AFPhoto: Images seem not to react to any editing (with brush/eraser ect.)

[jweitzel]

(AFPh 2.4.2, Mac Studio M1, OS 13.6.6) )

Hello out there!

I've the impression, it's been since the last update of AFPhoto that I open in particular screenshots (saved as JPG) and then the image doesn't seem to respond to any editing with the brush, eraser or selection tool. It is as if there is a pane of glass on the image that makes any editing impossible. This is reproducible, but not *always*: The more urgent I am to serve the customer, the more persistently this occurs. Grrr. What could also be the case is that AFPhoto has "start difficulties"? and only reacts as intended after quite a great while. Of course, I have paid for my license and it is legal, thinking of that Affinity also "is calling home".

The remarkable thing is that you can see in the (usually: background-) layer thumbnail that I have drawn black over the image with a large brush, for example, - but you can't see the editing on the screen!

I don't do any experiments with my workstation or Affinty, as I work as professional. So it must/may be due to some setting that has been affected by the update. Saving the screenshot as a PNG or Tiff and starting over doesn't help either. Furthermore I do not want to de-install the whole AF Suite to start over from scratch (and do not have any clue how, also I'm skilled in killing desktop computers ).

In general, I would like to say about Affinity Suite (apart from the absolutely deplorable sale of the whole to Canva!) that there is a saying in German: "Das bessre ist der Feind des Guten". Which means: "After good comes sh*it". I'm gradually getting the impression that Affinity is being puffed up with more and more functions, automatisms, wizards and features - before all the errors, inconsistencies and completely confused distribution of functions in the menus and palettes in the basement have even been worked through. When I simply double-click to open an image, I'm confronted with so many clicks and options in the function/context bar alone that I never know what I've just twisted - and above all I don't even know *and don't want to know* how they are about to complicate my work.

The Affinity team seems to be on the run from Adobe. You have to add more and more absurd features to be "better".
The software in the meantime seems to me like a car repair shop that is so full of tools (!) that you can't get the car in.

Perhaps someone has an idea what the problem described at the beginning is that files simply don't want to be edited or this work is not displayed/represented in the main window.

Thank you!

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[NathanC]

Hi @jweitzel,

If the edits are visible in the layer thumbnail or navigator panel but not the canvas this does sound like a rendering/draw issue. I'd initially recommend disabling Metal Compute in the App Settings -> Performance (last checkbox) and then restart then app when prompted. Once this has been done, see how it goes moving forward.

If the issue persists, when this next happens it would be helpful if you could provide a screen recording which demonstrates it happening.

Thanks

[jweitzel]

Thank you very much, Nathan! Also for answering so quickly and keeping an eye on the development of the many questions and complaints "up to the minute" in the forum.
I will take your suggestion and then report back.

That doesn't sound very "compatible" if I were to deactivate Metal computing ...

thanks again!

Johannes

[jweitzel]

Now I am back – without success and with success:

1) I did according to your advice: de-activating Metall in the preferences. I did the editing, and it is only shown in the layer thumbnail not in the main window.

2) I did some further experiments with the parameters in the "Performance" preferences. No change of the problem.

(I made 2 movies with and without success, but at last I saw, that the picture contained too many "private" aspects, so that I had to delete the already uploaded movies. so sorry.)

3) I happen to change the view of the file to "real size" (or the like) in the "View" menue. And the changes on the file got visible!

That boils down the problem to something weird with the screen display in that combination of: original Mac Studio M1 (system 13.6.6), screen setup to 2560x1440 of an EIZO CS2740 (with original resolution: 3840×2160 pixel) 😞   

I am using until now and since years some "unusual" screen resolution because of the too small representation in original resolution of the Eizo 2740 (icons and menu text are way to small).

That problem with AFPhoto arose with last update. I know: those problems are really weird for the developing team but also for the user...

 

Johannes

 

[NathanC]

Thanks for the update @jweitzel,

As well as disabling Metal Compute in the app Settings -> Performance try setting the 'Display' setting to 'OpenGL' and then close the interface and restart for the change to take effect. Zooming in and out forces a redraw of the canvas area, this force redraw can also be triggered by holding and scrolling in and out of the canvas with the mouse wheel, but this should be happening automatically. Your setup sounds fairly standard to me, are you using a drawing tablet or any other notable peripherals?

If it still doesn't work with OpenGL enabled, ideally we'll need a screen recording which shows the issue, if you don't wish to share it publicly I have added a private upload link below. Also, try having the Navigator panel open to see if your brush strokes appear in the navigator canvas preview.

https://www.dropbox.com/request/4qvWoIJGCwndRcXKmKZU

You could also try rolling back your app version if you found that this only started happening as of the last update, you can download the earlier versions from the link below.

https://store.serif.com/en-gb/update/macos/photo/2/

[jweitzel]

Hello Nathan,

thanks again for getting to the bottom of this error! I have sent you a movie according to your request, which shows 1) and 3). Thanks, I now know the workaround. The acute case was that I had to finish a job and stuck. That's always very annoying.

I'm not considering reverting to the previous version. We all want to move forward (but just not too speedy )

I couldn't take your advice about "OpeneGL" to heart as I couldn't find where this parameter is set: In the preferences of Affinity or in the system preferences (Mac) -> screen setup? There is no mention of Open GL as far as I can see.

As I said, such display issues are annoying for everyone and so difficult to reconstruct because everyone has a different setup (Windows probably even worse...). I'd be happy to help your developers to narrow things down further. But I have deadline work on the table here and only have limited time for R&D :-)

The main thing is that I can continue with work!

Thank you very much!

[markw]

1 hour ago, jweitzel said:

...I couldn't find where this parameter is set...

The ‘OpenGL’ option can be found and set in each Affinity apps Preferences;
Preferences > Performance > Display

[jweitzel]

Good morning (or whatever time of day it is where you are)!

I don't see any "OpenGL". But from time to time I'm a bit slow on the uptake.

Many thanks for your help!

Johannes

[NathanC]

Hi @jweitzel,

Thanks for the recording. If you first untick the 'Hardware Acceleration' option at the bottom this should unlock the 'Display' dropdown which you can then change from 'Metal' to 'OpenGL'. Once this has been done, close the interface and restart the app and then try again.

[jweitzel]

Hello to both!

Yes, after deactivating "Metall", the popup for choosing "OpenGL" gets visible.

And the best: Yes with that setup the screen rendering issue is solved!

But now I want to ask (because I do not know): Am I driving into the future with this setting (metal deactivated - OpenGL activated) with the handbrake engaged, so to speak? That would of course be bad, first spending over 3.000€ on the Ferrari (Mac Studio M1 Max), but then gears 2 to 6 are blocked.
😢

Have a nice day!
Johannes

 

[NathanC]

It's good to hear that it works with OpenGL rendering without requiring a force redraw after every brush stroke. I'll raise your issue internally with regards to the Metal renderer to see if there's any potential factors causing this. However, we're more limited on Mac since the issue is evidently caused by Metal specific to your local environment, and performing basic steps such as a GPU driver re-install isn't really an option on Mac since this is handled via system updates unlike Windows.

Since you mentioned that this only happened recently after an app update, I would be interested to hear if you roll back to your previous app version and then enable metal if it then works. This will help confirm if it is something external to the apps that has caused this.

https://store.serif.com/en-gb/update/macos/photo/2/

[jweitzel]

Hello Nathan,

thanks again for your patience and persistent help! Of course, this staff-user interaction also characterizes Serif's user orientation! On the other hand, I am happy to help constructively to narrow down the occurrence of this issue, e.g. through any system logs or lists of active processes/kernel extensions etc. (would need help to dump them).

Please understand, however, that I would rather not undertake a rollback to V 2.x of the suite! In fact, my workstation's system is "sacred" to me because I depend on it to run smoothly for my business. That's why I don't experiment with cheap software or even "gatches" taken from the Internet.

Are there any opinions on the performance of OpenGL versus Metall? I still had this question.

Greetings from Johannes

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, jweitzel said:

Are there any opinions on the performance of OpenGL versus Metall?

If you have APhoto you could try the "Benchmark" feature to get an impression for your specific hard-/software configuration. Run it twice, 1x with Metal, 1x with OpenGL activated.

https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Extras/benchmark.html&title=Benchmark

 

[NathanC]

Hi @jweitzel,

Can you send us a copy of your system report file to the upload link? Instructions below.

https://www.dropbox.com/request/4qvWoIJGCwndRcXKmKZU

1. Click the Apple icon, then select About This Mac.
2. Select System Report… to open the System Information window.
3. Click File, select Save, rename it to something practical, then click Save.

[jweitzel]

I will be happy to send you a system report. Does my Mac have to be sober and also pass morning urine? Ha, ha, ha, haaa.

But seriously, today I had to do a series of scans and retouching - and I noticed that the display of the high-pass filter for sharpening isn't running smoothly either: When I adjust the pixel slider there, the screen display is not usable, as it is always only updated with a very long delay, or, if I adjust further, the version from 3 seconds ago (or even nothing = smooth surface at all) is displayed.

This massive occurrence of display errors now worries me a little. As a specialist, you're familiar with situations where you spend a long time looking around with the software manufacturer - but in the end it turns out that the graphics card simply broke at the same time.

I'll keep an eye on it for a while.

Perhaps other users will make similar observations? In general, I always tend to look for the problem in front of the screen or with the individual user. That is the most difficult, but also usually the most likely.

Greetings and thanks, Nathan!
Johannes