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Beginner videos for Affinity photo


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I know I will probably be castigated for my comments, but I am getting more and more frustrated by the lack of good quality videos  for beginners. Yes there are 100's of videos but these just show how to use one particular tool. I am a landscape photographer (low grade amateur ), and I really can't find any worth while videos. I have searched youtube, vimeo and can't find any real full length videos that take you through a complete workflow. Yes I have bought a video by 'Drippy cat" but to be honest I did not find it that good, sorry. I am a subscriber to photoshop/Lightroom, but want to get rid of my monthly subscription. I bought Affinity photo about 18 months ago and I think its great. Its just a pity that someone like Anthony Morganti, or one of the 100's of subscribers on youtube have not taken up the program. This worry me as we believe that Affinity photo is a real competitor to photoshop. I know Affinity photo has only been going for a short time compared to photoshop, but I really think its about time Affinity tried to get more of the very good trainers out there to start making videos. I am sure I will be very unpopular with this post, but I believe there are many other beginners who are struggling with Affinity photo. Sure I will get there in the end, but more comprehensive videos would really help to shorten the process.

Regards

Mikep

 

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Hi Mike, thanks for your comments, I do really appreciate your feedback as it's something we are aware of (and have been for some time now). In an ideal situation with more time, we'd have already been able to provide a more comprehensive, structured beginners course. I have produced an initial set of beginners videos that take you through the absolute basics (opening, saving, adjustments, filters, exporting etc), but from your comments it sounds like there's nothing for the skill level past that point where it focuses more on A to B workflows.

 

I know Simon's (Drippy Cat) video courses have received some great praise and he offers some great structured learning, which is what we struggle with as the in-house videos tend to be a mixture of new features, specific techniques, genres, etc. What did you find was the issue with his videos? I'm sure he would appreciate the feedback as he's pretty active and is constantly working on new material or revising it.

 

The problem we have with our video structure at the moment is that there are plenty of really useful techniques, many of which I'd say could be suitable for beginners to digest, but they're almost "hidden" in videos that cover a particular feature or workflow aid. This is something that we have plans to address, but can't really provide a timeline for. Ideally I'd like to knuckle down and produce a few more of what we call "Projects" videos, where it's a workflow demonstration that covers the start to finish of an image edit. I'm a keen landscape photographer too so I have plenty of ideas to pool from for this subject!

 

Sorry I can't offer more in the way of a resolution at the moment, but we are aware of the gap in the learning material we provide and it is something we're hoping to address. In the meantime, if you had any specific areas you were struggling with, I could try and point you towards videos that would cover those areas (as I mentioned previously, it's not always obvious by the video title). Do let me know, perhaps in this thread, and I'll do my best to help. Thanks!

Product Expert (Affinity Photo) & Product Expert Team Leader

@JamesR_Affinity for tutorial sneak peeks and more
Official Affinity Photo tutorials

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Hi Mike. I'd be happy to hear more detailed feedback on how I could make the course you bought better. Fair enough if you weren't keen on the course; I know that I can't please everyone all the time but if there's an area you want to see developed more let me know. It could be others would like the same thing and as it is I'm just about to start the videos for the 1.6 update so that the Solid Foundations course remains current and relevant.

 

Bear in mind that the different courses I offer cover different areas. The Solid Foundations course is for beginner to mastering the basics. The Little Box of Tricks course is designed to go beyond that and offer a series of mini projects covering different effects. The RAW course is for - well - RAW processing. The just released Affinity Photo for the iPad is the broad equivalent of the Solid Foundations course. So it might be a case of which course would be the best place for your suggestions. Now I'll take a guess that you may want to see more things related to Landscape Photography? It's doable, but then we're getting into specialised course territory. As it is I've been considering the idea of that kind of series covering areas such as beauty techniques or compositing techniques. My problems is that I'm self employed and there's only so many hours in the day. I paused working on the Affinity Photo book to work on the iPad course, then there's the 1.6 update videos to attend to etc. But I would be interested to hear your feedback.

 

By the way James, massive respect for the videos you produce. I think they are excellent examples of clear and succinct information and have done Serif a huge service. I agree with your thoughts about the need for videos. I think any software, particularly software that deals with visual matters benefits hugely from visual training aids. & to Mike I would say it's a case of market forces in action. New software comes out and if it has the kind of videos James produces it helps attract customers. Once the software grows in popularity other people (like me, for example) realise there's a customer base to produce training material for. So potential customers realise they will be supported with a choice of training and so they are more likely to invest in the software & so the cycle repeats & hopefully grows which, in the case of Affinity Photo, is a good and deserved thing.

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I'd like to add my  tuppence worth to what Mikep just wrote- in effect it is what has been bugging me over the months that Ive had Affinity Photo on my PC, staring at me every time I logged on.

Everyone has a particular way of learning, so I can only speak for myself, but my particular need is more of a philosophical thing: Why do I need to change my image? How can I tell if an image is worth 'fiddling' with? Looking bewilderedly at the 2,347 (or so it seems...) different controls, layers, options etc. on Affinity and saying to myself- do I need to change blackpoint/ exposure/white balance/ etc etc in order to get a better image? And doing so with the odd 450 raw images that I have just brought back from that amazing holiday in Crete? 

This is the kind of video (or even just a good workflow sheet) that I need desperately, in order to 'break through the pain' and start using Affinity with confidence.

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2 minutes ago, rafi266 said:

I'd like to add my  tuppence worth to what Mikep just wrote- in effect it is what has been bugging me over the months that Ive had Affinity Photo on my PC, staring at me every time I logged on.

Everyone has a particular way of learning, so I can only speak for myself, but my particular need is more of a philosophical thing: Why do I need to change my image? How can I tell if an image is worth 'fiddling' with? <snipped>

This is the kind of video (or even just a good workflow sheet) that I need desperately, in order to 'break through the pain' and start using Affinity with confidence.

It sounds like you might not need training about Affinity, but rather about photography in general (composition, lighting, what makes a good photo vs a bad photo, etc.) which is something you need to know regardless of the tool(s) you choose to use.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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Hi

I know and appreciate both Drippy cat and James Ritson tutorials. I understand mikep and I feel too that I miss longer videos dealing with entire project. A useful bonus would be the initial RAW file, to be able to reproduce the different steps and compare my result to your... 

Perhaps what could be improved is to detail your trials and errors (ie : let us try this tool this this value ... hum ... bad result because this and this, let us try another way, etc.)

 

I don't know if any of you understand french, but I find the following web site to be excellent : http://www.oitregor.com/numeric/affinity_photo/contenu.html 

Many tutorials are missing as today, but this is a structured approach I find perfect for my style of learning. Perhaps having such a roadmap would be a good start.

 

Thanks again for your videos !

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Hi Walt! Thanks for your feedback. Ive been taking photographs for the past 50 years, and usually end up with about 10% of 'good' images out of the hundreds that I take. My remark about not knowing if an image is worth 'fiddling' with, deals only with the 'good' ones, because I dont even waste my time with the bad ones- they are chucked right at the start.

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From the replies I've seen so far it seems that people would like a kind of 'sit next to an experienced user and watch how they work and what they do' approach to a video or series - does that sound about right? If so, It's something I've considered as a course. My main concern with the 'warts and all' approach has been that, for every person who appreciates the learning process when things don't work out well, there'll be another who complains that they only want to see the stuff that works. My other concerns are that it may end up repetitious because much of image processing is, and that I don't know how people would react to me coming out with things like 'Well for this one I'm going to combine the Main Problem Tackled approach with the Develop The Complementary Opposites approach.' I'd be hoping that people wouldn't find it a bit pretentious. They might be expecting hard technique instead of my deep and profound philosophies. But of course I'd be interested to hear what people think about  - working title of 'Affinity Photo: The Late Night Developing Sessions'.

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Bonjour Mike. et bonjour également à toutes et tous.

 

Je débute avec Affinity que je trouve génial et j'ai envie continuer avec. je n'aime pas les vidéo en général. (trop rapides).

La solution consiste peut être à apprendre avec un bon connaisseur de Affinity. 

La méthode serait peut être de télécharger "Team viewer" et de converser avec un coach.

Par correspondance, il peut travaille sur votre écran et vous sur le sien.

La formule est assez conviviale.

Bien cordialement.

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I am really pleased that I didn't get a "hammering" for my comments. I think any of the people who produce videos should go onto youtube and see put in "Developing a landscape photo in photoshop". Up will pop 1,000s of videos. For myself I like Sean Bagshaw videos, he has a very smooth and considered style that I find very helpful. To try and put it into simple terms, for myself I would like a video that takes a landscape photo from start to finish. Seascales are another area that allows for a complete workflow. Would like to thank Drippycat and James Ritson for replying, I am sure you guys will come up with the videos that I and all the "newbies" need. Thanks for all who replied very much appreciated. Please make sure that any new videos produced do get advertised well on the site.

Thanks again.

Mikep

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17 hours ago, drippy cat said:

Hi Mike. I'd be happy to hear more detailed feedback on how I could make the course you bought better. Fair enough if you weren't keen on the course; I know that I can't please everyone all the time but if there's an area you want to see developed more let me know. It could be others would like the same thing and as it is I'm just about to start the videos for the 1.6 update so that the Solid Foundations course remains current and relevant.

 

Bear in mind that the different courses I offer cover different areas. The Solid Foundations course is for beginner to mastering the basics. The Little Box of Tricks course is designed to go beyond that and offer a series of mini projects covering different effects. The RAW course is for - well - RAW processing. The just released Affinity Photo for the iPad is the broad equivalent of the Solid Foundations course. So it might be a case of which course would be the best place for your suggestions. Now I'll take a guess that you may want to see more things related to Landscape Photography? It's doable, but then we're getting into specialised course territory. As it is I've been considering the idea of that kind of series covering areas such as beauty techniques or compositing techniques. My problems is that I'm self employed and there's only so many hours in the day. I paused working on the Affinity Photo book to work on the iPad course, then there's the 1.6 update videos to attend to etc. But I would be interested to hear your feedback.

 

By the way James, massive respect for the videos you produce. I think they are excellent examples of clear and succinct information and have done Serif a huge service. I agree with your thoughts about the need for videos. I think any software, particularly software that deals with visual matters benefits hugely from visual training aids. & to Mike I would say it's a case of market forces in action. New software comes out and if it has the kind of videos James produces it helps attract customers. Once the software grows in popularity other people (like me, for example) realise there's a customer base to produce training material for. So potential customers realise they will be supported with a choice of training and so they are more likely to invest in the software & so the cycle repeats & hopefully grows which, in the case of Affinity Photo, is a good and deserved thing.

 

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17 hours ago, drippy cat said:

Hi Mike. I'd be happy to hear more detailed feedback on how I could make the course you bought better. Fair enough if you weren't keen on the course; I know that I can't please everyone all the time but if there's an area you want to see developed more let me know. It could be others would like the same thing and as it is I'm just about to start the videos for the 1.6 update so that the Solid Foundations course remains current and relevant.

 

Bear in mind that the different courses I offer cover different areas. The Solid Foundations course is for beginner to mastering the basics. The Little Box of Tricks course is designed to go beyond that and offer a series of mini projects covering different effects. The RAW course is for - well - RAW processing. The just released Affinity Photo for the iPad is the broad equivalent of the Solid Foundations course. So it might be a case of which course would be the best place for your suggestions. Now I'll take a guess that you may want to see more things related to Landscape Photography? It's doable, but then we're getting into specialised course territory. As it is I've been considering the idea of that kind of series covering areas such as beauty techniques or compositing techniques. My problems is that I'm self employed and there's only so many hours in the day. I paused working on the Affinity Photo book to work on the iPad course, then there's the 1.6 update videos to attend to etc. But I would be interested to hear your feedback.

 

By the way James, massive respect for the videos you produce. I think they are excellent examples of clear and succinct information and have done Serif a huge service. I agree with your thoughts about the need for videos. I think any software, particularly software that deals with visual matters benefits hugely from visual training aids. & to Mike I would say it's a case of market forces in action. New software comes out and if it has the kind of videos James produces it helps attract customers. Once the software grows in popularity other people (like me, for example) realise there's a customer base to produce training material for. So potential customers realise they will be supported with a choice of training and so they are more likely to invest in the software & so the cycle repeats & hopefully grows which, in the case of Affinity Photo, is a good and deserved thing.

Hi Drippy cat, Thank you for taking the time to reply, much appreciated. Its very hard to put down in black and white what I would like to see in a video, but I feel I must try. A good starting point is Anthony Morganti. He did a series recently, "I critique and process your image". This gives an overview on how to use a lot of the controls in lightroom and photoshop. Yurifineart is another source. If you can sit through Joe Brady "Editing landscape Photography with Adobe Photoshop" on youtube this is exactly the type of video that I think we all need. Of course not this long! I think the answer is a video that is based solely on the  "workflow" of a raw image. If you require more information on a specific tool, there are lots of videos all ready produced and this is the way to go. Rather like going to a library and finding a book on a specific subject. I hope this has been of some help. I look forward to seeing what you produce next. Please keep me informed when you realise your next video.

Regards

Mikep

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Hi Mike. How DARE you criticise my amazing videos! I bring my genius to the great unwashed masses and, and - no problem at all, my friend! I don't know what kind of prima donna would give you a hammering for saying a video didn't meet your needs but I'm too old and ugly to do that. Well, I like to think so. The courses I've produced so far have been to cover a broad base and so it follows that people who have specific needs may end up frustrated.

 

I'll certainly take a look at the Joe Brady tutorial and see what kind of thing you're after. As it is, I've been looking at some landscape RAW files from my collection and having a little think about the possibilities...

 

What I would say though is that it'll take time. As well as doing regular design work for clients I have an Affinity Photo book I have to carry on with and I want to add a few more videos to the iPad course I've just released on Udemy plus other ideas for video tutorials - the list just goes on and on! But if there's an area that people are interested in learning about then it's of interest to me.

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Hi rafi. No. I'm not affiliated with Serif. The closest I am to that is the fact that I used to spend my summers in Nottingham over 20 years ago. The book I'm writing is separate. Actually the first part is available as a free download from my website - https://theeagerlearner.com/ I've written a little more but doing the iPad course suddenly took priority.

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I've watched the majority of the official Affinity Photo videos and all of Simon Foster's UDEMY videos.  Some tutorials I could immediately apply.  What I found helpful for my particular workflow was to start on a project until I got stuck and then go back and look for the specific Affinity videos that covered my problem area.  Another approach that has worked for me is to locate a Photoshop of Lightroom process video on YouTube or even UDEMY that interested me and set out to duplicate the work with Affinity Photo by going back to Affinity Photo videos or Drippy Cat tutorials.  Most of the time this has been very successful.  There is a lot to learn and the process of doing so is rewarding.

 

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  • 2 months later...

I have watched over 30 'tutorial' videos and almost every one starts out by using a photo they want to 'enhance'. A basic 'workflow' video on "How to create a JPG/TIF/PNG/GIF/SVG File" for beginners (meaning when instructor grabs a 'tool' they specifically show the viewer where it is; not assume they know what a 'flood fill tool' is and where it is within the software).

I have absolutely no experience with any 'photo' software. I just purchased Affinity Photo to see if I could learn how to create a JPG to use on my website. I would like to open the application, create a 'foundational' or base layer that is black. On that foundation I would like to add a photo and crop it to eliminate the periphery within it. I would then like to add a separate text sheet and create some text using a specific font style.  I would then like to save the project as a JPG and export it to my folder on my PC.

The results would look like what I have attached (but of course with a new book photo and description). I publish indy books for authors and need to stop paying to have JPG's created so I can update my website that advertises their books!

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi - you're my only hope!

MICTIP (Chris)

 

PS: If I become 'really good' I would like to actually create the artwork in Photo for the book covers and save my clientele a few hundred dollars (and that's if I charge them a few dollars for my time/effort). The artwork looks like it is simply one layer upon another layer (or am I too limple-minded to think such?). And don't worry, I own the rights to the attached file.

 

photo3.jpg

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  • 1 year later...
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jmmermet I don't know if any of you understand french, but I find the following web site to be excellent : http://www.oitregor.com/numeric/affinity_photo/contenu.html 

Many tutorials are missing as today, but this is a structured approach I find perfect for my style of learning. Perhaps having such a roadmap would be a good start.

I'm just one year late, roughly, but I discovered this discussion only recently by chance and I'm grateful for the appreciation. Actually, I wrote these tutorials with true beginners in mind and I tried not to lose them when advancing in the intricacies of AP. Now, by the beginning of 2019, many of the tutorials which were missing by the time of the  jmmermet post are now  in line. Only for french speaking people, I'm sorry, nobody is perfect ! Let me repeat the adress

http://www.oitregor.com/numeric/affinity_photo/contenu.html

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