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Affinity Photo vs Luminar: Which Editor Is Best in 2021?

09 Sep

The post Affinity Photo vs Luminar: Which Editor Is Best in 2021? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Dawn Gilfillan.

affinity photo vs luminar: which is best?

Are you struggling to choose between Affinity Photo vs Luminar 4? We’ve got you covered.

In this article, we’re going to take a careful look at these two programs and evaluate their features, prices, user friendliness, and more. So whether you’re looking to buy your first image editing program or you want to upgrade from different software, you’ll leave knowing which of these programs is the better buy.

Let’s jump right in, starting with a quick overview:

Affinity Photo vs Luminar: overview

Both Affinity Photo and Luminar 4 offer a lot of functionality for the price. Interestingly, many of their features are worlds apart, though the programs do offer RAW support and conversion for photographers working with RAW files.

Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo’s goal? To be Photoshop on a budget. The program offers plenty of advanced features and tools (like channel mixing, liquify, and masking options) for fine-tuning and high-level image retouching. Affinity Photo also caters to graphic designers, thanks to its array of text tools and other design-centric features.

(In fact, if you’ve ever used Photoshop, Affinity Photo will certainly look familiar!)

Pros

A huge array of tools and adjustment features
Batch processing
RAW support
90-day free trial
Focus stacking, panoramas, HDR, and astrophotography tools
Print and canvas options

Cons

No image management or organization features
Beginners may struggle to make sense of the layout
Not many presets, overlays, or LUTs available inside the software; here, the internet is your best bet

Luminar 4

Luminar 4 takes a different approach to image editing. While it offers some similar features, such as layers and blending modes, it’s based around creative enhancements using Luminar Looks (Skylum’s version of presets), LUTs, and AI editing tools.

Unlike Affinity Photo, Luminar packs a photo organization panel. It’s very user friendly and easy for beginners. However, more experienced image editors and retouchers will miss a lot of advanced tools, such as in-depth compositing options, text tools, channel mixers, and LAB color.

Pros

Image library and organization
Very easy to use
Lots of built-in presets (Luminar Looks) and LUTs
Creative editing options (AI Sky Replacement, Sunrays, texture overlays, etc.)
RAW support
Integration with SmugMug, 500px, and more
Batch processing

Cons

Not many advanced editing tools, and some (like Dodge & Burn) are not the most accurate for detailed retouching work
No text or graphics tools

Layout and ease of use

Which has the better interface and ease of use, Affinity Photo or Luminar? Let’s take a closer look:

Luminar 4

The home screen in Luminar is well-designed. Although there is a lot crammed into the space, it isn’t overwhelming. Hover your mouse over an icon to learn what it is, and click to view the workspaces (which are organized into different categories: Essentials, Creative, Portrait, and Professional).

The Luminar Looks presets show up as a film strip along the bottom of the screen, so you can see from the thumbnails how a preset will look before applying it. You will also find different categories of Looks, including Aerial, Portrait, Landscape, and Dramatic. A handy button on the top menu bar lets you see the Before/After split screen, and I find this really useful for determining whether I’ve gone too far with my edits.

There are plenty of tutorials available for Luminar 4 beginners, and the welcome screen gives you a quick run-through on importing images when you open the program for the first time.

Affinity Photo

As mentioned earlier, Affinity seems to have emulated Photoshop’s layout, which is fine if you’re already used to the Photoshop-style interface, as you’ll have an idea where each tool is and what it does. If you’re a beginner, though, it’s a bit of a steeper learning curve compared to Luminar.

Instead of workspaces, Affinity Photo uses something called Personas. There’s one for Photo, Liquify, Develop, Tone Mapping, and Export. Click on your chosen Persona to see the tools you’ll need for the job; for instance, in Develop, the huge plethora of tools down the left-hand side of the screen are replaced by a few editing essentials, perfect for getting basic editing processes out of the way.

You won’t find many presets in Affinity Photo, but you will find tools like Mesh Warp, Pen, Rectangular Marquee, and Clone Stamp. There’s only a limited range of built-in LUTs, but you can always find more on the internet. Plus, Affinity Photo offers every kind of advanced editing/retouching/graphic design tool you can imagine, as well as printing options.

Editing tools

Which program offers superior editing capabilities? It’s a close call.

Luminar 4

Luminar 4 utilizes AI technology for some of its editing tools, including AI Sky Replacement and AI Augmented Sky. With Luminar, it’s all about getting your editing done quickly and with minimum fuss, and the AI tools work okay, but I still have some reservations. At full strength, they often look a bit too strong, though you can always adjust the strength slider for a more natural look.

I’m impressed by the AI Sky Replacement (and had a lot of fun playing around with this!), plus there’s a huge range of skies to choose from, including sunsets, starry skies, and bright blue skies. I used a landscape shot of the beach and sea to test the sky enhancement functions, though you should be careful when applying AI Sky Replacement to images with objects along the horizon.

Interestingly, the Luminar workspaces cater to different types of photographers. In the Essentials workspace, you’ll find all the basic (essential!) adjustment tools like Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Smart Contrast, Denoise, and Saturation. There are also more advanced tools, including Details Enhancer, Vignette, and B&W Conversion.

The Creative workspace is where you’ll find all the fun special effects, including Glow, Fog, Sunrays, and AI Sky Replacement. The Portrait workspace has tools for enhancing eyes and whitening teeth, while the Professional workspace offers tools like Split Toning, Advanced Contrast, and Adjustable Gradient.

One of the big things missing from Luminar 4 is a set of selection tools, but unless you specifically need these, it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.

Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo has a panel titled Adjustment, which includes basic enhancements such as Brightness, Levels, White Balance, and Contrast, along with advanced tools like Split Toning, Channel Mixer, LUT, and Threshold. Like Luminar 4, you can preview different editing effects before actually applying them.

Plus, you can easily combine adjustments and effects. Affinity Photo treats every adjustment as a layer, allowing you to control the opacity and blend modes for more creative control. One of the cool features offered in Affinity Photo – and absent from Luminar 4 – is the Tone Mapping tool. This creates an HDR image, which opens in a new window with a range of tone-mapped styles to choose from, including Natural, Detailed, and Dramatic.

Finally, the Develop Persona is used for RAW file editing, and it features tools such as Lens Corrections, Noise Reduction, and Chromatic Aberration Reduction.

Also note that exporting is easy with Affinity Photo. You get a big range of options to choose from:

Bottom line: Affinity is bursting with tools for the advanced image editor. Some elements are even as good as Photoshop but at a significantly cheaper price. No, it’s not an editor I would recommend for a beginner, but it will probably suit those looking for more than automatic adjustments and a slew of presets.

Speed and performance

The power of your computer and graphics card make a big difference when using photo and video editing software. Both Affinity Photo and Luminar 4 are processor-intensive programs, so make sure you have enough memory available before hitting the download button.

I use a Windows 10 laptop that is more than capable of running both programs at once, but I trialed each program separately to see how well they performed. Luminar froze on occasion, but was faster to load images and adjustments than Affinity Photo. Affinity froze on me several times, and I did get the dreaded “Program not responding” message, but it was simply a case of waiting for a few moments before it started working smoothly again.

Price

When Adobe changed Photoshop and Lightroom over to subscription-only models, they annoyed a lot of photographers. In response, many software developers created their own one-time-license programs – including the makers of Affinity Photo and Luminar.

Both programs can be bought for a one-off price. Affinity costs just $ 54.99 USD (great value for the money, in my view). And you can install Affinity on up to two computers for individual commercial use, or up to five computers for home non-commercial use. Bear in mind that, if you have both Mac and Windows devices, you’ll have to buy a separate license for each operating system.

Luminar starts at $ 79 USD and can be installed on up to two computers (depending on the version you get). A single license can be used on a mixture of operating systems, so if you have both Mac and Windows computers, you’ll appreciate this extra convenience.

Affinity Photo vs Luminar: Which program is right for you?

Both Affinity Photo and Luminar 4 are worth considering. However, you must determine what’s important to you before buying.

For instance, if you like quick, easy fixes, presets, image organization, and a whole workflow from start to finish, then Luminar 4 may suit you best. It’s easy to save your own custom presets for use on multiple images, too (which is a big time-saver if you need to apply the same style and color to shot after shot). Luminar 4 is a lot of fun to use, and it’s also beginner friendly.

If you need to do deeper, more detailed edits or retouching, Affinity Photo is the better option. It’s also good for unique, creative images, thanks to tools such as liquefy, painting, drawing, and text. Landscape photographers, food photographers, and macro photographers will like the focus stacking features, too. It’s also excellent value for money, and you can start with a 90-day free trial, too.

Ultimately, there’s no outright winner, as each program will suit different types of photographers. But hopefully we’ve made your decision easier!

The post Affinity Photo vs Luminar: Which Editor Is Best in 2021? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Dawn Gilfillan.

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Affinity Photo vs Photoshop: Which Photo Editor Is Best in 2021?

15 Apr

The post Affinity Photo vs Photoshop: Which Photo Editor Is Best in 2021? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Which is the better photo editor, Affinity Photo vs Photoshop CC?

Adobe Photoshop was released in 1988 and has become the most widely used digital image editing tool in the world. The program is so popular that its name has become a verb – and Photoshop is now the de facto standard for industry-leading professionals and amateurs alike.

Photoshop has also spawned a host of competitors, including Affinity Photo, a worthy alternative for anyone who wants a full-featured image editor without the expense of Photoshop. But is Affinity Photo now the superior choice? Or are you better off sticking with Adobe’s classic program?

In this article, I’m going to compare Photoshop and Affinity Photo. I’m going to give you the benefits and drawbacks of each program – and you’ll leave knowing which program is right for you.

Affinity Photo vs. Photoshop: overview

When considering Affinity Photo and Photoshop, it’s important to remember that there is no one single correct program for everyone. Both are highly capable photo editors, and either one will serve the needs of most photographers. They each have advantages and drawbacks, as well as very different pricing models, and both work well for many photographers.

So try not to think of this as a binary choice or even a competition. It’s not about which program is better, but which program suits your needs.

Before getting into the weeds of how these programs are different, it’s a good idea to take a look at how they are alike. This helps establish a sense of common ground, or perhaps a starting point, that will make the differences stand out.

Both Affinity Photo and Photoshop offer a layer-based workflow, meaning all edits are non-destructive and can be combined with other edits. Both include RAW converters, which allow you to open and manipulate the lossless file formats used by amateur and professional photographers around the world.

Affinity Photo editing interface — Affinity Photo opens RAW files and lets you manipulate the same properties and parameters as Adobe Camera RAW, the RAW editor used by Photoshop.

Affinity Photo and Photoshop both feature a dizzying array of tools to let you edit images any way you want. You can create detailed selections, use complex layer masking, warp and transform parts of your images, use dozens of filters and adjustments, go back to earlier edits with a history panel, insert and manipulate text…the list goes on.

Comparing the two programs, then, becomes less about looking at a bulleted list of features and more about value. Affinity is significantly cheaper with a one-time price of $ 50 USD. Adobe Photoshop is much more expensive and is available only as part of a Creative Cloud subscription, the cheapest of which is about $ 120/year. And while you certainly get a lot for that yearly fee, Affinity Photo is no slouch.

Affinity Photo vs Photoshop Pricing — Photoshop is available as part of the Adobe CC Photography plan or for a standalone subscription. You can also find it bundled with other, more expensive plans, as well.

Affinity Photo doesn’t have the sheer quantity of features that Photoshop offers, but many of the tools in Photoshop aren’t used by a lot of amateur and semi-professional photographers, so it might not matter to you. For instance, Photoshop has tools for manipulating 3D objects and video, but if you just want to edit static 2D images, that probably isn’t important. Photoshop is also updated more frequently and has some interesting AI-based tools to alter faces and other image elements, but for some people, these aren’t worth the yearly fee.

User interface

Both programs follow a similar design language: tools on the left, options for customizing the selected tool on top, editing panels on the right, and a huge space in the middle of the screen for working on an image. Their tools share many core functions, as well. Both have tools for cropping, brushing, making selections, fixing blemishes, working with text and objects, and more.

Photoshop editing interface — The editing interface in Photoshop (shown here) is similar to the interface in Affinity Photo. They’re not identical, but they’re similar enough that if you’re familiar with one program, you can probably use the other.

The interface is not altogether dissimilar from Lightroom, Luminar, and other photography software. If you are new to Affinity Photo or Adobe Photoshop, it won’t take you long to figure out how to edit and where to find the tools and adjustments you need.

Adobe has a key advantage in terms of user interface design because it has built up so many tools and options over the years. But this is also its Achilles’ Heel and can be seen as a disadvantage, as well. Photoshop’s ever-expanding repertoire has resulted in a program with a staggering learning curve, and even simple options like changing the white balance on an image or refining a selection can lead to inordinate amounts of head-scratching and online searching.

Affinity Photo vs Photoshop Tooltips — Photoshop contains visual tooltips to help new users acclimate themselves to the buttons and options.

This has put Adobe in a bit of a tough spot – one that makes Affinity Photo seem quite attractive by comparison. Adobe must walk a fine line between catering to its professional customers, many of whom have been using Photoshop for years, and catering to new customers who find the growing feature set to be complicated and frustrating. Welcome screens, popups, tooltips, and other helpful hints stem the tide of confusion – but while these do help, it can still be difficult to locate the options you need to get your work done.

By contrast, the simplified nature of Affinity Photo seems downright pedestrian but remains quite powerful. Tools on the left are bright and colorful, and the adjustment panels on the right are a bit more streamlined for common use-case scenarios.

For example, adjusting the white balance is as simple as clicking the White Balance option and adjusting some sliders. In Photoshop there isn’t a White Balance option; you have to apply a Curves adjustment layer or use a filter to achieve the same effect.

white balance in Affinity Photo — Affinity Photo includes familiar adjustments like White Balance that are more complicated to implement in Photoshop.

This theme is prevalent throughout any comparison of Affinity Photo vs. Adobe Photoshop. Affinity Photo has a fresh, modern take on the interface elements that Photoshop invented. If you prefer a cleaner, simpler layout, then Affinity Photo might be the best option for you, but if you crave raw power and a slew of options, you might be better off with Photoshop.

It is worth noting that Affinity Photo also has a few tricks up its sleeve that Photoshop can’t yet match. Namely, speed: Adobe Photoshop is built on decades-old legacy code that makes some simple operations confoundingly slow. Tools like Liquify and even simple transformations are much snappier in Affinity Photo, and while Photoshop has made some great strides in recent years, there’s no denying that aspects of the program still feel slow and outdated.

Workflow tools

While both Affinity Photo and Adobe Photoshop have a huge number of editing tools, each program is at its best when you learn to use those tools to accomplish your work with minimal effort. Photoshop has a bit of an edge here if you want to make complicated, in-depth edits, but Affinity Photo is no slouch either.

For example, most of the items in Photoshop’s toolbar have sub-options with different variations on the same tool. There are three selection tools: Marquee, Lasso, and the Magic Wand. And each of those has its own subset of tools.

Selection Tool comparison — The tools in Photoshop are more comprehensive and contain a greater number of options and customizations compared to Affinity Photo.

From a workflow perspective, this bevy of options can be invaluable. You can get in, make your selections, and get on with your editing. And in that regard, Photoshop gets the nod over Affinity Photo. Once you learn all the options at your disposal and get familiar with the myriad keyboard shortcuts, Photoshop can dramatically cut your editing time. But getting to that point can take a lot of learning and a lot of patience, so some might prefer the relative simplicity – and fewer options – of Affinity Photo.

Both programs have all the standard adjustments you would expect: Brightness/Contrast, Exposure, Invert, and many others. These are applied using layers, and the layers can be blended using virtually the same sets of blend modes, including Darken, Multiply, Color Burn, Difference, Exclusion, Subtract, and so on. Layers can be moved up and down and combined in both programs, and both give you access to dozens of effects that can be applied, as well.

Photoshop layer effects — The Layer Effects panel in Photoshop contains many options for enhancing and editing your images, and it lets you customize the blend modes, as well.

Affinity Photo layer effects — The Layer Effects panel in Affinity Photo is similar but lacks the depth that Photoshop offers. Still, it should suffice for most people.

If you are thinking of transitioning away from Photoshop, there is one important thing to note:

While Affinity Photo does replicate many of the common keystrokes and shortcuts used in Photoshop, they’re not 1:1. You might find yourself pressing familiar keys and using shortcut commands out of habit only to realize that nothing happens, or worse, something happens that you didn’t intend. It can make the transition a bit rocky but might be worth it if it saves you time or money in the long run.

Compatibility

When you work with image editors, compatibility can be an issue. Photoshop’s PSD file format is the gold standard – but not necessarily because it’s the best, and certainly not because it’s the most efficient in terms of file size. Rather, after more than 30 years in this business, Photoshop’s PSDs have simply become the most widely used. PSD files are nondestructive, meaning they contain all the layers, history steps, adjustments, effects, and other elements of an image as it’s being edited.

Affinity Photo has a similar non-destructive file format, AFPHOTO. But as you might expect, it is not well known; it’s simply too new compared to the PSD format. While Affinity Photo can open PSD files and also export its own files in PSD format, Adobe Photoshop can’t do anything with AFPHOTO files. This can end up becoming a time-consuming hassle if you use Affinity Photo but find yourself collaborating or sharing files with Adobe Photoshop users (or vice versa).

Affinity Photo vs Photoshop Export — Affinity Photo can export images in AFPHOTO (as well as nearly a dozen other formats). But Photoshop won’t open Affinity Photo documents and likely never will. Adobe has almost no incentive to do so.

It’s currently Adobe’s playground, and we have to play by their rules for the time being. Adobe doesn’t need to spend time and money making Photoshop compatible with Affinity Photo files, but Affinity needs to work with PSD files if it is to be relevant in the image-editing space. The old saying, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” comes to mind.

So if you go with Affinity Photo because you like the price or appreciate its tools and features, just know your documents won’t always play nice with Photoshop.

Support

Learning any new tool takes time and effort, and this is doubly true for image editors. There are so many options and features in both Affinity Photo and Photoshop; it’s enough to make you want to give up and go with the one-click simplicity of a program like Luminar. Especially if you’re new to digital photography.

Just imagine trying to explain these Photoshop brush options to someone who has never used the program before.

When considering Affinity Photo vs. Photoshop, it’s important to take this into account and make sure you have access to the knowledge and training you need to get your editing done. While Photoshop has too many features to count, it also has over three decades of support behind it. The internet is jam-packed with every kind of Photoshop tutorial you can imagine: websites, forums, social media groups, YouTube tutorials, podcasts, classes, lectures, and Adobe’s own help files and rich knowledge base.

What’s more, since so many people use Photoshop, it’s not hard to find someone who can help you. Most friends, coworkers, and even casual acquaintances who use Photoshop will be happy to show you a few tricks or help you learn how to use the program.

Affinity Photo vs Photoshop Image Border — I knew Photoshop could do a simple border with rounded corners, but I didn’t know the exact steps. A quick video call with my cousin, who uses Photoshop professionally, got me all the information I needed.

This is hardly the case with Affinity Photo. Affinity has its own set of video tutorials, as well as sample images you can import and experiment with to learn the basics. But while these are a good place to start, they’re just not at the same level as what you’ll find in Photoshop.

Tutorials will improve as more people use Affinity. But until then, you might find yourself frustrated when you can’t figure out more advanced features and aren’t able to find the help you need.

Editing and the cloud

As photo editing moves away from the desktop and into the cloud, it’s important that your tools can keep up with your workflow (and that you can adapt them as needed). Many photographers today want to edit images on tablets or even phones and have their pictures available whenever and wherever they want.

Thankfully, both Affinity Photo and Adobe Photoshop are up to the task, but they approach it in different ways.

Affinity Photo has an iPad app, available for a very reasonable fee, that mimics most of the functionality of the desktop version. It can’t do things like batch export, but it reads AFPHOTO files, and edits on the iPad are also available on the desktop version.

However, Affinity does not have a cloud-based infrastructure to support file syncing and storage. This means you have to transfer your images manually or sync them to a service like iCloud – then you must make sure all your files are properly synced again after you edit, lest you lose some of your changes.

Photoshop handles this differently, and it’s all due to the subscription fee you pay to use the program. Since every Photoshop plan comes with some degree of cloud storage from Adobe, it’s possible to have a cloud-based workflow where everything is stored remotely. This means you can load all your PSD files and other assets into your Adobe Creative Cloud storage, edit your images on desktop or mobile, and everything is automatically synced in real time.

Adobe cloud storage — Adobe gives you the option of storing files in the cloud; this is part of your Photoshop subscription.

Neither one of these approaches is necessarily better, but it’s important to determine which you prefer. Affinity Photo’s one-time pricing structure means it can’t support the ongoing costs of cloud servers for its customers. But if you already pay for cloud storage through another platform, then you might prefer Affinity’s approach.

On the other hand, Photoshop’s method is great for a lot of people, especially those who want a cloud-based workflow.

Affinity vs Photoshop: Which editing program is right for you?

At some point, you have to stop reading and just make a decision. There are definitely some good reasons to go with Affinity Photo, and there are some advantages to Photoshop. Here’s my advice if you’re on the fence and not sure which one is right for you:

Get Affinity Photo if you want an inexpensive, full-featured photo-editing program. While it doesn’t have decades of history in the photography community, it has an extensive list of features and workflow tools to suit the needs of almost anyone. Certainly, it’ll handle everything a casual or hobbyist photographer requires, and if you aren’t actively earning money with your images, then a one-time fee of $ 50 makes Affinity the better choice.

example of Affinity Photo artwork — You can create some amazing artwork in Affinity Photo. And if you need inspiration, you can download sample images like this one (which are designed to help you learn the program).

Subscribe to Photoshop if you want a mile-wide set of features developed over several decades, as well as an endless supply of websites, articles, videos, books, and entire courses to help you learn how to use them. There are also many plugins you can get to extend the functionality of the core application; that way, you can tailor Photoshop’s capabilities to your needs. In terms of sheer product ecosystem, Photoshop is the clear winner.

While some have accused Adobe of resting on their laurels now that they have a steady stream of subscription income, that’s not really a fair criticism when it comes to their flagship product, Photoshop. Photoshop continues to add new options for demanding professionals while making the onboarding process easier for beginners. Adobe has also been incorporating artificial intelligence tricks such as allowing you to age (or de-age) human faces, alter smiles, and even change the direction that people are looking.

Neural filter — Adobe’s AI-based Neural Filters let you apply all sorts of strange, interesting adjustments such as changing expressions, smoothing skin, and aging (or de-aging) people.

The heart of the Affinity vs. Photoshop debate comes down to a simple question: What do you want to do to your photos? By identifying your needs first and then looking for a solution, you can be sure that the program you choose will more closely align with your requirements. It might be Affinity, it might be Photoshop, or it could even be something else.

Both Affinity Photo and Adobe Photoshop have free trials, and I recommend going that route before spending any money or getting too invested in one particular application. Download both products, try them, and see what you think. Then you can decide the Affinity Photo vs. Photoshop question for yourself.

Now over to you:

Have you used Affinity Photo and Photoshop? Which program did you prefer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Affinity Photo vs Photoshop: Which Photo Editor Is Best in 2021? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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How to Create Panoramas in Affinity Photo

10 Mar

The post How to Create Panoramas in Affinity Photo appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Want to create a stunning Affinity Photo panorama? It’s easier than you might think!

In fact, Affinity has a built-in, automated feature specifically designed to make creating panoramas easy and fun.

And in this article, I’m going to share with you the step-by-step process for both capturing and editing panoramas – so you can get beautiful results.

Let’s get started.

Affinity Photo Panorama of rice fields — A panorama created from 15 individual photos.
Nikon D800 | 105mm | f/8 | 1/640s | ISO 400
© Kevin Landwer-Johan

Taking photos for your Affinity Photo panorama

If you don’t have a lens wide enough to capture the vista before you or the skyscraper above you, then creating a panorama is a great option.

Panoramas are often made of wide scenes, but you can also create vertical panoramas of very tall subjects.

Alternatively, you can create an Affinity Photo panorama with images taken in a grid. That way, rather than making a wide or tall panorama, you can stitch together photos to capture an image both taller and wider than you could shoot with your widest lens.

Note that you can make a panorama of anything; it doesn’t have to be a wide or tall scene.

Lahu man Affinity photo panorama — Nikon D800 | 85mm | f/1.4 | 1/200s | ISO 400
© Kevin Landwer-Johan

Hardcore pano photographers will insist a tripod is necessary. Personally, I prefer not to use one when I make panoramas, with one exception: when I need a slow shutter speed and want to keep my camera steady.

Include overlap

When you take photos for a panorama, you must include a reasonable amount of overlap from one image to the next.

Without this overlap, Affinity Photo can’t seamlessly stitch the photos together.

But how much overlap should you include? Generally, I’d recommend around 25% or 30% overlap for great results.

When I take photos for a panorama, I look at an element in each frame about 25% from the edge. I then include that element in the next frame (also about the same distance from the edge). As I move my camera across or up and down while taking pictures, I am careful to line up the non-joining edges as evenly as I can. Trying to keep a straight line helps to make a panorama that will crop well.

Using a standard focal length lens or longer is best. If you use a wide-angle lens, you will run into problems lining up the images due to edge distortion.

cactus plants in a pot — I created this panorama using six shots (two columns of three horizontal photos).
Nikon D800 | 75mm | f/4 | 1/125s | ISO 400
© Kevin Landwer-Johan

Affinity Photo panoramas: the basics

Once you have a series of photographs for your panorama, open Affinity Photo.

If your photos are in RAW format, edit the colors and tones so the images look their best. Try to give each photo similar tones and color temperatures, because if your photos are different exposures or color temperatures, this will be noticeable.

I generally create a resized set of images for each new panorama. I make sure to reduce the file size, especially when I’ve taken a lot of photos. This makes it easier for Affinity Photo to manage many files at once.

(If you leave your images at full size and full resolution, you’ll be waiting a long time for your panorama to render.)

Affinity Photo panorama of rice growing — © Kevin Landwer-Johan

Import photos for your panorama

Once you’ve resized and saved your photos, go to the top menu in Affinity Photo.

Select File>New Panorama. This will open up a dialog box.

Click on Add, then navigate to the folder where you saved your images for the panorama.

Select every file, then click Open. The photos will be imported into Affinity Photo.

Then select Stitch Panorama. Once you’ve clicked this, you will see a preview of your panorama on the right and the individual files on the left.

If there are any images that Affinity Photo cannot stitch with the others, they’ll appear below the preview.

Click OK. Affinity Photo will render your panorama and open it as a new document. This may take a while, depending on:

The number of images you have
How large each image is
How powerful your computer is

Tweaking your panorama in Affinity Photo

Once your panorama is rendered, you will most likely have some blank space around it. There are a few ways you can edit this.

Cropping is the easiest. When you click on the Crop tool, a new menu bar will appear above your document. If you select the option to Crop to Opaque, Affinity Photo will automatically adjust the crop bounding box to exclude any areas that are blank.

You can also rotate your panorama if your horizon or verticals are not straight. And you can freehand crop your panorama.

Another option is to Inpaint Missing Areas. You’ll see an icon in the middle of your screen above your document (though you’ll need to deselect the Crop tool first; otherwise, the icon won’t be visible).

When you click Inpaint Missing Areas, Affinity Photo will use its AI technology to autofill the blank areas around your panorama. This works best when there is not much detail along the panorama edges.

As you can see in my example below, Affinity has managed to fill in the sky very well. But at the bottom, the inpainting is not good because there’s too much detail in the rice field:

With the Inpaint Missing Areas tool selected, click Apply. Affinity Photo will render your panorama and present it as a single image file.

For this example, I chose to use the automatic inpainting because it filled in the sky nicely. Once my panorama rendered, I then cropped the funky area from the bottom where Affinity did not extend the rice field well.

Creating Affinity Photo panoramas: conclusion

Affinity Photo panoramas are very easy to create, especially if you’re careful to add plenty of overlap when taking your photos.

If you haven’t tried creating a panorama, give it a go. Experiment with a simple series of images to start with. You can make a panorama with two to five photos to keep things less complicated. Then, once you have a feel for the process, start to include more images in each series.

Try using different focal lengths to see which you prefer. If you want to make a very detailed panorama, use a long lens and take lots of photos.

Remember, though: The more photos you include, the longer it will take to render your panorama!

Now over to you:

What types of panoramas do you want to create with Affinity Photo? Share your thoughts – and photos – in the comments below!

The post How to Create Panoramas in Affinity Photo appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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How to Create Cool Effects Using Displacement Maps in Affinity Photo

17 Feb

The post How to Create Cool Effects Using Displacement Maps in Affinity Photo appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

create cool effects with displacement maps in Affinity Photo

Adding natural-looking text to a photo can be challenging. But with displacement maps in Affinity Photo, you can easily produce awesome-looking text blends.

In fact, it takes just a few clicks to merge text with a second photo, so that it looks like the text was there all along.

There are a couple of different ways to achieve this look in Affinity Photo. If you’re used to other image manipulation software, you may be familiar with some of the steps. And if you’re new to Affinity Photo, you may not be aware of the features that make creating cool effects using displacement maps even easier.

So let’s dive right in!

Blend overlay example of displacement maps in Affinity

What are displacement maps in Affinity Photo?

Displacement maps in Affinity Photo allow the texture of an image to be mapped onto another layer.

Displacement maps are commonly used to add natural-looking text to an image. You can use them when you want to place a logo or text on a t-shirt or make text look like a natural part of a scene.

example of displacement maps in Affinity

How to create a displacement map: Step-by-step instructions

As with pretty much any editing effect, there is more than one way to reach your end goal.

In this article, I will show you a simple, step-by-step method I use to create displacement maps in Affinity Photo.

Specifically, I’ll use Affinity Photo’s Displace filter.

Using the Displace filter is a great way to work with displacement maps. It’s quick, easy, and non-destructive.

This means you have a great deal of control. You can apply your Displace filter and tweak it as much as you like – without permanently altering the underlying photo.

Step 1: Open your mapping image

Select the image you plan to modify. Open it in Affinity Photo.

Step 2: Add text or your logo

Locate the file with your text or logo, then drag and drop it onto the underlying image file.

You can use a TIFF or PNG file with transparency. Alternatively, type in the text you want to use, as I’ve done in my example file (below).

Position your image or text where you want it to appear. If you’ve chosen to type your text, pick the font and color you think will best suit your needs.

Screen grab from Affinity Photo showing displacement maps in Affinity

Step 3: Create a live filter layer

In the top menu, choose Layer.

Then go down to New Live Filter Layer>Distort>Displace Filter.

In the Layers panel, you will now see a live displacement map filter added to your logo or text layer.

Step 4: Choose a displacement map

In the displacement map dialog box, you will have the option of loading a map from a file or loading it from other layers. Sometimes you may have a separate image you want to use as your mapping layer. In this example, I will show you how to use the lower layer to create a displacement map, because this is what will typically provide you with a great result.

Click on the option to Load Map From Layers Beneath. At this point, depending on the resolution of the photo you are working with, you may begin to see the effects of the mapping filter.

(But don’t worry if you can’t yet see this; we’ll work on the effect in the next steps.)

Step 5: Adjust the displacement strength

Use the slider in the Displace filter dialog box to increase or decrease the strength of the filter.

Adjust the filter intensity until your top layer merges naturally with the image below.

Note that this is just the first level of adjustment. In the next steps, you’ll discover how to fine-tune the result, so don’t be concerned if you can’t yet get your image looking exactly how you want.

Step 6: Rasterize the text layer

At this point, if you are working with a text layer or some other non-rasterized layer, you need to rasterize it so the next step will work.

Right-click on the text layer and select Rasterize.

Step 7: Control your blending options

Now it’s time to further adjust how your text or logo blends with the layer beneath it.

Click on the cog icon in the Layers panel. (It’s between the blend mode drop-down and the padlock icon.)

A new dialog box will appear; this lets you control the blending options for your layer. Note the two curves graphs:

You’ll want to use the rightmost curve, labeled Underlying Composition Ranges. But before you start, make sure to uncheck the Linear box below it.

Now click and drag from the top left of this curve. Watch as your text or logo further blends with the layer beneath. Continue to click and drag on the curve until you have a look you’re happy with.

Step 8: Tweak the displacement amount

If you’ve merged an image rather than text, you can now go back and tweak the Displace filter.

(If you merged text, this option won’t be available, because the filter is combined with the text layer when it’s rasterized.)

Step 9: Change the blend mode

For further control, you can select a different blend mode for your text or logo layer.

Scroll through the options in the blend mode drop-down box until you find one that best fits the look you want.

You can also decrease the opacity of the top layer so the underlying texture shows through more.

Using displacement maps in Affinity Photo: Conclusion

The key to success in all photo manipulation is experimentation.

So if you want to create a stunning result, use these steps as guidelines, but don’t be afraid to play around. Push the boundaries!

Using displacement maps in Affinity Photo is fun and non-destructive. This means you can try as many options as you like without permanently affecting your images!

Now over to you:

How do you plan to use displacement maps? Share your thoughts (and images) in the comments below!

The post How to Create Cool Effects Using Displacement Maps in Affinity Photo appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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How to Merge Photos in Affinity Photo: A Step-by-Step Guide

16 Dec

The post How to Merge Photos in Affinity Photo: A Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

If you want to merge photos in Affinity Photo, the process is surprisingly simple. But there are a few tips and tricks that will help you merge two or more photos – and help you make adjustments so your final image looks just the way you want it.

Digital imaging allows for endless manipulation and combining of photographs. Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve will make for a more efficient workflow. If you’re more interested in messing around and experimenting with how you can merge photos in Affinity, give yourself some time to play around. The possibilities are endless.

Getting started with merging photos may seem daunting. But the tools in Affinity Photo are designed to help you merge photos easily. The process can be completed quickly or it can take ages, depending on the photos you choose and the degree of detail you want.

What is a photo merge in Affinity Photo?

A photo merge in Affinity Photo is the combination of two or more images to create a new one. You can merge similar or very different images.

For instance, I love creating photomontages. This involves merging many photos to create a single, cubist-like picture.

Merging several near-identical photos with different exposure values is known as high dynamic range (HDR) blending. You can also take a series of photos to make a panoramic image and merge them in Affinity Photo. These are very specific merging techniques that will not be covered in this article – but you will notice there are options under the top File menu for these functions.

In this article, I’ll take you through a step-by-step workflow for how to merge two photos in Affinity Photo. This will be helpful if you have two similar images you want to combine into one final, great-looking result.

For example:

If you’ve taken some portraits and your subject has blinked in many of the photos, you can use this technique to select their eyes from a photo where they are open and merge them with photos where their eyes are closed. That way, you can combine the best pose and facial expression with the best shot of your subject’s eyes.

two photos merged of a woman blinking — © Kevin Landwer-Johan | Nikon D800 | 85mm | 1/800s | f/2.8 | ISO 400

How to merge photos in Affinity: A step-by-step guide

Now let’s take a look at how to merge two images in Affinity Photo, starting with:

Step 1: Select your photos

One of the most critical aspects of merging photos in Affinity is selecting suitable images. This depends on what your aim is. You may want to create a very realistic-looking merge, or you might want to make an image that is a complete fantasy.

Knowing what you want to achieve with your merge project will guide you in selecting photos. Picking photos taken with the same or a similar focal length lens is important when you want to achieve a realistic look. Trying to combine one photo taken with a 20mm lens and another with a 200mm lens will not look natural.

Photos taken from a similar perspective are also easier to merge for a more natural look. If you have one image taken from a low angle and the other taken looking down from above, then it will be very difficult to merge them so the final image looks realistic.

Lighting is also an important consideration. Having one of your photos taken in the shade and the other in full sunshine will make it more challenging to combine them for a natural-looking result.

To keep things simple, I am using two photos taken with the same lens and at the same location from a similar perspective:

Tuktuk driver in Bangkok for merging — This Tuktuk driver photo will be used for the background.
Nikon D700 | 20mm | 1/250s | f/5.6 | ISO 400
© Kevin Landwer-Johan

guy with a flaming wallet for merging — This guy with a flaming wallet will be merged with the background image.
Nikon D700 | 20mm | 1/125s | f/4 | ISO 400
©Kevin Landwer-Johan

Step 2: Combine and size your images

Select the photo you want as the foreground. Copy and paste it onto your background image.

If one of the photos is bigger than the other, you’ll need to resize it. Select the Move Tool from the Tools panel (or tap the “V” key to select it).

Then click on the layer you want to resize in the Layers panel. Click and drag a corner of the bounding box that surrounds the photo. If you are resizing the background layer, you’ll first need to check the padlock icon in the Layers Panel to unlock it.

You can reduce the opacity of your top layer as you resize and position your photos. Drag the slider in the Layers panel down to about 50%. This makes it easier to see when your photo is the right size and in the best location. Then turn the opacity level back up to 100% again.

Step 3: Mask out unwanted content

Using the Selection Brush Tool (“W” on the keyboard), carefully select the areas of the foreground photo that you want to keep. This tool will auto-select based on contrast. So where there are elements with little contrast between what you’re selecting and the background, you may have to manually refine your selection.

Zoom in on problem areas and reduce the brush size, then select with precision. In places where the selection accidentally covers an area you don’t want to select, press and hold the Alt key (Option on a Mac) and paint over the area to deselect it.

Finally, look over the entire edge of your selection to ensure you’ve only selected areas that you want to be selected.

Once you’re satisfied with your selection, click the Refine button in the Tool menu above the image. A dialogue box will appear with various options, all designed to help you refine your selection. Use the various sliders to make adjustments. How much you need to move the sliders is somewhat based on the size and resolution of the photos you’re working on.

When you’re finished, click Apply.

At the bottom of the Layers panel, click on the Mask Layer icon. This is a light rectangle with a dark circle in it. The unwanted parts of your image will become masked out. You can make further alterations to this layer mask using the Brush tool. To remove more of the image, paint with a black brush. You can switch to a white brush to restore the areas you painted out.

Affinity photo screen grab illustrating refining a selection

Step 4: Make further adjustments

Now your two images should be merged and looking more how you want them to.

However, depending on the photos you’re working with, you may still want to make some changes. If the lighting in both photos is different, you can use a Linear or Radial Gradient filter to add light.

In my example, I used a Blur filter on the background image to help create a sense of depth. To do this, select Filters>Blur>Gaussian Blur from the top menu. Move the slider until you have a satisfactory amount of blur.

I also used a Levels adjustment on my background layer so that it better matched the tones of my foreground photo.

This step can be endless. There are many adjustments you can make to get your two photos looking as similar or as different as you like.

How to merge photos in Affinity: conclusion

You can merge photos in Affinity Photo with great ease and effectiveness.

Note that having a clear idea of what you want to create helps speed up the process of merging images. When you are not sure of the final outcome, you can spend endless hours experimenting until you get a result you are happy with.

Practice with the various tools and learn how to use them well. Duplicating your layers and preserving the originals is a good safety step. If you’ve duplicated your layers and hidden them, you can always revert back to the original if you make a mistake or overwork a layer.

Have fun while you learn to merge photos in Affinity. Take your time, experiment, and be as creative as you like!

The post How to Merge Photos in Affinity Photo: A Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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Color Management in Affinity Photo: The Ultimate Guide

28 Oct

The post Color Management in Affinity Photo: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

In terms of color management, no photo software is more complete than Adobe Photoshop. It’s easy to take this for granted until you switch programs (which you might do to escape subscription costs).

That’s why this article looks at color management in Affinity Photo, a popular standalone alternative to Photoshop.

Affinity Photo welcome screen color management in Affinity Photo — Affinity Photo welcome screen.

Choosing a working color space in Affinity (Photo Persona)

The working color space you use in an editing program is a bit like a box of crayons. You are defining how big a box you use to describe your photos. Even if you can’t see all the colors inside that “box” on your screen, sometimes there is good reason to use them.

Choose your working space based on the likely output for your images. For example:

sRGB = publishing and printing online
Adobe RGB = CMYK/inkjet printing
ProPhoto RGB = archiving and top-quality workflows

Each choice has its own pros and cons.

The ability to make this choice seems mundane until it’s taken away. Some programs force you to use sRGB as the working space, for instance, which means you forfeit many of the colors digital cameras can capture.

So what does Affinity give us here?

Setting the working color space in Affinity is simple, though it’s not labeled a “working space” as such. You simply go to Preferences>Color>RGB Color Profile. By default, this is set to sRGB. You can change it to suit your photography and the purpose of your photos, as detailed above. Do the same with the 32bit RGB Color Profile setting.

Color management in Affinity photo - color preferences — Color preferences in Affinity Photo.

Other color preferences

For most of us, the color preference settings in Affinity can be left alone, except perhaps for the RGB Color Profile option at the top.

That said, you’ll generally want black point compensation switched on. You also won’t want the software to convert all open files to the working color space. And it’s better to be warned if a photo without an embedded profile is being assigned the working profile. This gives you a heads-up that the color may display incorrectly.

Note that each of the above options can be ticked on and off in the Color Preferences window.

Monitor profile

Affinity Photo accesses the default monitor profile assigned in your operating system. Unlike Photoshop CC (but like Lightroom), I don’t believe you can confirm the prevailing profile via Affinity itself. Past and present monitor profiles appear in drop-down menus, but you should never select these; the monitor profile is automatically applied.

Your monitor profile is a key component of color management in Affinity Photo.

Windows color management display settings. (You wouldn’t want to use sRGB as a display profile except for diagnostic purposes.)

Soft proofing (Photo Persona)

Soft proofing lets you preview the output color of your photos, whether the output is an inkjet printer, an RGB printer like those often used in minilabs, or even a specific audience (e.g., color-blind individuals). Soft proofing is available in Photoshop CC and Lightroom, but isn’t offered by many other programs. What about Affinity Photo?

In Affinity Photo, soft proofing comes in the form of an adjustment layer. You won’t find it among the menus at the top of the screen like in Photoshop. This is quite handy, because it’s so easy to flick layers on and off to see the effect of soft proofing and edits.

Color management in Affinity photo - soft proofing — Soft proofing using a photo lab’s profile.

Color blindness settings in Affinity are located among the built-in LUT adjustment layers. The LUTs help you visualize colors as seen by three types of dichromats: protanopes, deuteranopes, and tritanopes.

Affinity Photo color blindness LUTs color management in Affinity Photo — Tritanope LUT for visualizing a type of color blindness.

Simulating dynamic range

The simulate paper color option you get in Photoshop is already applied in Affinity. You can’t switch it off.

But you do have the option of switching on black point compensation. This reduces the dynamic range of your screen image to mimic the look of paper and ink. It makes the on-screen photo look duller. That’s why professional photographers sometimes avoid showing clients the comparison.

Affinity photo black point compensation color management in Affinity Photo — Blocked shadows caused by a lack of black point compensation (BPC). Usually, the effect is less drastic than with this Newsprint profile. Note that BPC has more effect with a relative colorimetric rendering intent. It has less of an effect or no effect with other rendering intents.

Gamut differences

The Gamut Check option in Affinity Photo shows you which colors are not reproducible with any given output. You can fiddle with the color of the photo until all color is in gamut, but you’ll often do more harm than good.

It’s better to rely on the rendering intent setting if you want colors to be as close as possible to the original. The relative colorimetric rendering intent keeps colors looking relatively accurate and shifts non-reproducible colors back into gamut, but you’re free to pick the rendering intent that looks best to you.

Affinity Photo gamut warning color management in Affinity Photo — The gray area tells me which area of red will be out of gamut (i.e., not reproducible on output). This is the *Gamut Check* option in Affinity soft proofing. Its practical use is somewhat limited, since you’ll often do more harm than good by trying to edit colors into gamut.

Creating a duplicate

When soft proofing, you may want to work on duplicate images side by side, so you can reference the original color and tone. In that case, create a duplicate image in Affinity by hitting Select All>Copy>New from Clipboard.

You can make adjustments to the soft-proofed image by adding extra adjustment layers to the background layer.

Duplicate images in Affinity photo side by side — Having a duplicate image is useful if you want to get your output looking similar. A relative colorimetric rendering intent does most of this work for you.

Convert and assign ICC profile settings

As with Photoshop, color management in Affinity Photo includes the ability to assign or convert ICC profiles. The distinction between these two is important. You’d assign a profile if the photo you open has no embedded profile; you give it one that looks okay. This only becomes permanent if you save changes to the image.

By assigning the wrong profile to this image, I’ve oversaturated the color and started to lose textural detail.

When you convert from one profile to the other and know what color space the image is in, use Convert ICC Profile. One way of confirming the current profile is to look for it in the drop-down list. It should be highlighted:

The highlighted profile in the Convert ICC Profile window is the one currently embedded in the image.

The choice of rendering intents when converting between ProPhoto RGB, Adobe RGB, and sRGB working color spaces is usually moot. By default, these matrix profiles use a relative colorimetric rendering intent. The same situation exists in Photoshop.

Embedding profiles

The process of embedding ICC profiles is uncomplicated: You just check a checkbox. This is true whether you’re using Save As in Photoshop or exporting files from Affinity. In Affinity Photo, the Embed ICC Profile option is under the More heading when exporting. It’s checked by default.

There aren’t many instances when you’d deliberately leave the ICC profile out of images. Ironically, photo libraries and gallery websites might do this because the profile adds a couple of kilobytes to each file. In those instances, it’s an economical choice. In the past, photographers removed profiles to avoid confusing minilab printer drivers.

Embedding ICC profiles into images color management in Affinity Photo — Photos in large color spaces generally look okay in browsers as long as the profile is embedded. In Affinity, just as in Photoshop, embedding a profile is merely a matter of checking a box. Or not unchecking it.

Many people’s color woes when publishing photos online stem from not embedding the profile. This is less critical when publishing sRGB images, but photos in larger color spaces will often look dull unless the profile is present.

Simple features, such as the ability to embed or remove ICC profiles, are often absent in photo-editing programs. But here, Affinity keeps pace with Adobe.

Affinity RAW processing color (Develop Persona)

The Affinity Photo Develop Persona assigns the ROMM RGB color space to RAW files. ROMM RGB is the original name for ProPhoto RGB. This color space encompasses the output of a digital sensor, whereas smaller spaces such as Adobe RGB and sRGB do not.

Histogram comparison

In Lightroom, the histogram is in Adobe’s proprietary “Melissa RGB” space. This is the same as the Affinity histogram, but with an sRGB tone response curve applied, which adds slightly more editing headroom in the shadows. Extra marks to Adobe for cleverness.

The Affinity RAW histogram is more akin to that of Adobe Camera RAW. If you convert to ProPhoto RGB or ROMM RGB in Affinity, the histogram should stay the same.

Affinity histogram - Develop Persona — The sRGB profile here has pushed magenta hues off the left side of the RAW histogram. This is one reason to use larger color spaces when creating inkjet prints.

Recent versions of Lightroom enable users to preview the output histogram by turning on soft proofing. In other words, you’ll see which colors will be clipped, if any, in your destination color space. This might influence the edits you make prior to converting the file or even the color space you select. Does Affinity allow this?

If you select an output profile in Affinity Photo’s Basic panel, the histogram changes accordingly. With certain colors, you’ll see sRGB pixels move to the edges of the histogram. This tells you they are nearly or completely clipped. Running the cursor along the histogram shows you how many pixels are present at any level. ROMM or ProPhoto RGB is especially useful for preserving detail in bright yellows.

color management in Affinity Photo — Neither sRGB nor Adobe RGB can contain the yellows in a photo like this.

A common misconception

You needn’t convert RAW files to the same profile as your working RGB space in the Photo Persona. This is a common misconception. Affinity can open and handle images in any color space, just like Photoshop. The working space only represents your most commonly-used color container.

Color management in Affinity Photo: Conclusion

I’ve used many photo-editing programs, and some are more frustrating than others in terms of their color preferences and controls.

Color management in Affinity Photo differs from that in Photoshop, but it doesn’t cut any major corners that I’ve found. So use it with confidence!

And if you have any questions at all, be sure to leave them in the comments section!

The post Color Management in Affinity Photo: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

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An Introduction to Working with Layers in Affinity Photo

07 Oct

The post An Introduction to Working with Layers in Affinity Photo appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Working with layers in Affinity Photo is very similar to how you work with layers in Adobe Photoshop. So if you are used to Photoshop, the transition to using layers in Affinity Photo is relatively easy.

Are you new to post-processing your photos with software that allows you to use layers? You’re sure to learn some cool new editing tips and tricks as you read through this article.

Being able to stack images, text, shapes, etc., with layers in Affinity Photo provides unlimited scope for creativity. As with any serious image-processing program, the learning curve is steep. There is always more than one series of steps you can take to achieve the same results.

In this article, I’ll introduce you to using layers in Affinity Photo. I’ll show you some of the cool ways you can edit your photos and create graphics that would not be possible without using layers.

Layer basics

When you open an image in Affinity Photo, a new layer is created. This shows in the Layers Panel on the left of your monitor. When you have one layer, you can add new layers and also move them up and down in the Layers Panel.

Any image, shape, or text can be added in a layer. You can continue to stack layers one on top of the other. Layers in Affinity Photo can be resized and cropped so they are different dimensions than the original layer.

The top layer is visible and may hide the layers underneath it, depending on the settings you choose for it. The opacity of the layer can be reduced so that the layer below is revealed.

There are also options to change the blend modes of layers. This means that the layer will interact differently with the layers below it. So if you add a text layer, you can alter how the text looks by changing the blend mode.

affinity photo sample with text and blend modes

Soft light blend mode with text layers in affinity photo

This works very much the same way as it does in Photoshop. But if you are new to this, you’ll have fun as you experiment with the different blend modes and the effects you can create with them.

Adjustment layers in Affinity Photo

With the Layers Panel, there is also a panel labeled Adjustments. This contains 22 items that, when clicked, will add a new adjustment layer to the file you are working on.

Adding an adjustment layer affects the layers underneath. You can create a layer group and include the adjustment layer with the layers you want it to affect.

Here I have added a Channel Mixer adjustment at the top of the layer hierarchy:

The adjustment layer is affecting both the text and the photo.

Here I moved the adjustment layer to group it with the text layer:

To do this, click the adjustment layer and drag it onto the layer you want it to affect.

Adjustment layers are non-destructive. This means that you can turn them on and off and they will not alter your original image. This gives you a lot of room to experiment without permanently editing the photo or other artwork you are working on.

You can use adjustment layers in Affinity Photo to create an unlimited number of effects in your photos. Each layer you add interacts with the layers beneath it. You can also change the blend mode of each adjustment layer independently.

Layer masks

You can mask out a layer or parts of a layer using layer masks. To add a layer mask, click on the icon that looks like a rectangle with a circle in it at the bottom of the Layers Panel. This will add a layer mask to the layer you currently have selected.

Here, I have duplicated my layer with the photo and painted with a black brush to erase the bottom part of the photo. If you make a mistake when you’re painting, you can switch the brush color to white. Then you can simply paint over the area you want to restore and the image will re-appear.

Once you’ve added a mask, you can alter the blend mode and even add further adjustment masks to it.

Here I have changed the blend mode to Multiply and then further darkened the sky by adding a Curves adjustment:

Notice that these changes only affect the layer they are grouped with. So only the sky, which I did not mask out, is altered.

Text layers in Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo enables you to do some innovative and pretty cool things with text layers.

To add a text layer, click on the text icon in the toolbar. By clicking and dragging on your canvas, you can set the size of the text. Once you release the mouse button, you can type and the text will appear at the size you set it to.

By clicking and holding the text icon in the toolbar, you can choose another option. This brings up the Frame Text tool. With this, you can click and drag on your canvas to make a bounding box to add your text inside. You can right-click in the box and select Insert Filler Text to fill your new test box.

You can also do this with any of the shapes in the toolbar menu.

Conclusion

Working with layers opens up whole new realms of creative possibilities for what you can do with your photos. If you are new to post-processing your photos or have been using an app like Lightroom, which has no layers, you have a lot to explore.

Take your time experimenting and familiarize yourself with the many options you have for working with layers in Affinity Photo.

I hope this article has provided you with a little insight into the potential of what you can do with layers. Now it’s up to you to take it beyond the basics and start creating masterpieces.

As you practice and try new things, please let us know in the comments below if you discover an aspect of working with layers in Affinity Photo that you think other readers might like to learn about.

The post An Introduction to Working with Layers in Affinity Photo appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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Getting Started With Affinity Photo Editing Software

06 Sep

The post Getting Started With Affinity Photo Editing Software appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Affinity Photo is a powerful image editing software. It’s both affordable and enjoyable to use.

But, as with any program for custom manipulation of photos, there is a reasonably steep learning curve involved. If you’re used to editing your images with Adobe Photoshop, you’ll find the interface is different. This will take only a little getting used to.

I haven’t been using Affinity Photo for very long and have found it to be well designed, allowing for intuitive use. Switching image editing programs is not something I choose to do lightly. When you’ve been used to a particular workflow within a computer program, there must be a reasonable motivation to change.

My motivation was partly price. Affinity Photo is a product you can purchase outright without any monthly subscription fees. It’s also discounted from time to time, making it even more affordable. Even still, at full price, it is very reasonable for the quality of the product you receive.

Tone map persona in Affinity Photo — The Tone Mapping Persona interface in Affinity Photo

Opening files in Affinity Photo

The first step is to open a photo file you want to edit. This is pretty straightforward and there are a few options for making it happen.

For Windows users, you can right-click an image file in your file manager and choose Affinity Photo from the list. If Affinity Photo is not listed (and it probably won’t be the first time you use it), click Choose Another App. You’ll then need to locate Affinity Photo on your C:/ drive and select it. Here you can also check the box at the bottom of the panel to always use Affinity Photo to open the type of image file you have chosen.

Using a Mac, you can simply open Affinity Photo, navigate to File in the top menu, and click Open. This also works on a PC.

You can also drag and drop photos from your file manager onto Affinity Photo when it’s running.

Affinity Photo opens all standard image types, including RAW files. There is no need for two separate programs to open and edit RAW files. Affinity Photo combines functions that require both Lightroom and Photoshop. I am finding this makes for a great image editing workflow.

opening a RAW file in Affinity Photo — Opening a RAW file in Affinity Photo

Becoming familiar with the interface

Once you’ve opened your first photo, you have a massive number of options available to work with. Let’s walk through some of the most important features and where to locate them in the user interface.

Under the main menu at the top you have the Persona and Context toolbars. Here you’ll find buttons for various Personas such as:

Photo Persona (for photo editing)
Liquify Persona (for manipulating distortion)
Develop Persona (for developing RAW images)
Tone Mapping Persona (for mapping image tones)
Export Persona (for when you’re ready to export your image)

As you select a Persona, the Context toolbar changes to include only the tools you’ll need with that Persona.

With the Develop Persona selected, the Context menu shows a different set of tools.

These tools allow you to control how you see your photo as you’re working on it. You can view a single instance of your image. There’s also a split-screen and a mirrored option. The mirrored option is shown below.

Within this Persona, you have a set of adjustment tools in the right-hand panel. These allow you to make similar adjustments to your RAW files as you can in Lightroom.

Once you’ve finished making the adjustments to your RAW image, click the blue Develop button in the top left corner. The interface changes to the Photo Persona, where you can continue to refine the edits on your image.

Here is how the Context toolbar looks when you have the Photo Persona selected while you’re editing your photos:

You have buttons for making auto adjustments to levels, contrast, color, and white balance.

When editing photos in the Photo Persona, you also have a specific set of relevant panels open. These panel sets make up your Studio of editing tools. They are also highly customizable. To show or hide various panels, go to View in the top menu, then select Studio.

Here I have the panels for Layers and Adjustments open:

Getting a feel for Affinity Photo

As you can see, there are many similarities between Affinity Photo and other image editing software. I’ve found that working in the Photo Persona is very similar to my workflow in Photoshop.

The Develop Persona took a little more getting used to. But it offers a very well-designed interface and makes working on RAW images straightforward once you get used to how it functions.

Like anything new, getting used to Affinity Photo takes some commitment and practice. This is true whether you’re new to photo editing or have been using other software to manipulate your images.

Having everything you need to edit RAW images from start to finish, including the option to use multiple layers, has been very satisfying.

Not having an image organizer included means you need to work with your operating system’s file manager or use an additional program. There are many free and cheap digital asset management programs that you can use to organize your photos.

Conclusion

For any photographer with years of experience using a particular brand of editing software, changing is a big step. If you’re new to photo editing, learning to use any photo imaging software manually is a big step, too.

Affinity Photo provides an impressive set of photo editing tools all within one application. I find it to be well laid out and intuitive to use after using Adobe products for many years.

For people new to photo editing, take the time to learn Affinity Photo. You’ll be able to use it to edit your photos just as well as any other available software.

The post Getting Started With Affinity Photo Editing Software appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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Affinity Photo is Available for a Three Month Free Trial

28 Mar

The post Affinity Photo is Available for a Three Month Free Trial appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Affinity Photo is Available for a Three Month Free Trial featured image

As coronavirus continues to take its toll on artists and designers everywhere, Serif has decided to act.

The company announced that their software, including Affinity Photo, will sell with a steep 50% discount, taking the normally inexpensive programs down to bargain-cheap levels:

$ 24.99 USD for Affinity Photo on desktop (either Mac or Windows), and just $ 9.99 USD for Affinity Photo on iPad.

And that’s not all:

Serif has also announced a 90 day free trial on all Affinity software. This means that anyone struggling to afford editing software during the coronavirus pandemic can use Affinity Photo for free. There’s no catch; you can try the software, with all features included, for the next three months.

As the Serif Managing Director explained, “[H]opefully these things will make life a little easier for people who rely on creative software to make a living but may be stuck at home without access to their usual tools, or for students who might suddenly be without access to their Affinity apps on their personal devices.”

For those of you unfamiliar with Affinity Photo, it’s one of the most popular Photoshop alternatives around. It’s known for its full-featured, layer-based software, sleek interface, and excellent price.

In fact, plenty of creatives have abandoned Adobe for Serif, given that the Serif program is comparable in its features and noticeably cheaper.

In some ways, the standard Affinity price (and the current, even lower, price) is unbelievable, because Affinity Photo just offers so much. The software comes with basic adjustment capabilities, but you also get advanced features such as focus stacking and HDR merging, plus a useful in-built RAW editor.

So if you’re someone who’s struggling to pay for your current software, or you’re looking for a way out of Adobe’s subscription model, or you just want to take advantage of a tremendous deal, then I recommend you head over to the Affinity website now.

Chances are that you’ll love Affinity Photo.

Now over to you:

Are there any other Photoshop alternatives that you’d recommend? If you’ve already started using Affinity Photo, what do you think of it?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Affinity Photo is Available for a Three Month Free Trial appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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Affinity Photo 1.8 update adds CR3 support, improved plugin support, better metadata handling and more

27 Feb

Serif has announced an update to its Affinity suite of software, including a version 1.8 update to Affinity Photo. Although not a major overhaul, the update does bring a number of much-requested features and changes.

One of the most welcomed changes in the Affinity 1.8 update is the addition of CR3 support. Now, Canon users can open images captured in Canon’s newest Raw file format. The update also improves lens correction tools, which includes the ability for manual correction override and better functionality when correcting Raw images captured with fixed focal length lenses. Serif has also added improved plugin support within Affinity Photo, including support for Nik Collection 2.5 from DxO.

Support for Canon’s CR3 files has been one of the most-requested features for Affinity Photo.

Other updates include new template functionality, a unified toolbar for macOS users and improved metadata handling that allows you to both edit IPTC data and import XMP metadata files for batch editing. The iPad version of Affinity Photo also gains customizable keyboard shortcuts, bringing it more in line with the desktop version of Affinity Photo.

From Affinity: ‘New support in Affinity Photo for user-editable fields in image metadata, including the IPTC standard for copyright and other information. Plus, save and import metadata files (XMP), batch whole folders of images and tag with appropriate ownership info, and more.’

Affinity Photo 1.8 should be available as an update across your desktop and mobile devices that already have it installed. To find out more or to purchase Affinity Photo, which is available on iPadOS, macOS and Windows devices, head over to Serif’s website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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