Documentation/Manual

[kebojax]

I am new to this type of software.  I've done photography for a number of years but have done little post processing of the images.  Photoshop was always too expensive but when I saw Affinity and how well it was rated, I decided to give it a try.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to best learn to use this correctly and efficiently?  I've looked at a number of the training videos and they help, but most seem to assume you are already familiar with the terminology of photo processing.  I searched but didn't see any books on Affinity (at least not in english  :) ).  Would a general book on photo processing help?  Wasn't sure if the terminology was consistent throughout these types of applications. I can see how powerful this software is to be able to create effects, and the clean up my photographs.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks, Keith

[Lee D]

Hi Keith,

 

Here's a link to our online video tutorials, if you haven't found them already. You may also want to check out the tutorials section of our forums for some that other users of Affinity have created. We're also planning to release some handbooks for the apps as well .

 

The tools on Affinity are going to be similar to those in other photo editing apps so a general book on photo editing would benefit you.

 

Hope this helps.

 

L

[MEB]

Hi Kebojax,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

For general photography processing you can also check the tutorials section of this site.

Don't forget to check the Help file included with Affinity Photo. It covers all features of the program.

[manu schwendener]

> clean up my photographs

 

My suggestion would be: start with a picture that has a relatively easy problem that is bothering you.

 

(Did you get the inpainting brush to work, by the way?)

 

The steps I most often use in Affinity Photo are

 

- cropping *

- brightening a picture with the 'Level' adjustment

- cleaning up some clutter with the inpainting brush (or, if that isn't working: with cloning and then using the inpainting brush to get rid of the traces of the cloning) **

I write this mainly to show you: Affinity photo is a powerful tool, but it can also be used for basic retouching steps.

 

When you want to straighten a picture, make sure that in 'Preferences - Performance' you have chosen 'View quality - Bilinear', otherwise the result can look wrong.

 

 

* https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/12394-what-happened-to-topic8799-crop-tool-inconsistency

** https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/10190-photo-replace-one-colour-with-another-like-red-eye-removal-but-with-colour-picker

 

I also found this very interesting:

[kebojax]

Thanks for all the quick responses.  I have viewed a number of the tutorials and they are very good (I hadn't known about the member videos, so I'll check them out - Thanks Lee D).  I was looking for something that would help me to understand what all the tools do.  It sounds like from Meb's response that a general book on photo editing would be of benefit.  Manu - Thanks, I did find the inpainting tool - it's pretty incredible how good it is.

Thanks again to everyone.

[sam3]

I have found a very good tutorial course that may help, worth a view.

If you go to Udemy.com and look for Simon Foster's video titled Affinity Photo .Solid Foundation.

I think I have the detail correct, however if you can't find it ,come back and I will check it out.

Good luck

[MEB]

Here's some more resources/training, including a link to the course @sam3 is referring to.

[anon1]

-

[MEB]

Thanks MBd. Wasn't aware of that one.

I've added it to the list.

[LenC]

I'm a few weeks down the same path. I endorse the Simon Foster course (not free) cited above, and after that I have been studying the Serif/Affinity ones on Vimeo, but I like the ordered listing at

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/10119-in-house-affinity-photo-video-tutorials/
 

There is an eBook version of the online Help that is useful for offline study:

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/15552-downloadable-affinity-photo-help-file-14-for-ibooks-epub/&p=84508
 

For extended glossary type discussions, see, for example, such entries (and links therein) as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_editing or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsharp_masking

 

In looking for books on image editing, I borrowed two from my library: Photoshop in a Weekend and Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers. The first was at a better level; the latter, about four times as long and aimed at professionals, plus many Photoshop-specific discussions of no use to us, but did have an excellent discussion on using Curves as the primary tool for adjusting tonality and color. So find and use what you can. Some of these books come out with yearly revisions, and used copies are cheap.

 

A scrolling mouse is handy. Also learn the keyboard shortcuts (second link in Lee D's post, also in tutorials, plus more in Affinity Photo Help).

[kebojax]

Wow, this forum is a great resource. Thanks for all your suggestions.