Double RAW Processing in Affinity Photo 2

[@catospanky]

Thank you for all you do for the AP community.

[@RobinWhalley]

You're very welcome.

[@markgilder9990]

Morning Robin. You are my first port of call for anything AffinityPhoto. Thank you.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thank you very much.

[@tonygreenwoodN10]

Great video - many thanks! That is a very useful new technique you've identified in AP2.

[@RobinWhalley]

Glad it was helpful. Thank you

[@nostaticatall]

Excellent tutorial.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thank you! Cheers.

[@bjnslc]

As someone who'd simply adjust the blues and yellows with ACR/Lightroom's hue slider, I appreciate seeing this elaborate workaround for perspective. I've been exploring my copy of Affinity Photo 2 in the wake of a recent Adobe Suite price hike. I'll hope for some batch workflow tools in Affinity version 3 and sign up for the Photo subset of the Adobe suite.

[@RobinWhalley]

You don't need to use a technique like this a lot but it can work wonders with some images.

[@CamVille]

My hope... Affinity comes up with a Lightroom alternative! This is all great for single images, but...

[@gabequezada2066]

So you happen to have a video of this exact topic but in regards to editing a pic of an apartment window where the inside and outside of a window to a room are exposed perfectly? They are called "window pulls" in real estate photography. Thank you

[@RobinWhalley]

Sorry, I don't have an example showing the type of photo you describe. I'm a landscape photographer so my examples are mostly landscapes with the odd city scene.

[@kemerthomson]

Although I have owned Affinity Photo 1 (AF1) from its beginning, I didn't invest much time in mastering it because Photoshop was available and at least the early versions of AF1 didn't seem to offer much. However, the new Affinity suite has me intrigued, especially given your videos. My initial criticism of AP2 was its very limited raw demosaicing, including minimal lens corrections, along with no way to attach a DCP profile. However, I already use DxO Photolab for most of my raw processing. So, I tried invoking PL6 from LR, did extensive edits, then exported it to AF2 as a DNG. AF2 seems to avoid the weird color shifts I have encountered between PL6 DNG and LR. Once final edits are done in AP2, it is trivial to import the result back into LR; in fact, you can export it as a PSD and layers are preserved for Photoshop. Admittedly, this seems like an awkward workflow, especially given that each product has an associated cost, but using the "best of breed" tool for each stage has advantages. It seems like there is a lot of potential here. This could seem to turn LR into little more than a very robust photo content manager.

[@000CloudStrife]

It always has been. Adobe raw and Lightroom are the same engine

[@alangauld6079]

Have you considered adopting PL6 as your content manager? That's what I do, I use it for selecting shots, tagging and scoring then do basic noise and lens corrections. I then export as a DNG into AP for "creative work" including any use of Nik collection. I make the final print or export from Affinity. PhotoLab used to be basic in its DAM capability(although better than Affinity!) but since PL5 I find it does more than I need. (And if I really needed more I could always use Adobe Bridge which is free!)

[@kemerthomson]

@@alangauld6079 I gave up at trying to make it work for me with PL4. Although I haven’t seriously re-evaluated its updated features since. I haven’t seen anything that suggests it has close to the functionality of LR (or CaptureOne). It took many years, but LR’s catalog/database has become both powerful and robust. I find it scales well to tens of thousands of images, and I have read testaments that it does well with hundreds of thousands. I would rather see DxO continue to focus their limited resources where they have clearly been doing so: in core editing features and algorithms. Expecting PhotoLab to replace LR is sure to disappoint users. However, if you can live with their content manager, PL6+Affinity Photo provides a competitive solution to LR+PS in many, if not most, photo editing areas.

[@alangauld6079]

@@kemerthomson You must use more features than me. I have around 50,000+ images and PL5 works for all that I need. I did use Bridge for a while but it was an extra bit of software bloat that didn't add value. Then I used Corel Aftershot and it was OK, but PL is a better raw editor so I'm happy with it for now. But if Affinity ever get around to releasing a DAM then I might switch.

[@stephencoyle8842]

Great video Robin, thanks. Hopefully this question is straightforward - I'm a little confused with the Develop Persona, both in its previous and current forms - what actually gets transferred to the Photo Persona when you hit the Develop button? Is it a slimmed down version of the RAW file with the amendments made? Is that why people have wanted to be able to "go back" and re-Develop? If not, why bother going back when all the filters/adjustments are in the Photo Persona anyway....

[@RobinWhalley]

In the previous version it would definitely be some form of image that's held in memory. It's possible they have used something like a TIFF format but you would need one of the developers to say for certain as nothing is saved other than to perhaps a temporary file. With the new version, I suspect it's the same when you choose a Pixel layer output. With the two RAW layer options it's probably some form of TIFF image (a DNG is just another form of TIFF I believe) with the RAW data either embedded or a link to the original RAW file. Not an easy one to answer. What I can answer is why people want to go back and redevelop, or at least I can for myself. I wanted to be able to use the double RAW processing technique as it's something I've done in Photoshop for years. It's also good to have the flexibility to return to the RAW file to apply tweaks to your adjustments if necessary. Sometimes you notice problems later in editing that should have been corrected during RAW conversion but which you missed. Now you can return to change them.

[@javiervvgarcia9650]

Very interesting! It seems that with these new two masking tools and degradate filter, it is not been necessary anymore optical degradated filters (so far I do not own those, and I think it never will take place...)

[@harvardkarbodie]

Around 2:23 he says "I can open the duplicate in the Photo Persona" but it appears to me to be in the Raw processing because the "Develop" button is still there, and then of course he continues to adjust the raw settings. I'm assuming he just misspoke, yes?

[@RobinWhalley]

Well spotted. It's a mistake. I meant to say that I can open the duplicate in the Develop Persona.

[@stefanmarch]

Interesting video Robin. I do most of my processing in Photolab 6 and only use Affinity 2 for a minority of photos. I would usually attempt the processing you did in this video in Photolab using local adjustments. How much better would the results be in Affinity?

[@RobinWhalley]

There's nothing stopping you from using DxO PhotoLab with Affinity Photo 2. I'm pretty sure that's what I did for the image in the video. Just edit your RAW file and then export it as a DNG to Affinity Photo. It then opens in the Photo Persona and you can use this double RAW processing technique. The new Range Masks in Affinity allow you to create more targeted adjustments than many of the RAW editor adjustments.

[@jd5787]

What I would like is tk be able to batch process raw easily. Like: do a bunch of minor edits on a selection of similar photos, apply the preset to a list of raw files and let the computer handle the processing. Right now it looks like I need to create the preset then apply it to every individual raw file. It is slow...

[@RobinWhalley]

I can't think of a way to do that in Affinity Photo. You would probably need to use some form of external automation software.

[@freetibet1000]

If you want to be able to do the type of edit Robin just did in this video on a batch of images in one go I suggest you take a look at Capture One. In there you’re free to do any sort of adjustments on separate layers (if you want) and apply it instantaneously to as many images you like. Even Luminosity masking can be applied to a whole batch and still be exactly precise for each image in the batch. It’s magic! These images can be exported simultaneously and to multiple output locations and formats, all at the same time. On top of that I’m sure you will find that Capture One has the best raw engine and colour science on the market as well. As expected, these super qualities comes with a hefty price tag though.

[@jd5787]

@@freetibet1000 hi! Thanks. C1 perpetual is on my shopping list for Black Friday :)

[@freetibet1000]

@@jd5787 Good luck my friend! If you’re new to C1 please give yourself enough time to get used to the new interface. Also, the interface is very flexible and you can rearrange it any way you want really. I’m pretty sure you will be pleased by the results you will get from C1 in the long run. 👍

[@freetibet1000]

@@jd5787 I’m also a heavy user of Affinity which I use for the more artistic (for the lack of a better term?) needs. Since I’m a graphic designer I find the whole suite of the Affinity setup invaluable! I have all my plugins setup in connection with Affinity, so my workflow becomes rather convoluted, at times! Ha ha!

[@hellssurprise9338]

Heya there people got a difficult question to ask about Affinity photo 2 you know where the layer bar is? How do I put adjustments there??? it's at the bottom of it currently I need it to be right by layers, channels and brushes hope people can help me out

[@RobinWhalley]

I'm not sure what you mean by the "Layer bar". Is it the row of icons that appear below the Layers Studio panel for activities like adding a layer mask, group or a new empty layer? If this is what you mean then you can't change it's location (at least I don't know how). It always appears along the bottom of the Studio Panel. It's also not a toolbar so you can't change the icons. If this isn't what you mean can you describe it in a little more detail and I will try to help.

[@bransoncarlton4939]

At first when I got Affinity Photo it was just a fleeing form the Adobe Cartel, and I thought that I would be happy if it could do most of what PS can do...but now I realize that it is really flexible and I have to think this technique is not available in PS. There are always more than one way to skin the cat! Affinity has some small issues but it also has many new tools!

[@RobinWhalley]

Affinity has some great tools but they often work in a slightly different way to Photoshop. This often causes long time Photoshop users to think that they don't work well or are missing. The technique in this video is also one that I've uesed for many years in Photoshop with Smart Objects. It's now possible in Affinity with the introduction of RAW layers. It would be easy to assume that because Affinity doesn't support Smart Objects in the same way as Photoshop, that it wouldn't be possible (which isn't the case). Bottom line, Affinity Photo is a great value and powerful tool.

[@000CloudStrife]

How close in quality does the raw developer come compared to Lightroom/photoshop and capture one for digital processing and printing?

[@RobinWhalley]

I'm finding that the quality of images produced from RAW files in Affinity Photo is just as good if not better than some of the leading RAW converters. That said, my favoured workflow at the moment is to preprocess my image using DxO PhotoLab and then export it as a DNG file to Affinity Photo. I've been extremly pleased with the results from this.

[@000CloudStrife]

@@RobinWhalley I should have been more specific why does x8 have more advanced processing options than affinity photo for raw?