First impressions, Affinity Photo windows Beta

[Douwe]

No problems with install of the windows beta.

 

Played a little with it. First impression is that it is slow. Serif Photoplus X8 is blazing fast when i compare it with Affinity Photo windows Beta.

 

Ditto when loading and developing raw files.

 

regards,

 

Douwe

[MEB]

Hi Douwe,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Thanks for your feedback. This is just the first Beta. Things should improve as we move forward. Photoplus has a lot more years of development under its belt.

[ms.fuentecilla]

Hello, I agree with the slowness comment, But there are 2 other things:

When attempting to create a text layer over an image the programme crashes completely

and

It seems impossible to export a text layer for use in Movie Plus for example, with transparency

This is something I have used extensively with PhotoPlus.

 

A plus point is that the liquidise/warp function works far better with text than it did in PhotoPlus.

 

Styles are somewhat restricted but presumably that is intentional for a Beta. However, one of the most useful functions for this would be the ability to import Photoshop Styles whose flexibility has always been far greater than PhotoPlus, perhaps greater subtlety.

 

The sliders for image control seem to be rather crude but that might just be an initial subjective response and something quickly learnt.

 

I shall enjoy continuing to explore this new Affinity and specially its relationship with A Design.

 

Hope this is seen as positive.

 

Michael

[MEB]

Hi Michael,

Affinity is a new line of software created from scratch. It doesn't share any code with the Plus line nor it's intended to replace any of the Plus products. As such it doesn't open/import/export any of the Plus native files formats. You may however try to use generic/open formats to share data between them (PDF, SVG and several raster formats). Their features also don't match so you may find functionality/features in Affinity that aren't present in the Plus line and vice-versa.

 

I've listed a couple few more styles in this page. There's no feature parity between the options offered by Photoshop styles and Affinity styles so i'm not sure this will be possible but we will have to wait and see. Thanks for your feedback and Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

[Mark Ingram]

Played a little with it. First impression is that it is slow. Serif Photoplus X8 is blazing fast when i compare it with Affinity Photo windows Beta.

 

 

Can you give a little more detail? How is it slow? What operations?

[TEcHNOpls]

Hi,

 

would it be possible for You to create some sort of import-from-PhotoPlus functionality?

I have a number of rather large files (up to 750mb sometimes) and manually exporting all the layers/maska somehow will probably fail in so many places.

[Mark Ingram]

Hi,

 

would it be possible for You to create some sort of import-from-PhotoPlus functionality?

I have a number of rather large files (up to 750mb sometimes) and manually exporting all the layers/maska somehow will probably fail in so many places.

 

No, sorry, but you can export as PSD from PhotoPlus then import it into Affinity Photo.

[TEcHNOpls]

Might as well export to PNG, it does the same, that is merges into one layer. That's not what I need.

[SrPx]

So, does PSD or TIFF format export multiple layers in your PP version ?

I don't use that software, but I believe it has a batch mode. can you make a macro or something converting one layer as 32 bits PNG, while saving the macro ?  Then you'd apply the macro to all the layered file. In Adobe PS you could even apply an Action (~macro, batch operation) to a full folder.

 

I'm pretty sure PP had a batch mode. I think is your option. Specially if allows numbering the files, as maybe the macro functions in Photo (I have almost never handled PP, and it was only yesterday my first try with Affinity Photo) would allow to take it from there, ie, from taking a folder with extracted layers as PNGs (ordered by numbers in PP as most batch tools allow)  and make the macro build a layered tiff or native file, following the numbers in name, or just the date of file creation. In Photoshop this is really easy. But there are also external, not easy but free, tools that allow you to build a layered file -tiff, psd...- from multiple PNGs. Then you could load them in A. Photo.

 

Thing is, to port the layer MASK would be complicated (i can think of creative ways, like editing the mask it self, save as grayscale, while recording a macro, then apply macro to all layers.). But the PP macro surely allows to export as PNG 32, which means exporting all transparency PER LAYER, without collapsing.

 

I get that you are trying to move all your work files to Photo. IMO, first try to get familiar with the software, see if fit your needs in basic operations. 

 

Yet though, what you plan to do, I bet getting a bit technical-freaky, is doable, have done so with quite more obscure formats. is all about combining tools like imagemagick, batch operation standalone tools, renamers, and/or just the batch mode in PP, combined with some macros in the target package.