Ian Lawrie Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 As a long standing user of PhotoPlus, I have found a lot to like in Affinity. For example* Smart, clean appearance of the UI* Flexible implementation of layers and masking* All the tools I am used to are there, along with quite a lot more* In the main, evrything I have tried works smoothly and reliably.My first impression is that this is astonishingly good value for money.On the other hand, I have a few gripes about the software as it currently stands:* It installs without apparent problem on my Windows 10 system, but there seems to be some glitch with file associations, because when I right-click on an image file in the File Explorer, I get an option to open the file with PhotoPlus (and others), but not Affinity Photo. Strangely, though, I have succeeded in setting it as my default program for .jpgs.* I have some problems with brush tools, namely (i) there is some slight lag in the effects appearing in the image (I think this has been noted by others, and it is perhaps better in the latest update); (ii) when I move a brush across an image without holding a mouse button down, the disc showing a preview lags considerably behind the outline of the brush, which is quite disconcerting; (iii) when I move the cursor to the toolbar ro adjust brush properties, it correctly turns to an arrow, but when I return to the image, I don't get the brush back again until I click.* The Perspective tool doesn't have (or, at least, I can't find it) the option I need for changing perspective, namely a mirror motion of handles at the two ends of an edge. I think it is a bit awkward that the available transformations are split between the Perspective and Move tools; it would be more convenient to havd access to all of them at the same time.* Undo and Redo buttons would be handy, though I appreciate that there are both a menu item and a keyboard shortcut.* For merging layers, the Flatten option appears in the Document menu, and Merge Selected appears in the Layer menu, but neither appears in the right-click context menu in the layers pane, although Merge Down and Merge Visible do. It would be handy to have all these options in the right-click menu.* Most importantly, for me, it isn't possible to invoke the Topaz Remask plugin. From a couple of other posts, it looks as if there are no plans to fix this, and as I noted in a reply, this is a serious disadvantage for me.One other observation: I tried to compensate for uneven lighting in an image by using a Brightness/Contrast layer with a gradient fill in the mask. It proved possible to adjust both the Brightness/Contrast sliders and the gradient fill at the same time. I found this extremely useful - but I'm not sure that this was intended by the programmers, because the fill eventually becomes rasterized. It would be nice to have the parameters of the gradient fill remain permanently adjustable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ingram Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Hi, thanks for taking the time to give us feedback. * Whilst Affinity Photo (and Designer) allow you to open jpeg and other image files, we don't class ourselves as the native "viewer" of these files. A lot of people like to use another "quickview" application to view them. Though perhaps in the future we could add the ability to associate those files during installation if the user required. * What version are you currently using? The brush preview will lag behind the cursor, as it's actually rendering that brush nozzle into the document. On a blank document this can look like it's lagging, but on a real document you can preview the effect of opacity, blend mode, etc. * Feel free to add this to the Feature Requests forum so we can keep better track of it * We recommend the use of shortcuts and the history panel for navigating the document's history, it's much more powerful than simple buttons. * Again, feel free to add a Feature Request for this, but in the meantime, you could associate a keyboard shortcut. * I'm not sure where you got the impression that support for Topaz (and any other plugin) wouldn't be improved over time? One of the things we're committed to doing is improving our plugin support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Lawrie Posted November 23, 2016 Author Share Posted November 23, 2016 A couple of follow-up points: 1. When I want to edit an image that I have saved on my hard disc, I find it with the File Explorer, right click, and choose "open with". Conveniently, I get the option to open the image with Adobe Photoshop Elements, with Serif PhotoPlus X8, with DxO Viewpoint 2, and some others. These are not quickviewers, and I didn't have to do anything special when I installed these programs, as far as I remember. Inconveniently, I don't get the option to open with Affinity Photo. If that doesn't matter to you, then fine. 2. I am using version 1.5.0.38. Suppose I have a document open, and I want to clone from one area to another. I alt-click at the point I want to use as the source. Now I move the brush to my target area. As I do that, I see two objects moving across my image. Ahead is the circular outline of the brush. Somewhat behind that is a disc containing the preview, but without the outline. When I stop moving, the preview catches up with the outline, so in the end all is well. When I do the same thing in PhotoPlus X8, or any other editor I have tried, what I see moving across my screen is just one object, namely the brush outline with the preview inside it. That seems like the sensible way to arrange matters, so I am suggesting that something in Affinity Photo isn't working quite right at present. 3. Like several other people, I have found that all my Topaz plugins work with Affinity Photo, apart from Remask 5, which gives a "transparency locked" error. From what I see in the following thread, it seems that Affinity Photo users are expected to use only the standalone version of Remask 5, which I would find inconvenient. Locked TransparencyStarted by meachp, Nov 12 2016 09:49 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ingram Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Hi, 1. My error here, I thought you were referring to just double clicking a JPEG/PNG/etc and having it open immediately in Affinity Photo / Designer. Adding ourselves to the "Open with" menu is a sensible suggestion. 2. As I mentioned above, the nozzle is rendering in the actual document, and will always be slower than moving your cursor on the screen (the outline is just a cursor, so moves with your mouse). This is so we can give you a live preview of what that nozzle will look like if you click the mouse. 3. That recommendation is just a temporary work around whilst we continue to improve plugin support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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