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Not Satisfied with Affinity Photo on iPad


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Hi,

I've been using Photo on iPad for a few months and am not satisfied. I've tried editing RAW files from a Fuji X-T20 and find that adjusting highlights leaves them nowhere near acceptable. They quickly blow out without usable detail.

Raw Power does a much better job, and for those who are familiar, it doesn't have as many options as Affinity Photo. Photos for iOS does an immensely better job of adjusting the color out of all three, and it comes with it's own unique set of issues.

I'm aware that X-Trans files have been known to be problematic in the decode, so I tried adjusting some of my older files from Canon—6D, 60D, 20D, and Rebel XT. Everything Affinity Photo edits on iPad has the same blown highlights and flat color.

Has anyone else had and overcome this issue? I'd be happy to learn form others and make life easier for editing, if it's at all possible.

Thanks!

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  • Staff

Hi scotthampton :)

Sorry to hear it. Could you please confirm, are you shooting in RAW uncompressed mode?

We use Apple Core RAW engine for our iPad apps, the same engine that Apple uses in Photos and likely RAW power uses, but I'm not certain of the latter.

Could you provide some sample files or screenshots showing this? I've opened the same RAW file in Photos iOS, AP iOS, AP 1.6 desktop and AP 1.7 beta (both desktop builds using the Apple RAW engine) and the images look almost identical - taking screen resolution and colour accuracy into account.

We'd certainly like to look into this for you, but we require further information if possible!

Please note -

I am currently out of the office for a short while whilst recovering from surgery (nothing serious!), therefore will not be available on the Forums during this time.

Should you require a response from the team in a thread I have previously replied in - please Create a New Thread and our team will be sure to reply as soon as possible.

Many thanks!

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  • 4 months later...

Hi,

I moved my editing back to the desktop and used Luminar (2018 and 3) for a while and never got around to responding here. I've since started using Pixelmator Photo and decided to try Affinity Photo again.

Every file I try working on exhibits the same weak, muddy midtones and the highlights are not handled well.

I've attached a short video for reference. It's 720p so it won't be the sharpest video. Since the color is the main issue, the resolution shouldn't hinder you from seeing what I see.

Basically, I imported an 8MB Canon 20D file that I shot years ago. I didn't do much editing, just adjust the white balance, a slight tweak to the exposure (which wasn't necessary because I used a light meter), and some highlight adjustments. The details in her white blouse were blown out quickly and her skin lacked life. The same file with the (same) adjustments in RAW Power looked remarkably different.

I've since tried the same crude test with images from my 6D and Fuji X-T20. The same outcome.

Please watch the movie. There's no audio and I didn't follow a script, I just tried to mimic the adjustments between the two apps. There are instances where I zoom in and pause so the detail can be seen. The highlights in her earring and blouse and shown, and you can see a clear difference in her skin.

Around the 2:20 mark, I reverted the RAW file back. It wasn't a JPG, it's just that Photos for iOS had the file opened into the edit mode before so the JPG preview took priority. Once reverted the RAW was accessible.

Let me know what you think. Perhaps there's something I'm doing that is incorrect. I'm open to feedback and pointers.

Thanks,
Scott

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I’m not sure if it helps but what settings do you have in Assistant for Raw Exposure bias and Raw Tone curve?

2A2288F0-D993-455C-BA72-3C8D7213DC1A.jpeg

M1 IPad Air 10.9/256GB   lpadOS 17.1.1 Apple Pencil (2nd gen).
Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Affinity Design 1.10.5 
Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2 and betas.

Official Online iPad Help documents (multi-lingual) here: https://affinity.https://affinity.help/ 

 

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8 hours ago, DM1 said:

I’m not sure if it helps but what settings do you have in Assistant for Raw Exposure bias and Raw Tone curve?

It’s been a while since I set up the app. Where do I find that setting? I don't see It when I click the gear icon. Please remind me.

Thanks!
Scott

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OK, I found it. This link (

) took me there. Oddly, I had to open a JPG file because I didn’t get to the document icon with a RAW file. I don’t use JPGs in Affinity Photo so I wouldn’t have seen that. Thanks for pointing it out.

My settings are the same. See attached.

2F06F916-3E3A-4365-9862-46E456750FC4.png

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  • Staff

Thanks for all the info Scott, the Canon 20D (Digital Rebel XT) is a supported RAW camera so I'd like to investigate this for you.

Could you please provide some sample RAW files to the following link so I can look into this further?

https://www.dropbox.com/request/mWe0WkjuRlMymyJ4WYRd

You may find preferable results by changing your RAW tone curve and exposure bias settings, then loading the RAW file in again.

Please note -

I am currently out of the office for a short while whilst recovering from surgery (nothing serious!), therefore will not be available on the Forums during this time.

Should you require a response from the team in a thread I have previously replied in - please Create a New Thread and our team will be sure to reply as soon as possible.

Many thanks!

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49 minutes ago, Dan C said:

Thanks for all the info Scott, the Canon 20D (Digital Rebel XT) is a supported RAW camera so I'd like to investigate this for you.

Could you please provide some sample RAW files to the following link so I can look into this further?

https://www.dropbox.com/request/mWe0WkjuRlMymyJ4WYRd

You may find preferable results by changing your RAW tone curve and exposure bias settings, then loading the RAW file in again.

Hi Dan.

Thanks for chiming in again. I've had the issue with all of the RAWs, no matter what camera. They're all old files, of course. I don't have my Canon gear anymore, only Fuji. I did keep the old Canon files. I'm really surprised my files looked so lifeless when others' are amazing. Perhaps deleting the app and reinstalling may help…I don't know. Might be worth a try.

I'll have to shoot a few new RAW files and upload them. I'll try to get to that today. I'll try to change the RAW settings back and forth in AP first, though.

Thanks,
Scott

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I sent two RAW files. Pay particular attention to the highlights, especially in the lip of the white coffee cup. Some may let those areas burn out to pure white but I don’t. I prefer to diffuse the light so there is some color information in the highlights, or turn the highlights down if I missed something live on set.

The midtones still look lifeless, even with a Brightness adjustment and/or editing the tone curve. 

Also, these were quick snapshots. I didn’t bother with composition, white balance, spot metering, or anything else.

 

Thanks,
Scott

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  • Staff

Hi Scott,

My sincerest apologies for the delayed response, I had accidentally turned off notifications for forum posts and therefore your reply slipped through. I've since resolved this and it shouldn't happen again.

In the meantime, I'm unfortunately unable to replicate your video workflow as you've provided JPEG images, rather than RAW files, however your post appears to reference multiple cameras and RAW files, so it doesn't sound like a specific file/camera bug to me, simply our implementation of the Apple Core Engine.

I'll speak with our developers and QA team and see if they have noticed similar colour degradation or over-saturated highlights and I'll report back with any information I find, many thanks for your continued patience.

Please note -

I am currently out of the office for a short while whilst recovering from surgery (nothing serious!), therefore will not be available on the Forums during this time.

Should you require a response from the team in a thread I have previously replied in - please Create a New Thread and our team will be sure to reply as soon as possible.

Many thanks!

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Hi Dan. 

Not a problem. I can try one more time to send over a RAW file, if desired. Otherwise, letting the devs make a determination is fine, as well. I’m currently using another RAW editor on my iPad for daily needs and would still consider Affinity Photo for its extensive tools and features when the need arises. 

 

Thanks!

Scott

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  • Staff

Not to worry, I've spoken with our teams internally and I've been informed the our RAW engine and White Balance - along with a few other adjustments are being overhauled/improved for version 1.7, which we're currently running as an internal beta. Keep an eye on our forums here to be notified first of 1.7's beta or release, as I'm sure the update should address your concerns :)

Please note -

I am currently out of the office for a short while whilst recovering from surgery (nothing serious!), therefore will not be available on the Forums during this time.

Should you require a response from the team in a thread I have previously replied in - please Create a New Thread and our team will be sure to reply as soon as possible.

Many thanks!

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