# Affinity Photo



## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

So last night I got Affinity Photo plus the Workbook that is now on the way, today I have just started my free 30 day trial of Capture One Pro 11.  Since I got rid of all my Canon kit and switched to Fuji, I have been thinking about switching my editing software.  At the moment C1 Pro 11 and AP work good together, but what are your thoughts if you own and use both ?


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## Ysarex (Apr 15, 2018)

Affinity Photo is an excellent PS clone. Do not use Affinity Photo with raw files from any camera -- Affinity raw processing is destructive. Edit your Fuji RAF files in Capture One. Learn to use Capture One so that you don't need Affinity Photo. Goal should be one app processing and that one app should be C1. C1 is a little pricey but it's worth it. With C1 you have the best chance to complete your edit inside a single parametric editing app. If you can do that you achieve the most efficient and effective workflow and your editing is completely non-destructive and non-linearly re-editable.

Joe


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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

Thank you for getting back to me, very useful info you gave.  Just trying how to save a Raf as a Jpeg ?


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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

Glad I have managed to get my Topaz plugins working in AP too.


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## SquarePeg (Apr 15, 2018)

Fujidave said:


> Glad I have managed to get my Topaz plugins working in AP too.



Do tell!  I have the affinity app on my iPad but have been thinking about getting the desktop version to go with. I have been using PSE 11 to access the topaz plug-ins. If I can access them through affinity that would make me even more likely to buy it


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## tirediron (Apr 15, 2018)

Ysarex said:


> Affinity Photo is an excellent PS clone. Do not use Affinity Photo with raw files from any camera -- Affinity raw processing is destructive. Edit your Fuji RAF files in Capture One. Learn to use Capture One so that you don't need Affinity Photo. Goal should be one app processing and that one app should be C1. C1 is a little pricey but it's worth it. With C1 you have the best chance to complete your edit inside a single parametric editing app. If you can do that you achieve the most efficient and effective workflow and your editing is completely non-destructive and non-linearly re-editable.
> 
> Joe


Does C1 support layers now (I haven't looked at it in quite a few versions)?


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## Ysarex (Apr 15, 2018)

Fujidave said:


> Thank you for getting back to me, very useful info you gave.  Just trying how to save a Raf as a Jpeg ?






 

Joe


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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

SquarePeg said:


> Fujidave said:
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> > Glad I have managed to get my Topaz plugins working in AP too.
> ...



I only have 3 Topaz plugins and they would not load right, so I looked on Google and it says it is easier if you have Topaz Studio.

So this is what I did and it comes up fine in AP.  Go to Edit then Click on Preferences then Click on Photoshop plugins, then Click on Open default folder in explorer, then go to your C Drive and find Topaz Studio then Click on that.  Then on the screen at the bottom is a small square, Click in that box and it will show up Unknown plugins.  Then it works or should do, hope this helps.


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## Ysarex (Apr 15, 2018)

tirediron said:


> Ysarex said:
> 
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> > Affinity Photo is an excellent PS clone. Do not use Affinity Photo with raw files from any camera -- Affinity raw processing is destructive. Edit your Fuji RAF files in Capture One. Learn to use Capture One so that you don't need Affinity Photo. Goal should be one app processing and that one app should be C1. C1 is a little pricey but it's worth it. With C1 you have the best chance to complete your edit inside a single parametric editing app. If you can do that you achieve the most efficient and effective workflow and your editing is completely non-destructive and non-linearly re-editable.
> ...



Yes -- unlimited, and all editing functions are independently supported at the layer level.

Joe


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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

Ysarex said:


> Fujidave said:
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> > Thank you for getting back to me, very useful info you gave.  Just trying how to save a Raf as a Jpeg ?
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Great and thank you Joe.


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## tirediron (Apr 15, 2018)

Ysarex said:


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Nice - I may have to look at  adding it to the stable.


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## Ysarex (Apr 15, 2018)

tirediron said:


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Lightroom has better overall DAM capabilities and extended functions while C1's core editing abilities (especially color) are out ahead. C1 does a better job than LR implementing layers and (at least for me) performs faster when an edit has multiple layers. For me that means I have a slightly better chance to keep an edit entirely within C1 and so avoid the complication and restrictions of a two app edit. If this was a horse race I'd describe it like this: LR and C1 are neck and neck out front with a comfortable 2 length lead over the rest of the pack.

Joe


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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

One last question, then I am set up.  Thanks to you Joe I now have it all set to save in Jpeg and 1200 on the longest side, but how do I get the MB size down as it says image to large ?


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## Ysarex (Apr 15, 2018)

Fujidave said:


> One last question, then I am set up.  Thanks to you Joe I now have it all set to save in Jpeg and 1200 on the longest side, but how do I get the MB size down as it says image to large ?



In C1 when you switch the output format to JPEG a slider appears just below labeled Quality. Reduce the quality until the final file size meets your requirement.

Joe


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## JoeW (Apr 15, 2018)

I use AF and have been pretty happy with it.  I'm interested though in the post that it is destructive of RAW files.  I upload RAW files (am doing so as I type this), convert to jpeg, edit, save as jpeg yet still have my RAW file (in addition to my jpeg).  What are you doing that alters the RAW file?  I just export my edits (and specify the format--in this case jpeg and quality level).


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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

Ysarex said:


> Fujidave said:
> 
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> > One last question, then I am set up.  Thanks to you Joe I now have it all set to save in Jpeg and 1200 on the longest side, but how do I get the MB size down as it says image to large ?
> ...



I am really mucking it up at the moment, is there any chance you can show in a photo as I can`t get it at all.


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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

Fingers crossed


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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2018)

OH YES I got it now


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## Ysarex (Apr 15, 2018)

JoeW said:


> I use AF and have been pretty happy with it.  I'm interested though in the post that it is destructive of RAW files.  I upload RAW files (am doing so as I type this), convert to jpeg, edit, save as jpeg yet still have my RAW file (in addition to my jpeg).  What are you doing that alters the RAW file?  I just export my edits (and specify the format--in this case jpeg and quality level).



Affinity does not alter raw files -- no raw processing program re-writes a raw file -- not really possible. I'm using the term destructive in the context of editing/processing. Image editing is destructive if it forces your edit decisions and does not allow you to go back and make a change. Affinity does this. When you process a raw file using Affinity and you click Develop, Affinity saves your output RGB files but does not save any of your raw processing work to that point -- that's destructive editing. If you later decide for example that you'd like to see the image with a change in WB you can't go back and do just that. You'd have to start from scratch and redo all of your raw processing work. That's destructive editing -- forcing you to redo your work.

Joe


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## SquarePeg (Apr 15, 2018)

I find your use of the word destructive to be very misleading in this context. What you’re saying is not correct in my opinion. You can still go into the develop module And make changes to the image such as wb later on in the process. I do it all the time in the affinity photo app.


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## Ysarex (Apr 15, 2018)

SquarePeg said:


> I find your use of the word destructive to be very misleading in this context. What you’re saying is not correct in my opinion. You can still go into the develop module And make changes to the image such as wb later on in the process. I do it all the time in the affinity photo app.



Sorry about that; I understand how that term can seem harsh and potentially misleading but in this context it is the industry standard term. I use it here because it is our term that applies in this context. For example: Affinity Photo Destructive RAW developing- deal breaker?: Retouching Forum: Digital Photography Review and again: Since RAW processing in Develop is destructive...

You can edit an RGB photo over and over but what I've described in this case is correct. If you return to the Develop module in Affinity Photo with an aphoto file or JPEG you can use those tools but using them on an already converted RGB image is not the same as using them on a raw file. There are substantial differences that matter. White Balance is the perfect case in point. Open a raw file in Affinity Photo and under the Basic tab access White Balance. You have a Temperature and Tint slider as would be typical in a raw converter. A value in degrees K shows in the Temperature edit field. Change the Temperature value with the slider and the degrees K value will change. Make adjustments as you see fit in the Develop Persona and develop the file so that it moves to the Photo Persona. Save it as an aphoto file and reopen it. Go back into the Develop Persona and access White Balance and change the previous value you set by 250 degrees K. You can't. You can change the color of the photo using those sliders but you're not setting WB any longer. That was already done and it can't be undone and when you clicked on Develop Affinity discarded any work you had done to that point -- you can't reload that work and that's destructive editing.

Try this test: Here's a link to a Fuji RAF file: DSF1075.RAF. Download the file and open it in Affinity. Do nothing except click Develop and then save the aphoto file. You now have two versions of the image, the original raw file and the converted aphoto file. Open the raw file again and this time use the WB tool in the Develop Persona -- the silver Toyota is a good target, click on the front bumper to set WB and then Develop and save as another aphoto file -- name this one reference.aphoto. Reload the first aphoto file (it's very green) and move it into the Develop Persona and use the tools to adjust it's WB to match the reference.aphoto file -- impossible. Affinity Photo's raw processing is forced destructive. It's a great RGB image editor at a fabulous price and I recommend it as such, but everyone should understand that if used to edit raw files it will discard all your work and force you to do that work over if you want to make a future change -- that totally sucks.

Joe


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## tirediron (Apr 15, 2018)

Definitely a deal-breaker!


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## Fujidave (Apr 16, 2018)

Ysarex said:


> SquarePeg said:
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> 
> > I find your use of the word destructive to be very misleading in this context. What you’re saying is not correct in my opinion. You can still go into the develop module And make changes to the image such as wb later on in the process. I do it all the time in the affinity photo app.
> ...



Thanks for that Joe, what I will have to do then is, get it right in the camera first so I have the Jpegs, then I can have fun with editing the Raw so I get the best of both as they say.


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## smoke665 (Apr 16, 2018)

Ysarex said:


> Affinity Photo's raw processing is forced destructive. It's a great RGB image editor at a fabulous price and I recommend it as such, but everyone should understand that if used to edit raw files it will discard all your work and force you to do that work over if you want to make a future change -- that totally sucks.



So how does Affinity stack up against PaintShop Pro 2018 | Get Your Free Trial   ???  I started off with this, and found it very comparable to PS, and would probably still be with it except for the instability problem with the version I was on. It was very bad about crashing in the middle of a project.


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## Fujidave (Apr 16, 2018)

I have still got LR6 Standalone and PSE15, but for me when I came over to Fuji I thought I`d have a total new editing lot, can`t wait till I get the AP Workbook plus I like how C1 and AP work together so I will be one happy bunny.


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## JoeW (Apr 16, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> Ysarex said:
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> > Affinity Photo's raw processing is forced destructive. It's a great RGB image editor at a fabulous price and I recommend it as such, but everyone should understand that if used to edit raw files it will discard all your work and force you to do that work over if you want to make a future change -- that totally sucks.
> ...


I can't compare it to PaintShop Pro b/c I haven't used that program.  I'm pretty impressed with AP.  It doesn't crash in the middle of a project.  My biggest issue is that I find it takes longer to convert RAW files to jpeg than I would expect.  Otherwise, very impressed.


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## smoke665 (Apr 16, 2018)

JoeW said:


> I can't compare it to PaintShop Pro b/c I haven't used that program.



My last use was X8, and compared to PS found it very close. I actually still go back and use it to do HDR as I believe it's superior to Adobe.  Unfortunately it doesn't have following and their aren't as many videos out there on using it.


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## Fujidave (Apr 16, 2018)

This is just from AP only, I will dazzle members with my fantastic photography and useless editing...lol


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## Fujidave (Apr 17, 2018)

Just managed to catch the postman, as came back from our walk and he had my Affinity Photo Workbook


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## jcdeboever (Apr 17, 2018)

I just use Silky pix free from Fujifilm. Then maybe some minor adjustments in GIMP. I use Gimp mainly to scale images down to post on here. I don't know, I guess I hate editing so much that I keep it real simple and try to get it best I can in camera so that the Silky pix software does what minor adjustments I need to make. Most of the time (mainly), I just look at the histogram in camera (when I get the time) and convert them to JPEGs and I'm done. 

I will do an event and shoot raw + jpeg and chimp the jpegs to make sure everything is sharp but that is very infrequent. I then bring them (raw) into Silky pix for minor adjustment and develop the jpeg. 

Mostly shoot just raw, convert in camera, done. Then I download the jpegs to a folder. I edit very, very little.

The only time I double check images is at an event or specific shoot, which is not very often. I am probably selling my potential short by avoiding editing but I hate it that much.


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## smoke665 (Apr 17, 2018)

jcdeboever said:


> I am probably selling my potential short by avoiding editing but I hate it that much.



There is no right or wrong on digital, because whether you let the camera's internal processor  give you it's interpretation of the data, or further edit using an image software, somewhere the digital data was manipulated. For me I'm always looking for what the camera "didn't" see, that's still hidden in  that data file waiting to be exploited.


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## jcdeboever (Apr 17, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> jcdeboever said:
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> > I am probably selling my potential short by avoiding editing but I hate it that much.
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Fair enough. I still loathe it enough not to be overly concerned.


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## smoke665 (Apr 17, 2018)

jcdeboever said:


> Fair enough. I still loathe it enough not to be overly concerned.



Maybe that's why I like you ----- One hard head recognizing another


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## jcdeboever (Apr 17, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> jcdeboever said:
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No, you like me because I'm a cool cat...Lol


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## smoke665 (Apr 17, 2018)

Back on topic @Fujidave please keep us updated as you progress in the learning process with Affinity. I use Adobe, because I never found a suitable alternative, but there is no love there, and would gladly dump their monthly strangle hold.


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## Fujidave (Apr 17, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> Back on topic @Fujidave please keep us updated as you progress in the learning process with Affinity. I use Adobe, because I never found a suitable alternative, but there is no love there, and would gladly dump their monthly strangle hold.



Just been uninstalling my LR6 and PSE15.  Yes I will let you know, because all my photos that I will post will now be edited in Capture one and Affinity.


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## smoke665 (Apr 17, 2018)

Fujidave said:


> smoke665 said:
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> > Back on topic @Fujidave please keep us updated as you progress in the learning process with Affinity. I use Adobe, because I never found a suitable alternative, but there is no love there, and would gladly dump their monthly strangle hold.
> ...



I'm assuming Affinity will open a PSD file, but will it read the edits you made to the Raw files in LR?


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## Ysarex (Apr 17, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> Ysarex said:
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> > Affinity Photo's raw processing is forced destructive. It's a great RGB image editor at a fabulous price and I recommend it as such, but everyone should understand that if used to edit raw files it will discard all your work and force you to do that work over if you want to make a future change -- that totally sucks.
> ...



Sorry I disappeared for a day. PaintShop and Affinity Photo have much in common primarily as they both focus on and force use of their pixel level editor. Before Affinity Photo PaintShop was probably the best Photoshop clone available. Affinity Photo I believe has bumped PaintShop when it comes to the core editor. Big BUT however in that PaintShop is offered as a complete package solution. From the perspective of the hobbyist it's possible to purchase PaintShop and have everything you need. PaintShop integrates a file organizer which Affinity sorely lacks. PaintShop will open raw files and convert them but it's raw processing tools are rudimentary and so force you to the pixel level editor. At least PaintShop saves any work you do processing the raw file. There's a paradox here in that Affinity Photo offers a much more capable raw processing toolset and then discards any work you do with those tools.

POINT OF COMMONALITY: They are both pixel level editors and if you're going to use them then that's how you're going to work with your photos. Historically photo editing has required pixel level editors and so we're used to that working model and tend to accept it without question. A modern parametric editor is going to be the better option for the most part.

Joe


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## Ysarex (Apr 17, 2018)

smoke665 said:


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Nope. If you open a raw file in Affinity that was previously edited in LR Affinity will not read the LR edits. But then this is par for the course with most parametric editors. Some offer conversion utilities to transfer between apps but with mixed success. That's one of the liabilities of marrying a parametric editor -- divorce can be very very painful.

Joe


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## Fujidave (Apr 17, 2018)

The PITA of buying C1 has at last been done, have set it so I start in C1 then finish in AP.  So I can see how I get along, I am going to open a post up in Just for Fun then I can see and learn from my mistakes.


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## smoke665 (Apr 17, 2018)

Ysarex said:


> Some offer conversion utilities to transfer between apps but with mixed success.



Apps and downfalls?


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## Ysarex (Apr 17, 2018)

Fujidave said:


> The PITA of buying C1 has at last been done, have set it so I start in C1 then finish in AP.  So I can see how I get along, I am going to open a post up in Just for Fun then I can see and learn from my mistakes.



How about start in C1 and finish in C1. Why complicate things?

Joe


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## Fujidave (Apr 17, 2018)

Ysarex said:


> Fujidave said:
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> > The PITA of buying C1 has at last been done, have set it so I start in C1 then finish in AP.  So I can see how I get along, I am going to open a post up in Just for Fun then I can see and learn from my mistakes.
> ...



Or I could do some edits in C1 and some in AP, then I have the best of both worlds.  Or even better use it like I did for Adobe, start in one and finish in the other, that`s why I got both.


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## Ysarex (Apr 17, 2018)

Fujidave said:


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Or you could do all your editing in C1 and have the best of all worlds. Switching between C1 and Affinity Photo complicates your editing and creates a destructive editing step as you move between the two apps. Once you do that you can't go back and you set yourself up for future re-dos. There are times when you'll need Affinity since C1 will lack the capability, but those times should be few and far between.

Joe


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## Fujidave (Apr 17, 2018)

Ysarex said:


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Thanks Joe, for me and only me I dumped Adobe and bought both the editing software to work as one.  I have seen some fantastic edited photos using both and plus I wanted the change so for me I am very happy I got them both and will now learn from using them and reading the AP workbook on how and what I can do.


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## smoke665 (Apr 17, 2018)

Generally once I move into PS it's because I've gone as far as I can in LR anyhow. Occasionally if I have any question about the image I'll save it as a PSD to work with later, but most of the time it's a TIFF. Generally I try to crop in LR as the final step.

One thing I noticed on C1 is that it doesn't support Pixel Shift, something I use quite a bit.


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## Ysarex (Apr 17, 2018)

Fujidave said:


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That's fine, you made an excellent choice. I'm just trying to help with your workflow. If you successfully complete your edits in C1 you achieve this: non-destructive, non-linearly re-editable workflow. (As a bonus you save massive amounts of hard drive space, but that's secondary.)

Nobody is good enough at photo editing that they won't want to occasionally revisit an edit. When that happens do you want to start over again from the beginning or just make the new changes? If you do part of your work in app 1 and then part of your work in app 2 and decide later you don't like something you did in app 1 that forces a complete re-do of your work in app 2. That's destructive editing.

There are things we can't do in a parametric editor like extensive cloning; that forces app 2. But you just purchased the best state-of-the-art parametric editor in C1. Most of what you need to do with a photo you can do in C1. Why make your life harder than it has to be?

Joe


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## Fujidave (Apr 18, 2018)

Ysarex said:


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I think what I will do for now is, most of my editing will be done in C1, then on some other stuff I can use AP.  So learn one first then go to the other one after.


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## JoeW (Apr 18, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> Back on topic @Fujidave please keep us updated as you progress in the learning process with Affinity. I use Adobe, because I never found a suitable alternative, but there is no love there, and would gladly dump their monthly strangle hold.



Then check out these quick video tutorials for AP on the AP site.  No license, no firewall.  Peruse maybe 5 videos (for a total of 2 minutes each) and see if it looks user-friendly enough for you.

Affinity Photo


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## Fujidave (Apr 18, 2018)

JoeW said:


> smoke665 said:
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> > Back on topic @Fujidave please keep us updated as you progress in the learning process with Affinity. I use Adobe, because I never found a suitable alternative, but there is no love there, and would gladly dump their monthly strangle hold.
> ...



Thanks for that, will watch some now.


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## Fujidave (Apr 19, 2018)

Well AP will not let me use my Topaz plugins at all now, so LR6 is now back on the lappy.  So I can now go from LR6 to AP, while I will only use C1 on it`s own.


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## Fujidave (Apr 23, 2018)

I totally give up with the Topaz plugins, one minute I can use them in AP then the next they disappear, so when I want to use them now I will either go into Topaz studio or use them in LR as they work fine in them.


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## Fujidave (Jun 14, 2018)

So I now have Affinity Photo set up with my plugins at last and they work fine, I start in LR 6 then finish off in AP as I only use C1 as it is on it`s own so I now have the best of both worlds.


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## BananaRepublic (Jun 15, 2018)

Fujidave said:


> So last night I got Affinity Photo plus the Workbook that is now on the way, today I have just started my free 30 day trial of Capture One Pro 11.  Since I got rid of all my Canon kit and switched to Fuji, I have been thinking about switching my editing software.  At the moment C1 Pro 11 and AP work good together, but what are your thoughts if you own and use both ?



I have done a trial on C1 pro, in an attempt to rid myself of adobe, and found it gave you to many options, if there is such a thing. The layers feature was very nice. Overall if I could have got the hang of it I have no doubt it would be a great program but its overcomplicated nature and the price from a hobbyist point of view turned me off. I use affinity now for major editing work. and optics 11 for library. Optics is limited to minor editing but the version I have I got for free on promotion which may explain that.


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## mikeaijlman (Jun 18, 2018)

Photos



Sent from my iPad using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app


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