convert to pixellayer as new "live filter layer"

[Tom Schülke]

Hi everyone..

This would be very very high on my wishlist..

As an architect, as some of you allready know, we have to import printed pdf files to Affinity Photo ,  to be able to make our layouts as beautiful as needed for competitions..

Doing so the workflow is essential..  CAD Plans change all the time..    so embedding pdf files and linking ( as it hopefully will soon be able when the "ressource manager" also comes to affinity Photo), would be idal to start working on the affinity layout and making changes on the CAD Plan, and beeing able to reimport new Cad Prints (pdf´s) on the fly..

Problem is, we also need the vectorplans to get converted to rasterised images, to be able to efficently select areas of the plan.  Doing this by selecting hundrets of vektors, lines or solids,  and masking them would be impossible slow..(also you dont change those lines in Photo or Designer because its way faster in the CAD software) ... so selecting colors is the only practicable way.. 

 

but when you rasterise the pdf, the link to the embeded external file would get broken...  So what could be a solution?

 

So here´s my suggestion for the glory of architectural workflows with affinity Photo...                   give us a new  Live filter Layer..            "convert to rasterised" , to be able to import pdf´s linked and embeded, but also to use them as if they where rasterised      this would  be the nondestructive Solution.

 

to see such a workflow... here a very rough .   Youtube film...

 

[Medical Officer Bones]

I am unsure whether a "Convert to Rasterized" live filter layer is really the answer here. When I compare to Photoshop and PhotoLine, both applications allow for external files to be loaded and both have the option to create quick selections based on colour from those imported PDF files.

Photoshop uses smart object to achieve this, while PhotoLine creates an external linked file layer by dragging in a file with ALT. When the original file is updated, both apps update the imported file.

I think in this type of architectural colouring work, PhotoLine has the advantage over both Photoshop and Affinity Photo with its effective texture control widget, and simple selection to filled vector layer options. The new beta includes an option to fill selections with a vector layer instead of just the standard bitmap fill as well.

To improve Affinity Photo for this kind of work, I think a similar external file smart object workflow should be introduced, as well as the option to use the automatic selection tools with these imported external layers, just like Photoshop and PhotoLine.

[Tom Schülke]

Hi Pille....    As Medical Officer Bones is caled in Germany..

In this i am totaly open to any suggestion..   for my architectural Company, there are at last three big  improvements that should be done to Affinity. But this one is the most important, because it excetpionaly would improve the workflow.. 

the secound is the ability to strg+shift klick to a layericon to "Additiv" select the pixelselection.  as you can see in the following thread.

 

the third improvement would be of course linked embeded files..  but this one affinity allready told will come when publisher is out and then also photo and designer will have it.

 

at last.   Vectorplans with hundrets and thousends of lines and vectorstuff, as you get them from Architectural CAD Plans are         horribly      slow in the viewport, compared to a rasterised image...  so this should be adressed too. and it would be, if a how ever ..... turn to pixellayer would be available that still was linked to the external file, as you described it above for Photoshop and also for PhotoLine.