Photo: Can any DAM read .afphoto files?

[slchapin41]

I'm working at switching from Photoshop. But I'm stymied because once I have more than a few edited images, I don't see how to view my .afphoto files to decide which one I want to open into APhoto for further work.

Does anyone have any suggestions? For now, rather than waiting for the Affinity DAM they say they maybe going to provide sometime in the future? 

Note that the DAM function I really, really need is not everything Lightroom does, just the Library module.

Thanks,

  - newbie susan

[Callum]

Hi Slchapin41,

Welcome to the forums

As far as I'm aware there are no apps that can read native Affinity files bar our own.

Thanks

C

[Fixx]

You can see the previews in Mac Finder (and presumably also in Windows). Also at least XnView MP can show previews when set right.

[IanSG]

30 minutes ago, Fixx said:

XnView MP can show previews when set right.

XnView MP displays the embedded jpeg - AP has to have the create thumbnail option selected.

[slchapin41]

Thank you for the reference to XnView MP. I hadn't known about it.

Now, how do I set my Mac version "right" to show me .afphoto thumbnails? They don't show (but are saved and they show in Finder). I don't see .afphoto listed in preferences/formats.

- newbie susan

[IanSG]

I think it's Tools / Settings / Thumbnail / Misc / Use embedded thumbnail.  I've got the thumbnails cached, so I'll need to do more playing to confirm it.

[slchapin41]

Thanks, but no. I have Use embedded thumbnail set. There is discussion on the XnView forum that with Affinity Photo 1.7 thumbnails don't show any more; I was, and still am, hoping that you or someone here has got it working. Or that there is another workaround.

 - newbie susan

[Move Along People]

-

 

[slchapin41]

THANK YOU. EVERYONE who helped. It was three settings:

  - In Affinity, turn on Save Thumbnails

  - In XnView, General/ Show all graphic files and Thumbnails/Use embedded thumbnails

It is working now! Looks like I won't have to go back to Photoshop/Lightroom after all. 

 - newbie susan

[IanSG]

Just now, slchapin41 said:

I was, and still am, hoping that you or someone here has got it working.

XnViewMP v0.92 definitely displays AP1.7 thumbnails! 

<edit>

Glad you've got it working!

 

[smadell]

XnViewMP has gotten a lot of good press on this forum. My understanding of it (and I am not a user, so this is limited) is that XnViewMP is an image browser, not an asset manager (DAM). If you are looking for a full-fledged DAM that can display Affinity Photo files (or at least the embedded previews) take a look at Photo Supreme. It is not free (as is XnViewMP) but it is a true DAM, with keywording, geotagging, portfolios, versioning, and so forth and so on. It is available for Mac and for Windows. If you add the affinity extension into the Preferences (see below) you can catalogue your Affinity Photo files and see their previews. It is a powerful tool.

[slchapin41]

Thank you, smadell. Photo Supreme is another good find. I've downloaded the trial. At a first look, it appears adequate to my needs, though it is no replacement for Lightroom. But I can use it to managed my .afphoto files. Hopefully Serif will develop a DAM soon.

[R C-R]

15 hours ago, smadell said:

XnViewMP has gotten a lot of good press on this forum. My understanding of it (and I am not a user, so this is limited) is that XnViewMP is an image browser, not an asset manager (DAM).

It is not a full featured DAM but it does have a hierarchical category system that functions much like keywords, various kinds of batch processing, & several other DAM-like features.

[Eastjack]

Daminion 6.0 free version can have multiple catalogs containing up to 15000 images each and will show thumbnails of affinity files.  Affinity files cannot be viewed in the built in viewer but will open Affinity on click. This is a full DAM and keeps multiple versions with revision checking.  The free version will not operate over a network but a paid version will as well as having unlimited catalog size. You have to add the affinity file extensions to the choice of files to open. Excellent program for affinity users. Files can be tagged and categorized for large collections. Not many people seem to know about it. 

reen shot

[slchapin41]

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately for me, Daminion is Windows only, and I'm on a Mac. I see that Daminion 3 runs under Crossover, so it might be worth a try to see if Daminion 6 will run correctly. The free version would likely meet my needs.

I've been using Photo Supreme trial, and it is very weak and dreadfully overpriced, so I'm glad to know about another possibility. I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that Serif is setting themselves up as an Adobe alternative, but don't give (us) a DAM for .afphoto files. Lightroom functionality without the Develop module, which isn't needed with APhoto, couldn't be that hard to develop.

[onno-r]

Hi, 

For an image file browser I use an old legacy Mac (2010/2011) app called gBrowser to be found at Macupdate.

I'm still holding on to Mojave, I don't know if it will work on Catalina.

gBrowser gives very good previews of Affinity files. It has the much sought-after column/tree view like in Adobe Bridge - but then with the good Affinity previews.

It's actually based on a open source software.

[slchapin41]

Wonderful! Thank you!

GBrowser isn't a DAM - doesn't show metadata, doesn't show images in subfolders unless you navigate to the subfolder, etc. But it does a wonderful job of showing thumbnails of .afphoto files.

 

5 hours ago, onno-r said:

Hi, 

For an image file browser I use an old legacy Mac (2010/2011) app called gBrowser to be found at Macupdate.

I'm still holding on to Mojave, I don't know if it will work on Catalina.

gBrowser gives very good previews of Affinity files. It has the much sought-after column/tree view like in Adobe Bridge - but then with the good Affinity previews.

It's actually based on a open source software.

 

[v_kyr]

Well as said so often in this forum, there is quite a difference between a real DAM, common photo cataloging apps, or plain image browsers.

Thus just from a photography perspective this software jouney is maybe an interesting read ...

• Digital Asset Management (DAM)

 

 

[hobbytobiz]

On 12/5/2019 at 11:26 AM, slchapin41 said:

Wonderful! Thank you!

GBrowser isn't a DAM - doesn't show metadata, doesn't show images in subfolders unless you navigate to the subfolder, etc. But it does a wonderful job of showing thumbnails of .afphoto files.

 

 

slchapin41:

Stick with Mojave as long as you can. I decided not to go with the Adobe CC product and kept my Adobe Photoshop CS6. Yes, 6! In any event, I did upgrade to Catalina and PS CS6 would not load. I talked to Apple and we decided my best bet was to revert to Mojave. After reverting, all hell broke loose. In addition, I was using Dr Browns Image Processor 2. To revert to Mojave, Apple walked me through the "re-install" from a clean drive. I'm not going to go into that one! Bottom line, Bridge stopped recognizing some .CR2 raw files. I tried a PS CS6 re-install. No help. In any event, After Installing the Adobe DNG Converter I was back in business. Somewhat slowed but back in business. Sooooo, long story-short stay with Mojave. Sorry to go a bit off topic but I felt it was knowing.

[Scene24]

For cataloguing Affinity files -- I don't know if this is a recent development, but NeoFinder recognizes and catalogues Affinity files. They describe it as a "full-fledged digital asset manager" that can catalogue many different file formats.

I've downloaded NeoFinder for Mac and am just now going to start exploring how well it works with Affinity files and any other files I have.

They apparently also have a version for windows (called "AbeMeda for Windows")

NeoFinder was originally CDFinder and they have been in business for 25 years. You can get NeoFinder for free (with a 10 catalogue limit) or can buy the full, unlimited version for about $40 U.S.

 

[ashf]

Eagle
https://eagle.cool/

[Bruce Atkinson]

On 6/1/2020 at 5:12 PM, Scene24 said:

For cataloguing Affinity files -- I don't know if this is a recent development, but NeoFinder recognizes and catalogues Affinity files. They describe it as a "full-fledged digital asset manager" that can catalogue many different file formats.

I've downloaded NeoFinder for Mac and am just now going to start exploring how well it works with Affinity files and any other files I have.

They apparently also have a version for windows (called "AbeMeda for Windows")

NeoFinder was originally CDFinder and they have been in business for 25 years. You can get NeoFinder for free (with a 10 catalogue limit) or can buy the full, unlimited version for about $40 U.S.

 

Neofinder does show thumbnails of .afphoto files. And if you want to add keywords it will create .XMP sidecar files as well. It will not add geolocation info though.

See https://www.cdfinder.de/guide/17/neofinder_and_photos.html

[lightchaser-nyc]

On Mac/iPad https://www.pixlpath.com can display the previews of .afphoto files.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, lightchaser-nyc said:

On Mac/iPad https://www.pixlpath.com can display the previews of .afphoto files.

Finder can display the thumbnail previews. Does this app display more than that?

[lightchaser-nyc]

No, I've not found any Mac asset management app that can read full .afphoto files. Its format is kept proprietary. Most apps won't recognize them at all.