Why Did Affinity Photo Convert All My DNG files to APF Files

[Wanderer3]

I purchased Affinity Photo a few days ago and this is my first post.  I hope this is the correct place to post it.  I also hope this isn't one of those newbie posted topics that have been posted many times already - if so please point me in the right direction.  I did look though the pdf AP user manual for information but couldn't find any.  I would have done a forum search but couldn't see a way to so that.

 

The first function I tried on AP was a focus merge of three photos.  It worked fantastically and easily - three or four clicks and I had an image with the three focus planes perfectly done.  Since this is a function I need often in my landscape photography and one of the main reasons I purchased AP, I was almost ecstatic at the result!

 

My second experience with AP was very different because of something I have never experienced with another photo editing program and I have tried three but without achieving a very good skill level.  I would also comment that I'm an old guy who came to digital photography late and my general computer literacy is quite poor.  What happened is as follows:  I took some lens comparisons shots that I had no desire to edit but wanted to look at on my computer (windows 10) and inserted the SD card into the computer.  When I looked at the photos I had just taken all of the dng files on the card (it contained only dng files) had been converted to Affinity Photo files and that was hundreds of files.  AP was not open.  When I opened it AP started to process a file without any command to do so, doing exactly what I don't know.  I've tried inserting two cards with only jpg files on them and none of this happened.  I also found that some raw files on my backup external hard drive have been converted to apf files, I don't know how many.   I don't know why it would make any difference but the camera is a Pentax K-1.

 

So what did I do wrong that all of these files were converted to a different file type?  Did I inadvertently do a command the first time I opened and used AP that this is to be done?  There certainly wasn't any such command when I wanted to look at the newly taken images as AP wasn't even open at that time.  Or does AP automatically convert raw files to it's own file type by default even when they have not been imported into AP or processed?  If that's the case can that default setting be changed?  I certainly don't want every raw file I create to be changed to apf.  Or are apf files actually dng?  That seems doubtful because I was unable to upload the merged file I created, now an apf, to photoshop elements, having to change it to a TIFF.  As any one can tell I'm baffled and confused!

 

Any info or advice will be much appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

 

Mike

 

 

[R C-R]

Affinity Photo does not convert any RAW file types (including DNG) to Affinity files. It will open them for development but this does not touch the original file -- if you save the photo after development it creates a new Affinity format file (with an .afphoto extension) but the original .dng or whatever file is not overwritten or deleted.

 

I think what you are seeing is, unless you have another app that can open & process DNG files on your computer, it will offer to open them in Affinity Photo for development.

[IanSG]

What I think has happened is that Windows 10 now assumes that all your DNG files will be opened with Affinity Photo (AP), and so rather than showing you a file extension it's showing you the icon of the default program i.e. AP.  If you go into Windows Explorer (<Windows key>e) and then go File / Options / View you'll see the option "Hide extensions for known file types".  I'm assuming that option is checked.  If you uncheck it you'll still see the AP icon but you should also see that the file extension is still .DNG.  As R C-R said, AP doesn't overwrite any RAW files - it doesn't know how to!  If you've used Save or Save As you'll find you've got some .afphoto files amongst the .DNGs.

 

As an aside, I'd get a USB 3 card reader and download the files to a disk drive - as well as being much more secure it'll speed up your work flow.  As another aside, it's nice to hear from another Pentax user 

[Wanderer3]

Thanks to both of  you for your replies.  I did uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" and it does now indicate the files are still dng files.  But if all of my photo files are going to automatically open with AP that's a huge problem for me and I don't want that.  Most of the time I'm opening a photo file to simply view it, not process it and I  process only a very small percentage of the files I keep, mostly those I want to print.   I do still plan to use PSE for some processing and I'm not sure if I can even import one of these files to PSE without changing the file format.  So is there a way I can go back to not importing the files automatically to AP and to do this only when I choose to do so?  

 

By "disc" do you mean an external hard drive, dvd drive, either?  I use an EHD for backup storage of my photo files but prefer not to work from it.

 

Thanks again.  I really appreciate the help and don't feel as lost as I did.

[R C-R]

Like other RAW file formats, DNG files must be 'developed' before they can be viewed. (Please review the Wikipedia article I linked to if this is still unclear.) Some apps, system add-ons, or system services will show you a thumbnail embedded in the file, which may be enough for non-critical evaluation, but Affinity Photo processes the RAW data to produce a working 'what you see is what you will get' image, which takes considerably longer than just extracting & displaying a thumbnail. Thus, it is not well suited to browsing through a lot of photos looking for 'keepers.'

[IanSG]

11 minutes ago, Wanderer3 said:

 But if all of my photo files are going to automatically open with AP that's a huge problem for me and I don't want that.  Most of the time I'm opening a photo file to simply view it, not process it and I  process only a very small percentage of the files I keep, mostly those I want to print.   I do still plan to use PSE for some processing and I'm not sure if I can even import one of these files to PSE without changing the file format.  So is there a way I can go back to not importing the files automatically to AP and to do this only when I choose to do so?  

 

By "disc" do you mean an external hard drive, dvd drive, either?  I use an EHD for backup storage of my photo files but prefer not to work from it.

 

Thanks again.  I really appreciate the help and don't feel as lost as I did.

You can tell Windows what you want to open your files with, both by default and on a case by case basis.  Right click a .DNG file and you'll get the option "Open with".  This will allow you to select the program you want to open the file with.  If you select "Choose another app" you'll also get the option to make the selected program the default.  You can change this as often as you like!  Files aren't imported into AP - they stay wherever you put them, though AP will remember the last location.!

 

By "disc" I mean pretty much anything other than the SD card - they're slow and easily damaged.

[IanSG]

7 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Thus, it is not well suited to browsing through a lot of photos looking for 'keepers.'

I recently came across "Fast Raw Viewer" for doing this - I'm interested to know what other people use.

[Wanderer3]

  I had forgotten the "choose another app" option.  Hopefully "mission accomplished."

 

I took a look at Fast Raw Viewer and downloaded/installed the trial (never did see a purchase price).  It may be somewhat too complicated for my feeble skills but I'll give it a try (the user manual is 214 pages - for a viewer!).  I've been using plain old Photos since it came with windows and haven't been dissatisfied with it.

 

Thanks again and happy shooting.

 

Mike

Edited January 5, 2018 by Wanderer3
addition

[IanSG]

2 hours ago, Wanderer3 said:

I took a look at Fast Raw Viewer and downloaded/installed the trial (never did see a purchase price).  It may be somewhat too complicated for my feeble skills but I'll give it a try (the user manual is 214 pages - for a viewer!).  I've been using plain old Photos since it came with windows and haven't been dissatisfied with it.

The documentation isn't great!!  On the plus side, you get to see what your RAW files can look like after they've been processed - the differences can be startling!

[smadell]

I started using FastRawViewer a few months ago. I use it mostly for culling through Raw files prior to developing them. It is fast, and easy. The complicated parts (probably why the manual is so long) are based on the fact that FRV can write .xmp sidecar files that include changes in exposure, etc that other software can use (IF they utilize .xmp files). I do my Raw development in DxO, so I end up tossing the .xmp’s. But, inside of FastRawViewer I can cull through lots of files quickly, mark the ones I want to use, and then move/copy them to another folder. It’s really powerful if you ever want to “expose to the right,” since the Raw histograms are based on the Raw data, and not the embedded JPEG’s, and you can come really close to the right edge of the histogram without clipping any of the channels. Thumbs up from me for this one.

[Wanderer3]

23 hours ago, smadell said:

I started using FastRawViewer a few months ago. I use it mostly for culling through Raw files prior to developing them. It is fast, and easy. The complicated parts (probably why the manual is so long) are based on the fact that FRV can write .xmp sidecar files that include changes in exposure, etc that other software can use (IF they utilize .xmp files). I do my Raw development in DxO, so I end up tossing the .xmp’s. But, inside of FastRawViewer I can cull through lots of files quickly, mark the ones I want to use, and then move/copy them to another folder. It’s really powerful if you ever want to “expose to the right,” since the Raw histograms are based on the Raw data, and not the embedded JPEG’s, and you can come really close to the right edge of the histogram without clipping any of the channels. Thumbs up from me for this one.

Useful info, thanks.