NEF or Pixel layer

[Boeskoolke]

I'm a brandnew user of Affinity so I have to learn a lot. I'm using a Nikon D3100 camera and I shoot RAW photos. They come up in Nikon NEF format. When I want to remove something in the Photo Persona, I don't get the wanted results. Is it necessary to convert the NEF photo to pixels format layer? On the image I tried to remove a thick white line on the right side. 

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums.

If you're developing to a non-destructive RAW layer, then I believe you will need to rasterize the layer before you can change its pixels. You have a choice of the output layer when you first enter the Develop Persona. The Context Toolbar will let you specify whether you want a pixel layer or one of the RAW layer formats (embedded, linked). If you've chosen a RAW format, and then decide you need to work on the layer's pixels, you can right-click the layer in the Layers panel and choose Rasterize. Or you can duplicate the layer and rasterize the copy.

[smadell]

Rather than rasterizing the raw layer (kind of defeats the point of embedding it), try this. Just above the NEF layer (in the Photo persona), add an empty Pixel layer. Choose the Inpainting tool and, in the Context Toolbar, change the drop down menu from “Current layer” to “Current layer and below”. Paint over the thick white line with the new pixel layer selected. Your inpainting will occur on the pixel layer, and your raw layer will remain intact (and can still be edited as a raw file).