Why affinity 2 make png file ugly?

[Yurembo]

I’ve noticed that when I open a high-quality PNG file in Affinity 2, it appears to have some issues. Can you help me understand why this is happening and if there’s a way to avoid it?

af.afdesign

[carl123]

The image opens up with a colour format of RGB/32 (HDR)

Activate the 32-bit Preview Panel (Window > 32-bit Preview)

and select Unmanaged

[Yurembo]

@carl123 Your suggestion is a lifesaver, thanks a bunch!

[Yurembo]

@carl123 I’m having trouble figuring out how to explore a PNG file that I see in Affinity 2. Can you help me out?

[carl123]

Sorry I don't use 32 bit images so I don't know how to export them from Affinity

Or how to permanently convert them to 8 bit and retain the colours

Someone else may be able to help you.

Alternatively, you could just take a screenshot crop and export that

[Ldina]

@Yurembo IF your file was actually an 8 or 16 bit file, and was improperly interpreted as a 32-bit file by Affinity when opened, it will display like that, all washed out. If it WAS NOT originally a 32 bit file, you can apply a Procedural Texture Filter to convert Linear 32 bit to 2.2 Gamma. The following screenshot shows the quick formulas you need to enter (Case Sensitive).

 

[James Ritson]

Hi @Yurembo, could we ask where the PNG was sourced from/how it was created? We added support for HDR PNGs in 2.4, which looks for appropriate signalling from a cICP chunk in the PNG metadata. If it finds this data, it treats the imported image as linear and brings it in as RGB/32. This composites in linear space but adds a gamma corrected view transform, which is what you're seeing (the brighter/"washed out" result).

I've seen a few other cases of PNGs opening unintentionally as linear HDR documents—any information you can provide on the source of the PNG (e.g. how it was authored/where it was exported or saved from) would be much appreciated.

[Yurembo]

Hi @James Ritson 

Yes, of course. Here are the steps I followed:  
1. I took a photo using the camera on my device, an iPhone 15 Pro Max.
2. I transferred the photo from my iPhone to my MacBook using AirDrop.  
3. In the Downloads folder, I located the photo and tried to open it by right-clicking and selecting Affinity Designer 2.  
   - Actual results: An error appeared.
     - Title: Failed to open file
     - Description: Downloads/IMG_4127.HEIC - The file type is not supported.  

I then tried converting the image using Preview:  
1. I opened the file with Preview.  
2. Selected File -> Export... -> Format PNG.  
3. Clicked on the PNG file, which I then opened in Affinity Designer 2.  
   - Actual results: I encountered another problematic file.  

From what I understand, the issue might be related to the iPhone’s HEIC format being poorly converted to PNG. What would be the best way to open HEIC files in Affinity Designer 2? 

IMG_4127.HEIC

[Pauls]

That file will open in the latest Beta version - so you could download that and process it in that

[Ldina]

39 minutes ago, Yurembo said:

What would be the best way to open HEIC files in Affinity Designer 2? 

This may not be the 'best' way, but I've had success with it. In the Apple Photos App, select the image, right-click and choose Edit With Affinity Photo 2. 

Apple Photos will then export the file to Photo and it opens fine on my system. However, it's always a bit interesting to see exactly WHAT Apple sends to photo....it could be 8 or 16 bit, sRGB or P3 Color Space, JPEG or TIFF file format. I guess it depends on the original iPhone file format. But, they seem to open and edit fine otherwise. I haven't found much that documents what Apple does.

Files in Apple Photos can also be exported in numerous ways, (File > Export, or File > Export Unmodified Original) or even opened using Preview or Colorsync, then exported from those apps (which provide some additional file format and size options). 

[thomaso]

20 hours ago, Yurembo said:

What would be the best way to open HEIC files in Affinity Designer 2? 

I can open your HEIC in Apple's Preview app, export it as TIF and open that in Affinity V1 as 8 bit image.
(PNG was developed as successor of GIF and is less flexible or complex than the older TIF format)

[GregD]

Hi,

I'm having a somewhat similar issue, my tiff files all render grayed out or washed up, even in the last beta.

Rendering is fine when opening in apple preview and other tools (and rendering is also fine if I drag and drop my file in a new document)

I'm sorry if this is not the same issue, let me know if I should create a separate thread

For reference, in the screenshot, the affinity is on the Left, Preview on the right

 

LNT 09.tif

[lepr]

1 hour ago, GregD said:

I'm sorry if this is not the same issue, let me know if I should create a separate thread

Looks like a different issue.

My impression is that the file is from Photoshop and contains a regular TIFF image and also contains Photoshop layers. Most apps will read and display only the TIFF image, including Affinity when the file is placed/dropped into an already open document. However, opening the file in Affinity results in the Photoshop layers being translated to Affinity layers, but the translation is imperfect and that results in a different aggregate appearance.

[GregD]

that's what I thought, but the visual in preview really match the original (Photoshop) look, and likewise, I don't get the same result when disabling extra layers.

I'm going to open a separate issue then 🙂 Thanks

 

[lepr]

13 minutes ago, GregD said:

but the visual in preview really match the original (Photoshop) look, 

Yes, because the standard TIFF image in the file was generated by Photoshop blending its layers together.

13 minutes ago, GregD said:

and likewise, I don't get the same result when disabling extra layers.

That's to be expected. The bottom layer of the stack of Photoshop layers is not the same thing as the standard TIFF image contained in the file.

 

13 minutes ago, GregD said:

I'm going to open a separate issue then 🙂

Yes, this thread is about PNG files. Your issue is that Affinity is imperfectly translating Photoshop layers to Affinity layers.

13 minutes ago, GregD said:

Thanks

You're welcome