Cannot get layers to work.

[DJW]

Attempting to migrate from Photoshop to Affinity Photo.  Image with seven layers. layers above background have layer mask filled with black.  Mask thumbnail shows white painted area however nothing shows through on this or any other mask. Also getting poor response from pen/trackpad switching between with and black.Randomly will not respond at all. Setup is MacBook Pro 2018 16Gb OS 10.14.5 paired with Wacom Cintiq Pro16. Divers are current.  I get the same issues whether I use the Wacom or work directly through the MacBook Pro. Going around in circles, Help!

 

 

[stokerg]

Hi DJW and Welcome to the Forums,

You have the Mask enabled but the G-Clamp pixel layer disabled.  Does enabling that Pixel Layer help?  May help if you can attach the .afphoto file for this  

The trackpad issue and Wacom issue, is an odd as i can't remember seeing any other reports of this.  Can you try in the latest beta and see if the same happens?  Also with most Wacom issues, doing a clean install of the drivers can resolve performance issues.

[DJW]

Thanks stokerg, file is attached . Even when each layer is 'ticked" on I'm seeing odd behaviour. Each layer mask is filled black and some layers show their content before the application of the white brush. This happens randomly at present For example layer LHS tonight! I have clean installed the Wacom driver twice so far with the same result each time, it appears to interact with Affinity Photo fine, ie. the mask thumbnail reflects the brushing applied to that mask. I'm seeing this late at my end, will try the beta tomorrow. Many thanks again. Dennis.

 

 

Bandsaw_LP_100803.afphoto

[stokerg]

Hi Dennis,

Doesn't look like the file uploaded correctly, i just get an error trying to open it.  If you can try the following Dropbox link instead

[R C-R]

Why are all the layers children of a Live Stack Group? What happens if you ungroup it?

[DJW]

If I'm understanding your thought, unchecking The 'live stack group' at the top of the stack results in a transparent document.

 

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, DJW said:

If I'm understanding your thought, unchecking The 'live stack group' at the top of the stack results in a transparent document.

I asked what happens if you ungroup the Live Stack Group, not hide it.

[DJW]

Hi R C-R, how do I ungroup the live stack, I cannot find an option to do this and in truth I'm not totally sure of what you are asking.

Old commercial photographer and longtime Photoshop user at this end, finding it more difficult to transition than expected. Thanks for your input. Dennis.

[R C-R]

Either right click the Live Stack Group in the Layers panel & choose "Ungroup" from the popup menu; or select it & with the Move Tool active click the "Ungroup" button on the context toolbar, or choose "Ungroup" from the "Arrange" menu, or use the keyboard shortcut for that (Shift-CMD-G).

[DJW]

Thanks R C-R. Ungrouped, no difference although the stack thumbnail for 'inner arm and guide' (first layer) and G clamp (top layer) now no longer have a preview image. The rough brush strokes on G clamp now show up on the image! No response when selected other layers and masks.

 Also notice when white brush is selected there is a small white dot with a diagonal line through it directly under the Black/White at the bottom of that tool bar.

Have also tried Beta as requested by support. no difference there either. Dennis

[DJW]

Hi Stokerg.  File dropboxed. Beta installed no difference unfortunately. Have tried R C-R's suggestions, see reply above but I am seeing different behaviour. Have no idea what that may mean!

Cheers Dennis.

 

[R C-R]

11 minutes ago, DJW said:

Ungrouped, no difference although the stack thumbnail for 'inner arm and guide' (first layer) and G clamp (top layer) now no longer have a preview image.

Without a copy of the .afphoto file to use as a reference, it is difficult to know what to suggest, but working only from your screenshot, it looks like the "Inner arm and guide" layer is a child of the "LHS saw table & guide" layer above it, & both that 'LHS' layer & the "G clamp" layer are set to invisible. Also, most of the mask child layers appear to be a solid grey, which would affect the overall transparency of their parent layers.

22 minutes ago, DJW said:

Also notice when white brush is selected there is a small white dot with a diagonal line through it directly under the Black/White at the bottom of that tool bar.

I'm not quite sure where you are seeing this (tools, toolbars, popup menus, Studio panels, etc. are all different things) but in general, throughout the UI a white circle or rectangle with a red diagonal line through it is the 'no color' or 'transparent' or 'remove color' button, depending on the context.

There are a growing number of official Photo video tutorials that can help you better understand various aspects of the app. You can search for things like layer, group, or mask to filter the results. If you do that for "stack" it may help clarify what stacks are used for, which I suspect is not appropriate for this project. 

Anyway, since you have uploaded your file to Affinity's dropbox, I am sure @stokerg or one of the other staff will be able to help you get the results you are looking for. 

[stokerg]

Hi DJW,

Thanks for the file.

Really puzzling this one, myself and another member of the Tech Team have been looking into this, this morning.  The Live Stack isn't needed at all and ungrouping does improve things.  I think what's happening is the previous  masks are canceling the other layers, which would happen if the Mask is filled with black, it will fully hide the image the mask is applied to.  Personally, i just add a Mask Layer and paint on it with White and Black, i don't fill it with black first.

What's the end goal for this file?  To bring the lighting from the different shots into the final one?  

[DJW]

Hi stokerg, yes the purpose is to create a 'light painted' final image. denniswisken.com.au if you are interested to see what I do.

Happy to concede that my methodology which was developed in Photoshop may not translate into Affinity Photo, it was the align layer feature that took me on this route.

Always looking for efficientcies as I would rather be shooting than tied to a desk. Still concerned about the inconsistent behaviour but. I will have a rethink over the next few days and see where I go from here. Thanks to all for the input. Dennis.

 

 

[stokerg]

8 minutes ago, DJW said:

Happy to concede that my methodology which was developed in Photoshop may not translate into Affinity Photo, it was the align layer feature that took me on this route.

 

You can still use the Stack option to get the layers aligned, just ungroup once you've stacked them  

If you need any further help along the way, just ask  

[DJW]

Thanks stokerg , I think you are reading my mind! Was pondering that very process thinking about some of R C-R comments. Will have a crack at it tomorrow and see how we go.

Thanks again to all, Dennis.