Resize Canvas behaving erratically

[ME Brady]

I use the Resize Canvas function using the centre anchor point to create keylines. However, Resize Canvas does not always extend the canvas on all four sides of the image. I think the trigger for the issue is if you crop the image before resizing. For instance, if you crop in from the bottom left then Resize Canvas (centered) will create a border on the top and right hand edge of the image but not the left and bottom edges. I think this is because Resize Canvas is working on the pre-cropped image. Is that what it should be doing? N.B. Resize Image seems to work on the post-cropped image.

[Chris B]

Hey ME Brady, 

Welcome to the forums.

I have reproduced what you have described, however, I am also a little unsure if this is by design or not. I'd lean more towards it being an unexpected behaviour. Our crops are non-destructive meaning we can reveal the cropped area. If I do this after following your instructions, the revealed area is now clipped from the canvas - which again, I'd argue is not the desired behaviour from a user point of view, but programmatically, it probably is correct.

I will check with the developers. Thank you. 

[ger_marsh]

Did you get anywhere with this one?

My annoying problem may be different though.

I am attempting to add a large white border surrounded by a smaller black keyline border. Selecting the centre anchor point works for the first border but the subsequent border is added on the bottom and right sides only.

In the attached I added the first as red and the second as yellow so they stand out.

 

[ger_marsh]

I found out that if I select "Clip Canvas" or "Unclip Canvas" the monitor shows a massive amount of red to the left and above the image. It has multiplied the document size by two!

 

[walt.farrell]

28 minutes ago, ger_marsh said:

I found out that if I select "Clip Canvas" or "Unclip Canvas" the monitor shows a massive amount of red to the left and above the image. It has multiplied the document size by two!

 

Have you perhaps Cropped the document, but not done a Rasterize & Trim to make the crop destructive?

[ger_marsh]

Thank you very much for the quick response!

Just tried it from the raw image file. The image was not cropped and applying the second resize canvas to the original results in the new border only being on the bottom and right sides.

I may have to create a larger white border then place a black rectangle on it.

 

[loukash]

2 hours ago, ger_marsh said:

I am attempting to add a large white border surrounded by a smaller black keyline border.

I would use simple vector rectangle shapes for that. There are several possible workflows how to stack them vertically to achive what you need, e.g. on top of the layer with stroke but no fill, or a fill layer at the bottom with the image cropped by a blank rectangle shape, or simply making the canvas a bit larger and placing a rectangle at the bottom like this:

You can also use the Outline Layer Effect on the image itself to add a border.
Or you can convert the pixel layer to an Image type of layer which then partially behaves like a vector object and can also have its own vector stroke as an outline.

There are many, many possibilities.  

[loukash]

3 hours ago, ger_marsh said:

In the attached I added the first as red and the second as yellow so they stand out.

Looking at your screenshot again, what you've apparently done there was destructively painting the transparent area surrounding your image using the Edit→Matte command. There is no benefit in using this specific workflow for what you want to achieve. Try to keep it non-destructive so that you can easily adjust any parameters and attributes, and make use of all the vector tools whenever you can.

[ger_marsh]

Aha!

I noticed that the pixel layer's image in the Layers view had a large amount of space on it. I duplicated the layer and applied Raterize and Trim to the duplicate and then it behaves as expected! Screenshot attached.

I do not know why the original raw file layer has that massive amount of deadspace.

 

[ger_marsh]

I have been using the two versions of Affinity for quite a while but using very basic functions. (I try to get the image as good as possible in camera.) I think I need to go back to basics. Thank you all for the replies.

 

[loukash]

37 minutes ago, ger_marsh said:

I do not know why the original raw file layer has that massive amount of deadspace.

It's not a "deadspace". In Affinity, the canvas dimensions are almost infinite.

(Well, technically the canvas is finite: the maximum canvas size is 2,147,483,647 × 2,147,483,647 pixel, which at 300 DPI is a canvas of a whopping 182×182 km! That's over 33000 km^2 which is more than the area of the US state Maryland…)

And that's by design, so that you can crop non-destructively or hide objects that you don't immediately need outside the visible canvas.
Also note that if you open an *.afphoto document in Designer (simply via File→Edit in Designer), all cropped objects or parts thereof will now be visible on Designer canvas which is also an intended difference between the two apps. 

35 minutes ago, ger_marsh said:

I think I need to go back to basics.

I can highly recommend watching the official Affinity video tutorials. Not just Photo, but also Designer because many of the vector tools and workflows are available in Photo as well. https://affinity.serif.com/learn

[ger_marsh]

After some more investigation, I must have done something "interesting" with my workflow. I usually do some basic things like clarity, exposure in the Develop persona then switch to "Photo". Whatever I have been doing has resulted in a large blank area on the pixel layer.

I shall keep an eye on that from now on!

 

[ger_marsh]

I discovered that the "blank bit" - I don't think it is the canvas size as that stays as expected - increases after I have attempted adding the second border. In this case I added 40 pixels for the first border then 20 for the second.

If I select Canvas Size, it gives me the expected value.

Note that the size of the image in the CR2 pixel layer is much smaller than it should be.