Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Digital Image Processing => Topic started by: Pictus on November 10, 2016, 01:08:51 pm
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Affinity Photo for Windows - BETA
Finally!
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/windows/
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4686872/Affinity.jpg) (https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/windows/)
https://youtu.be/rlWdvjqGlik
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Affinity Photo for Windows - BETA
Finally!
Yes, I was already downloading, as I'm writing this.
Cheers,
Bart
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As a Mac user who has been abusing the Mac Beta of v1.5, I am interested to see if the Windows beta is different.
kirk
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Seems as though Photoshop is getting some major competition recently. All of my work is done on PS/CS6 & LR, but I've had Affinity Photo for a while just to explore. Some issues with the UI, but they are adding to it on a regular basis, and you can't beat the price. When I have time I'll give it some more attention. My main issue is the floating image in an oversized window, not very useful in my workflow. I've been trying to find a way around that, but so far to no avail. Perhaps at some point they will include that as an option or preference to let the image open it its own "restrained" window that can be enlarged if necessary, as in PS. Otherwise I will of course be working in PS & LR. On the other hand there is also a new kid on the block, again only for Mac at this point. Here's the link to Luminar(https://macphun.com/blog/luminar-photo-editor-for-mac-intro), which will at the very least give Affinity Photo a run for its money. It's almost there already, before the release. I've pre-ordered it at a much reduced price, just to see what they have and how it compares. Looks very interesting.
Gary
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Installed it last night. Although I'll be sticking with LR as my primary converter/twiddler/cataloguer, I can't justify paying for PS and I'd prefer to avoid the subscription model. Until a year ago I was still running an ancient version for the things LR can't do, but moving to 64bits killed it. So I'm happy to have this alternative.
I notice that they also have a free Windows beta of their "designer" program... don't know if I'll ever use it, but since it was free... :)
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I'll be sticking with LR as my primary converter
From what I've seen from an initial experiment, that's a wise choice. It's raw conversion capabilities seem pretty second rate.
It also differs with what it thinks is 100% view with LR/ACR.
There also seems to be some oddities with it's display system, a bit slow to update.
A lot that's the same as every other image editor, but a few new concepts and ways of working to understand.
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I'll be giving the Windows version a try soon, but it will be hard to break my addiction to LR and PSCS6.
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It's raw conversion capabilities seem pretty second rate.
Do you mean the raw conversion per se, or the facilities for modifying the image at that stage, ie WB, tone curve etc?
I noticed that v1.4 of the Mac version allows the selection of any of 6 different raw converters, so I'd have thought the basic de-mosaicising etc would be well covered...
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Do you mean the raw conversion per se, or the facilities for modifying the image at that stage, ie WB, tone curve etc?
I noticed that v1.4 of the Mac version allows the selection of any of 6 different raw converters, so I'd have thought the basic de-mosaicising etc would be well covered...
Hi,
The Windows Beta seems to only offer one Raw engine: Serif Labs. It can be found under the Develop's Assistant Manager.
It is not all that bad, but its conversions are sensitive to False Color artifacts and Mazing artifacts.
Cheers,
Bart
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Does Affinity promise to do something better or more than one can do in LR or PS? Just wondering if there is a reason to go through learning a new interface...
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Does Affinity promise to do something better or more than one can do in LR or PS? Just wondering if there is a reason to go through learning a new interface...
For many, it's the lack of being tied to a subscription based software model...
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For many, it's the lack of being tied to a subscription based software model...
Yes, and the price is probably more affordable that an eternal money tap.
It also has a number of more innovative controls than LR or PS, and it's made with the use of GPU acceleration in the basic design, which should allow a responsive system, e.g. with a (growing?) number of Live filter layers that update instantly as their controls are tweaked.
Of course, things start with a good Raw conversion, and that's where it is currently lacking a bit in my (spoiled with Capture One quality) opinion. The apparent option to choose a Raw conversion engine is promising, but I'm not sure which options will become available. Apparently, on the Mac OS version, there are already several options available but I do not know which, and how they differ.
Raw conversions can be opened as 32-bit HDR files, which would allow lots of postprocessing with reduced risk of quantization artifacts (e.g. posterization). Chromatic aberrations seem (needs to be confirmed) to be corrected before Raw conversion/demosaicing, which would be good for a higher resolution Raw conversion.
Cheers,
Bart
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It does not have a scripting backend, which seems limiting to me.
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It does not have a scripting backend, which seems limiting to me.
I think the ability to create macros and batch work covers more options than most users will ever need in this area.
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Just wondering if there is a reason to go through learning a new interface...
Having spent some more time with it today;
It's not really much of a 'new interface' as so much of it is same as other image editing programs, you should be able to get on with basic work immediately.
There are some different ways of doing some things, but the video tutorials on Vimeo are very helpful. There's a lot to like.
When they finally sell it and if you're on the beta program you'll probably get an introductory offer when it's released, if they have the same policy as when launching Affinity Designer. At £30 it will be great value.
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Thanks all for the thoughts. I signed up for the beta and have spent a little time with it - I like the look and feel better than PS, but haven't so far seen much else. Re: avoiding the subscription costs, I'd still want LR - apart from the DAM, there's a lot you can do there before conversion from RAW. But for the cost it seems a straightforward buy when released.
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Problems with installation on Windows 8.1
The installation program tries to download MSFT Net Framework 4.6.2. which fails and aborts the installation process
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Problems with installation on Windows 8.1
The installation program tries to download MSFT Net Framework 4.6.2. which fails and aborts the installation process
Hi,
Not sure if it's because that version of the Net Framework is not supported in Windows 8.1, but can you perhaps first install that Net Framework manually?
Affinity Photo is growing in my appreciation of its editing capabilities, including the Stacked layers functionality, and fast/live processing.
The Raw conversion quality, although misunderstood by many, is quite decent, if it weren't for the false color artifacts and mazing artifacts. The native Raw processing is done in an unbound 32 bit float colorspace, and the user can choose the output profile and use the default or create one's own Tonemapping. Raw noise reduction is optional but not spectacular.
But once converted, one can invoke Photoshop Plugins that do a much better noise reduction job than most editors allow anyway. As far as I've tried, the NeatImage and Topaz plugins seem to work.
Cheers,
Bart
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It is growing on me as well. I think I am going to buy it, the release offer is certainly a bargain. Pretty cheap really. Especially for what it can do.
Alan
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It is growing on me as well. I think I am going to buy it, the release offer is certainly a bargain. Pretty cheap really. Especially for what it can do.
Hi Alan,
I agree. For its capabilities, it's a real bargain, and I didn't hesitate long before purchasing it now that it is officially available. Several tools surpass the capabilities of Photoshop and the people at Serif are capable and pleasant folks to do business with. Their instructional videos are well made, short and to the point, and will get people up and running in no time.
Cheers,
Bart
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I purchased the Windows version as well, a no-brainer especially at this price point for so many powerful features. It also recognized the few pug-ins that I have, quite impressed as well!
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Of course, things start with a good Raw conversion, and that's where it is currently lacking a bit in my (spoiled with Capture One quality) opinion. The apparent option to choose a Raw conversion engine is promising, but I'm not sure which options will become available. Apparently, on the Mac OS version, there are already several options available but I do not know which, and how they differ.
Hi Bart - On a mac the raw conversion options are either Serif Labs or Apple (Core Image RAW), somehow I don't think you'll be seeing the CaptureOne engine any time soon !
Has anyone managed to get Focus Magic (Ps plugin) to work in Affinity ?
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Has anyone managed to get Focus Magic (Ps plugin) to work in Affinity ?
I don't have Focus Magic, but its listed as working by Serif.
http://www.miguelboto.com/affinity/photo/plugins-support/
Cheers,
Graham
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Hi Bart - On a mac the raw conversion options are either Serif Labs or Apple (Core Image RAW), somehow I don't think you'll be seeing the CaptureOne engine any time soon !
Unfortunately no ;) Apparently the choice offered on the MacOS version is just the default OS raw converter. And while I'm not blown away by the Serif Raw converter, the PhotoEditor is quite powerful.
Has anyone managed to get Focus Magic (Ps plugin) to work in Affinity ?
Yes, it works (on Windows 10 anyway), In the preferences select Plugins and just add the folder of the plugin version that got installed in the Photoshop Plugins folder, check 'Allow "Unknown" plugins to be used', restart Affinity Photo and select Filters Plugins.
Cheers,
Bart
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Thanks, Bart. Yes I've done that but on the latest version of CC, Adobe has 'moved' the plugin folders to a centralised 'Application Support' Library folder , separate from the Photoshop subdirectories (at least on Mac OS X) and this is adding difficulties to Affinity plugin compatibility.
Graham, above, kindly posted a link to Affinity plug-in support (thank you, Graham) but I can tell you that that list doesn't reflect my experience. Both Topaz Clarity & Detail, to name but two, don't work consistently - so much so that, IMO, it's not worth the trouble - yet.
It's a good, very good app, but the reality, I suspect, is that we've been become too ingrained into the Photoshop 'way' over the years , which is still the industry standard, and my guess is it'll remain so - not least because of extensive plug-in usage and macro programming. Affinity is a great program as a 'Layers for C1 / Lr', and easy to incorporate into a workflow as long as one keeps it simple. Interesting Haze Removal filter and good implementation of both Frequency Separation and Liquify too - though Liquify is nowhere near as accomplished as the latest Adobe version.
A more extensive plug-in compatibility program would go a long way to improving its usefulness as a Ps replacement, though I can see it's a more attractive proposition to users of CS6, less so to users of CC.
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Graham, above, kindly posted a link to Affinity plug-in support (thank you, Graham) but I can tell you that that list doesn't reflect my experience. Both Topaz Clarity & Detail, to name but two, don't work consistently - so much so that, IMO, it's not worth the trouble - yet.
If you click on the symbol beside each plugin name, it gives some extra information about reliability. Focus magic seems to be one of the few that is meant to run without issue.
It's a great pity, as a low cost option to run photoshop plugins would be very useful.
Apparently, although there is a standard for photoshop plugins, in practice plugins don't follow this strictly and Serif will need the plugin developers to help make them compatible. Topaz seem to have the same problem with PhotoFXlab, which is also meant to run any photoshop compatible plugins, but doesn't. At least this is what I have gathered from the respective forums.
In terms of Affinity, Topaz have said they will look into making their plugins compatible if enough users ask for it.
Cheers,
Graham
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In terms of Affinity, Topaz have said they will look into making their plugins compatible if enough users ask for it.
Graham
The Topaz plug-ins I have work on my Windows version, as Bart mentioned you must check the 'Unknown" checkbox first.
Dave
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The Topaz plug-ins I have work on my Windows version, as Bart mentioned you must check the 'Unknown" checkbox first.
Dave
Thanks, I haven't tried to run any yet, I was just going on what Serif and Topaz had said.
But the Serif list is Mac only, which Serif have said is likely to be similar for Windows (except PTLens, which does't work on Windows) and they have just posted on their forum "Due to the constant updates there may be some inaccuracies even for the Mac list." So maybe with the 1.5 release, things work better than the list suggests.
Cheers,
Graham