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Terminology differences AP to PS??


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Are there very many terminology difference between Affinity Photos tools vs Photoshop?

 

And, if there are, is there a list out there that references them?

 

Just asking because I'm new to layer editors and there is a lot of content for noobs going back to the dawn of photoshop that I find useful.

Skill Level: Beginner, digital photography, digital editing, lighting.

Equipment: Consumer grade. Sony Nex5n, Nikon D5100, (16MP sony sensors)

Paid Software: Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, Lightroom4

Free Software: NIK collection, Sony CaptureOne9, Cyberlink PhotoDirector6, Hugin, ImageJ, MS Ice, Davinci Resolve

Computer: Win10 home, CPU Skylake I7-6700, GPU Saphire HD7850 1G, Plextor SSD

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There's only one I can think of off the top of my head, and it's not one you'll be using all that often unless you're designing tileable textures.

 

Instead of Offset, which shifts an image a set amount of pixels on X and Y while maintaining continuity, it's called Affine in Photo.

 

I'm sure there are a few others here and there, but for the most part, the terminology is about the same for both. A clipping mask in PS is a clipping mask in Photo, and so on and so on. 

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Instead of Offset, which shifts an image a set amount of pixels on X and Y while maintaining continuity, it's called Affine in Photo.

And I believe it to be poorly named, because there are several classes of affine transformations, besides linear translations, including linear scaling, rotation, & shear. "Offset" isn't a great name either. Personally, I think "Shift" would be better, but that is just me.

 

Another difference is what most people know as a cloud filter is called the Perlin Noise filter in Affinity Photo. This one (I assume) is technically correct, if a bit obscure.

 

On a way too pedantic level, note that "Photo" in the app's name is not pluralized. This is not always important, but since Apple has given their photo app the ridiculously generic name "Photos," referring to Affinity Photo in the forums as "Photos" can cause confusion, at least for Mac users. Most forum regulars refer to Affinity Photo as "AP" or "AF" for short. The as yet unreleased Affinity Publisher is sometimes referred to as "APub," & Photoshop often as "PS."

 

Since you mentioned being new to layer editors, one thing that trips up a lot of users (not all of them noobs!) is the difference in AP between a pixel & an image layer. Pixel layers (indicated by a "(Pixel)" suffix in the Layers panel) can be edited at the pixel level, but image layers (indicated by an "(Image)" suffix in the Layers panel) are treated as objects, so they can only be scaled, rotated, etc. So if for example a brush isn't doing anything, it is most likely because you are working on an image layer. Image layers can be converted to pixel layers by right-clicking on them in the Layers panel & choosing "Rasterize" from the context menu.

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And I believe it to be poorly named, because there are several classes of affine transformations, besides linear translations, including linear scaling, rotation, & shear.

 

It's interesting that the latter is called "shear" rather than "skew". stirthepot.gif

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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It's interesting that the latter is called "shear" rather than "skew". stirthepot.gif

Wolfram also uses "shear" rather than Affinity's "skew," so I think the former is the correct term, at least mathematically. Of course, to stir the pot even more, in everyday language "shear" as a verb generally means means "cut off" & as a noun refers to a structural strain, while "skew" has a bunch of meanings like oblique, crooked, biased, twist, or asymmetrical.

 

Maybe we should just call it "S"?  :P

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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Wolfram also uses "shear" rather than Affinity's "skew," so I think the former is the correct term, at least mathematically. 

 

I was referring to our previous discussions about the fact that Affinity doesn't actually use "skew", and it isn't even cross-referenced to "shear" in the Help. ;)

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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I remembered our previous discussions, but I got mixed up about which term Affinity uses for skew/shear. Doh!  :wacko:

 

I just find it oddly inconsistent that Affinity uses the mathematically precise terms "Perlin Noise" & "shear" correctly but not "Affine." 

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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I remembered our previous discussions, but I got mixed up about which term Affinity uses for skew/shear. Doh!  :wacko:

 

I just find it oddly inconsistent that Affinity uses the mathematically precise terms "Perlin Noise" & "shear" correctly but not "Affine." 

 

It's also oddly ironic that a suite of apps named "Affinity" should use the term "Affine" incorrectly!

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Here's an important one. In Photoshop, the ability to limit a layer, selection, adjustment, etc. based on a layer's luminosity is referred to as "Blend If." In Affinity Photo, this is accessed through a panel called "Blend Options."

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Here's an important one. In Photoshop, the ability to limit a layer, selection, adjustment, etc. based on a layer's luminosity is referred to as "Blend If." In Affinity Photo, this is accessed through a panel called "Blend Options."

 

Just to add to the potential for confusion, the tooltip for the 'Blend Options' gearwheel icon in the Layers panel is 'Blend Ranges'.

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Another difference is what most people know as a cloud filter is called the Perlin Noise filter in Affinity Photo. This one (I assume) is technically correct, if a bit obscure.

 

It's a bit obscure if you're coming exclusively from the photo manipulation/vector scene. But if you've dabbled with procedural textures, it's one of the first things that gets banged into your head. You can use variations of Perlin noises to produce anything from styrofoam, to wood grain, to rocky surfaces. It's the go-to effect for producing anything that looks naturally random.

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Looks like very few differences. Thanks for the replies.

Skill Level: Beginner, digital photography, digital editing, lighting.

Equipment: Consumer grade. Sony Nex5n, Nikon D5100, (16MP sony sensors)

Paid Software: Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, Lightroom4

Free Software: NIK collection, Sony CaptureOne9, Cyberlink PhotoDirector6, Hugin, ImageJ, MS Ice, Davinci Resolve

Computer: Win10 home, CPU Skylake I7-6700, GPU Saphire HD7850 1G, Plextor SSD

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