Windows Store Version: Can we set Affinity Photo as Lightroom's external editor yet?

[Adobe Escapee #1000000]

I recently purchased the trio of Affinity apps on the Windows Store when they were on sale, and when it came time to set Affinity Photo as the external editor in my standalone copy of LR6, I began to wish I had bought it straight from Serif.

I found a thread in this forum on this topic from 2018 which explained how Microsoft hides the apps purchased in the Windows Store, and it was at that point impossible to target Affinity Photo as LR's external editor. (I'm coming from Photoshop, as you might have guessed.)

So is this still the case or is there now a way to link LR to AP?

Thanks!

[Callum]

Hi Adobe Escape,

Welcome to the forums

Unfortunately this is still the case and as far as I know Microsoft doesn't have any plans to change this any time soon.

Thnks

C

[IanSG]

It's not impossible, just not obvious - have a look at this.

[Adobe Escapee #1000000]

Thanks, Callum. But Has Serif come up with any solution in the meantime? Am I able to switch my licenses to non-Windows Store versions? 

And thanks, Ian. I hate screwing with things like system permissions, but maybe I'll do that if Serif offers no solution.

[mac_heibu]

Serif? Think you mean Microsoft …

[walt.farrell]

39 minutes ago, Adobe Escapee #1000000 said:

Am I able to switch my licenses to non-Windows Store versions?

No, there is no way to switch your license to the other store, unless Microsoft has a return/refund policy that you still qualify for. In that case you could return the applications to Microsoft and repurchase from Serif at the now-current price.

[Adobe Escapee #1000000]

@mac_heibu, plenty of software developers have to come up with  technical and customer service workarounds for Microsoft's, Apple's and even the internet's changing standards and peculiarities. I used to work for one. So with that perspective, I do think Serif has dropped the ball if they couldn't be clever or generous enough with their efforts over the last year not to have come up with a way to transfer licenses or otherwise make the Windows Store version of AP better compatible with Lightroom, the professional standard for managing a photo library which AP cannot yet replace. At the very least, the limitation should noted on the Windows Store page.

But failing that, I can report back to future people wondering about this that Ian's fix worked like a charm gave me access to the WindowsApps directory, and so I can add AP as LR's external editor,  but while it will go through the steps of creating a copy, LR still won't actually send the image to AP, even when AP is already open. I'm not sure which company to blame for that one.

If anyone can assist, I'd appreciate it.

Edited July 27, 2019 by Adobe Escapee #1000000

[Adobe Escapee #1000000]

Thanks, @walt.farrell. I should give MSFT a call, but I read that it's against their policy, which is why I would have expected Serif to come up with a way to verify my Windows Store license, and give me a single-seat license from their own store. 

Edited July 27, 2019 by Adobe Escapee #1000000

[Gerard O]

11 hours ago, Adobe Escapee #1000000 said:

Thanks, Walt. I should give MSFT a call, but I read that it's against their policy, which is why I would have expected Serif to come up with a way to verify my Windows Store license, and give me a single-seat license from their own store. 

really? 

Surely you would not expect Microsoft to share you personal information with a third party. 

Incidentally I have the same problem but I don't really think you can expect Serif to create modifications for Windows security and permission processes and policies

[Adobe Escapee #1000000]

@Gerard O

First of all, every Windows desktop developer has to "create modifications for Windows security and permission processes and policies" when they build software, so that's just plain wrong.

I could send Serif an invoice and they could verify it with MSFT. Obviously I wouldn't have a privacy issue with that if I initiated the process. But you're not thinking very hard about a solution for this issue and neither is Serif. I'm not upset, I'm just saying there ARE solutions Serif could implement, and for you to suggest otherwise to this former software developer is a waste of your time and mine.

I could be wrong, but I'd imagine there's a significant subset of users who both bought the app from the Windows Store and who use LR to catalog and would like to link the two apps. For a year to pass with no movement on the issue is what I would call a customer service failure and as a CS rep or producer, I'd be advocating for the devs to come up with a solution. 

But I'd like to apologize to all the Affinity/Serif superfans who like to think their chosen product and company is perfect. This kind of thing happens on the forum of any good product, but luckily there are also people like IanSG who can just offer solutions instead of rejecting criticism that just might be valid. 

Edited July 27, 2019 by Adobe Escapee #1000000

[R C-R]

14 hours ago, Adobe Escapee #1000000 said:

I could send Serif an invoice and they could verify it with MSFT.

What makes you think Microsoft would do that?

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

What makes you think Microsoft would do that?

Misplaced optimism?

[Adobe Escapee #1000000]

@R C-R, @Alfred

Actually, it's called knowledge of how the world works. Do you honestly think that Serif isn't a customer of Microsoft's and that Microsoft doesn't have customer support for its corporate customers who sell through the Windows Store? 

Wow. I guess I'm in deep with the fanboys now, aren't I?! Yee-haw!

But here's another suggestion for you folks (Mac users?) who think this is all big, bad Microsoft's fault, and there's nothing little ol' Serif can do about it:

When I right-click on an image in Lightroom, I get the option to "Edit in..." and listed in that menu are any third-party plug-ins installed.

Why can't Serif make it so AP appears as an LR plug-in once installed? 

"But it MUST be Microsoft's fault! Mix up some more kool-aid, quick!"

Did you people used to act like this on Adobe's behalf? Having worked in software development, I know from personal experience that a developer's fans are often more passionate (read: rabid) than the developers themselves. And that passion is at times a very curious thing to behold. You guys are on here trying to say how Serif is blameless, but I can almost guarantee you that there's someone at the company who—if they had the time to read this—would be nodding their head, saying "yeah, we probably should have done something like that by now."

Which is why it's a producer's fault. It's always a producer's fault. I used to be a producer, which is how I know these things. So I'm happy to share.

Anyway, for anyone who's actually here to solve a problem and not be a Serif cheerleader, the registry fix IanSG posted does work like a charm. But you need to actually install the  registry fix called "Take Ownership," and not just follow the steps manually. The installer has some special sauce that the steps themselves do not, and running it has given me the ability to send an image from LR to AP. 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by Adobe Escapee #1000000

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, Adobe Escapee #1000000 said:

Anyway, for anyone who's actually here to solve a problem and not be a Serif cheerleader, the registry fix IanSG posted does work like a charm. But you need to actually install the  registry fix called "Take Ownership," and not just follow the steps manually. The installer has some special sauce that the steps themselves do not, and running it has given me the ability to send an image from LR to AP.

As a longtime Windows user who has implemented quite a few registry tweaks over the years, I can assure you that a registry file doesn’t contain any “special sauce”: it simply comprises a sequence of commands to add, modify or delete keys, values and/or data. So if you correctly follow the same steps manually, the outcome will be the same.

[Gerard O]

On 7/27/2019 at 3:53 PM, Adobe Escapee #1000000 said:

@Gerard O

First of all, every Windows desktop developer has to "create modifications for Windows security and permission processes and policies" when they build software, so that's just plain wrong.

.... 

But I'd like to apologize to all the Affinity/Serif superfans who like to think their chosen product and company is perfect. This kind of thing happens on the forum of any good product, but luckily there are also people like IanSG who can just offer solutions instead of rejecting criticism that just might be valid. 

If you look at previous postings from me you will see that I don't think Serif/Affinity is perfect. But it is MS policy to  sandbox any apps downloaded from their store . I too have developed for MS and I can assure I have had no luck in getting MS to change their policies. Obviously you and other developers have been more successful in influencing policy.

I am not too sure insulting posters here will help you to a resolution. In any event I can be of no more help to you

Edited July 28, 2019 by Gerard O
to shorten quotes

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, Adobe Escapee #1000000 said:

Why can't Serif make it so AP appears as an LR plug-in once installed? 

Because, as has been mentioned many times in many discussions, Microsoft requires that apps sold through its store be sandboxed. If users want to override that with Registry hacks, they can do so, but Serif can't do it for them.

[Rovi]

I have the same aggravation having purchased from MS. I use Xnview to view images and can set photo Beta as an external editor. Right clicking on an image in Xnview and selecting open in explorer allows me to then right click the image and choose photo to open the image. It's an extra step but it works .

[JackJ]

This is still a problem.  With support's help, I fixed it once when I first bought it through Microsoft.  Unfortunately, an update last week broke it again.  I tried the same "take ownership" fix as last time, but it didn't work.

In my opinion (as if anybody cares), Serif should not sell Affinity Photo Professional through Microsoft if it doesn't work like a professional program or at least issue a disclaimer of some king.  In other words, I hold them accountable to either warn me before purchase or come up with a workaround.  Had I known this was a problem, I would have bought it another way.  To use it now I have to pay twice, continue searching for another fix, or greatly extend my workflow.  None of these options appeal to me.  No, it wasn't a lot of money, but who likes to give their money away to corporations and get nothing in return, especially Microsoft?

Actually, I'm hoping to receive a scathing reply like, "Dummy!  Couldn't you find this link that tells you how to fix it?"  I won't hold my breath, though; last time they helped me fix it but made me feel I should have known the fix and I was wasting their time.  OK, rant over.