Why are Macros implemented completely useless?

[LostInTranslation]

I watch a lot of videos about Graphics Design and Affinity.
Often, there are some great tips to find, that only require a few steps.

For those things, I'd like to record them as Macros.
Just yesterday I found a new technique for sharpening that only requires a couple of steps.

Wanted to make a Macro out of it, but no such luck.
Changing between layers already gives error messages. Some could be solved by naming layers.

But step 3 was to group two layers and Macros seem to not support that. It seems there is no way to record this very, VERY simple Macro.

I wonder, why you even implemented Macros, when effectively they are useless?
I still have my old Photoshop CS5. It's ELEVEN years old by now, but can record whatever I want to do without problems.

Why is Affinity so far behind on this and are there (formulated) plans to fix this in the future?

[carl123]

48 minutes ago, LostInTranslation said:

But step 3 was to group two layers and Macros seem to not support that. It seems there is no way to record this very, VERY simple Macro.

Group the lower layer (on its own)

Select the layer above it and do... Arrange > Move Inside

[LostInTranslation]

32 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Group the lower layer (on its own)

Select the layer above it and do... Arrange > Move Inside

Thanks, that sortof, kindof works, though asolutely not intuitive.
Still, I am not able to replicate the steps needed as a Macro.

Can somebody please have a look and tell if it's even possible to record this?

 

[David in Яuislip]

Try this approach

First write down the steps that were used then transcribe that into something Photo can record

per video
duplicate layer twice
top image add invert adjustment
move adjustment to be child of top image
change top image blend to vivid light
group top 2 layers and set blend mode to overlay
apply motion blur to inverted image
apply black and white adjustment to inverted blurred image

In Photo speak
Select layer
Duplicate twice
Select middle layer
Group
set blend mode to overlay
Select top layer
Move inside
add invert adjustment
move to be child of top image in group
etc

Run the macro then tweak the blur and B&W adjustments to taste

DavidsUltraSharpen.afmacro

[LostInTranslation]

47 minutes ago, David in Яuislip said:

 

Run the macro then tweak the blur and B&W adjustments to taste

DavidsUltraSharpen.afmacro 1.92 kB · 0 downloads

Whoah, thank you very much. Your macro works beautifully and I shall try to recreate it.

[David in Яuislip]

5 hours ago, LostInTranslation said:

Your macro works beautifully

Natch  but the effect is horrible. It may look impressive on a youtube video but at 100% it's <insert your favourite derogatory expletive here>If you want a laugh try it on a 16bit image. I don't like anyone taking someone elses photo', albeit a public domain one, and giving advice on how to improve it when their advice is rubbish, the eyes are <expletive> up, the extra blue on the clothes is debateable, the blue in her hair is <another expletive>. I like the original, I have my own ideas on how to improve it but I wouldn't publish them on the www

The image is available here https://unsplash.com/photos/T4bFs7q9E94

[LostInTranslation]

9 hours ago, David in Яuislip said:

Natch  but the effect is horrible. It may look impressive on a youtube video but at 100% it's <insert your favourite derogatory expletive here>
 

Everything other than the pure sharpening I don't want to do anyway, especially not the tinkering with colors.

I tried it on different photos yesterday. With high quality/high resolution photos it can give a really good effect. 
But it tends to emphasize JPG artifacts. On a highly compressed image, it will often look horrible.

Anyway I find having multiple ways to do things is never wrong.