Missing layers in a PSD

[David Edge]

I have a file exported to PSD from Capture One. I edited it in Photo, cut out an object, put a black fill layer behind it and saved it. The preview of the file in Finder shows it correctly with a black background. If I export it from Capture One it renders correctly with a black background. However if I open the file again in Photo to change the fill layer to black all I have is the original pixel layer with its original messy background and a transparent layer inside it. It exports as it looks - messy background.

 

So I have a PSD file that Affinity Photo has edited, but cannot read and that Capture One can read but not edit.

 

Any ideas?

[v_kyr]

Did you used this C1 round-trip workflow?

There they tell ...

Quote

...Whatever layers you might add on top of your images, Capture One will now recognize and show PSD files as any other supported file type. It is important to mention that processing layered files from Capture One always flattens the image, and the layers in your PSD or TIFF files are not individually visible or editable in Capture One. The files are always treated as non-layered files within Capture One...

... so it might be that when you export from C1 that the resulting PSD is then probably flattened too here and thus is afterwards in a uncommon layered state for APh. - Usually APh should be able to export and (re)import at least it's own created PSD file in an editable state (see also the PSD export more option button here).

[Alfred]

14 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Usually APh should be able to export and (re)import at least it's own created PSD file in an editable state

 

Please note that text is an important exception to this. The Affinity apps cannot export text to PSD format, so any text layers in the original file will be rasterized on export and will therefore be uneditable when you reimport the newly created PSD file.

[David Edge]

V_kyr

Well, that's how I always do it and normally it works - Edit With Affinity Photo creating a 16-bit PSD, add the layers and save. Then any further non-destructive adjustments in Capture One are applied to a flattened version of what's in the PSD, but if I then Open With Affinity Photo I have my layers back with the file open in Affinity and can edit again,and when I go back to Capture One the non-destructive edits will be applied over. But always the PSD contains layers that remain editable in Affinity.

 

Now I could imagine that I had inadvertently flattened the PSD inside AP, but why does the file have a black background (ie edited) when viewed in and exported from Capture One; but is unedited in Affinity Photo?

 

Alfred - thanks, good point - I do stick to photographic manipulations when exporting to PSD and do any text in Affinity Design. But a useful reminder

[v_kyr]

21 minutes ago, David Edge said:

...Now I could imagine that I had inadvertently flattened the PSD inside AP, but why does the file have a black background (ie edited) when viewed in and exported from Capture One; but is unedited in Affinity Photo?...

Good point! - You may have to do some more tryouts here in order to find out and exclude that it was possibly a flattened PSD handled over in this case. Also when you say it worked before, has that been the same APh version or does it just happen now maybe with the updated version?

[v_kyr]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

 

Please note that text is an important exception to this. The Affinity apps cannot export text to PSD format, so any text layers in the original file will be rasterized on export and will therefore be uneditable when you reimport the newly created PSD file.

That's right, the Affinity apps seem to convert these always to pixel layers when exporting as PSD. Though they sometimes can import the text layers from foreign apps created PSD files in an editable state. - Well sometimes!

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, v_kyr said:

That's right, the Affinity apps seem to convert these always to pixel layers when exporting as PSD. Though they sometimes can import the text layers from foreign apps created PSD files in an editable state. - Well sometimes!

 

I was under the impression that the Affinity apps could always import PSD text as editable text, but the default setting (which you can change via the Preferences dialog) is for text to be imported as an image. The idea is that if text imported as an image it will always look correct, even if you don't have the font installed.

 

[David Edge]

Thanks Chaps

Well as files are always rendered before delivery I'll go for import as text; indeed that's what I have set.

 

I think it may be a post-1.6 problem. I've edited another two and while it doesn't get itself into as much of a mess as before, in each case it loses the fill layer below the object on save and re-open. Perhaps one for the bugs forum?

[v_kyr]

According to this Affinity Designer for Windows, version 1.6.1 info ...

- Fixed PSD import of files from "Sketchclub"
- Fixed PSD export for layers that have bounds with zero height or width

... there have been made some changes for PSD import/export (I assume these then are also part of the Mac version here).

So it may be that they thus introduced a new problem here now. However, if you can reproduce this now odd behavior always, you might want to file it in as a bug!

 

[David Edge]

Ah, well, we don't have Designer 1.6.1 for Mac yet. I'll give it a day or two and if it doesn't turn up for Mac file a bug. But then it's Photo I'm having the problem with