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Straight-forward Image Duplicate


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Hi folks,

I did a search for this and couldn't find anything directly related, so,.. I hope it's not been covered though, I'm sorry if it has.

I'm almost at the end of my trial on A.P and was wondering why there's no (apparent) direct way to duplicate what it is you're working on - by that I mean a straight forward: Image>Duplicate so you can quickly have 2 copies of what it is you want, side by side (tabs).

I know it's possible to select, copy then create 'New From Clipboard', but that's somewhat slow and inefficient, no? In Photoshop IIRC, it's possible to create an exact and ready-to-use copy of what it is you wanted to copy, but this seems not possible in A.P.

Can this be implemented in a future update?

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@WorthIt @SantaFeBill

If you simply want to be able to compare the "original" image with your "edited" version, admittedly you cannot easily place both side by side,  but the History panel slider allows you to click immediately between the original and your current edit, simply by clicking the slider to its extreme left.  Returning to the latest version simply requires to click the right hand end of the slider.

HTH

Jeff

Win 10 Pro, i7 6700K, 32Gb RAM, NVidia GTX1660 Ti and Intel HD530 Graphics

Long-time user of Serif products, chiefly PagePlus and PhotoPlus, but also WebPlus, CraftArtistProfessional and DrawPlus.  Delighted to be using Affinity Designer, Photo, and now Publisher, version 1 and now version 2.

iPad Pro (12.9") (iOS 17.4) running Affinity Photo and Designer version 1 and all three version 2 apps.

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1 minute ago, Fixx said:

Save As is the old good way of making a copy..

Note the use of the word: "Old". Image>Duplicate is the best way to get an immediate working copy IMHO. Why do: Save-As, then open it next to the original? Again, that's a slow way to do it, especially if your rig (PC in my case) is slow and decrepit (10yrs old at the time of typing this).

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You can create a snapshot of your finished document then hit the "New Document from Snapshot" icon/button 

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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47 minutes ago, WorthIt said:

Image>Duplicate is the best way to get an immediate working copy

Where is 'Image>Duplicate'? How do you invoke that action in AP?

I've looked extensively in the Help - there's no mention there, tried every thing on the screen (drop-downs from the items ('File' etc.) at the top of the screen, the options at the left, options that you get when you click on a layer, etc.) and I don't find this anywhere.

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2 minutes ago, SantaFeBill said:

Where is 'Image>Duplicate'? How do you invoke that action in AP?

I've looked extensively in the Help - there's no mention there, tried every thing on the screen (drop-downs from the items ('File' etc.) at the top of the screen, the options at the left, options that you get when you click on a layer, etc.) and I don't find this anywhere.

It doesn't exist in A.P, it should (IMHO). Though as carl123 said, there's a Snapshot feature.

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EDIT - Apologies I misread what you were after here. I was thinking of when in Photoshop and you have the same document side by side so you can say have one at 100% and the other is the one you're working on. Apologies

I believe that View->New View is what you're looking for here?

You would then need to go to Window->Seperated Mode to get at what you need.

Not sure if this is just a Mac feature though as don't use Windows.

Anyway, hope that helps a bit.

Best wishes,

Mark

 

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34 minutes ago, SantaFeBill said:

@markbowen - Apparently that is a Mac-only feature. There's no 'Separated Mode' option under 'Window' in the PC version. :(

But thanks for the suggestion. Perhaps in the next PC update?

Unlikely, as (I believe) Separated Mode depends on Mac-specific functions.

However, on Windows you can float a specific window in Affinity and then arrange the floated windows to have multiple windows visible at the same time. Either drag a tab free from the tab docking bar, or use Window > Float or Window Float All.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
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I edited my answer above earlier on as I don't believe now that this is what the OP wanted.

I don't believe there is a way to do what was originally being asked other than doing so on the original document in the Finder.

Best wishes,

Mark

 

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I second this request.   The Photoshop equivalent is Image > Duplicate and is useful for myriad tasks, especially when you want to perform an action or a color mode change for a particular purpose and then introduce the result back into the master working document without having to Save As... and create another file in the OS (for example, you would like to create a mask from the L* channel of your current RGB document - dup the current RGB document, change the dup's mode to L*a*b*,  and Apply Image > L* channel to the RGB doc's active layer as a mask).  The duplicated version is simply a document that exists in memory and is usually something that is temporary or can be saved after the fact if that is its intended purpose (for example, if you create an action that duplicates the master document, flattens it, reduces the size and performs output sharpening and color space change for output).  This seems like a no-brainer and I am repeatedly surprised after major updates that AP has not implement this.

 

Kirk

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On 9/4/2019 at 4:28 PM, kirkt said:

...for example, you would like to create a mask from the L* channel of your current RGB document

as a side note - you can do this (and similar tasks) without separate doc. just "merge visible"->Filter "Apply image" in LAB mode, all channels to SL->Convert to mask, done. Can be recorded as macro. You can even have L* as a live filter - something not possible in PH(RGB doc) at all. Just add "Levels" in LAB mode and set "output Black/White" to 50% for A/B channels

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On 8/27/2019 at 12:50 PM, WorthIt said:

Note the use of the word: "Old".

There is nothing wrong with something being old.  Sometimes things were designed so well at the beginning that every attempt to improve on them has made things worse.

 

On 8/27/2019 at 12:50 PM, WorthIt said:

10yrs old

So, you are using an old computer and complaining about software using old techniques?

 

As far as I can tell the only difference between File->Save, File->Save As and Image->Duplicate is that Duplicate might leave both documents open, while File->Save As closes the original when opening the new one?

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On 9/5/2019 at 1:13 PM, IPv6 said:

as a side note - you can do this (and similar tasks) without separate doc. just "merge visible"->Filter "Apply image" in LAB mode, all channels to SL->Convert to mask, done. Can be recorded as macro. You can even have L* as a live filter - something not possible in PH(RGB doc) at all. Just add "Levels" in LAB mode and set "output Black/White" to 50% for A/B channels

Thee are usually a bunch of different ways to do things, I agree.  Apply Image must be partially broken in Lab equation mode on the Mac in V1.7.2.  I can use Lab equations (DL = SL, Da = 0.5, Db = 0.5 - if you do all SL, you get a color image that reflects the mix of the a and b channels) to generate the equivalent of the L* channel.  Let's say I want to apply a Curves adjustment through an inverted L* mask, a typical task to boost shadows or target shadow tones for color correction, etc.  So I have a layer stack that has the working image (background layer) and a curves adjustment layer above it.  Recall that adjustment layers have their own inherent mask built in.  So, I select the Curves adjustment layer to make it active (the target of the Apply Image command):

1) Open the Apply Image dialog (Filter > Apply Image)

2) Drag the background layer onto the dialog box to make it the source of the Apply Image operation

3) Use Equations - DL = SL, Da = 0.5, Db = 0.5, DA = SA

And apply image.

The result gets applied to the mask of the Curves adjustment, but the resulting image is distorted and scaled up and is not the L* channel of the background. (see attached screenshot).  To make this work properly, I have to create an empty pixel layer and generate a pixel-based representation of the L* channel - i.e., new pixel layer, fill it with white, then do the apply image operation to generate the L* channel on this pixel layer (the second screenshot is what the L* channel should look like).  Then I have to rasterize it to a mask, then drag it to the curves layer.  That is a lot of steps for a simple operation.

The use of the Levels filter with your settings at the top of the stack will also generate the desired L* output, but then you have to stamp the layer stack, rasterize the resulting pixel layer and then apply it as a mask.  It is a nifty way of doing things though.

I prefer the Duplicate Image method because I can work in Lab mode with Lab tools to choke the mask, etc. and then simply apply the L* channel to the working master image (to an adjustment layer or as a pixel-based layer, etc.) when I am finished in the duplicated image.  I can also leave the duplicate image open and tweak the operations and reapply the result to refine or edit the result for use in the original.

Kirk

 

mask.jpg

mask2.jpg

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  • 9 months later...

I'm new to Affinity and came across this thread as I too want to have a copy of the original image side by side with the image I'm working on, as I've always done in PS. This is not the same as using the history slider in layers to move through process changes, nor making a duplicate saved copy. I use PS and hope now to use Affinity (which in most respects looks great BTW) to process high resolution planetary images, when attention to very fine detail is required and IMHO there is no substitute for seeing side by side versions in much the same way as it is possible in the various adjustment tools (but without the vertical slider), especially when the changes are very subtle. The best solution I have found so far is to make a new copy (copy-->new from snapshot), then float the 2 images....

483728829_Affinity-sidebysideimages.thumb.JPG.690b3b3e5023ddaeafec56fd0dc117c0.JPG

This is similar to what I'm after, but not as good, so is there any reason why a simple duplicate / copy of the original image in the same window is not possible?

TIA

Geof

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14 minutes ago, haakoo said:

A workaround could be;
Duplicate image(pixel)>drag it to be on left or right side of original>
Menu>document>clip canvas.
This will show 2 images along side each other make sure you work on 1 and that the adjustments/filters are inside the "workable version"

Thanks haako, but I don't know what you mean. The only duplicate that I can find is layer duplicate and I can't drag anything left or right, so how are you duplicating the image so that there are 2 copies in the same window please? NB I've only had Affinity for 3 days, so everything is very new to me, with just 3 days of tutorials......

Edited by geoflewis
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