Similarities of Photo2 and Photoshop

[CTDude]

Hello all. I am brand new to Affinity family and it's graphics product line. I have found it to be much more affordable than the Adobe Creative Cloud and a very intuitive line software programs. I'd like to ramp up as quickly as I can with the products such as Photo2.

For example...being somewhat knowledgeable in Photoshop I was hoping the Photo2 community might be able to point me in the right direction to quickly learn some of the Photo2 functions such as: how to cut a path with Photo2 in order to silhouette out part of an image.

So far, I have experimented with some of the tools in Photo2 and was able to use the pen tool to outline a subject with nodes and in essence create what Photoshop would consider a path. However, I was unable to activate the path in order to copy the subject as I would have done in Photoshop.

I apologize up front if this subject has already been addressed by forum members but I would like to learn and discover with free online video training if that is available.

Many thanks in advance and I look forward to participating in this forum!

CT Dude

 

 

[Brian_J]

To make a pixel selection based on a curve or shape (a.k.a. path):

1. Create the curve or shape.
2. Select the Move Tool.
3. In the Layers Panel Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) the layer thumbnail of the object you want to make a selection of. Note: the path must have a fill or stoke in order to create a pixel selection.
4. You can then use the pixel selection to copy, delete, make a mask, etc.

Alternatively, you can create a path and turn it into a pixel selection, which deletes the path. This Affinity help page explains how to do that: https://affinity.help/photo2/en-US.lproj/pages/Selections/selections_fromshapes.html.

Regarding getting up to speed with the apps, here are some resources you may find helpful...

Affinity Learning Portal — a good place to start; video tutorials created by Serif (click the desktop and iPad buttons): https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/learn/

Affinity Online Help — a good place to get familiar with the apps, terminology, etc. The Affinity documentation needs to be improved, in my opinion, but it's helpful, nonetheless: https://affinity.help/

Serif YouTube Channels
https://youtube.com/@AffinityDesignerOfficial
https://youtube.com/@AffinityPhotoOfficial
https://youtube.com/@AffinityPublisher

Searching YouTube for specific topics related to the Affinity apps may also yield helpful videos.

And, of course, this forum is a good place to ask questions when you're stumped. It's a good idea to search the forum to see if you're question may have been answered already. The search functionality in the forum isn't that good, so I often search the forum via Google, like this: site:forum.affinity.serif.com QUESTION HERE.

[RichardMH]

On the top left there are Mask and Selection buttons. Will they do what you want? Selection and ctrl J (on PC) or ctrl C then ctrl V?