Are raw Apple Photo edits in Affinity saved back to Photos non destructive?

[ChrisChiera]

If you use Apple Photos as your DAM since Affinity has now announced on Twitter replies they are no longer currently working on their own DAM as they had been according to their previous tweets and notes on their website, want to know if non destructive raw edits are preserved.

 

So in Apple Photos when I choose to edit a raw Photo in Affinity and save the changes back to Apple Photos, does it work like Lightroom etc, where is the original raw is still there, and I can reedit later? Meaning the changes are made to the raw and non destructive? This applies to Desktop and iPad.

 

Asked on Twitter, but was told to ask here so assuming the answer is not yes, but rather either will be in a future update, or works partially but not fully. Can someone clarify? Thank you!

[MEB]

Hi ChrisChiera,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

You didn't specify which macOS and iOS versions you are running but in any case no, the changes are NOT saved back as non-destructive edits, so you can't edit them later. As far as i know is a restriction imposed by Apple Photos. Other apps also sent the images back as destructive edits, so no update on our part would fix this.

 

[ChrisChiera]

Thanks for getting back. Latest stable version of all the software. Which is High Sierra for Mac and iOS 11 for phone. Thanks for the answer, figuring it was a yes or no. I will let the Affinity twitter team know the answer is no, so they can answer future people who might ask.

 

I read that Apple added new functionality in the latest software this year in regards to how photos are edited in third party apps but sounds like still doesn't fully support non destructive editing other than revert to original when editing in a third party.

 

Because of Apple's limitation looks like then Photos can't act a professional DAM solution. Had been excitedly holding out for Affinity's touted DAM after seeing it on Affinity's website and then after Affinity confirmed it on twitter including as recently as June, but with that no longer in active development according to Affinity currently, looks like Lightroom is everyone's only option for now for a full workflow solution. The full featured app is now "Classic" which means it won't be long until it's left to the wayside. And Lightroom CC is the future, but is very limiting compared to Classic, albeit much more attractive but doesn't support iCloud syncing or Google or S3 syncing.

 

Here's for hoping Apple expands the capabilities of Photos (earliest would be next OS), or Affinity decides to restart active deveopment of it's DAM), or Adobe finds a way to full embrace all of Mac's technology and full feature set from now Classic. Someday =). 

[IanSG]

2 hours ago, ChrisChiera said:

 Affinity has now announced on Twitter replies they are no longer currently working on their own DAM

Could you provide a link to that, please?

[ChrisChiera]

1 hour ago, IanSG said:

Could you provide a link to that, please?

 

Sure thing below are just a few if you search on twitter for DAM and their handle. It looks like this big change has occurred roughly starting in October, since as of then now they are noting they are not currently working on a DAM program, contrary to their previous tweets as early as June where they said they were as well as their own website that use to say it but since removed though still available on way back machine. Seems like pretty massive news, but looks like Affinity is hoping to downplay it. I imagine their Publisher software or other goals have taken a priority and so they have decided to stop working on it for now, or possibly they are still working on it, but telling users they are not so people will no longer expect it anytime soon since their website had previously estimated 2017, which looks like for sure will no longer be the case. 

 

Or maybe they reached an agreement with Adobe to delay it, or Apple because of solutions those companies are working on, or countless other reasons. So while they could all of the sudden next year say here it is, based on the new tweets I wouldn't plan on holding out for it which is unfortunate but understandable. 

 

 

 

 

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, ChrisChiera said:

... looks like Lightroom is everyone's only option for now for a full workflow solution. The full featured app is now "Classic" which means it won't be long until it's left to the wayside.

Although it is frequently referred to simply as "Lightroom Classic" (even by Adobe), the full name of the product is "Lightroom Classic CC." The "CC" part is important because it means it is part of what Adobe calls "the Creative Cloud experience," otherwise known as their subscription based cloud service. According to https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html two of the three subscription plans for individuals include both Lightroom CC & Lightroom Classic CC, the two "Photography Plans" that differ only in cost & amount of included cloud storage.

 

So since the CC plans mean continuing revenue for Adobe & both of these plans include both apps, it seems unlikely the Classic CC one will be abandoned anytime soon.

[ChrisChiera]

2 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Although it is frequently referred to simply as "Lightroom Classic" (even by Adobe), the full name of the product is "Lightroom Classic CC." The "CC" part is important because it means it is part of what Adobe calls "the Creative Cloud experience," otherwise known as their subscription based cloud service. According to https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html two of the three subscription plans for individuals include both Lightroom CC & Lightroom Classic CC, the two "Photography Plans" that differ only in cost & amount of included cloud storage.

 

So since the CC plans mean continuing revenue for Adobe & both of these plans include both apps, it seems unlikely the Classic CC one will be abandoned anytime soon.

 

I think the "anytime soon" maybe a bit subjective. As yes completely agree, that they won't discontinue it this year or even next, but personally I believe CC to be much less important than choosing to use the word "Classic". The overall idea being less and less attention will be given to Classic and more and more to "Lightroom". Like with Apple, I think Adobe based on that naming will be pushing Lightroom hard, and then over time slowly making it more powerful. It may never be like Lightroom Classic but will imagine hopefully get close enough to reach the masses. I think they will continue to sell classic for a long time just like Apple still says the Mac Pro, it doesn't get much of any love like the iMac, but they still sell it because people still buy it.

 

Also like how Adobe has always offered a software version of Lightroom but also introduced CC, and made it pretty clear at that time, CC was the future and the software would be the classic version. And I imagine it's only a matter of time until they completely stop selling that and just sell CC.

 

But time will tell I guess. Trying to staying hopeful that there is light at the end of the tunnel, whether it be Photos fully supporting pro features via Affinity/Pixelmator plugins, or one of those two launching a modern built in DAM.

[IanSG]

16 hours ago, ChrisChiera said:

 

Sure thing below are just a few...

 

Thanks for those - I'd been hoping they were a bit more ambiguous