How can I do these 2 things in Affinity Photo - Duplicate from one tab into the next and transform size of an image?

[shiner25]

Okay so i am used to Photoshop. I only ever really do 4 things in photoshop

1. I create a new canvas ( background ) white ( I can do this in affinity) 

2. I open a image ( which places it in a new tab)  With the background and the image i brought in i have 2 tabs now.

3. I usually right click and duplicate the image over to the first tab which is the background so it places it as a 2nd layer on top

4. I then select that image and go to transform and resize it by holding down shift and dragging until i have the image the same size as the background canvas

The problem is I can't seem to be able to do this in affinity

I can do step 1 and step 2 ( so i have a background tab, and an image tab)

But i can't seem to get the IMAGE over to the background tab by duplicating. When i click duplicate it just duplicates it as another layer. I dont want that I want to duplicate it OVER or INTO the first tab where the background is as its own layer

Also I have no idea how to RESIZE and image ( with constrain). Where do i see that?

Any help, appreciated.

Thanks

[loukash]

1. open the image
2. if you need a specific color as a background, add a Fill Layer and drag it below the image layer in the Layers panel

Else, if you need to move layers of any kind between open "tabs" (documents), simply select the layer(s) in the Layers panel and copy → paste.

[loukash]

6 minutes ago, shiner25 said:

resize it by holding down shift and dragging until i have the image the same size as the background canvas

Document menu → Clip Canvas

Or vice versa, if your canvas already has the final size you want, make sure Snap To Spread is checked in the Snapping options.

[loukash]

12 minutes ago, shiner25 said:

i am used to Photoshop

By the way, so was I after at least 25 years of using PS. It takes some time to free oneself from all the Adobe Mindset Distortion™…  
Make sure to watch the Affinity tutorial videos, they really do help:
affinity.serif.com/learn

[shiner25]

Just now, loukash said:

By the way, so was I after at least 25 years of using PS. It takes some time to free oneself of all the Adobe Mindset Distortion™…  
Make sure to watch the Affinity tutorial videos, they really do help:
affinity.serif.com/learn

LOL. I agree. In all fairness to adobe photoshop. I do love their software but it was getting a little silly paying their prices. I'm glad to see Affinity is almost identical

I heard Canva bought out Affinity recently so Im not sure what their plans are. I tried Canva but it was a mess.

Affinity is much more like adobe.

thanks. I will give those tips a try.

I just realized clicking the MOVE button gets me handles so i may be able to resize that way. Duplication was the only other thing.

[loukash]

14 minutes ago, shiner25 said:

a new canvas ( background ) white

Thinking of it some more:
If you're seeing the transparent "checkboard" background and you want to get rid of that:
Document menu → uncheck Transparent Background

[loukash]

14 minutes ago, shiner25 said:

it was getting a little silly paying their prices

Yeah, I actually stopped at PS/AI/ID CS5.5 before they went CC. Which means on Mac, I was limited to old MacOS.
Then I switched to Affinity in 2019 after Publisher has been released, as for me it could replace InDesign for the most parts.

The only "irreplaceble" Adobe app in my collection is now Acrobat 10, so for preflight checks I'm copyping my PDFs to the old MacBook which normally just sits with closed lid on a shelf and I'm waking it up "headlessly" via Screen Sharing when needed…

As for Photoshop, in Affinity Photo I don't miss almost anything, perhaps with the exception of true bitmap (1-bit) mode, and the ancient Duplex (or Triplex/Quadruplex) mode in case I'd have to edit images for print I created in the 1990s. But even then, there's still PS CS5.5 on my old Mac if really needed for that.