[APh] Crop tool like in PhotoPlus

[Roberto1972]

Hi,

 

It looks like the crop tool in Affinity Photo is not as flexible as in PhotoPlus.

With the latest crop tool update in PhotoPlus we were able to go anywhere we wanted like creating a fixed dimension crop from any size crop marquee:

Constrained 658 x 498 -> crop marquee became this dimension and could be manually dragged bigger and moved.

When applying the effect the selected area was cropped and automatically downsized to 658x498 (image size).

 

This seems not possible in Affinity.

 

Additionally, when recording a crop in a macro there is no way to select an image area to be cropped: Affinity just crops the area recorded, period, while no way to select the area to be cropped. This makes the crop tool useless for macro recording.

 

That truly exciting crop flexibility was very useful for quickly transforming (part of any) images to required sizes like website uploads, wall papers, optimizing images for DTP purposes, etc.

 

Hope PhotoPlus crop power is going to make it in Affinity :-P

 

Roberto

[MTfrog]

Affinity is a great Photo Tool but some of the things PhotoPlus had were also great. I liked the crop tool it had better than the one Affinity has. I used the straighten tool a lot and I can't see it on Affinity. It's probably there somewhere.  

 

Maurice.

[Roberto1972]

Yes, the more I play with Affinity the more I tend to stick to PhotoPlus and wait with the switch to Affinity ... despite Affinity having very cool other or more advanced features.

(Sub-)menus layout is also ...hmm..

 

When I used xxxPlus for the very first time I INSTANTLY was excited and convinced: FINALLY intuitive layout and MANY tools quickly accessible. And favorite tools not instantly accessible could easiliy be added to dedicated custom toolbars.

 

When using Affinity for the first time I had the pleasant impression it was much like the Plus version. But now after having had some play with it, I got a different 'second' impression.

Yesterday something very annoying: I wanted simply to rotate a layer.. still haven't found how to.

Looking forward to two weeks off: then I will have a better look at Affinity Photo and perhaps play some more with Designer.

 

So far not convinced yet. I read on the internet various praises about Affinity by ...Photoshop users! Wow, that's a first: PS users appreciating something non-Adobe. Some say Affinity is pretty much a valid alternative for PS. The more I play with Affinity the more I get confused how they could say that. It must be the tools which I haven't checked yet. Besides, so far I only have played with a single 'persona'.

 

Why do I like PhotoPlus so much and why don't I understand some actually hate it. PhotoPlus has its issues (in particular the clumsy text tool).

 

The other day someone told me he found Affinity far from a PS alternative because he missed essential features. I asked which features: doesn't allow to edit macros, no smart objects, no layer groups, lots of handy details missing in features. Doubt he has had a more than quick look at Affinity but he is partly right. Not sure if it's nitpicking, though: if he wants éverything identical then indeed Affinity is no alternative. Other people likely see the bigger picture: things can be done, possibly with workarounds other features can be handy as well while not in PS, etc. People know what they need and what they consider as bonuses.

 

Roberto

[Alfred]

Affinity is a great Photo Tool but some of the things PhotoPlus had were also great. I liked the crop tool it had better than the one Affinity has. I used the straighten tool a lot and I can't see it on Affinity. It's probably there somewhere.  

 

Maurice.

 

When you choose the Crop Tool in Affinity Photo, a 'Straighten' button appears on the Context toolbar. Click on it and then drag across the photo to indicate where the horizontal should be, just as you would in PhotoPlus. :)

[Alfred]

Yesterday something very annoying: I wanted simply to rotate a layer.. still haven't found how to.

 

The Arrange menu offers options for 90° rotation in either direction. For arbitrary angles, you can do pretty much the same with the Move Tool as you would do with the Pointer Tool or the Select Tool in any of the 'Plus' applications: drag on the rotation paddle of the selected object, or hover just outside a corner adjustment handle and drag when you see a double-headed curved arrow cursor, or use the 'Rotation' control in the Transform panel.

[Roberto1972]

Hi Alfred,

 

This evening for the very first time I had a good look at the menus in Affinity Photo.

So far I hadn't much time so Affinity check out hadn't much priority.

 

I was pleasantly surprised with the menus: they are different from PhotoPlus but turned out very logical and intuitive!

From this point it feels like I can go straight ahead with Affinity Photo without many problems... just by having had a good look through the menus :-P

If I did this before I am pretty convinced I never would have needed to search for how to rotate a layer: instead I would go straight to the correct menu and block.

 

Adding custom toolbars and I likely would forget about PhotoPlus quickly :-) ... oh, and plugins to show a correct preview as well of course.

 

Roberto

[Alfred]

Adding custom toolbars and I likely would forget about PhotoPlus quickly :-) ... oh, and plugins to show a correct preview as well of course.

 

+1 (or perhaps that should be "+2" !)

[PeanutsA]

Plus another 1 ....... not sure how many that makes.

 

Must admit that I had only AffintyP installed on new 'super' (Windows) laptop but I have now install PhotoPlus X8 as well, for the time been (?).