Affinity Photo 2.10: Layer Blend Options stop working if I add a mask

[Alex_M]

I'm not sure if this is supposed to happen, but if I add a mask layer to my adjustment layer, the blend range I've set in the Layer Blend Options suddenly stop working. It's as if I've hit the Reset button in Blend Options. As soon as I remove the mask layer, my custom blend ranges work again. Is this normal? I don't remember this happening a few versions back. Is there a way to have both a custom blend range and a mask at the same time?

[NotMyFault]

Known bug

 

[Old Bruce]

26 minutes ago, Alex_M said:

I'm not sure if this is supposed to happen, but if I add a mask layer to my adjustment layer, the blend range I've set in the Layer Blend Options suddenly stop working. It's as if I've hit the Reset button in Blend Options. As soon as I remove the mask layer, my custom blend ranges work again. Is this normal? I don't remember this happening a few versions back. Is there a way to have both a custom blend range and a mask at the same time?

This sounds like you have simply masked the adjustment layer.

There are a lot of ways to setup a document which has an adjustment layer and a mask. A document would be quite useful to figure out where you have the Adjustment layer and where the Mask is.

[Alex_M]

25 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

This sounds like you have simply masked the adjustment layer.

There are a lot of ways to setup a document which has an adjustment layer and a mask. A document would be quite useful to figure out where you have the Adjustment layer and where the Mask is.

I have my mask inside the adjustment layer (White Balance). Pretty simple setup. No need to share the document, I think. Interestingly, @NotMyFault says it's a known bug. I went to his thread and learned that having Hardware Acceleration turn on causes this. So I disabled it from the settings and voila! I can use blending ranges with masks again. Seems like there's always something that Hardware Acceleration breaks with the software. If I were the developers, I would put a big warning on this option warning people that it's unfinished and may cause bugs like these. It's the right thing to do. Who knows what else is bugged when this option is turned on. From now on, I'm not going to use or recommend Hardware Acceleration. Too many headaches. Thanks for the tip, @NotMyFault !

Should I report this issue in the Bugs forum section?

27 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

Known bug

 

 

[R C-R]

7 minutes ago, Alex_M said:

Seems like there's always something that Hardware Acceleration breaks with the software.

From what I have read on the forums, it works fine for some users but causes problems for others. But it is hard to say what fraction of the user base actually has problems because users with problems are much more likely to post comments about that than those experiencing no problems.

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, Alex_M said:

No need to share the document, I think.

How about a Screen Shot of the layer's panel. Here are a few possibilities based on your description.

 Using the integrated / built in mask.

 Additional Mask inverted.

 Additional Mask not inverted.

With one of these I don't see what you describe, with another of these I do see what you describe.

[NotMyFault]

2 hours ago, R C-R said:

From what I have read on the forums, it works fine for some users but causes problems for others. But it is hard to say what fraction of the user base actually has problems because users with problems are much more likely to post comments about that than those experiencing no problems.

We need to distinguish between 2 categories:

• Actual bugs in Affinity, causing wrong rendering with OpenCL active. The issue of this threads falls into this category. These bugs are few.
• Bugs, including crashes, caused by faulty GPU drivers, especially for certain GPU types. These bugs affect many users, and caused the bad reputation of HW acceleration for Affinity apps.

[NotMyFault]

2 hours ago, R C-R said:

From what I have read on the forums, it works fine for some users but causes problems for others. But it is hard to say what fraction of the user base actually has problems because users with problems are much more likely to post comments about that than those experiencing no problems.

It affects iPad, too.

use the test image from my link

 

[walt.farrell]

10 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

Actual bugs in Affinity, causing wrong rendering with OpenCL active. The issue of this threads falls into this category.

I'm curious how we know that? I've never figured out how to tell when it's Affinity vs the GPU causing a problem.

Why do we know that Affinity is doing something wrong, rather than the GPU drivers handling the requests that Affinity makes incorrectly?

Also, given the post you just made that it also affects iPad: Does the iPad version even have OpenCL support?

[R C-R]

17 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Does the iPad version even have OpenCL support?

I don't think so.

[walt.farrell]

3 minutes ago, R C-R said:

I don't think so.

Thanks.

I suppose that does lend credence to the idea that it's a flaw in the Affinity code, if it can't be related to issues in OpenCL implementations

[NotMyFault]

This issue is related to HW acceleration in general. You can check this by enabling the WARP renderer (pure SW, never GPU). If the results differ from those using HW acceleration you can distinguish the case, especially when comparing multiple Platforms (Windows, Mac, iPad). Especially iPad does not allow to disable HW acceleration.

 

Sometimes the rendering differs between Photo and Designer (who does not use Metal in the same ways as Photo).

[R C-R]

4 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

You can check this by enabling the WARP renderer (pure SW, never GPU).

?? What does that have to do with either the iPad or Mac versions of the apps? AFAIK, neither one supports a WARP renderer.

[HCl]

.

[Bartosz Borecki]

Any news about fixing this behavior with mask layer and bland ranges applied to adjustment layer?

Blend ranges are working correct when applied to adjustment layer with built-in mask but stop working with separate mask layer. Strange thing is why it is not working for mask layers but works with built-in masks...

I've checked this with OpenCL turned off (Photo 2.4.2 and beta 2.5.0.2449 under Windows 10) and the issue is gone.

I usually use separate mask layer in adjustment layers because I can turn off that mask layer and compare the difference of adjustment layer with or without a mask. This is not possible with built-in masks. And I use this grouping walk-around but it is a bit tedious on a daily basis with nesting many layers, adjustments and masks, especially when in the end I want to apply blend ranges to one of my layers...

 

[Ldina]

@Bartosz Borecki Agreed....good catch. Blend ranges seem to work fine when used in conjunction with an Adjustment Layer's "built-in mask", with or without Metal Acceleration enabled on my 2017 MacBook Pro.

Blend ranges do NOT seem to work when combined with a mask that I add manually, at least with Metal Acceleration turned on. When I turned Metal OFF, it worked with the built-in mask or with a separately added mask. I generally prefer to add my own mask manually for added flexibility. Seems to me this is a bug and needs to be fixed.

[Vulpecula]

I found this bug as well as this topic today.

I can confirm having it too (2.4.2) on windows 10.

[RBeci]

I experienced this bug as well in the version 2.5.5. Win10

 

[RBeci]

A possible workaround could be this: add the mask to the parent folder 

 

[lepr]

On 5/22/2024 at 2:41 AM, Ldina said:

@Bartosz Borecki Agreed....good catch. Blend ranges seem to work fine when used in conjunction with an Adjustment Layer's "built-in mask", with or without Metal Acceleration enabled on my 2017 MacBook Pro.

Blend ranges do NOT seem to work when combined with a mask that I add manually, at least with Metal Acceleration turned on. When I turned Metal OFF, it worked with the built-in mask or with a separately added mask. I generally prefer to add my own mask manually for added flexibility. Seems to me this is a bug and needs to be fixed.

 

Have you tried comparing Photo,Designer and Publisher?

On my 2017 iMac where the Performance settings for the three apps match and have 'Metal compute acceleration' enabled, the bug afflicts Photo only.

[Bartosz Borecki]

Yes, I can confirm that this bug only affects the Photo app. In Designer and Publisher both types of masks work correctly (in all three I have OpenCL turned on - version 2.5.5).

[TrentL]

On 9/30/2024 at 4:32 AM, Bartosz Borecki said:

Yes, I can confirm that this bug only affects the Photo app. In Designer and Publisher both types of masks work correctly (in all three I have OpenCL turned on - version 2.5.5).

I have the same experience. It even works well in Affinity Designer's Pixel Persona with OpenCL turned on. But in Affinity Photo, adding a manual mask to an Adjustment Layer will make Blend Options be ignored if OpenCL is enabled. I'm on Windows 11 with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060.

 

[Bartosz Borecki]

Sadly, on 2.6.0 separate mask layer on adjustment layer is still not working with blend ranges in Photo... Though it IS working in Designer... clearly a BUG that should have been addressed 😟

[Ron P.]

I'm seeing the same thing. Adding a separate Mask to an Adjustment layer which adjustment layers have their own built in masks.

Nothing like masking a mask. I wonder if it would work, if I added 10 masks to an adjustment layer....🤣😆

[NotMyFault]

Bug affects masks added to group layers without any filter or adjustment layers.

If you stacked multiple adjustments it is far easier to edit one dedicated mask instead of multiple inherently. If you use linked adjustment layers you may need to mask them separately.