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First time experience of a PS switcher


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Hello,

I'm Marie-Louise, a conceptual fashion photographer (Portfolio here) who does all the retouching by myself, because I want full control over the final result. I just started to try Affinity Photo on my first beauty editorial project to see whether it can replace Photoshop. I'd like to report all my findings here and maybe somebody has a solution or it can be used as an idea to improve the product. I will not mention all the good stuff of Affinity (and there are a lot of them), but just focus on the things to improve).

RAW file import

  • Missing presets for white balance: I need to be able to choose from presets (e.g. flash, sunlight). The only available tool seems to be a color picker and manual controls. (critical)
  • Sharpening: I can't see a control for sharpening. In Photoshop there's a dedicated control for RAW sharpening. I always turn this off, so if I get confirmation that there is no sharpening applied, I'm happy. (critical)
  • Exposure warnings: In PS you can enable/disable exposure warnings directly in the histogram. Are there exposure warnings in Affinity? (critical)

Those issues above are critical and therefore I'm currently using Capture One to do the RAW conversion.

General usability

  • Scrolling in panels: It's not possible to scroll the layers or protocol list using the pen as the handle is not visible. I have to switch to the mouse. (high)
  • Foreground/background colors: Photoshop has the foreground/background color selection/switcher tool at the bottom of the tools panel. It uses very little space compared to full blown color panel of Affinity Photo. (medium)
  • Layers panel context actions: Photoshop has a button to show the context menu (e.g. to merge layers). In Affinity Photo I have to switch from my pen to the mouse to right click. Actually, the whole user interface should be accessible without the right mouse button as I don't want to program the buttons on my pen. (high)
  • Duplication of a layer: Photoshop allows to duplicate a layer by draging it onto the "Add new layer" button. I find this very handy. (minor)
  • Zoom slider: Photoshop has the zoom slider bellow the preview in the navigator. This is better, because I'm obstructing the preview with my hand while changing the zoom level in Affinity Photo. (I'm using a Wacom Cintiq tablet). (minor)
  • Opacity of 0% is useless: the lowest opacity should be 1%. This sounds a bit nit-picking, but I often use an opacity of 1%, but sometimes miss the correct position and it's actually on 0%. Only after some time I notice that the tool actually does nothing... (minor)

This is it for now, I will add more when things come up...

Marie-Louise

Edited by mlc
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22 hours ago, mlc said:

Foreground/background colors: Photoshop has the foreground/background color selection/switcher tool at the bottom of the tools panel. It uses very little space compared to full blown color panel of Affinity Photo. (medium)

You mean this?

image.thumb.png.c179ec1842650e8e0348fc2cf705f3cb.png

Menu View, Customize Tools..., Number of Columns > 1.

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

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RAW file import:

- You can make your own presents for white balance if you want. But you are right, these pre-defined presets are missing.

- Sharpening is called Detail Refinement in the Develop Persona

- Clipped Highlights / Shadows / Tones can be shown. If you do not see the buttons, then customise the toolbar.

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Windows 10 | i5-8500 CPU | Intel UHD 630 Graphics | 32 GB RAM | Latest Retail and Beta versions of complete Affinity range installed

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23 hours ago, Joachim_L said:

RAW file import:

- You can make your own presents for white balance if you want. But you are right, these pre-defined presets are missing.

- Sharpening is called Detail Refinement in the Develop Persona

- Clipped Highlights / Shadows / Tones can be shown. If you do not see the buttons, then customise the toolbar.

Thanks. I hope they add those presets. Almost all other applications have them.

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