Affinity Photo Customer Beta (1.5 - Beta 1)

[David4]

Thank you for the great work.

 

The 1.5 beta 1 is appreciated.  You are all appreciated.

 

Is there a beta 2?

 

Cheers

 

David

[Frank Jonen]

Found some bugs, got some gripes. Here we go.

 

 

EXR import

 

Bug: I get weird lines around the edges when opening EXRs. When I add a layer below it, the weird white pixels disappear. 

 

and with layer below

 

 

EXR Gamma

 

When using the soft-proof sRGB as a viewing LUT I get incorrect gamma values. When I set the colour profile from linear RGB to sRGB the gamma is correct. As a thought, having some buttons in the interface that lets the user toggle viewer LUTs would be great. Like 3 buttons for example (linear, sRGB, false colour).

 

 

EXR Alpha

 

Also: Please don't apply the alpha channel to the image. The only thing that ever does is delete our work. Adobe already made that mistake and even accused the authors of OpenEXR to be wrong about their own spec. It was a lengthy discussion that's widely documented across the web.

 

The alpha channel is just a greyscale channel artists use as the first mask that's stored in the file. In my case the entire background was gone. The most common use is to store the main silhouette in the alpha but once you add more renders the silhouette goes into a separate file and the alpha is just to select the area of a render you want to have as a mask in post. 

 

Multi-channel: You have some nice room in the Pixel Selection area of the channels, that's where you could store the rest of the multichannel files.

 

 

 

Gaussian Blur Live filter

 

It adds a technicolor dreamcoat over parts of the image. But it blurs. Clarity live filter does the same, just greyscale.

 

 

 

HDR Persona

 

Maybe going full resolution as a default isn't such a great idea for tone mapping. You could take the zoom level it had in the previous persona and just treat that window view. I'm having a 9K by 4K EXR open in the background and it just calculates forever. If I had an 'area of interest' rectangle I could just draw open over an image and only have calculated what is in there, it would really speed things up and make it more fluid.

 

 

 

Live projections

 

The mouse wheel zoom doesn't work to zoom in and out of the projection, it just zooms the entire image. Adding a shortcut would be nice. Like shift+wheel. 

 

 

 

These are my gripes so far.

 

[Leafdancing]

Just a little bug: I am seeing the brush shape instead of the cursor when I go to edit a brush sometimes. Say I click on texture brush Grunge 3, for instance, it is that brush shape I see when I try to adjust any sliders, which makes it a little awkward to make adjustments. No biggy, but just to let you know, as is fine in 1.4.2 :)

Macbook Pro late 2013 10.10.5 Yosemite

[paolo.limoncelli]

Thanks for the Accumulation Jitter!

 

 

 

I love the way you implemented, keeping it separate from opacity. 

 

 

Just a little bug: I am seeing the brush shape instead of the cursor when I go to edit a brush sometimes. Say I click on texture brush Grunge 3, for instance, it is that brush shape I see when I try to adjust any sliders, which makes it a little awkward to make adjustments. No biggy, but just to let you know, as is fine in 1.4.2 :)

Macbook Pro late 2013 10.10.5 Yosemite

 

I'm experiencing the same issue.

Also sometimes (randomly) the editor goes nuts when I modify an existing brush, it seems not able to perform a new nozzle addition: preview is correct, but stroke is the "older" one.

I noticed that the Fill Layer is broken too.

 

That's all so far...  :)

[Justin]

Hi Frank

 

Any chance you could send an OpenEXR file that shows the import bug to support@seriflabs.com?

 

Thank you

Justin

[Andy Somerfield]

Frank,

 

Thanks for the feedback - we will chew through these. It's early days - but we will endeavour to get it right where others may have not. This will take some time - and users with knowledge like you to guide us..

 

One question about alpha - we thought that the treatment of empty alpha was the deal-breaker in other apps (ie. pixels which emit light, but do not reflect any light - candle flames, etc.). We think we have got this right. Is the (optional?) separation of alpha into a "spare channel" an equally important thing? If so, we can facilitate it..

 

Thanks again for your help,

 

Andy.

[p_mac]

Hi Andy, was working last night in 1.5, just doing regular processing in 16 bit, noise reduction, some light painting, then tried to export in TIFF format. Image was black, when opening in preview there was a message saying error in export. Tried twice, same issue. Then exported in JPG successfully. Using file - export. Is there an issue?

[ronnyb]

BUG: File > Acquire Image does not show my iPhone when attached via USB; however opening up the Image Capture app shows my iPhone as a shared device.

[pschefz]

Hi Andy, was working last night in 1.5, just doing regular processing in 16 bit, noise reduction, some light painting, then tried to export in TIFF format. Image was black, when opening in preview there was a message saying error in export. Tried twice, same issue. Then exported in JPG successfully. Using file - export. Is there an issue?

this is the same in 1.4.2...can't export Tiffs

[Frank Jonen]

Frank,

 

Thanks for the feedback - we will chew through these. It's early days - but we will endeavour to get it right where others may have not. This will take some time - and users with knowledge like you to guide us..

 

One question about alpha - we thought that the treatment of empty alpha was the deal-breaker in other apps (ie. pixels which emit light, but do not reflect any light - candle flames, etc.). We think we have got this right. Is the (optional?) separation of alpha into a "spare channel" an equally important thing? If so, we can facilitate it..

 

Thanks again for your help,

 

Andy.

 

Andy,

 

yes… empty alphas, always fun. <_<  

 

Usually when you render an image out, the first "mask" is pretty much always the alpha channel.

 

Example: Say I have a face model, render it out and start my channel set with the eyes clockwise. I'd have left eye, right eye, mouth and so on. Then open it in an app and all that remains is the left eye, not cool. There is no way this render than can could continue in post, all channels would have to be extracted so post work can begin. Tedious and error inviting.

 

In RGB, channels other than R/G/B should always be treated as optional so the artist can decide what to do with them. I often wonder where that whole "let's bake in the alpha" business came from, it's weird, I think Apple just went with it because it looked cool in QuickLook views. There's also something about it in the 1998 TIFF specs. Well, weird. All it does is introduce extra work.

 

When you look at The Foundry's Nuke they have it pretty much right with their approach (channel management could be better). Try the Non Commercial version as the full one costs a car. You bring in a file and you see everything, then you get to decide how you want to use your channels. While you can always toggle the alpha channel on/off (press 'a' key), it's just a way to view the alpha quickly. It doesn't premultiply it unless you tell it to.

 

There probably are some edge cases where the user wants to import a file premultiplied, so maybe a checkbox in the file open dialogue would be a good compromise. Something that can be set to default as these users probably do that as part of their workflow.

 

What would be nice is a preset on how I want 32-Bit files to be imported. What viewing LUT to apply by default and if I want linear gamma or 2.2 / 2.4 or something else entirely. 

 

 

Early days!

[Frank Jonen]

Hi Frank

 

Any chance you could send an OpenEXR file that shows the import bug to support@seriflabs.com?

 

Thank you

Justin

 

I'll get you something to play with. It'll take a moment, am on a deadline this week.

[Andy Somerfield]

p_mac,

 

At the moment we believe that the TIFF issue is a macOS problem - we think they broke TIFF handling for 16bit quicklook and Preview..

 

I'm using Sierra, and everything seems ok to me - but I'll do some more digging..

 

Andy.

[csp]

Hi csp,

 

Please understand that this is the first beta of 1.5 - not everything we intend to achieve in this beta is done yet. Some of the points you raise certainly will get done for 1.5 - although some will not.

 

We must balance our time very carefully between adding new features (yes - in essence marketing - lots of people have not bought Photo yet because it does not have the features we are trying to add) but we do aim to improve other parts of the app for existing users. Usually, a beta starts with "features", then "improvements", then "bug fixes" - in that order..

 

Don't get downhearted because the fixes you need are not in the first beta - we have plenty of time :)

 

Hope this helps,

 

 

thanks andy, don´t get me wrong i´m critical because i think  AP is a fantastic app !   

[csp]

Hey csp, amongst your comments you mentioned the shadows and highlights adjustment - have you tried the filter version accessible from either the Filters menu or as a live filter layer? It behaves more closely to what your expectations would be.

 

Having said that, I regularly use the highlights slider in Develop to compress or pull back the highlight detail, but I do it in addition to removing the applied tone curve and adding my own via the Curves adjustment. Combined with this method, the highlight slider actually becomes very powerful. Might be worth a try? This video details it:

 

hi  james, thanks  i use the  h/s tool always selective,  often on support layers never globally.  played a little with the h/s tool in the raw persona,  hm,  both tools affect to much of the midtones for my taste ( higlight more  than shadow adjustments  ) and they don't keep the micro contrast natural looking.  

[Reggie1958]

Amazing; thanks team, :) can't wait to test it out.

[Reggie1958]

Hi team, just remembered I'm using a beta of macOS 10.12 Sierra, am I asking too much testing an early beta of Affinity 1.5? Just had a crash on the HDR persona but should I really be using a stable version of OS X?

[velarde]

it´s always great to see new features and for many this update is exactly what they hoped for but it is also a disappointment for those doing professional image retouching. what i use and need regularly seems unimproved and unchanged,   even long time bugs like the proof layer export bug  is not solved. tool settings still don´t stick - i do  often work on more than one image at once and this is very very annoying .   the adjustment layer panel is a mess as before, the hsl tool got no color picker and produces the same artifacts with lightness adjustments as in the version before .  the highlight / shadow tool is far away from being usefull and the print dialog  has no rendering intent option....       i  understand that it is vital to have new features which are great  for marketing,  a improved color correction tools is not sexy enough but i and others doing commercial work need robust tools for daily work more than features but i´m a probably a minority ......

 

Hello, You are not in the minority.. (I think). We really need the boring (not marketable) functionalities solved before adding new shiny options like the VR 3d projection editing, 32bit HDR editing mode, etc

 

I don't see the Sticky settings in any part of the road map... and the polygonal selection tools still not in this beta release (not referring to the magnetic selection but a simple  freehand polygonal selection) ... I think they believe this an afterthought... And the channels palette editing is really unintuitive that I don't want to go in there and use the software... 

 

Sorry for sounding negative and I know you are working on it but it's like buying a brand new shiny car with satellite radio, bluetooth, solar panels in the roof but with square wheels....

 

Every few months it's the same. I see the new announcements, give the software a try and open an image in it. See the same essential tools everyday tools missing and close it and do my professional work back in Photoshop.

[Seneca]

Hello, You are not in the minority.. (I think). We really need the boring (not marketable) functionalities solved before adding new shiny options like the VR 3d projection editing, 32bit HDR editing mode, etc

 

I don't see the Sticky settings in any part of the road map... and the polygonal selection tools still not in this beta release (not referring to the magnetic selection but a simple  freehand polygonal selection) ... I think they believe this an afterthought... And the channels palette editing is really unintuitive that I don't want to go in there and use the software... 

 

Sorry for sounding negative and I know you are working on it but it's like buying a brand new shiny car with satellite radio, bluetooth, solar panels in the roof but with square wheels....

 

Every few months it's the same. I see the new announcements, give the software a try and open an image in it. See the same essential tools everyday tools missing and close it and do my professional work back in Photoshop.

 

Obviously you like the tools provided by Photoshop so you should stick with Photoshop.

 

I rarely use the polygonal selection or the magnetic selection tools in my professional work. They are too crude for me.

They are not a deal breaker for me but it seems they are for you.

[Flaz]

I agree with velarde and csp, some basic features for professional works are slow in coming and new features, interesting but not essential, are still immature. New features attract but we should be able to use a software where each function does exactly what it promises, preferably better than competitors, starting from the "simplest" things. AP is already an excellent software for what it costs but it can do more and better. The risk is to have so many things running at half their potential.

[p_mac]

Obviously you like the tools provided by Photoshop so you should stick with Photoshop.

 

I rarely use the polygonal selection or the magnetic selection tools in my professional work. They are too crude for me.

They are not a deal breaker for me but it seems they are for you.

I agree with you Seneca.

 

Just a reminder to those that want it ALL and want it NOW, photoshop has been in development for 26 years (and still getting it wrong).

 

Here is a good history lesson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop

 

Affinity Photo just had its 1st birthday and has only been in development for 5 years.

 

I have great respect for a company that allows others to get involved in critiquing the development of great software.

 

I have no respect for arrogant Adobe who charges $9.99US per month for PS and LR and although they sell a stand-alone Lightroom 6, it gets no updates, just bug fixes.

[csp]

I agree with you Seneca.

 

Just a reminder to those that want it ALL and want it NOW, photoshop has been in development for 26 years (and still getting it wrong).

 

Here is a good history lesson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop

 

Affinity Photo just had its 1st birthday and has only been in development for 5 years.

 

I have great respect for a company that allows others to get involved in critiquing the development of great software.

 

I have no respect for arrogant Adobe who charges $9.99US per month for PS and LR and although they sell a stand-alone Lightroom 6, it gets no updates, just bug fixes.

sorry this is bullshit,  i work with photoshop since version 2 and and even this very early versions did not lacke basic workflow functionality as AP does.  

[balor]

Dust and Scratches works beautifully! It was one of the most missing features for me :)

Great that the Macros have arrived, although it would be great if I could record layer grouping (pretty common thing when creating Action in PS). Also it took me a while to discover where all of the recorded macros can be found and used, not very intuitive ;-)

New color picker is love.

 

Have been waiting for the mentioned features so much! Thank you for your work! <3

[James Ritson]

sorry this is bullshit,  i work with photoshop since version 2 and and even this very early versions did not lacke basic workflow functionality as AP does.  

 

Sorry that Photo doesn't meet your workflow needs at the moment. Please try and appreciate that everyone has different requirements (some more esoteric than others) and it is a balancing act between trying to accommodate these requirements and working on fixes and new features.

 

Just as an example, there are numerous people using the software that do not find the feature set lacking, simply because their workflow differs from that of others who make use of specific tools or features. There is also the small matter of the Affinity products not being clones or trying to mirror other popular software. Some issues may be due to deliberately different behaviour. In this case, we're trying to make it easier for people to learn through concise in-app help and the large number of video tutorials - both of which are always going through revisions to improve them.

 

 

Dust and Scratches works beautifully! It was one of the most missing features for me :)

Great that the Macros have arrived, although it would be great if I could record layer grouping (pretty common thing when creating Action in PS). Also it took me a while to discover where all of the recorded macros can be found and used, not very intuitive ;-)

New color picker is love.

 

Have been waiting for the mentioned features so much! Thank you for your work! <3

 

Hi balor, do stay tuned as this early beta only contains a small amount of macro functionality - subsequent betas should gradually include more flexibility.

[livetheshot]

Just gave this beta a red hot go with editing a 360 photo and the live projection.  This has made it a whole lot more intuitive when editing 360 photos.  Big high five to the team for thinking this one through.

 

I noticed a quirk, which I'm not sure if this is something the devs are planning to fix.

 

When you're in 360 pan view and switch to another tool, then switch back to pan, you have to re-click the 360 view.  It's one click but when you have to do it multiple times, it becomes additional clicks that aren't needed.  Is there a way to keep it in 360 view when you click away to use another tool?

[csp]

Sorry that Photo doesn't meet your workflow needs at the moment. Please try and appreciate that everyone has different requirements (some more esoteric than others) and it is a balancing act between trying to accommodate these requirements and working on fixes and new features.

 

well this is not about different workflow needs it is about basic functionality which is needed for professional work and i see this missing functionality as a total injustice to an otherwise great software  if you don´t value my opinion ok fine   if you prefer to please nerds goofing around with images fine, i´m done here please delete my account and postings.