Digital Asset Management for AP?

[skiphunt]

Hi,

 

So far, in my slow migration from a multi-decade Photoshop user, to Affinity Photo... I've pretty much figured out how to do most of the stuff I normally do in Photoshop.

I like using Adobe Bridge to preview images with a large preview window that allows me to take a magnifying glass to details, see what the exposure and ISO was for a shot, etc. This way I can easily look between several images to decide which image is the best to edit from, instead of having to open them all up individually.

 

At the moment, I can just keep using Adobe Bridge to preview and when I've selected the image I want to edit, I just control click and hover over "open with" with Affinity Photo selected to open the image in AP.

 

But, if I want to get rid of Adobe altogether at some point, is there a better digital asset management app that does essentially the same thing as Adobe Bridge and works well with AP?

[Callum]

Hi Skiphunt,

 

We are planning on releasing DAM software in the future, however we don't have much information because it is still early days :) 

 

C

[Rich]

I like using Adobe Bridge to preview images with a large preview window that allows me to take a magnifying glass to details, see what the exposure and ISO was for a shot, etc. This way I can easily look between several images to decide which image is the best to edit from, instead of having to open them all up individually.

But, if I want to get rid of Adobe altogether at some point, is there a better digital asset management app that does essentially the same thing as Adobe Bridge and works well with AP?

 

I, too, am in the same situation. Still using Adobe Bridge CS6 for my huge media assets collection that I use for photo compositing. I like keeping everything in a standard OS file/folder system (as Bridge allows) rather than an app's proprietary database (i.e. Lightroom) to avoid the inevitable corruption issues and slow performance.

 

From what I've read elsewhere, it sounds like Affinity's DAM software is a year or more away. So does anyone have a solution that Affinity Photo folks can use now that is similar to Bridge and can handle RAW files of current cameras, as well as assigning keywords and ratings? Thanks.

[anon1]

I think they should release a bridge style browser in the very near future (probably free) before the full featured DAM.

What's AP like without a great browser? (The build in file browser just has no use at all IMHO)

And considering that most people here come from an Adobe background this issue is extremely common.

[Rich]

Fortunately for Photoshop/Bridge CS6 defectors, we do have the ability to continue using Bridge for a while as skiphunt mentions in the initial post (Right-click on image > Open with > Affinity Photo).

 

But for other Mac users, the list of photo organizers / managers on the market is rather lean. The best (other than Lightroom) seems to be PhotoDirector Ultra. Not sure if it utilizes a proprietary database or the OS's file/folder structure. It also includes photo editing features, but at quick glance not as eloquent as AP. 

 

So there is definitely a need here for AP users. A need that will certainly increase over the coming year.

[anon1]

Well not so for CC subscribers....

 

There are actually several out there and I´ve written quite some lines in this forum testing many of them without the same performance as bridge had.

[ldexterldesign]

BUMP

 

https://twitter.com/ldexterldesign/status/690966573629231104

 

Hope this is useful

 

Regards

[High Desert]

I had asked the same question yesterday regarding a cataloging system and Darren (AP) responded back with same answer in that this was a recognized need and would be forthcoming in the future.  Just no timing as to to what point in the future.  However, as requests mount, possibly this could be a timeline improvement by AP for its customer base?

[Rich]

That's good to hear. And I know such development costs lots of time and money.

 

I like Serif's approach of providing the apps creatives need, as separate affordable apps (like AP and AD) rather than cramming a ton of features into one expensive bloated app (i.e. Photoshop).

 

So I would be willing to buy a good photo organizer from Serif for about $39 US that utilizes the OS's normal file/folder structure (like Bridge does) with keywording, metafile description and rating for images. A fast comprehensive image search function is essential, as well as a variety of image review modes and customized layouts. Simple, fast and affordable is better than complex, slow and expensive (Lightroom).

[jedorme]

As a Mac user who switched to Aperture after becoming frustrated with the non-intuitive operation of LR, I now use Aperture for my file organization & storage but Affinity Photo for all of my editing.  Aperture also has a feature that allows you to select Affinity Photo as an external editor by going to Preferences & selecting the Export tab; under that you press the Choose button to select the External Photo Editor & pick Affinity Photo.  For the External File Format you can select Tiff (8 or 16 bits as you prefer).

 

Then when you want to edit an image from those stored in Aperture, you right-click on the image & select Edit with Affinity Photo App.  Affinity Photo will start with the image loaded & ready to be edited.  Then to return the edited image to Aperture for storage, select File > Save - a dialog will appear saying the image contains non-pixel elements - Select Save Flattened to flatten the image before sending it to Aperture.  That's it; the edited image will appear in Aperture alongside the original.

 

Hopefully Affinity will soon have its own storage & organization of images so it will no longer be necessary to involve Aperture in this DAM function.  But for now at least, I find this to be a very easy & straightforward way to use Aperture with Photo.

[wohtefak]

As a Mac user who switched to Aperture after becoming frustrated with the non-intuitive operation of LR, I now use Aperture for my file organization & storage but Affinity Photo for all of my editing.  Aperture also has a feature that allows you to select Affinity Photo as an external editor by going to Preferences & selecting the Export tab; under that you press the Choose button to select the External Photo Editor & pick Affinity Photo.  For the External File Format you can select Tiff (8 or 16 bits as you prefer).

 

Then when you want to edit an image from those stored in Aperture, you right-click on the image & select Edit with Affinity Photo App.  Affinity Photo will start with the image loaded & ready to be edited.  Then to return the edited image to Aperture for storage, select File > Save - a dialog will appear saying the image contains non-pixel elements - Select Save Flattened to flatten the image before sending it to Aperture.  That's it; the edited image will appear in Aperture alongside the original.

 

Hopefully Affinity will soon have its own storage & organization of images so it will no longer be necessary to involve Aperture in this DAM function.  But for now at least, I find this to be a very easy & straightforward way to use Aperture with Photo.

Thanks, that was exactly the kind of workflow I was looking for!

My mistake was that I used .psd Files for the editing in AF, therefore Aperture would create an PSD within it's library, but when it comes to savning in AF, it would show up it's default dialog for saving somewhere in .afphoto format and the priviously created .psd file in Aperture's library would never be touched again. 

[stacy4free]

As a Mac user who switched to Aperture after becoming frustrated with the non-intuitive operation of LR, I now use Aperture for my file organization & storage but Affinity Photo for all of my editing.  Aperture also has a feature that allows you to select Affinity Photo as an external editor by going to Preferences & selecting the Export tab; under that you press the Choose button to select the External Photo Editor & pick Affinity Photo.  For the External File Format you can select Tiff (8 or 16 bits as you prefer).

 

Then when you want to edit an image from those stored in Aperture, you right-click on the image & select Edit with Affinity Photo App.  Affinity Photo will start with the image loaded & ready to be edited.  Then to return the edited image to Aperture for storage, select File > Save - a dialog will appear saying the image contains non-pixel elements - Select Save Flattened to flatten the image before sending it to Aperture.  That's it; the edited image will appear in Aperture alongside the original.

 

Hopefully Affinity will soon have its own storage & organization of images so it will no longer be necessary to involve Aperture in this DAM function.  But for now at least, I find this to be a very easy & straightforward way to use Aperture with Photo.

I've been using Aperture for years, but when I upgraded my computer to el Capitan it will no longer work!  I LOVE Aperture! 

Are you using it with el Capitan? If so can you point me in the right direction to figure out how to get it back and functioning?

[Jonas14]

Aperture works with El Capitan perfect! 

[Travelling Man]

Has anybody tried using the On1 photo browser? It is said to be lightning fast.

[Rich]

Has anybody tried using the On1 photo browser? It is said to be lightning fast.

 

I have On1 Photo Suite v. 8.5.2 which includes their photo browser. I just tried it, and yes, it is very fast. It uses the OS's file directory rather than a proprietary database.

 

It's not quite as comprehensive as Adobe Bridge, and apparently, you can not open an image in another editing app other than On1's when operating in stand-alone mode (not as a plug-in).  As a plug-in to Photoshop or Lightroom, that will open the image in those.  Maybe the latest version 10 of On1's app is more versatile?

[anon1]

Just get Adobe bridge.

It's free and it is the fastest. I hope AP will get a browser of the same quality so that I can delete the Adobe installer from my Mac.

I've tried on1 10 and it was really slow compared to bridge.

It was fast compared to other browsers though.

 

But bridge is free, now.

[Travelling Man]

Did not know Bridge was now free. Does it work with AP? Yes it does, just tried it. On1 browser 9.5 does allow for  "open with" they call it "send to" and I just opened a file with AP.  I use LR anyway and at present PS remains my main editor - mainly due to plug-in support.

[Rich]

Just get Adobe bridge.

It's free and it is the fastest. I hope AP will get a browser of the same quality so that I can delete the Adobe installer from my Mac.

I've tried on1 10 and it was really slow compared to bridge.

It was fast compared to other browsers though.

 

But bridge is free, now.

 

Bridge is free... well, you know what that means -- End of Life. And eventually no support, or future RAW updates, forcing Adobe customers to adopt Lightroom, if they haven't already. That would be the perfect time for Serif to hit the market w. their own DAM that will be faster, more versatile, and at a fraction of the cost.

[Travelling Man]

We'll see. There is a lot of catching up to do. No matter what our preferences here Adobe is a long way in front.

[Rich]

We'll see. There is a lot of catching up to do. No matter what our preferences here Adobe is a long way in front.

 

Not as far out front as they seemed years ago when Adobe went subscription only. Last year was a bad year for Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom apps, as many who use them sorely experienced. Many bugs appeared, features disappearing then brought back due to protests. All this requiring fix sub-releases of both, and apparently many problems still exist.

 

I was watching an entire day of Photoshop live course presentations last month and every instructor experienced glitches, bugs and even crashes during their presentations -- each using their own laptop and the latest install of CC. And from their "not again" reactions a subtle message went out to users to beware. In the past you could just use your prior version until the bugs of the newer release were sorted out, then upgrade. Today you get the bleeding edge version automatically installed over your prior version of CC, always assuring that you have the latest crop of bugs to deal with. This scenario is getting intolerable for pro's who depend on their software daily for their $$$.

[Travelling Man]

I use PS and LR via CC and have had no significant problems. As I said, we shall see but there is a long way for Affinity to go before I will feel that I am in a position to move away 100%. I am not a pro but am in contact with a few and I am not hearing significant moans - most even now accept that subscription will become the way of the software world. In any event Adobe is not going to sit back and let market share evaporate. Time will tell, competition can only be a good thing and the one thing that Affinity is definitely lacking is strong raw development tools and that DAM.

 

Yup, Affinity has certainly come a long way and I have been so impressed that I purchased a copy. I shall stick with it but Adobe is my software of choice.........for now.

[Travelling Man]

Seems this development space is hotting up - ON1 have announced they will be releasing a fast RAW editor this autumn

 

http://petapixel.com/2016/04/26/on1-photo-raw-first-new-raw-processor-released-decade/

[anon1]

hm sounds interesting, I tried on1 10 browser though which was also supposed to be fast but in my experience it just was not fast.

 

one of the videos does´t look to bad but you can clearly see some lag in the slider while he says "there is no lag"

- and when you´re in AP develop module there really is no lag as well ... only opening the image takes some time in AP RAW editor

 

after all I´m not saying that AP RAW editor is a substitution for a DAM (I don´t use it much, I use C1 at the moment) but I don´t think this on1 thing will be a substitution either (not even connected with on1 browse, which I think they want you to do)

[Travelling Man]

hm sounds interesting, I tried on1 10 browser though which was also supposed to be fast but in my experience it just was not fast.

 

one of the videos does´t look to bad but you can clearly see some lag in the slider while he says "there is no lag"

- and when you´re in AP develop module there really is no lag as well ... only opening the image takes some time in AP RAW editor

 

after all I´m not saying that AP RAW editor is a substitution for a DAM (I don´t use it much, I use C1 at the moment) but I don´t think this on1 thing will be a substitution either (not even connected with on1 browse, which I think they want you to do)

Awe come on - the AP RAW editor is the single biggest reason I don't use AP in my main workflow. It is very, very limited to put it mildly. I have mess around with the vision 9.5 browser and I don't see what it really brings to the LR party. I do like ON1's Effects though and they work well as a LR/PS plugin.

[anon1]

For me, an editor like PS or AP will always be the last 10% of 95% of my photos. After a shooting I´ve got 150 pictures and I need a proper software to do the basic adjustments, pic my favorites and transfer them between my MB and iMac (which I do via C1 sessions)

 

So even with a non destructive RAW module and more adjustments (like all these color sliders in LR) AP would not be my go to RAW editor.

AP is great for retouching and composing and thats where it already is pretty good.

 

I´m already pretty pleased with C1, only more flexible merging and extraction of catalogs/ sessions/ low res smart sessions (Affinity DAM?!) would enhance this software even more.

Tethered shooting is amazing, speed is absolutely reasonable, CPU usage is nice and low (great for battery life), support is reasonable (although not as great as affinity).

When AP 1.5 brings layered TIFFs with afphoto layers embedded you can even catalog your affinity files in it.

Editing wise the skin tone uniformity is amazing and the RGB + Luma curve is great as well besides the shadows and highlights controls. Exposure evaluation is really helpful and the transparent export module makes it really easy to distribute all the files!

Selective masks/ layers open up great options in a non destructive RAW development environment.

 

I think Affinity can clearly build on top of that but till this date C1 trumps AP for 90% editing tasks because thats what a DAM is supposed to do.

 

The best feature of On1 browse for me was "show subfolders" which lets you browse one folder and all it´s sub folders at once

 

One example for professionals would be an option to drop an image into the DAM and let the DAM figure the original picture in your library. This is helpful when a client sends you an old cropped/ renamed file and want´s certain new adjustments made to it and one has to figure which exact picture was the source of that particular image.