Affinity Photo v2 .exe file location

[aaturner]

Good day all. Could someone please tell me where the exe file for AP v2 is located? As I have been doing successfully for years with AP v1, I would like to launch the v2 app from Photo Supreme v7 DAM, but the app needs the location of the .exe file, and search as I might I cannot find it. Grateful for any help.

Many thanks. Andrew Turner

[BruceW]

Help! I'm having the same problem as Andrew. I use Faststone Image Viewer. It needs an EXE file locations to be able "launch" image editor apps. Where's to exe for Photo 2 ...

Regards Bruce  

[GarryP]

Welcome to the forums Bruce.

I would change your forum name to something other than your email address if I were you (to stop ‘spam bots’ getting hold of it).

[Stepaan]

It's weird. Although I bought the apps directly from Serif, the app is a native Windows app. The same as from the store. It means, it's installed in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\ It also means, it's hidden from the user.

I suppose it's much easier to maintain 3 Win apps instead of 6. 

But another thing. Where are the new assets installed? I have red somewhere, they're common for all three applications. Where are they? Hidden too?

[walt.farrell]

There's a FAQ about that: 

However, you may find it necessary to create a small .bat file and have the .bat file invoke the app execution alias. Perhaps something like this:

start /b affinityphoto2.exe %1
exit

 

[SKT7]

22 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Welcome to the forums Bruce.

I would change your forum name to something other than your email address if I were you (to stop ‘spam bots’ getting hold of it).

Is it possible to change the forum name? I have been trying to do it for some time and can't find the option...

[GarryP]

4 minutes ago, saikat said:

Is it possible to change the forum name? I have been trying to do it for some time and can't find the option...

Click on the ‘user menu’ at the top-right of any forum page and choose “Account Settings” from the menu, then go to the Display Name section and click on the “Change” link. (I don't think you can do this many times, or often.)

[Dan C]

16 minutes ago, Stepaan said:

But another thing. Where are the new assets installed? I have red somewhere, they're common for all three applications. Where are they? Hidden too?

These are found here, through Windows Run (Windows Key + R)

%userprofile%\.affinity\Common\2.0

I hope this helps

[SKT7]

11 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

There's a FAQ about that: 

However, you may find it necessary to create a small .bat file and have the .bat file invoke the app execution alias. Perhaps something like this:

start /b affinityphoto2beta.exe %1
exit

 

Thank you for pointing to the right direction. 
I generally like to install all the apps on D drive (Windows) - does this mean, you can't choose any location other than the default location any more?
What about the same computers with 2- accounts (windows) can both use the app?

Also, does anyone know the installation size for the suite?

[SKT7]

Thank you!!! I have been looking for it for long time.

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, saikat said:

I generally like to install all the apps on D drive (Windows) - does this mean, you can't choose any location other than the default location any more?

In Windows Settings, Apps, you should have an option to Move the application to a different drive. I'm away from the PC at the moment so I can't provide any more details.

 

[ΛMNESIΛ]

Is there an easy way to import 1.0 custom workspaces (UI, tool panels/windows etc)?

[Dan C]

1 minute ago, saikat said:

I generally like to install all the apps on D drive (Windows) - does this mean, you can't choose any location other than the default location any more?

When first installing, this has to be done to the OS drive, however following installation you can then move the app to your D drive, following the steps here -

2 minutes ago, saikat said:

What about the same computers with 2- accounts (windows) can both use the app?

Provided both computers are owned or personally controlled by the license holder, you can install the app on both devices under one license. More info on the Affinity V2 license can be found here -

https://affinity.serif.com/licence/

4 minutes ago, saikat said:

Also, does anyone know the installation size for the suite?

The install sizes of the apps will show in each application window during installation, this is around 1GB per app, 3GBs in total

[Stepaan]

6 minutes ago, Dan C said:

These are found here, through Windows Run (Windows Key + R)

%userprofile%\.affinity\Common\2.0

I hope this helps

DOT Affinity 🤦‍♂️ I was looking for the letter "A", not the "." sign! Thanks 😄 

[aaturner]

Really appreciate the help so far. However, I'm afraid I am not a tech expert - (at 80 yrs the grey cells are fading). I have found and opened C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\ but apparently I need superpowers to enter the hallowed cabinet. I fiddled around a bit and found a way in, but all the tick boxes required to change my permissions are greyed out; using administrator privileges did not help. Is there any other way to access the AP v2 .exe file(s)?

[Dan C]

3 minutes ago, aaturner said:

Is there any other way to access the AP v2 .exe file(s)?

There's an issue our team are investigating regarding accessing the .EXEs at this time, we hope to have more information soon - our apologies for any inconveniences in the meantime.

[Stepaan]

3 minutes ago, aaturner said:

Really appreciate the help so far. However, I'm afraid I am not a tech expert - (at 80 yrs the grey cells are fading). I have found and opened C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\ but apparently I need superpowers to enter the hallowed cabinet. I fiddled around a bit and found a way in, but all the tick boxes required to change my permissions are greyed out; using administrator privileges did not help. Is there any other way to access the AP v2 .exe file(s)?

Yes. There are Windows native apps. They are usually installed via the Microsoft Store. Serif somehow made the Windows native application, which can be installed externally. But all restrictions apply too. Hence you can't access the content of that folder.

[aaturner]

Phooey, that ruins my workflow using my DAM as a gateway. Hope that Affinity:Serif can provide a solution before too long. Lessons learned: don't be an early adopter - more haste, less speed. My fingers are firmly crossed for a prompt solution, Serif!!

[walt.farrell]

40 minutes ago, aaturner said:

Phooey, that ruins my workflow using my DAM as a gateway. Hope that Affinity:Serif can provide a solution before too long. Lessons learned: don't be an early adopter - more haste, less speed. My fingers are firmly crossed for a prompt solution, Serif!!

You should be able to access Photo 2 from another application using a .bat file. I named mine LaunchPhoto2.bat and it contains the following text:

start /b affinityphoto2.exe %1
exit

 

[Phil_rose]

36 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You should be able to access Photo 2 from another application using a .bat file. I named mine LaunchPhoto2.bat and it contains the following text:

start /b affinityphoto2.exe %1
exit

 

This is so confusing for me. I did as you said, as shown. I go to Exposure and Export and try to find the bat file but, of course, it doesn't show up because it's not an EXE. Am I doing this wrong? Thanks!

[Phil_rose]

1 hour ago, Dan C said:

There's an issue our team are investigating regarding accessing the .EXEs at this time, we hope to have more information soon - our apologies for any inconveniences in the meantime.

Do you have a sense of how long that will take? Thanks!

[Dan C]

Not at this time, though we'll be sure to update our users ASAP.

[Phil_rose]

25 minutes ago, Dan C said:

Not at this time, though we'll be sure to update our users ASAP.

OK. It seems nuts that something as basic and fundamental as this would be left out. There must be a lot of people like me who want to work their images up in a RAW image editor or a DAM program and throw them over to AP. Please let the devs know that we're all sobbing over here!

Thanks,

Phil

[Dan C]

I can confirm that this should be possible, and our QA team were able to access this .exe during the internal beta phase - however between the testing of this feature and release it appears that something has changed internally which is stopping users from accessing the .exe as they should be able to currently.

We're investigating further at this time, you may also want to try the steps at the following thread, where Walts .bat file has helped one user to launch the Affinity apps from an external app:

 

[walt.farrell]

27 minutes ago, Dan C said:

where Walts .bat file has helped one user to launch the Affinity apps from an external app:

Apparently an additional issue is that some applications (such as the one Phil is using) don't allow the user to specify a .bat file, only a .exe file.