slv987 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Is there a way to import a bitmap tiff and make it transparent and change the color? I know there must be a way as I've opened .ai files in Affinity Designer that use these tiffs and they come in transparent and in the correct colors. I just can't seem to figure it out. Kal 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luketype Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 great question I was wondering that too! Please give us some insights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff TonyB Posted October 8, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 8, 2014 I just can't think of a way without using Affinity Photo. When we add mask using intensity then you could have a colour fill layer and then use the tiff as a mask. We are thinking of adding mask with intensity for Photo so Designer will pick that up at the same time. We will make it even easier again when we have Affinity Publisher buts that's even a longer wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luketype Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Hi Tony, thanks for the prompt reply! Such a feature is a must for us pro workers. In AIllustrator the 1 bit tiff can be imported and colored on the fly leaving white transparent. Being an affinity Designer early and enthusiastic adopter I really think this feature should be implemented as a priority. I am not a programmer but now I am curious about how Adobe did the magic because in the old days also freehand treated 1 bit tiff the same way. Is that difficult to implement that feature? Many thanks Bryce, nelle and Kal 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slv987 Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 Here is a video of an .ai file in AD that uses 1 bit tiffs. It seems to be working although I can't quite figure the correct way to change the color. I just know this kind of does what I'm looking to do. If you look at both sides of my split screen you can clearly see these are transparent images and not vectors. I would think since this works that the functionality is already built in. I hope I'm not being difficult but this is something I use in pretty much all of my artwork. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2520920/AD_tiff_tranparency.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff TonyB Posted October 10, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 10, 2014 When we load the .ai file we convert the 1 bit tiff to an image with an alpha channel. Affinity backend has the capability to handle this feature but it isn't currently exposed in the UI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slv987 Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Thank you for the reply Tony. That's great news! Will you be adding this to the UI in the future? Can this be something that is done when loading Freehand files also. I noticed it works when loading .ai files but not freehand files. I'm really excited about what you guys are doing here. Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rui_mac Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Please, please, add this to the options. Being able to transform a greyscale/lineart bitmap into a white-is-transparent, colorable bitmap is really useful. nelle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Andy Somerfield Posted October 10, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 10, 2014 We have a solution for this coming in the next beta! :) AndyS rui_mac, lastfuture and slv987 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Andy Somerfield Posted October 10, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 10, 2014 Please, please, add this to the options. Being able to transform a greyscale/lineart bitmap into a white-is-transparent, colorable bitmap is really useful. Our solution allows you to turn *anything* into a white-is-transparent mask - which can be coloured, etc :) AndyS CartoonMike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rui_mac Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Definitely, the best money I have ever spent :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted October 10, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 10, 2014 Ditto rui_mac. Same feeling here :) Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luketype Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 GREAT NEWS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastfuture Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 You guys are on fire, man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slv987 Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 We have a solution for this coming in the next beta! :) AndyS I didn't see this in the last beta. Maybe I'm missing it. Will it be coming soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted October 17, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 17, 2014 slv987, Check Layer -> Rasterize to Mask. It seems a little buggy. I've managed to crash Affinity more than once but still can't do it consistently. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slv987 Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 slv987, Check Layer -> Rasterize to Mask. It seems a little buggy. I've managed to crash Affinity more than once but still can't do it consistently. Thanks MEB, Found it. I saw that a few days ago but didn't know how to use it. I was expecting to see some sort of a check box to enable the alpha or transparency and then just select a fill color for it. Doesn't work exactly like I would have imagined but seems to do the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luketype Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 any news on the matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luketype Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Ok it seems this issue couldn't be solved. I have no chance to replace Adobe Illustrator. Sad, very sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slv987 Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Ok it seems this issue couldn't be solved. I have no chance to replace Adobe Illustrator. Sad, very sad. It is interesting that if you open an illustrator file with a 1 bit tiff in it that it comes in transparent. Makes me think that it can be done. I've messed around with the work around they gave but it's super clunky. Not going to work for me. I'm still hoping they will implement it at some point but I'm not holding my breath. Still waiting for spot colors and advanced printing features also. I was hopeful we would see some of these features so we could ditch Illustrator but it looks like we're stuck with it for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luketype Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I don't have enough knowledge of programming to understand why they can't implement the features we need. One thing I know for sure is that the day I discover the apps useful for my job I will leave the adobe mob attitude. Only next time I won't pay to test the app. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofdeadleg Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 For me the ability to add a transparent tiff and recolour it using the swatches is critically important. As has already been mentioned in this thread, this is something that can easily be done in the Adobe suite and as far back as at least Freehand 5.5. I've tried using the rasterise to mask method, and while it works it's not really a substitute for simply placing a file and picking a colour, and can be a bit hit or miss. It's also too fiddly if you then need to duplicate a section. For example: I'm trying to overlay a pattern on a section of wall in an illustration. I have a strip of pattern which I want to repeat that has been rasterised to mask. If I duplicate the mask it then starts to mask the first instance of the mask when I try to move it. Theres no way to merge the masks as far as I can see. I'm thinking I'm going to have to go back to Illustrator to finish this one. slv987 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slv987 Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 For me the ability to add a transparent tiff and recolour it using the swatches is critically important. As has already been mentioned in this thread, this is something that can easily be done in the Adobe suite and as far back as at least Freehand 5.5. I've tried using the rasterise to mask method, and while it works it's not really a substitute for simply placing a file and picking a colour, and can be a bit hit or miss. It's also too fiddly if you then need to duplicate a section. For example: I'm trying to overlay a pattern on a section of wall in an illustration. I have a strip of pattern which I want to repeat that has been rasterised to mask. If I duplicate the mask it then starts to mask the first instance of the mask when I try to move it. Theres no way to merge the masks as far as I can see. I'm thinking I'm going to have to go back to Illustrator to finish this one. Agreed. I'll never be able to switch to AD as my day to day program unless this is done. The rasterize to mask work around is not a great solution it takes a lot more time and it's pretty glitchy. It should either come in transparent like AI or a simple checkbox to make transparent like Freehand. I absolutely love this program and would like to switch my whole art department to it but this feature is holding us back at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted November 16, 2015 Staff Share Posted November 16, 2015 I´m moving this to the Feature Requests section. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofdeadleg Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Quick update to my earlier post- I managed to get the pattern all done in AD in the end, just needed to go back a bit. At first I was adding a section of the pattern, rasterising to mask, and then trying to add/duplicate the pattern further, which was causing problems. So I went back a few stages, did all the duplicating, etc first, grouped all the copies together and then rasterised to mask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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