How do I preview adjustments without having to undo them?

[jtlapp]

I'm working with a photo, trying to figure out how to fix things. I don't really know what adjustments are going to work.

Every time I experiment with an adjustment, I have to undo it to restore the photo to the prior state before trying something else. Sometimes I forget.

I guess I'm used to the PS way of previewing before committing. Is there any way to do that in AP, or do I have to explicitly undo every thing I try?

Thanks!

[R C-R]

What exactly do you mean by adjustments? Everything on the Affinity Photo Layer > New Adjustment Layer or Layer > New Live Filter Layer menus that creates a new layer includes a live preview on the canvas, & since they are layers they can be deleted, moved, made invisible or visible at any time.

[jtlapp]

13 minutes ago, R C-R said:

What exactly do you mean by adjustments? Everything on the Affinity Photo Layer > New Adjustment Layer or Layer > New Live Filter Layer menus that creates a new layer includes a live preview on the canvas, & since they are layers they can be deleted, moved, made invisible or visible at any time.

There is a panel called adjustments. There are tools under it like B&W, Brightness/Contrast, etc.

As far as I can tell, these adjustments do not provide a preview. They instead modify the image live.

Yes, adjustments are layers, so I can easily undo them or delete a layer. But my process looks like this:

1. Select and adjustment.
2. Fidget with adjustment.
3. Can't get the effect I want, so close the adjustment.
4. Either Cmd-Z to undo the adjustment, or if I forget to do that, later find the adjustment layer and delete it.

Compare this process with the one I'm used to in PS:

1. Select and adjustment.
2. Fidget with adjustment.
3. Can't get the effect I want, so close the adjustment.

In PS, there's nothing to remember to undo if I haven't explicitly accepted the adjustment. It's just more work, and a bit annoying because I frequently forget to undo prior adjustments.

Is there a better process than the above? Thanks!

[Move Along People]

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[jtlapp]

6 minutes ago, haakoo said:

When chosen adjustment is open, there's a delete button>click it and bye bye adjustment and adjustment layer.

Oh indeed! How did I not try that! Thank you so much!

[R C-R]

6 minutes ago, jtlapp said:

There is a panel called adjustments.

I think you might be talking about the "Adjustment" Studio panel. If so, that is where preset adjustments are stored, including those you add by clicking on the "Add Preset" button in any of the Adjustment layer windows.

[jtlapp]

Okay, I'm still a little frustrated. I want to determine whether to apply an adjustment. I'm used to comparing the unadjusted photo to the adjusted photo to make a decision about whether I want the adjustment. PS had a "preview" checkbox for toggling whether the adjustment shows. I could click and unclick it to compare before and after. Is there a convenient way to do this in AP? Thanks!

(Yes, that panel, thanks.)

[jtlapp]

Okay, I can commit the adjustment and then show/hide it and then double-click on it to make changes if I want.

[Move Along People]

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[jtlapp]

2 minutes ago, haakoo said:

You could set the visibility for the adjustment layer in the layers panel.
Cross posting but you found it 

Yeah. I'm now thinking this is even better than PS! I can selectively undo prior adjustments! Woo!

Thank you both for your help!

[Fixx]

7 hours ago, haakoo said:

You could set the visibility for the adjustment layer in the layers panel.

Would be better if you could toggle on/off directly in adjustment panel. You can though toggle opacity between 0 and 100 with keyboard: double press 0 (opacity 0) and single press 0 (opacity 100).

[Move Along People]

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[jtlapp]

4 hours ago, Fixx said:

You can though toggle opacity between 0 and 100 with keyboard: double press 0 (opacity 0) and single press 0 (opacity 100).

That's a neat trick! Experimenting with it now, I find it a bit frustrating. I have to wait a second between toggling or else AP seems to think I'm double-pressing. I'm usually focused on what the image looks like when toggling preview on and off in PS, not also making sure I wait a second before toggling.

I'll keep playing with it, but because I'm not inclined to wait a second between toggles, it's more like randomly changing the opacity or not.

[IanSG]

4 hours ago, Fixx said:

Would be better if you could toggle on/off directly in adjustment panel.

You can undock the layers panel and toggle the relevant one(s) while keeping the adjustments panel visible.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, IanSG said:

You can undock the layers panel and toggle the relevant one(s) while keeping the adjustments panel visible.

Because my projects usually have lots of layers, I undocked the Layers Studio panel, moved it off to the right of the workspace window so it would not obscure anything, & resized it to the full available height of my monitor.

One of the cooler features of the Studio panels is you can double-click on a panel name & it will hide everything except the panel name header. Single clicking on the name expands it back to its former size.

[jdh1178]

Also related, I would like to be able to click on the 'adjustment' panel without creating the adjustment to view my presets. Often times I just want to browse this adjustment panel to find what I'm looking for without having to create an adjustment

[casterle]

On 12/13/2018 at 6:07 AM, R C-R said:

One of the cooler features of the Studio panels is you can double-click on a panel name & it will hide everything except the panel name header. Single clicking on the name expands it back to its former size.

Thank you for pointing that out!

[casterle]

10 minutes ago, jdh1178 said:

Also related, I would like to be able to click on the 'adjustment' panel without creating the adjustment to view my presets. Often times I just want to browse this adjustment panel to find what I'm looking for without having to create an adjustment

I agree.