Uli Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I’m a bit confused about the fact that the Soft Proof functionality is implemented as “Adjustment”. I don’t feel I “adjust” an image when I soft-proof it; rather it’s some kind of filter I’m using for a moment. Specifically, I will switch on and off Soft Proof frequently, whereas in the current implementation, I’ll have to *undo* the Soft Proof each time (if I’m not mistaken), which is kind of strange. Paul Sherfield 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volker Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 in fact you can switch on/off softproof by activating or deactivating the adjustment layer. But i'm with Uli on this, soft proof shouldn't be a adjustment but rather a view option which you can easily switch on or off like in Photoshop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uli Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 in fact you can switch on/off softproof by activating or deactivating the adjustment layer Uhm, yes, but then I’m deactivating all my adjustments … What if I want soft proof the adjustments I made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Andy Somerfield Posted February 9, 2015 Staff Share Posted February 9, 2015 The soft proof adjustment is provided as a convenience - it can often be used to apply abstract LAB profile proofs to achieve artistic tone mapping results - like the 3D LUT adjustment. We are considering allowing a more general, document wide proof - if this would be considered useful? :) Thanks, Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uli Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 We are considering allowing a more general, document wide proof - if this would be considered useful? :) It certainly would :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aongus Collins Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 The soft proof adjustment is provided as a convenience - it can often be used to apply abstract LAB profile proofs to achieve artistic tone mapping results - like the 3D LUT adjustment. We are considering allowing a more general, document wide proof - if this would be considered useful? :) Thanks, Andy. Andy, A general document-wide proofing feature is *essential* to my workflow. I make a living from supplying graphics to newspapers. Newspaper printing has a notoriously lower colour gamut than RGB. What I see on-screen will be quite different to the final output, unless the software I use offers document-wide soft-proofing. Actually this applies to anyone working in print, even those blessed with with higher quality printing: brochures, posters, point of sale, you name it. Pros working in print *really* cannot function at a proper level without document-level ICC colour soft-proofing. IMHO it's one of the crucial features differentiating pro from consumer level software. Thanks for your feedback and attention. Aongus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leftshark Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Maybe the developers could clarify what advantages there are in implementing soft proof as an adjustment. I can see a potential advantage if it's implemented properly. In Photoshop I would sometimes store layer groups that have adjustments for different specific media. One layer group might contain adjustments that only apply to Luster paper, while another layer group might contain adjustments only appropriate for Matte paper. I would turn on only one of those layer groups at a time depending on which medium I'm about to print to. Of course, if I turned on the Luster layer group I would also turn on the preset for soft-proofing Luster. Where Affinity Photo could one-up Photoshop is if you had these adjustment sets integrated with soft proofing, so for instance if I want to print on Luster, I click some sort of preset or adjustment group in the UI that I named Luster, and when I do that one click, not only do I turn on that media's adjustments but I also turn on that media's soft-proofing preview. If I then click on something I named Matte, Affinity Photo would switch the whole thing over to soft-proofing for Matte and the adjustments only meant for Matte. That would be great. Now, I noticed that you can group a soft-proof adjustment with a Curves adjustment. Is that because the developers intended them to be used like I described in the preceding paragraph? If that's true, I get it. However, it is not looking like an ideal implementation because it is currently possible to have more than one soft proof active, and that can potentially confuse and mislead users. If there is some way that Affinity Designer can allow document-level soft-proofing with presets (like Photoshop) so that only one soft proof setting can be active at a time, but somehow make it possible for the selection of a soft proof to also activate some kind of "soft proof layer group" associated with that soft proof preset (and deactivate any other layer groups associated with other soft proof presets), that would probably be better. But maybe I just don't understand what Affinity is going for here: Why is it possible to have multiple soft proof adjustments active? What are some uses for the opacity and blend mode choices in the soft proof adjustment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Sherfield Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Yes, soft proofing must be a separate function, not in 'adjustments'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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