Undo develop raw photo in affinity photo?

[Nicole_edits]

I was messing around with different settings in affinity photo in the develop mode on my iPad and it suddenly went to photo mode. I can’t figure out how to undo and the original raw file in the files app on my iPad is now saved with all of the settings I had changed in develop mode. I googled the issue to find that affinity photo on the iPad uses a destructive method for editing raw, is this true? I can’t believe that a photo editing app wouldn’t have some kind of warning before overwriting a raw file. How do I restore my raw file to the original and if that is not possible, how do I go about getting a refund for my affinity apps?

[Paul Mudditt]

5 hours ago, Nicole_edits said:

I was messing around with different settings in affinity photo in the develop mode on my iPad and it suddenly went to photo mode. I can’t figure out how to undo and the original raw file in the files app on my iPad is now saved with all of the settings I had changed in develop mode. I googled the issue to find that affinity photo on the iPad uses a destructive method for editing raw, is this true? I can’t believe that a photo editing app wouldn’t have some kind of warning before overwriting a raw file. How do I restore my raw file to the original and if that is not possible, how do I go about getting a refund for my affinity apps?

Welcome to the forums.

When you edit RAW files in affinity you would never normally overwrite your original image as the option is not there. If you save the file it will be saved as a .afphoto file. If you exported the file then it can take on several file formats such as JPG, PNG, TIF, PSD, PDF but not any RAW formats etc

It would be helpful if you could provide additional information as to what type of camera and RAW images you were using e.g. Canon .CR2, Nikon .NRW etc. 

It would also help of you described the steps you took and where you were loading your images from, Apple Photos? an iCloud folder?, On my iPad folder?, an external drive etc?

 

[DM1]

13 hours ago, Nicole_edits said:

How do I restore my raw file to the original

The original raw file will be in the folder you sourced it from originally. Having ‘developed' your working copy of the raw file in the app you can still return to develop persona anytime by simply tapping the develop persona icon and continuing to adjust the development settings. 

 

13 hours ago, Nicole_edits said:

I googled the issue to find that affinity photo on the iPad uses a destructive method for editing raw, is this true?

Affinity Photo makes a working copy of your original file. It’s a proprietary file format and the file is stored in the apps sandboxed memory area. If you open a raw file and start editing in develop mode, you are in working on the 'copy'. If you change settings in Develop mode you are changing the copy. Referring to your original raw file these edits are non destructive as your original raw file remains unchanged. When you develop the edited copy, the changes are applied to the developed photo. You can develop without changing any settings, then go back to develop persona make changes, develop the changes, press undo and you are back to your  original initial settings. Totally non destructive.

 

13 hours ago, Nicole_edits said:

the original raw file in the files app on my iPad is now saved with all of the settings I had changed in develop mode

The app doesn’t save back in the original RAW mode. Once you modify raw exposure settings in the app the file is no longer ’RAW'. So in effect, that is ‘destructive'. If you develop without altering settings the photo can be modified non destructively to your hearts content within the Edit persona. The app saves files as xxx.afphoto files. It does not (cannot) overwrite the original RAW file format. Your original file is unchanged.🙂

 

13 hours ago, Nicole_edits said:

How do I restore my raw file to the original and if that is not possible, how do I go about getting a refund for my affinity apps?

Please don’t take offence but I find it amusing when newbies messing around think they have screwed up something, then immediately ask about 'a refund if the app can’t …..' they could at least wait until confirming the apps limitations make it unsuitable and not their own lack of understanding. Ahh well.

If you are new to the app take a moment to read through the Help file to get a feel for what the app can do. It is a powerful editing tool and it takes time to learn the advanced editing features. If you have any problems ask on the forums. Most things are easily explained. 😁

If you decide it’s not for you, (there are many simple/basic photo editors available on iOS if that is more suited to your needs) refunds can be obtained via the Apple store directly (assuming that is where the purchase was made).