C said:

We always recommend avoiding working directly from external drives, as this can cause corruption in your Affinity files if access to the drive is lost (such as an accidental unplug).

My sincerest apologies that we can't recover this file in this instance!

Working directly with an external drive is not recommended with Affinity, especially when saving large files as this introduces many more 'instances' where the file can be damaged/corrupted.

If you save and work on these files locally, then transfer them to your external drive once you've saved/exported your work, you should find that your documents are not corrupted anywhere near as often.

I hope this clears things up here

[carl123]

1 minute ago, Dan C said:

you should find that your documents are not corrupted anywhere near as often

Well, that's something to look forward to then.

One corrupt document per week rather than 5

How about we go for zero corrupt documents when saving locally as a starting point, then expand that to all those pesky networked/external drives

😃

[Dan C]

25 minutes ago, carl123 said:

How about we go for zero corrupt documents when saving locally as a starting point, then expand that to all those pesky networked/external drives

Of course, this is always our aim

Apologies if it appeared as though my response was 'okaying' some corruption - I just didn't want to promise an absolute that no document would ever be corrupted!