Apple Pencil with Affinity Photo

[TheDingo]

Hi,

 

i downloaded Affinity Photo for the iPad Pro (12.9, 2017 version), and so far I am loving it, except for my experience with the Apple Pencil. While I can navigate and change menus with the pencil, I find that, when making adjustments, the pencil draws in a much narrower line than the brush size that I selected.  This makes it almost impossible to smoothly draw in larger areas, like the sky in some photos.  When I use my finger, the brush size seems to work perfectly.  

 

I have played around with different settings and have found that, if I make my brush huge, the Apple Pencil will draw a wider stroke, but it is still much more narrow than the brush that was selected.  

 

I am sure this is a pretty dumb question with an easy answer that I am just missing.  I appreciate your help!  

 

 

[gdenby]

Hi, The Dingo,

 

Tap the "more" button, and check the dynamics setting. Size change should be set to zero if you don't want the brush width to change depending on pressure, tilt, etc. The brush illustration at the top of the controls shows what the brush shape is depending on the setting. You'll want a plain line.

 

One of the nice things about the pen for different uses is how extremely sensitive the pen and iPad are. With the right settings, one can go from hairlines to sweeps in the same stroke.

 

As a BTW, there is a forum section specifically for  Photo/iPad related questions.

[TheDingo]

Hi gdenby - appreciate the response, and apologies for this thread ending up in the incorrect spot.  Going forward, I will make sure to post these types of questions in the Photo/iPad forum.  I tried your suggestion, however the size of the brush selected and the size of the adjustment made by the Apple Pencil still remain largely discrepant, with the brush appearing extremely large, and the Pencil affecting a much smaller and more focused area.  When I use my finger, the resulting adjustment matches the brush size fairly precisely.  Here are my settings, based on your suggestion: 

 

• I tapped the "more" button.  On the "general" tab, settings are as follows: Accumulation is at 100%, Spacing is at 15%, Rotation is at 0%, and Shape is at 100%, Blending Mode is "Normal," and Wet Edges are not set.
• On the "dynamics" tab, everything is set to "none" and zeroed out.

 

While I understand that part of the benefit of the pen is its sensitivity and precision, there are certain applications where it is important to be able to have a larger brush with softer edges, especially when blending layers.  That is probably the biggest problem that I am seeing - when I blend layers together with the pen, I am often times getting results with edges that are simply too harsh (despite hardness being set to 0%).  This is typically a problem that I would see when using a brush that is too small.  Perhaps these types of edits are simply better done with a finger, with the pen reserved for much more detailed work.

 

Again, thank you for your help, and I am happy to repost the topic if it is more appropriate somewhere else.

[gdenby]

I'll get back on this shortly. I am very much a novice with the iPad, and need to figure out how to work w. Screen caps. 

 

But I'm seeing that the 'none' controller setting only makes a difference between finger and pen if the size variance is also set to 0.

 

With both size variance and controller set to none, my finger and the pen make the same line. With any size variance and pressure being the controller setting, the pen can draw a thin or broad line, but the finger is always broad. I suppose the tablet reads the finger as max pressure and/or area.

[TheDingo]

Very interesting.  It sounds like we have similar settings, but very different results.  I wonder if there is another setting I am missing.  

 

Chris 

[gdenby]

Had some problems. My keyboard gets stuck in endless repeats. Had to do multiple reboots of my main system. Messed up a bunch of things.

 

At this point all I can say is that with "none" selected for any of the dynamics settings, both finger and pen give the same results. If size is set to 100%, and pressure is the controller, the pen will never be quite as broad as a finger.  But the controller "random" gives me the same result for both finger and pen. 

 

My fingers at this point are quite clumsy. So I can't make any stroke to compare. All finger strokes are as broad as can be. But I wonder if the mechanics have to go to max in the absence of a stylus. 

[TheDingo]

Very odd in that my results are very different.  With both random and none selected, my finger gives the correct result, and the pencil gives me a much thinner line.  It is almost like pressure sensitivity doesn't turn off. 

[gdenby]

Strange. I did the same thing just now. Basic brush, 128 pts, dynamics for size set to zero, but controller random, I get the same line from my finger as the pen. If I start changing the dynamics, the pen rarely gets as big as a finger press, and it wavers. Reading around, about 2 years ago there are questions about the pressure sensitivity, and there were some bugs that caused blobs that appear to have gone away with an iOs update. The only recent numbers I could find doing some searching is that the iPad senses when a pencil is in use, as opposed to a finger, and doubles the response rate. But nothing about adjusting for pressure.