Opening a Photo as an Image on Affinity Photo

[KSetia]

I just tried to learn about affinity photo.

The instructor can open a photo and has it displayed as "image" on affinity photo, but when I tried to open a photo (tif file), it shows "pixel" instead.

How can I get the photo appears as "image", not as "pixel".

The only way to do this seems to select Place but no Place option to choose for the first time I open a photo image.

I only can choose Open and this creates pixel image.

Does "Open an image (pixel), then Place the same image (image), after that delete the pixel image," the only solution.

Is there a simple way to do this?

[iconoclast]

33 minutes ago, KSetia said:

I just tried to learn about affinity photo.

The instructor can open a photo and has it displayed as "image" on affinity photo, but when I tried to open a photo (tif file), it shows "pixel" instead.

How can I get the photo appears as "image", not as "pixel".

The only way to do this seems to select Place but no Place option to choose for the first time I open a photo image.

I only can choose Open and this creates pixel image.

Does "Open an image (pixel), then Place the same image (image), after that delete the pixel image," the only solution.

Is there a simple way to do this?

You can find the Place option in the menu "Placement Policy" under the "Place" entry (menu "File"). Choose "Linked" to place it as an image.

If "Linked" is chosen, you can also open an image by drag&drop from the file manager into Affinity Photo.

For both methods, you need to create a new document first to place the image on.

[PaulEC]

Open a new document (doesn't matter what size).

Place a photo on it.

Clip the canvas (Document – Clip Canvas)

You'll have an image rather than a pixel layer)

(If you flatten this layer it will convert it to a pixel layer!)

[iconoclast]

12 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

Open a new document (doesn't matter what size).

Place a photo on it.

Clip the canvas (Document – Clip Canvas)

You'll have an image rather than a pixel layer)

(If you flatten this layer it will convert it to a pixel layer.)

The "Clip Canvas" option is cool. Something I badly missed in the past. Thanks for the hint!

But that the image gets placed as "Image" - no matter what "Placement Policy" you chose - seems to be a bug, doesn't it?

[PaulEC]

1 minute ago, iconoclast said:

But that the image gets placed as image - no matter what "Placement Policy" you chose - seems to be a bug, doesn't it?

I don't think it's a bug, it just gives you the option to link or embed the image, it's not really anything to do with it being an image or pixel layer. AFAIK a placed image is always inserted as an image layer, until/unless you rasterise it.

[KSetia]

Sorry after I used Document-Clip Canvas, it still shows pixel, not image.

[iconoclast]

1 minute ago, PaulEC said:

I don't think it's a bug, it just gives you the option to link or embed the image, it's not really anything to do with it being an image or pixel layer. AFAIK a placed image is always inserted as an image layer, until/unless you rasterise it.

As far as I understand, the difference between an "Image" and a "Pixel" layer is that the "Image" layer is only linked, while the Pixel layer is embedded in the document. So to manipulate the "Image" layer (destructive), you have to convert it into a "Pixel" layer.

[iconoclast]

4 minutes ago, KSetia said:

Sorry after I used Document-Clip Canvas, it still shows pixel, not image.

Take a look at "File" > "Placement Policy" and choose "Linked".

[PaulEC]

4 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

Take a look at "File" > "Placement Policy" and choose "Linked".

The thing is you still have to have something, another layer or document, to place the image into; you can't just place an image as a new document.

[KSetia]

I have done File-Placement Policy-Linked and Document-Clip Canvas, but it still shows "pixel" while when I opened a youtube (below) it shows "image" instead.

 

[PaulEC]

(Sorry about the background music, I didn't realise the mike was on! 😀)

[iconoclast]

Just now, PaulEC said:

The thing is you still have to have something, another layer or document, to place the image into; you can't just place an image as a new document.

Yes, I know, but if you want to have your image placed as an "Image", you have to set the "Placement Policy" to "Linked, not to "Embedded". That is the option that decides how your image will be placed. And that doesn't seem to work as it should.

[KSetia]

Many thanks Paul

 

[KSetia]

Thanks so much too iconoclast

 

[iconoclast]

22 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

(Sorry about the background music, I didn't realise the mike was on! 😀)

 

By the way, I'm on Windows. Don't know if that is important in this case, but to be safe.

The "Clip Canvas" option has nothing to do with getting the placed image as an "Image" layer. As you can see in your video, it is an "Image" layer even before you clipped it. I think the important option for this should normally be the "Placement Policy".

But however if you drag an image into the empty workspace of AFPhoto or to the top of the UI, it will be opened as a pixel (rastered) image, if you drag it into an opened image, it will be an Image layer. Think that is what you mean, right. But I can't see what the "Placement Policy" does. Doesn't seem to have any effect.

[PaulEC]

The only reason for clipping the canvas is to make it the same size as the image you are placing, that way the document does not need to be the same size as the image you are placing. As I said, you have to have something to place the image into, if you don't clip to canvas you will either have a border around the image (as in my video) or, if the document is smaller than the image, parts of the image will be cut off. Maybe we're doing something different to each other (I'm also on Windows), but for me it doesn't matter if the placement policy is embed or link, the placed image is still an image layer. The only difference is whether it is embeded or linked! 

[iconoclast]

3 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

The only reason for clipping the canvas is to make it the same size as the image you are placing, that way the document does not need to be the same size as the image you are placing. As I said, you have to have something to place the image into, if you don't clip to canvas you will either have a border around the image (as in my video) or, if the document is smaller than the image, parts of the image will be cut off. Maybe we're doing something different to each other (I'm also on Windows), but for me it doesn't matter if the placement policy is embedded or link, the placed image is still an image layer. The only difference is whether it is embedded or linked! 

I may misunderstand the "Embedded"/"Linked" option in the "Placement Policy", but it doesn't seem to have any effect. I tested changing it, and the history annotates those steps, but the Ressource Manager doesn't display any changes. I suppose it is a bug. But I have to test it a little more.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, iconoclast said:

Yes, I know, but if you want to have your image placed as an "Image", you have to set the "Placement Policy" to "Linked, not to "Embedded". That is the option that decides how your image will be placed. And that doesn't seem to work as it should.

No, the placement policy is not what affects this. A  image file (PNG, JPG, TIFF) that you Place will always be an (Image) layer, as will an image that you Paste onto an open document, or drag/drop onto an open document.

An image file that you Open will always be a (Pixel) layer.

The placement policy merely controls whether the file will be Embedded (physically within the parent document) or Linked (external to the parent document).

[iconoclast]

1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

...The placement policy merely controls whether the file will be Embedded (physically within the parent document) or Linked (external to the parent document).

Yes, and it only does this the way you defined it before you opened/placed the image, as far as I can see. Even the History displays changes you did with the Placement Policy, they are not really done, as you can see in the Ressource Manager. That is a little bit confusing, and I'm not sure that it's the way it is meant to be. If you want to change "Embedded"/"Linked" after the image is already loaded, you have to do it it in the Ressource Manager. The Placement Policy doesn't do it. At least for me.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, iconoclast said:

If you want to change "Embedded"/"Linked" after the image is already loaded, you have to do it it in the Ressource Manager. The Placement Policy doesn't do it. At least for me.

The Placement policy only controls items you Place after you set the policy. It does not affect previously Placed items, and that is intentional and the way it is meant to be. If you change your mind, you can use the Resource Manager or you can use Replace Image from the Context Toolbar (but the Resource Manager is easier).

[iconoclast]

1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

The Placement policy only controls items you Place after you set the policy. It does not affect previously Placed items, and that is intentional and the way it is meant to be. If you change your mind, you can use the Resource Manager or you can use Replace Image from the Context Toolbar (but the Resource Manager is easier).

That's what I found out too. The confusing thing is that if you try to change this setting with the Placement Policy, the History annotates that every time you do it, even nothing really happens. I understand that iotems in the File menu are meant for files to be opened. That makes sense. But that steps, that don't have any effect, are annotated in the history doesn't make sense and confuses.

[walt.farrell]

18 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

The confusing thing is that if you try to change this setting with the Placement Policy, the History annotates that every time you do it, even nothing really happens.

Something did happen. Your document settings were changed so that future items you Place will be placed according to the new policy. Changes to document settings are also important to remember in the History, so you can Undo them.

 

[iconoclast]

9 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Something did happen. Your document settings were changed so that future items you Place will be placed according to the new policy. Changes to document settings are also important to remember in the History, so you can Undo them.

 

Hm, yes, one could see it this way. I already thought about it. But I think it is more confusing than helpfull. I don't think that this step is worth beeing notified in the History. But that is, of course, only my opinion.

[R C-R]

On 6/26/2021 at 9:11 AM, iconoclast said:

But I think it is more confusing than helpfull. I don't think that this step is worth beeing notified in the History.

I think it would be more confusing if it was not listed because if I moved back several steps before I had changed the policy I could easily overlook that the previous policy was still in effect.

In fact, I wish it was more informative than just listing this as "Document properties." I think "Policy changed" or the like would be much more useful.

[iconoclast]

2 hours ago, R C-R said:

I think it would be more confusing if it was not listed because if I moved back several steps before I had changed the policy I could easily overlook that the previous policy was still in effect.

In fact, I wish it was more informative than just listing this as "Document properties." I think "Policy changed" or the like would be much more useful.

OK, of course I accept your opinion, but I personally don't think that this is a thing that I would like to redo with the History. I can imagine at least as many cases it would confuse and interrupt me in my workflow that this option has been redone with the History as cases that do this because it isn't redone with the History. I think this is a kind of adjustment, I would prefer to do independent from the History. Only my subjective opinion.