Convert to Bitmap?

[Teapics]

Hi - I'm a (increasingly common) PS user who's used to being able to convert a grayscale image to bitmap in a few clicks & I would like to know what the best way to do this in Affinity Photo V2 is?

I have the suite, so could use Designer if that offers a better work around.  Or should I use another program?

I have tried searching, found a thread from 2021, so apologies in advance if it's covered elsewhere, pls point me towards that answer if so. 🙏

[R C-R]

I don't quite understand what you are asking about. Greyscale raster images are a type of bitmap so do you possibly mean monochrome (just 2 bits per pixel) or something else?

[Teapics]

Ta for the reply - I am probably using technically poor descriptions, apologies.

In PS I would for example convert a scanned drawing/ image to grayscale (at 300-450 dpi) then resize to 1200 dpi, & then go:

Image Mode - Bitmap - 50% threshold - to get a large clear (no aliasing, greys etc) image to work from.

(I might do a few versions so I have some with more mids-highlights retained & others with shadow/ blacks emphasis)

So not being able to find an "Image Mode" in Affinity has foxed me a bit.  I was used to being able to click image & convert to greyscale, to CMYK etc without thinking.

 

I recognise that this may be an even worse explanation than my initial post...

[henryanthony]

@Teapics I actually keep Photoshop 5.0 installed for this very purpose. I thought I might have been the only person on the planet who still uses this feature. LOL! Attached file shows grayscale on top and bitmap version on the bottom.

Why is it this file is attached but not showing on my post? Or is it just me?

 

Bitmap.tif

 

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[Pšenda]

7 hours ago, Teapics said:

I was used to being able to click image & convert to greyscale

You mean this?

 

[Teapics]

6 hours ago, henryanthony said:

@Teapics I actually keep Photoshop 5.0 installed for this very purpose. I thought I might have been the only person on the planet who still uses this feature. LOL! Attached file shows grayscale on top and bitmap version on the bottom.

Why is it this file is attached but not showing on my post? Or is it just me?

 

Bitmap.tif 976.77 kB · 2 downloads

 

Ha, PS 5.0 is true vintage - how many of you are there using it?
(I wish I'd been mindful a kept a copy of CS6 at the time : )

I had to download your file to see it yes, wasn't visible in post for some reason.

Sometimes the reason for me using this in PS would be that I wanted to have a copy of my pencil drawing just reduced to black pixels, at 1200 dpi, I can use for different things like digital painting or eventually printing a laser copy to use with a gell printing plate.

Edited August 16, 2024 by Teapics

[Teapics]

6 hours ago, Pšenda said:

You mean this?

 

Thanks for the reply, yes & no I think - I mean I know I can go to that grayscale in AP & use threshold filter, could do similar in PS, but I would convert bitmap scale to 1200 dpi like mentioned here:
https://www.truegrittexturesupply.com/blogs/news/1200dpi-or-die


In PS using the image mode edit is different than using a threshold adjustment.
I'm explaining/ requesting poorly apologies - I'm clearly not very technical -  maybe I'd be best off using some GMIC filter or halftoning?

[Teapics]

7 hours ago, lacerto said:

Affinity apps do not support monochrome, so even if you place one in any Affinity app, it turns to multichannel (in fact RGB) image. You need to use alternative methods, like thresholding and e.g. nearest neighbor downsampling to have monochrome-like effect (but the behavior is clearly different, so you just cannot use them, nor indexed images).

OK thanks, I think I'm almost understanding, so where before using this PS method I'd end up with a monochrome file, bit depth of 1, AP won't do that & I'd need to replicate with filters?

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, Teapics said:

OK thanks, I think I'm almost understanding, so where before using this PS method I'd end up with a monochrome file, bit depth of 1, AP won't do that & I'd need to replicate with filters?

Yes. No 1 bit file format export in Affinity Photo. Much requested item.

 

17 hours ago, R C-R said:

(just 2 bits per pixel) or something else?

I think you mean 2 colours per pixel or 1 bit per pixel.

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, Teapics said:

a monochrome file, bit depth of 1, AP won't do that & I'd need to replicate with filters?

Affinity does not support 1-bit, as @lacerto mentioned. Monochrome does not have to be 1-bit only but may also include 1 colour with its tints, e.g. grayscale. In Affinity you could alternatively create a high-contrast image in the desired resolution and export it as grayscale image. The method to achieve the contrast is up to you, it can be with an adjustment, a filter or blend mode. – If you want to have 100 K only in the image but maintain halftones you might try AP's filter "Monochrome Dither".

[henryanthony]

8 hours ago, Teapics said:

Ha, PS 5.0 is true vintage - how many of you are there using it?
(I wish I'd been mindful a kept a copy of CS6 at the time : )

I had to download your file to see it yes, wasn't visible in post for some reason.

Sometimes the reason for me using this in PS would be that I wanted to have a copy of my pencil drawing just reduced to black pixels, at 1200 dpi, I can use for different things like digital painting or eventually printing a laser copy to use with a gell printing plate.

@Teapics Just me using PS 5 for personal projects and only for the bitmap capability. Also have CS 6 running on a vintage XP machine but have not fired it up in quite a long time. Other than missing this bitmap feature, AP has everything, and more, that I need in an image editor.

[Teapics]

15 hours ago, henryanthony said:

@Teapics Just me using PS 5 for personal projects and only for the bitmap capability. Also have CS 6 running on a vintage XP machine but have not fired it up in quite a long time. Other than missing this bitmap feature, AP has everything, and more, that I need in an image editor.

Keeping that 90's PS flame alive.
I'm sure I had it & AI on CD's in 2000s, all in landfill somewhere now I guess.

[Teapics]

Thanks for all the replies.

I hope we get 1-bit support one day, but won't hold my breath.

Current workaround is edit in APh then open in Irfanview, use the 2 colours black & white option within the Decrease Colour Depth setting  (> save as bmp/ tif) as in attached.
A bit ball achey using a 2nd program, & I haven't found an Irfanview alternative for iPad, but seems fine.

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[Teapics]

On 8/17/2024 at 8:40 PM, lacerto said:

If you want a near Photoshop-like experience with indexing (palettizing) images, I recommend trying GIMP:

Thanks - I tried & failed to reply before - I had uninstalled it a while back, good to have a use now & interested to see when the 3.0 version finally gets a release.

[ghostcubed]

On 8/16/2024 at 12:55 PM, henryanthony said:

@Teapics I actually keep Photoshop 5.0 installed for this very purpose. I thought I might have been the only person on the planet who still uses this feature. LOL! Attached file shows grayscale on top and bitmap version on the bottom.

Why is it this file is attached but not showing on my post? Or is it just me?

 

Bitmap.tifUnavailable

 

The bitmap halftone(sometimes diffusion dither is vital to me).I don’t just love how it looks I need it for screenprinting. I remember I refunded Affinity on iPad about about 30 minutes because it was clear to me the halftone on it was just an incredibly crappy filter 

[filmfanman65]

On 8/16/2024 at 7:03 AM, lacerto said:

Obsolete.

This is how I know nobody here has professional experience in design or publishing.  I have 20+ years working for university press and medical journals.  Yeah, 1-bit is essential --ask anyone who works in publishing.  It's one of the many missing features that prohibits mass adoption to Affinity.  In lieu of improving their product, Affinity will remain in the ghetto of software made by developers for developers --and nobody else.  Not bad for hobbyists, but simply not suited for a serious professional setting.

[lacerto]

16 hours ago, filmfanman65 said:

This is how I know nobody here has professional experience in design or publishing. 

Sorry, you misunderstood. I could not agree more about usefulness of monochromes and what you mention above. My comment (there are thousands of these) was related to my having deleted my old posts (not being able to do it without leaving some note) because of needing to delete attachments due to a quota limit. Leaving mere texts without attached images and videos (typically nearly always included in my posts) did not seem a good idea so I ended up making them "obsolete". Obviously not the best choice of word (even if many of them were probably obsolete also because of changes in the software).

UPDATE: I incidentally posted a few weeks ago a note the forum on how it actually IS possible (in a very limited way) to export a 1-bit bitmap (PNG) from within Affinity apps. Very few seemed to know (and not many seemed to care  )

[Alfred]

11 minutes ago, lacerto said:

Obviously not the best choice of word (even if many of them were probably obsolete also because of changes in the software).

Perhaps “No longer relevant” would have been clearer.

[Teapics]

44 minutes ago, lacerto said:

UPDATE: I incidentally posted a few weeks ago a note the forum on how it actually IS possible (in a very limited way) to export a 1-bit bitmap (PNG) from within Affinity apps. Very few seemed to know (and not many seemed to care  )

Would you link to this if possible pls?

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, lacerto said:

and not many seemed to care

It is not surprising, because "nobody here has professional experience in design or publishing" 🙂

[lacerto]

55 minutes ago, Teapics said:

Would you link to this if possible pls?

 

[Pšenda]

33 minutes ago, lacerto said:

 

Isn't this post more about that?

 

[filmfanman65]

7 hours ago, lacerto said:

Sorry, you misunderstood. I could not agree more about usefulness of monochromes and what you mention above. My comment (there are thousands of these) was related to my having deleted my old posts (not being able to do it without leaving some note) because of needing to delete attachments due to a quota limit. Leaving mere texts without attached images and videos (typically nearly always included in my posts) did not seem a good idea so I ended up making them "obsolete". Obviously not the best choice of word (even if many of them were probably obsolete also because of changes in the software).

UPDATE: I incidentally posted a few weeks ago a note the forum on how it actually IS possible (in a very limited way) to export a 1-bit bitmap (PNG) from within Affinity apps. Very few seemed to know (and not many seemed to care  )

My apologies.  I will look at the note you posted.  That being said, it's cold comfort when Affinity should already have a quick and simple bitmap feature to begin with!  I have looked through a decade's worth of forum threads regarding this issue.  Users who bring it up are pilloried by developers and forum trolls alike --who seem to know/care precious little about the software's practical application!  This is very concerning.  Countless professionals would love to ditch Adobe (and I assume Affinity desires scooping them up), but this does not boost confidence.  It's just bad from a business standpoint.  Doesn't Affinity want to be competitive?