Tools not working

[kingswoodoxfordschool]

Hello. I just downloaded the free trial and watched the tutorial as I was editing a photo to follow along. None of my tools are working (erase brush, undo brush tool, etc.) - I select them, they indicate they are selected, I change the width and it indicates it has been changed but doesn't allow me to edit the picture at all. Ex: was trying to erase something from the background and it shows the circle but doesn't create the red erase marks. Any help is appreciated.

[MEB]

Hi kingswoodoxfordschool,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

What type of layer are you working with? Is it an Image layer type? Take a look at the label between parenthesis after the layer's name in the layers panel. Does it say Image or Pixel? If it says Image you have to convert it to a pixel layer (type) to be able to edit it at a pixel level. To do this right-click the image layer on the Layers panel and select Rasterise.... You should then be able to use the Inpainting and the rest of tools you mentioned.

 

Image layers are a special layer type that retains all the original image data - you can think of them as embedded images -. They are created when you use the Place Image Tool, the File ▸ Place command or when you simply drag them from the Finder or File Explorer to the canvas of an opened document. They can be transformed globally (rotated, skewed etc) without losing quality but they cannot be edited/manipulated at a pixel level. For that they must be rasterised as described above.

 

If this is not the cause of the issue, make sure the Flow value in the context toolbar is not set to 0%.

[kingswoodoxfordschool]

Thank you for this info! I checked and it is loaded in as a pixel and the flow value is set at 100%. Still nothing!

[MEB]

Are you sure you have a pixel layer selected? It must be highlighted in blue in the Layers panel. 

Also check the opacity of the brush? Is it set to 0%?

If you could post a screenshot of the whole application window, with the tool you want to use selected and the Layers panel visible it will help.

[Rick G]

24 minutes ago, MEB said:

Are you sure you have a pixel layer selected? It must be highlighted in blue in the Layers panel. 

Also check the opacity of the brush? Is it set to 0%?

If you could post a screenshot of the whole application window, with the tool you want to use selected and the Layers panel visible it will help.

You mean I am not the only one who tries to clone on an adjustment layer?

[kingswoodoxfordschool]

Thank you so much! Here is a screenshot

[MEB]

Thanks for the screenshot. You have the Undo Brush Tool selected - for this tool to work you must have edited the image's pixels previously or have a snapshot of a previous state to where the tool can revert back to. Since apparently you have just opened the image without changing it in any way yet there's no steps in the history to revert back to.

In any case from your description in the first post seems you are trying to use the Inpainting Brush Tool instead to remove an object/item from the photo. If that's the case you have to click the small arrow in the Healing Brush Tool (see screenshot below) to open a pop-up with additional tools and select it. Then paint over the object you want to remove on your image and it should work as you'd expect - red strokes will appear where you paint and the program will remove the item you have painted on.

 

 

 

This tool is mostly used to remove small (distractive) elements from an image like a garbage can, electrical wires and similar distractions from images or to help create a starting point for further editing with other tools when try to fix or remove larger areas/objects. Check this video tutorial for more details: Inpainting.

[kingswoodoxfordschool]

Thank you so much for this great info. I am going to take a look right now! Much appreciated.

[florence]

My entire tool bar has vanished. I am fairly new to this, want to learn more. I was working on the site and then everything vanished, I upload the app and the entire screen on my MAC is blank. What do I need to do? Should I uninstall the app and reinstall on my Mac?

Thanks, Florence

[MEB]

Hi florence,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

Do you mean the whole application has crashed? or that the toolbars/panels disappeared from the screen but you were still able to see the canvas/your work displayed?

If the toolbars/panels disappeared from the screen you may have pressed the TAB key accidentally - it hides the application interface so you can see just the work. Pressing it again displays the toolbars/panels again. If the application crashed then something else is going on. Did it displayed a crash report after the crash? When you started it again after the crash did it displayed a dialog asking if you want to recover your file?

[florence]

I will try the TAB key soon and get back to you. thanks for replying 

[florence]

Ok just tried it and it didn’t work 

[Chris B]

Hey florence,

Can you take a screenshot so we can see what you're looking at. 

[florence]

It’s working now. Using the tab key worked. But what it was was just a complete black screen without a tool bar.  Thanks for all the help. Florence 

[florence]

Thanks, I did also just notice, which I didn't realize the other day is that the side to the right where you do layers, etc. is not  up either, I dont know how to bring it back.

I did however get the left side back, but I can not get the brush to work that removes items in a photo, which is the one I like to use the most. I was learning it pretty well.

So basically I am at square one and cant learn anymore till it is fully  up and running. Any help is appreciated. 

Thanks, Flo