Image Mode - Is working with Indexed Pallette not possible ?

[Fist of the mighty Bob]

I just tested the Windows Beta a bit and I can't find an option to change the color mode of a picture to indexed.

 

In - you know what program - I can go to image > Mode and select the usual RGB, CMYK and indexed.

 

If I'm not overlooking this, will it be added to Affinity Photo ?

[TonyB]

We don't support indexed colour mode. We can export to an indexed image but don't find many uses for editing in an indexed mode. 

 

What is your use case that required editing in an indexed space?

[Fist of the mighty Bob]

Thanks for asking. I use it for pixelart / gamedesign and webdesign.

[Fist of the mighty Bob]

A filter, that could be disabled or altered any time, would be even better. Something like your quantize filter, expanded. Where you can define the max number of colors, maybe even change the colors and they way the colors of the original picture get reduced.

[Fixx]

Posterize and export to n colour png/gif is available. Not super adjustable but basically does the thing.

[arcticfox]

On 11/12/2016 at 2:16 PM, TonyB said:

What is your use case that required editing in an indexed space?

I would like to propose adding an Indexed Color filter layer (with a loadable palette) as a new feature for AP/AD. There are many use-cases, such as fashion design as stated here, and for pixel art as I shall detail below:

Here, I am editing a sprite sheet for Cammy (trying to replicate this excellent PS tutorial by Kiwi using AP). Notice the color palette is a very specific 16 colors:

During the processes of cleaning up sprite art, you may wish to smooth out gradients using brush tools, then reconvert back to the original palette of 16 colors.

Here you can see how smoothing the skin tones on her legs introduces new (unwanted) colors into the palette:

Because AP lacks the ability to work with indexed colors, I need to export to GIMP:

Convert to Indexed color, and load the 16 color custom palette:

To finally arrive at back at the nice, crisp original 16 colors for final export:

 

Ideally, what would be a killer feature in AP/AD is the ability to create a filter layer that maps colors to the closest colors within a definable set. Essentially a "dynamic" indexed color mode.

This would allow pixel artists great freedom to experiment and perfect their sprites, while keeping the flexibility of liquefy and blending brushes, and without breaking workflow to export to an intermediary program.

 

Thank you to the Affinity dev team for any consideration they may put into this feature.

[R C-R]

15 hours ago, arcticfox said:

I would like to propose adding an Indexed Color filter layer (with a loadable palette) as a new feature for AP/AD.

You should do that in this forum.

[arcticfox]

4 hours ago, R C-R said:

You should do that in this forum.

I am replying in-context to a moderator question, as well as expanding on @Fist of the mighty Bob's original suggestion. It should be left to the moderator's judgment how best to move the thread to the Suggestions section (eg. re-titling as necessary).

By allowing the devs to see the natural progression of question -> suggestion -> detailed use-case, it provides the team a better context for them to determine the best implementation.

[gdenby]

In the days of the creation of the Elder Scrolls, when the indexed palette was the foundation of the world, presented by the Hierophant to the blessed few of the Tiles of Nümerica...

The ability to down sample colors was, in my experience, always very iffy. Maybe the algorithms are better now, but often enough, they used to really skew the colors, and having to step thru several options was not only tedious (closest hue match, closest luminance, favor warm tones, etc), but often futile. Better to just draw the pixels you wanted from a well designed palette. 

I wouldn't mind having the capability mentioned above. I still do use GIMP. But I think I've used GIMP for indexed color work maybe 2X in the last year. 'Self, would rather the development in AD go to the vector work w. blend and warp. AP, stroke brush along Vector/Selection path.

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, arcticfox said:

By allowing the devs to see the natural progression of question -> suggestion -> detailed use-case, it provides the team a better context for them to determine the best implementation.

That might be true if the developers see it, which is not guaranteed if you post here in Questions. This form is mostly monitored by other staff members who do not do any development, while the developers themselves monitor the feature requests forum.