Switching to Photo to edit from a linked file

[evtonic3]

I have linked files that if I have to edit it, I hit Edit document and it opens another Designer window to do the edits. But I sometimes find that Photo works best to clone or manipulate pixels, but it's greyed out as an option. How do I fix this? I tried to copy and paste, from the linked Designer file into Photo using New from Clipboard but it then crashes Designer!

[Old Bruce]

I think you need to have the designer document Linked not Embedded for this to work. So double check using the Resource Manager.

[loukash]

27 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

I think you need to have the designer document Linked not Embedded for this to work.

No, it's the same.
But nonetheless, Photo is then really just literally a click away: File > Edit in Photo

[walt.farrell]

29 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

I think you need to have the designer document Linked not Embedded for this to work.

That's correct. And when you have it Linked, any edits you make are to the original.

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, loukash said:

No, it's the same.

No, it's not.

If you Place and embed a document file (say, a .afphoto file) then when you use Edit Document (or double-click it in the Layers panel) you get a new editing tab labeled "Embedded". While in that tab, File > Edit in ... are both grayed out.

They will only be active if you have a Linked, not Embedded, document.

[loukash]

I meant "the same" as in: It will always open in Designer first, regardless if embedded or linked.

5 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

While in that tab, File > Edit in ... are both grayed out.

Correct, but…
You can then simply reverse the workflow:

1. File > Edit in Photo
2. double click the embedded document
3. edit away
4. close the edit window/tab
5. File > Edit in Designer – and you're back

 

[prophet]

I may have a similar question/issue.

I have a linked PNG placed in Publisher. I select it and choose "Edit Image" from the context toolbar. It opens the PNG as a second tab/window in Publisher. Sure, I can switch to Photo Persona and do some edits, but I'd like to use the full Photo app. If I choose "File > Edit in Photo" I'd expect the PNG to open, but instead, I get a new Untitled image file opened in Photo, not the actual PNG file.

Not a deal breaker since I'm used to many years of "Reveal in Finder" and then opening the file in the "proper" app, but it seems a failure of the Studio Link process.

(MacOS 10.14.6, Affinity 1.9.3)

[loukash]

7 minutes ago, prophet said:

instead, I get a new Untitled image file opened in Photo, not the actual PNG file.

I guess that's because Affinity doesn't natively save PNG files. It can only export them.

[prophet]

Huh. So…that workflow only works with placed linked .afphoto files. Seems like an area for improvement.

[walt.farrell]

46 minutes ago, loukash said:

I guess that's because Affinity doesn't natively save PNG files. It can only export them.

It can save a PNG file on top of itself, just as it can for JPG and TIFF, but that would not be good practice for this workflow in my opinion.

It's consistent, by the way. Open a JPG, PNG, or TIFF in Photo (or Designer) and use File > Edit in... to invoke the other program, and you're working on an unnamed file when it opens in the other application. What is shared back-and-forth is an Affinity native file object.

 

[prophet]

And yet, in Publisher, I can "Edit Image" from context toolbar and it opens the original file which I can edit via the Photo Persona. Works for my workflow since I don't usually need the full Photo app, but seems like an odd inconsistency.

[loukash]

43 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

It can save a PNG file on top of itself, just as it can for JPG and TIFF

Ah, interesting!

43 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

but that would not be good practice for this workflow in my opinion

Agreed, because there's no control of the format options.

[walt.farrell]

11 minutes ago, prophet said:

And yet, in Publisher, I can "Edit Image" from context toolbar and it opens the original file which I can edit via the Photo Persona. Works for my workflow since I don't usually need the full Photo app, but seems like an odd inconsistency.

You can edit in the Photo Persona in the other scenario, too. We're talking about how it works when you try to switch to the Photo application.

[prophet]

To put it simply, using "Edit Image" in Publisher opens the original file for me to edit and save, so why does the extra step of "Edit in Photo" open an untitled copy? If the applications are capable of opening, editing and saving the original PNG (and JPG and TIFF) files, why does that extra step change what file I'm editing?

Again, not a big workflow hassle for me, but rather a curiosity on my part.

[loukash]

1 minute ago, prophet said:

rather a curiosity

Yeah, it's yet another Affinity inconsistency. Albeit a minor issue as far as I'm concerned.

[walt.farrell]

10 minutes ago, prophet said:

To put it simply, using "Edit Image" in Publisher opens the original file for me to edit and save, so why does the extra step of "Edit in Photo" open an untitled copy? If the applications are capable of opening, editing and saving the original PNG (and JPG and TIFF) files, why does that extra step change what file I'm editing?

Because "Edit in ..." transfers a native Affinity file from one application to the other, and unless you're already editing a native Affinity file it doesn't have a named file to transfer.

It wouldn't just send a JPG, TIFF, or PNG file over. It needs all the internal data that it has, in Affinity format, or it would lose any changes you'd made before you did the "Edit in ...". And it can't Save the JPG, TIFF, or PNG file because they don't all support having native Affinity data incorporated.

[prophet]

32 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Because "Edit in ..." transfers a native Affinity file from one application to the other,

This makes sense.

32 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

and unless you're already editing a native Affinity file it doesn't have a named file to transfer.

But this less so. When I choose "Edit Image", Publisher opens the original file in a new tab with its name right there in the window title bar and tab title bar. It most certainly knows what file I'm working on because I can make edits in Photo Persona and save it and the Assistant lets me know one of my resources has been updated. I can open the original file in a separate app and see the changes I made with Publisher Photo Persona.

32 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

It wouldn't just send a JPG, TIFF, or PNG file over.

But if it's a linked file, why not? Any "work" done to the file has been within Publisher, not the original file. It has a history of whatever effects or transformation have occurred, but the original file is unchanged.

32 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

And it can't Save the JPG, TIFF, or PNG file because they don't all support having native Affinity data incorporated.

But it can!! See above point. If I use "Edit Image" from Publisher to open a linked JPG, I can edit and save it straight from Publisher Photo Persona. To your point, though, if I try and do anything more than what's supported by the file format, say add a vector to the JPG, upon saving, I get a pop up letting me know and have the option to Save As or Save Flattened. And if I Save Flattened, it overwrites the original as it should.

To sum up, I guess the question/issue is why there is no workflow within Studio Link to edit a linked image file using the full Photo app.

To drive the point home, in InDesign CS6 here on my Mojave Mac, I selected a linked image, chose "Edit In…" from the flyout menu and was delighted to see Affinity Photo as an option. Photo opened up the original file no problem.

[walt.farrell]

5 minutes ago, prophet said:

But it can!! See above point. If I use "Edit Image" from Publisher to open a linked JPG, I can edit and save it straight from Publisher Photo Persona. To your point, though, if I try and do anything more than what's supported by the file format, say add a vector to the JPG, upon saving, I get a pop up letting me know and have the option to Save As or Save Flattened. And if I Save Flattened, it overwrites the original as it should.

To sum up, I guess the question/issue is why there is no workflow within Studio Link to edit a linked image file using the full Photo app.

Again, this is not related at all to StudioLink.

1. Open a JPG, PNG, or TIFF in the Photo application.
2. File > Edit in Designer
3. What is the name of the document you're editing in Designer? For me, it is an unnamed file.

File names are retained across "Edit in ..." only when you start with a native Affinity file.

[loukash]

To put things in the right perspective though…
Unless you'd need to edit like 200 linked files per hour each day, opening a linked image in any app of your choice is really just a few clicks away:

1. View > Resource Manager
2. Show In Finder (on Mac, that is)
3. ctrl/right-click in Finder > context menu > Open With > every app that can open a PNG (quite a long list on my Mac)
4. edit
5. save
6. as soon as you've saved, Designer/Publisher will alert you that the linked resource has changed

That said, I wouldn't mind to have an "Edit With" option directly in Affinity.

[prophet]

2 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

File names are retained across "Edit in ..." only when you start with a native Affinity file.

Well then that's the crux of it. I think when working with a linked file, "Edit in…" should open the original file, not a unnamed copy. It should acts as if the "Open" command were invoked. In the same way can File >Open a JPG in Photo or Designer with no questions asked.

(side weirdness, I can't open a JPG directly with Publisher, but I can open a PSD!?)

[prophet]

3 minutes ago, loukash said:

opening a linked image in any app of your choice is really just a few clicks away

By all means! My 20+ years of Adobe have conditioned me to "Reveal in Finder" or "Edit With…" on a regular basis. Just enjoying this debate with the esteemed @walt.farrell

[walt.farrell]

3 minutes ago, prophet said:

Well then that's the crux of it. I think when working with a linked file, "Edit in…" should open the original file, not a unnamed copy.

And it does. But only if you're still "in" the oiginal file. When you've used Edit Document or Edit Image you're no longer "in" the original Publisher file; you're in the Linked file.

If you want to send the complete file over to Photo or Designer you have that option; just don't try to edit the Linked file. Once you're over in Photo or Designer you can then use Edit Document or Edit Image.

[loukash]

1 minute ago, prophet said:

I can't open a JPG directly with Publisher

Yeah, recently I noticed that, too. Not sure if it always was like that or if it's a more recent bug in 1.9.x.
You can still drag & drop a JPEG/TIFF/PNG onto an APu window (outside the page) or onto the app icon to open it "natively" and then edit in the Photo persona.

[prophet]

4 minutes ago, loukash said:

You can still drag & drop a JPEG/TIFF/PNG [...] onto the app icon to open it "natively"

True, but if I then "Edit In Photo," I get an unnamed image. @walt.farrell, you make good sense in your defense, but I'll stick with this being an issue that could use some improvement.

Thanks to you both for the debate and insights.

[loukash]

5 minutes ago, prophet said:

but if I then "Edit In Photo," I get an unnamed image.

Not really necessary in Publisher if you have the Studio Link anyway, is it?