Affinity Photo Source Image

[Cecil]

Adobe Painter program allows you to open original source image on or next to your open file on desktop.  This ican be used for many reasons, key is color picker and resource to kept track of your changes   Is it possible to add additional file on the same source window file and I missed it in AP?  

[Cecil]

Bump.  Opening additional file to use as reference file would benefit user.  This file could be placed in tool area, selected from View, Studio,  or any other method.w

[kaffeeundsalz]

I don't really see the point in making this a separate feature in Affinity Photo, since there are already many ways you can achieve this. The most obvious one is probably to duplicate your image and then use one copy for editing an the other copy as a reference. Duplicating can be done in Finder (on a Mac) or Explorer (on Windows). It can also be done in Photo by opening an image, saving it as .afphoto and then opening the original image again as a second file which will then be accessible at any time via its document tab. This is how I would do it because I need the .afphoto file anyway (to have an editable file with all my layers and adjustments) so I even save an extra step. If you need the reference image to be always visible, you can switch to Separate Mode and move the image window around as you like. You have a 27 inch screen, so I assume you'll have plenty of screen real estate to put it somewhere.

Another method that is even faster and more flexible is this: Open a file in Photo and then simply duplicate the background layer. You'll then have your original image always accessible as a separate layer. You can uncheck "Is visible" to get it out of your way when you don't need it. You can keep it on top of your layer stack to do quick comparisons. You can assign a layer color to it so you can always instantly find it. You can add a layer mask to hide parts of your original layer for side-by-side comparisons. And so on.

And just as an extra tip: If you forgot to duplicate your background layer and already made some destructive editing on it, you can at any time go to File > Place and add your original file again as a separate image layer. This works even when you have your image open as your active document (because an image file can be "placed into itself") and will give you the original image as long as you don't overwrite the file.

With all of this in mind, what's the benefit of having an extra function for this?

[Cecil]

Kaffeeundsalz, thank you, especially for the Separate Mode, I will have to research that.  My process was looking at a reference photo and try to replicate freehand painting on blank canvas, using source image for visual reference and color picker.  I was accustomed to Corel Painter, which allows you to add a source panel and resize as needed.  This required no unchecking, source always visible.  I do understand duplicating Background image, however, I am not making changes (Mask, HSL, etc.) until painting is in final stage (s).

Recent death of my Windows PC, I purchased my first iMac.  Little did I realize Wacom stopped supporting macOS for my tablet, nice end table now. Additionally, cost of Painter 2020 for new OS, I moved to Affinity Photo.  New OS and software equal nightmares. I do thank you for your suggestions. I will take screen capture of your reply for reference.