Reduce affinity file size by making color overlay permenant and remove underlying image?

[aymanzone]

Hi,

Is there a way to remove the underlying image which takes up file space, but leave its color overlay (100% opacity) ?

I'm trying to reduce the file size of my file. So I want to remove the actual image but keep the overlay color

Thank you

 

FYI: I have all three affinity products and thank you for this great application.

 

 

 

[Old Bruce]

6 minutes ago, aymanzone said:

I'm trying to reduce the file size of my file. So I want to remove the actual image but keep the overlay color

I am not sure what you are talking about here.

The actual image is going to be made with pixels which have some sort of colour.

[aymanzone]

hi @Old Bruce The original images has a lot of colors, it's pixelated (vs. vector). I've stretched it and played around with the shape.

 

The color overlay looks like it's vector to me because I can zoom into it, without any pixelation.

 

I want to remove the underlying image but keep the color overlay (100% opacity)

 

I'm using Affinity Publisher

[Old Bruce]

3 minutes ago, aymanzone said:

The color overlay

What the heck is "color overlay"?

How many layers are in this document?

[Alfred]

1. Select the layer that has the ‘Colour Overlay’ effect applied.

2. Choose ‘Copy’ from the Edit menu.

3. Add a new Pixel Layer.

4. Choose ‘Paste FX’ from the Edit menu.

5. Delete the original picture layer.

6. Save (or ‘Save As…’) whatever remains.

[aymanzone]

Thanks @Alfred  that solved it.

 

I did paste special.

 

Also after closer look, my image is actually pixelated. (my bad - stupid of me to say that it was vector). Very stupid.

Thank you

 

 

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, Alfred said:

1. Select the layer that has the ‘Colour Overlay’ effect applied.

2. Choose ‘Copy’ from the Edit menu.

3. Add a new Pixel Layer.

4. Choose ‘Paste FX’ from the Edit menu.

5. Delete the original picture layer.

6. Save (or ‘Save As…’) whatever remains.

I'm probably doing something stupid that makes this fail but when I try it, nothing remains after step 5 -- I get a totally empty document.

[Alfred]

7 hours ago, R C-R said:

I'm probably doing something stupid that makes this fail but when I try it, nothing remains after step 5 -- I get a totally empty document.

The picture layer that you delete at step 5 is the layer that you selected at step 1, so you should be left with the Pixel Layer that you added at step 3.

[R C-R]

9 hours ago, Alfred said:

The picture layer that you delete at step 5 is the layer that you selected at step 1, so you should be left with the Pixel Layer that you added at step 3.

 In step 5, I did delete the layer from step 1 that had the color FX applied to it . The result was a pixel layer that had a totally black thumbnail in the Layers panel while on the canvas the only thing left was the transparency checkerboard pattern.

I saved the history with this 17 MB  branches.afphoto file so you can check the steps I used & see the results I got.

FWIW, I noticed that @aymanzone used Paste Special, not Paste FX, but I do not know if that has anything to do with it; & there is no Paste Special in the Mac version of AP.

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, R C-R said:

In step 5, I did delete the layer from step 1 that had the color FX applied to it . The result was a pixel layer that had a totally black thumbnail in the Layers panel while on the canvas the only thing left was the transparency checkerboard pattern.

In your previous post you wrote

17 hours ago, R C-R said:

I'm probably doing something stupid that makes this fail but when I try it, nothing remains after step 5 -- I get a totally empty document.

but now you’re saying that you get a pixel layer with a totally black thumbnail in the Layers panel. That sounds like progress to me!

What happens if you copy that pixel layer, add a new picture layer and ‘Paste FX’ to it?

[NotMyFault]

Paste fx on an empty new pixel layer stays full transparent. You need to add a step like fill (any color), only then the layer fx kicks in and the result is visible.

At least on iPad.

[R C-R]

36 minutes ago, Alfred said:

but now you’re saying that you get a pixel layer with a totally black thumbnail in the Layers panel. That sounds like progress to me!

The thumbnail was black because I did not have the Layers panel "Checkerboard background" option enabled. If I enable that the thumbnail is shows that background. Regardless, as my branches file shows, the pixel layer itself is totally transparent. 

37 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

Paste fx on an empty new pixel layer stays full transparent. You need to add a step like fill (any color), only then the layer fx kicks in and the result is visible.

For me, all that does is give me a pixel layer with the same FX applied. If I remove the FX, I just get the original color pixel layer back again. It is the same whether I fill the pixel layer with a solid color using the Flood Fill Tool or a multi-hued one using the Gradient Tool.

[NotMyFault]

27 minutes ago, R C-R said:

For me, all that does is give me a pixel layer with the same FX applied. If I remove the FX, I just get the original color pixel layer back again. It is the same whether I fill the pixel layer with a solid color using the Flood Fill Tool or a multi-hued one using the Gradient Tool.

The target is to taste fx only, not the layer. If you follow the extended recipe it will work:

1. Select the layer that has the ‘Colour Overlay’ effect applied.

2. Choose ‘Copy’ from the Edit menu.

3. Add a new Pixel Layer.

3b new: fill layer with solid color (e.g. white)

4. Choose ‘Paste FX’ from the Edit menu.

5. Delete the original picture layer.

6. Save (or ‘Save As…’) whatever remains.

If you remember the expressed target of the OP:

21 hours ago, aymanzone said:

I'm trying to reduce the file size of my file. So I want to remove the actual image but keep the overlay color

This workflow will achieve the target. A pixel layer with one solid color (no noise) will be almost zero size.

Of course, you could achieve the same result by uncountable different methods (add a fill layer, sample color from original layer).

PS:

This all assumes that the original pixel layer was fully opaque. If not (containing partial or fully transparent pixels), a different approach would be required. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by NotMyFault

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, NotMyFault said:

3. Add a new Pixel Layer.

3b new: fill layer with solid color (e.g. white)

If you mean I should fill the just created pixel layer with a solid color, that is what I did.

I just end up with a single pixel layer with the same color overlay FX applied to it. If I remove that FX, I just get the solid color back again.

[NotMyFault]

That's perfect and what the OP probably wanted to achieve.