Tonal Correction Tools Explained in Affinity Photo/Develop Personas

[Ldina]

Attached is a PDF explaining how the key tonal correction tools in Affinity Photo work. I previously had some confusion about exactly what each tool or adjustment did, both in the Photo and Develop Personas of Affinity Photo. My searches made it clear I wasn't alone. For example, what is the difference between Exposure and Brightness in the Develop Persona? I've answered that question and more in the attached PDF.

I spent a full day playing with the main tonal correction tools in the Photo and Develop personas of Photo v 2.0.4. I now understand what each tool does. More importantly, I know which tools I plan to use in each persona and why. This exercise cleared up a lot of confusion for me, so I thought I'd write up my findings and share it. I hope it is clear and helpful. 

Happy editing! 

Tonal Controls in AP.pdf

[steday]

Great work, thank you.

[NotMyFault]

Great beginner tutorial.

The examples using a B&W gradient are easy to understand. It would be great to get an „extended version“ using color gradients or more complex example images with varying hue and saturation, as some of the adjustments influence hier and saturation, which should be taken into account to avoid unwanted color shifts.

[Ldina]

I was just poking around in Affinity Photo this morning and noticed that I completely missed the Shadow/Highlight Live Filter.

The PDF file I uploaded previously dealt only with Shadows/Highlights Adjustment Layer. The Shadows slider works fine, but I dislike the Highlights Slider implementation in the Adjustment Layers version because it obliterates the white point.

The Shadows/Highlights Live Filter version is a very different implementation and is excellent, both for Shadows AND Highlights. Not only do the Shadows and Highlights Sliders allow you to vary the strength of the adjustment, they also allow you to control the range where those adjustments are applied. So, you can, for example, adjust all shadow tones below 50% gray, just the ¼ tones between 0-25%, or just deepest shadows close to the black point. And very importantly, the Highlight adjustment in the Live Filter version leaves the white point completely alone, which in my opinion is the way it should work. When I need these tools, the Live Filter version is what I will use.

I may update the uploaded PDF to reflect this, because it is an important tool, which I completely overlooked. I didn't look in the Live Filters because I didn't expect there would be two different implementations of Shadow/Highlight in AP. Sorry about that!

[PhotoCat]

Your original PDF on tonal controls was excellent!  I downloaded it, created the same file in my Affinity Photo Ver 2 program and was able to experience your observations first hand.  I look forward to the updated one using the Live Filter option.  In the meantime, I will try on my own just to get a feel for using it.  

You should consider making videos.

[Ldina]

@PhotoCatThank you for the kind comment. I'm glad the Tonal Control tutorial was helpful, and hopefully clear. I am uploading RevA, which includes an addendum of three additional pages. I also corrected a few typos and did some minor rework. This covers the Shadows/Highlights "Live Filter", which I failed to include in the original version. 

@NotMyFaultThanks for your suggestion regarding color being impacted by tonal corrections. It's right on the mark, of course. Brightness, contrast and color, not to mention human perception of Hue and Saturation, is an extremely involved subject to cover in any detail, but RevA of my tutorial, which I am uploading with this post, briefly discusses the subject and issues a few cautions. At present, an in depth tutorial on the subject is more than I am ready to attempt. Maybe one of these days. Hopefully, RevA will at least flag the issue and offer a few approaches to deal with nuclear colors!

Tonal Controls in AP-RevA.pdf

[Lisbon]

Thank you @Ldina
Very useful.

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Many of the adjustments in Develop Persona are linear.
Brightness & Contrast for example. Notice that in Photo Persona the Linear option is unchecked by default.
It's the same in Photoshop and it works that way at least since CS3 (2007).
For most cases it is a bad idea to make the adjustments linear.
I wonder if expensive Raw Developers like Capture One work the same way.

[Ldina]

@LisbonYou're welcome.

Ha...I didn't even SEE the Linear Checkbox in the Brightness and Contrast Adjustment dialog box. Sometimes, I find Affinity's implementations "so subtle" that I don't even notice them! Then again, I'm famous for staring straight at something and not seeing it...if it was a snake, it would bite me!

Using linear or non-linear adjustments depends entirely on the image. I'm generally happy using linear adjustments in the Develop Persona, because I'm just trying to deliver a conservative, highly editable image to Photo, without messing too much with the tonal distribution. Once in Photo, I'm less likely to use linear adjustments, but again, it all depends on the image. It's one reason I like Curves...I can make a curve as straight or as curved as I want. One's workflow has a big impact on how things are done. 

[Ldina]

I thought I'd share just one more powerful technique for adjusting Highlights and Shadows using Curves. This uses the MIN/MAX RANGES in Curves to limit any Curve adjustment to a specific portion (or Range) of the tone curve. I like this approach because it provides fine control over Strength, Range AND Transition to unaffected portions of the tone curve. This allows you to prevent harsh transitions which might occur using some of the standard Shadow/Highlight tools. This is a single page PDF, which supplements the previous PDF file. It's just one more reason why I love Curves.

Tonal Controls in AP-Addendum 2.pdf

[PhotoCat]

I am just now, after looking at your information, really understanding the power of Curves that many users talk about.  It is truly awesome!  Your presentation is by the best.  Thanks again.

[Ldina]

@PhotoCat Glad it was helpful 👍