Affinity Photo Batch Job- "OK" button greyed out

[nole0105]

I am trying to batch a group of pictures and the "ok" button is greyed out. I have selected all of the correct settings (I think), tried selecting different buttons (authorize, apply, etc) and nothing happens. I have not used the batch import feature before. Is there something I'm missing???

[Ali]

They look like RAW files - not sure you can batch import undeveloped photos.

[Old Bruce]

 

2 minutes ago, nole0105 said:

I am trying to import a group of pictures and the "ok" button is greyed out.

First off that is not an Import function.

What you are set to do is make a couple of Copies of the images. One as an Affinity Photo file and one as a JPEG.

Try saving into a different location by using the Save into: as the second option of Output. 

[Old Bruce]

5 minutes ago, Ali said:

They look like RAW files - not sure you can batch import undeveloped photos.

Again, this is not an Import feature.

Yes you can make a JPEG from a raw file, the JPEG will have the basic default settings applied.

[nole0105]

8 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

 

I tried with a couple of pictures to "Save into" instead and it still doesn't work. I want to develop a whole bunch of files and convert to jpeg at one time, is that possible? Thanks for your help!

 

Quote

First off that is not an Import function.

What you are set to do is make a couple of Copies of the images. One as an Affinity Photo file and one as a JPEG.

Try saving into a different location by using the Save into: as the second option of Output. 

 

[Old Bruce]

5 minutes ago, nole0105 said:

I tried with a couple of pictures to "Save into" instead and it still doesn't work. I want to develop a whole bunch of files and convert to jpeg at one time, is that possible? Thanks for your help!

You still need to Authorize the batch files output location.

What happens when you hit the Authorize button? You should see something akin to an Open file dialog. You should then navigate to the root level of the drive or computer and hit the okay button. (I am going on memory here)

If you are not seeing this dialog I have to ask if you are now or have in the past used two monitors.

I am guessing you are running Mac because of the file path.

[nole0105]

7 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

You still need to Authorize the batch files output location.

What happens when you hit the Authorize button? You should see something akin to an Open file dialog. You should then navigate to the root level of the drive or computer and hit the okay button. (I am going on memory here)

If you are not seeing this dialog I have to ask if you are now or have in the past used two monitors.

I am guessing you are running Mac because of the file path.

When I hit Authorize for Save into original location, nothing happens. I did try the Save Into option and chose a different folder and that worked! Not sure why the other one doesn't work, but glad to have figured out a solution! Thank you!!

[carl123]

Similar.

 

[DWright]

To enable the OK on the batch process screen you will need to click one of the available macros you do not need to apply the macro as soon as one is click the OK button becomes live

[Stokestack]

Is that a workaround for the fact that "authorize" sometimes doesn't enable the OK button?

[R C-R]

On 11/1/2021 at 8:41 AM, DWright said:

To enable the OK on the batch process screen you will need to click one of the available macros you do not need to apply the macro as soon as one is click the OK button becomes live

In your screenshot, you do not have "Save into original location" selected. It is my understanding that "Authorize..." is only needed when it is, apparently because this has something to do with sandbox restrictions.

So is it really necessary to select a macro to enable the Authorize function when saving to the original location?

[alazio]

On 2/26/2022 at 11:52 AM, R C-R said:

In your screenshot, you do not have "Save into original location" selected. It is my understanding that "Authorize..." is only needed when it is, apparently because this has something to do with sandbox restrictions.

So is it really necessary to select a macro to enable the Authorize function when saving to the original location?

I know this is a bit late, but in case you want to know the answer, after you select Save into and Authorize, click on the ... button below the Authorize button and select the same folder you just authorized. It's cumbersome and unintuitive, but doing so will enable the OK button to be clicked.

Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/kfWDXrl

[57Hoser]

It's a year and a half since "alazio" kindly provided the solution above, and this is still clear as mud in the app nor have I see this solution in the documentation.

I just lost a half hour trying to get a batch to work.  I had selected the 1st option, "Save to original location," plus "authorized" that location after having selected it.  "OK" remained greyed out.  After finding this solution, I used the 2nd option, "Save into," selected the path, and it's finally working.  (Or not.  I'm converting .dng's to .jpg, but the .jpg's are saving very underexposed, yet they individually export fine, so now I've another puzzle to solve. Exporting via batch is not an option.)

So, why does the 1st option exist?  And why did I just wasted a half hour plus put time into this forum because Affinity, a year and a half later, hasn't fixed or at least clarified this in the app, let alone the documentation?

[Stokestack]

2 hours ago, 57Hoser said:

So, why does the 1st option exist?  And why did I just wasted a half hour plus put time into this forum because Affinity, a year and a half later, hasn't fixed or at least clarified this in the app, let alone the documentation?

This is why I didn't update my Affinity applications. I would have done so for bug fixes alone, but they show little interest in fixing easily-identifiable bugs both large and small. I can't imagine that this one is hard to fix; it's defective UI validation. If this is more than a quick fix, the codebase must be a deplorable mess and there's no hope for the app anyway.

Cap that off with a "we aren't going to fix that" attitude, and you have a very disappointing missed opportunity in these applications.

[57Hoser]

Agree on all points, Stokestack.  I dropped PS/ACR/Bridge for similar reasons, but here we are again.  I haven't tried Gimp in a while...

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/

"The photo editor you’ve been dreaming of....equipped with hundreds of timesaving tools and a completely redesigned UI to make your editing experience more seamless than ever."

Yeah....right.

 

[VJS]

Still isn't fixed! Can't do this by either Output location. OK button remains unselectable.

[walt.farrell]

21 minutes ago, VJS said:

Still isn't fixed! Can't do this by either Output location. OK button remains unselectable.

In that screenshot, you don't seem to have selected the output directory you want to use.

[VJS]

You're always quick, Will, thank you.

It may not have been on that screen, but I did select the "Save into original" multiple times and that didn't work.

Then I tried the "Save into" choice and selected the original folder, it wouldn't work that way either. I took a break after spending 20 minutes getting nowhere.

Finally, I tried a new folder. You can see from the "Save as" choices that I selected only JPG. They were finally saved, but there were also copies of AFPhoto created. And none of the JPGs had either Macros applied: files were still 144 dpi and RGB8.

I gave up after wasting 45 minutes and did the four files individually: total time was 5–6 minutes. But that will drive me nuts in the future, and I'll have to go back and use PS or my old standby, Graphic Converter.

[Stokestack]

These applications have some serious UI-validation problems. There are numerous situations where controls that should be disabled aren't, and then this one where one is disabled but shouldn't be.