smadell Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 I am attaching an Affinity Photo macro that turns a photo into a “Paint by Numbers” image. The attached file is a macros category, and should be imported through the “hamburger” menu at the top right of the Library panel. The category can also be imported into the iPad version of Affinity Photo, although there is one important limitation (more on this later). When you use the macro, it creates a Group called “Paint by Numbers Effect.” All of the changes are inside of this group, so you can turn it on and off simply. Once you look inside the group, you will see multiple layers. From bottom to top, these are: 1) Original Image - Merge Visible This is a “merge visible” version of your photo. It includes all of the editing you may have done up until that point. 2) Posterization Adjustment This is a Posterize adjustment layer, and is meant to reduce the number of colors/tones used in the effect. 3) Outlines This is a separate layer, created (in part) by using a Detect Edges filter. It provides outlines for the areas of color. This mimics the outlines that were present on the Paint by Numbers boards we used as kids. 4) Normalize Colors This is a copy of the original Merge Visible image, and has its blend mode set to Color. This is used to reset the posterized colors to more natural ones. 5) Adjust Brightness & Contrast This is a finishing adjustment, and can provide a better final effect. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Once you click the macro, you will be presented with a default version of the effect. A dialog box allows you to set a number of parameters. As you change each of these parameters, the Paint by Numbers effect is updated. You are asked: Posterize - How Many Colors? The default value is 4, but values between 3 and 6 generally give good results. If your image is a portrait, judging the final result by looking at what the different values do to the subject’s face is a good idea. Outlines - Adjust the Opacity The default is 50%. Adjust this upward to make the outlines more prominent; adjust it downward to make the outlines less obvious. Set to 0 to make them go away entirely. Finish - Adjust the Brightness Finish - Adjust the Contrast The default is 10% brightness, and 20% contrast. Adjust these up or down to give you final effect the desired finish. When you click Apply, the effect is finalized. Obviously, you can manually change any of the settings after the fact. However, you should know that while the number of posterization levels for the image is non-destructive, the originally chosen number is also used to create the outlines, and this is a destructive change. Although you can change the posterization level after the fact, it is not advisable to do this. The outlines might no longer line up with the individual areas of color. Also, for some reason, the iPad version of Affinity Photo handles the macro pretty well but will not allow you to change the number of posterization levels before finalizing the effect. It is baked in at 4 levels. You can change this after the fact, but (as above) the number of levels in your posterized image may not match your outlines very well. Here is the macro in action. The original image is top left; the parameters dialog is shown in its default state, and then changed during the course of the macro; the final effect is shown top right As always, I am one person with one computer and have not tested this in every possible scenario. Try it and, if you like it, keep it and enjoy it. This forum has provided me with so many good ideas and answers to questions; this macro is my attempt to “pay it forward.” [Note: Credit where credit is due. I am indebted to Dave Straker, whose recent YouTube video gave me some excellent ideas for this macro. Dave’s channel is called “InAffinity,” and is a steady source of helpful information. Thanks, Dave!] Paint by Numbers.afmacros Cmak, DM1, casterle and 12 others 10 5 Quote Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casterle Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Very cool. Thanks for sharing! Quote Windows 11 Pro, XP-Pen Deco 03, AP, AD & APub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affinidesigner Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 super! Thank for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerofoto Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 Pretty cool, I have to try that =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DM1 Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Interesting, works on iPad too but without a dialogue box. Simple matter to select the individual adjustment layers and change settings though. Many Thanks Quote 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/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah73 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 that's really cool, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anniehbegg Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 This is brilliant. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sait Awun Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 is there a way where we can remove all the colours and just leave the outline? i figured it would be an interesting piece for the kids to colour in themselves as an activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smadell Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 There are easier ways to do that. Try this: 1) Posterize adjustment - this will simplify the areas of color 2) Detect edges 3) Invert 4) Threshold adjustment - set the slider as desired. Quote Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ehrat Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) please i need some help, the files with .macros will not import? usually when it is zip i can extract it, but how do i change it to the file format .macro? What program will extract this for windows 7? i found the answer. Edited November 16, 2020 by Paul Ehrat i found the answer, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smadell Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Paul... Do NOT try to change the file extension - it will not work. You can import the macros (as a macro "category") into the Library panel. There are 2 different kinds of macro files - (i) a single macro, exported from the Macro panel; and (ii) a macro category (which can include 1 or multiple macros) exported from the Library panel. The former has a file extension of .afmacro and the latter has an extension of .afmacros . Yes, it is a subtle difference and it confuses a lot of folks; perhaps Serif should have chosen extensions that were more dissimilar. The bottom line. The Paint by Numbers.afmacros file can be imported from the Library panel. Carlo58 1 Quote Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlo58 Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Grazie Smadell, questo tuo lavoro è veramente molto bello. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smadell Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 Thank you for your compliment, @Carlo58. I’m quite happy that you’re enjoying it. Quote Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Komatös Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Thanks for this nice little helper. Quote AMD Ryzen 7 5700X | INTEL Arc A770 LE 16 GB | 32 GB DDR4 3200MHz | Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (22631.3296) AMD A10-9600P | dGPU R7 M340 (2 GB) | 8 GB DDR4 2133 MHz | Windows 10 Home 22H2 (1945.3803) Affinity Suite V 2.4 & Beta 2.(latest) Better translations with: https://www.deepl.com/translator Interested in a robust (selfhosted) PDF Solution? Have a look at Stirling PDF Life is too short to have meaningless discussions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyTheG Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Is this the same thing as custom paint by number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smadell Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 Hi, @EmilyTheG. Welcome to the forum. It looks to me that your link opens a commercial site that will convert a photo into a physical canvas, pre-printed with outlines and "numbers" corresponding to a set of paints that the purchaser then applies to create a paint-by-numbers canvas. Obviously, the macro I attached is something entirely different. Although the end result is designed to look similar to an actual Paint by Numbers canvas, this is a software rendition only. I have no idea how the "Custom Paint by Numbers" people get their photos processed and turned into canvases. My way seems like a lot less work, though! Quote Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinkocroley Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 I can't wait to try it out and turn some of my photos into paint by numbers images. The step-by-step breakdown of the layers and adjustments is incredibly helpful, especially for someone like me who is still learning the ins and outs of photo editing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smadell Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 I hope you find this fun, @dinkocroley. Once you’ve used the macro a bit, you should consider posting one or more of your results. I, for one, would really enjoy seeing what you were able to create. Quote Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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