Oscraps

Affinity scrapper??? Anyone???

Jam-on-toast

Jam-on-toast

Well-Known Member
CHEERY O
Hi fellow scrappers,

I've been wondering if there is anyone here who uses Affinity Designer (or Affinity Photo) to scrap? I know most people - unlike me - use Photoshop, but I am hoping to find some Affinitians - is that even a word? - to exchange tips and tricks with...

Keeping fingers crossed and wishing you a nice weekend,
Hugs,
Olga
 
I do, I have both photo and designer on both laptop and iPad. I think it’s much better than photoshop. I use the iPad versions mostly though because I have pretty bad arthritis and find the iPad lighter on my legs and the pencil is easier than a mouse.
 
I’m a designer here at the O (using Photoshop CC) and have been learning Affinity so I can make sure my kits and templates will work. Its going well so far — just a bit of a learning curve when it comes to effects like shadowing and using clipping masks. i also sell tons of brushes and want to be sure they work too.

How do you move kits to your iPad? Are you a Mac or PC person?
 
Vicky... have you come across the recent issue when PSD files (templates) where some of the elements with effects applied to them - shading, transparency, not sure eactly what - open in Affinity with those elements missing altogether? it's nothing huge, usually a clipping mask for a photo - a banal rectangle that I can easily add - but it's a shock when I open the file to work with and ...ooops... I need to go back and downloand pngs...
 
Craftyann said:
I do, I have both photo and designer on both laptop and iPad. I think it’s much better than photoshop. I use the iPad versions mostly though because I have pretty bad arthritis and find the iPad lighter on my legs and the pencil is easier than a mouse.
Click to expand...
I can't imagine scrapping on the iPad... how do you access the kits? And with a pen, not a mouse???

Though I imagine sitting down under a blossoming cherry tree with an iPad on my lap and scrapping dreamily would be something I'd like to try...
 
Jam-on-toast said:
Vicky... have you come across the recent issue when PSD files (templates) where some of the elements with effects applied to them - shading, transparency, not sure eactly what - open in Affinity with those elements missing altogether? it's nothing huge, usually a clipping mask for a photo - a banal rectangle that I can easily add - but it's a shock when I open the file to work with and ...ooops... I need to go back and downloand pngs...
Click to expand...
I haven run into that yet, but I do know is a problem. It’s got something to do with rather new changes in Photoshop.
 
Jam-on-toast said:
I can't imagine scrapping on the iPad... how do you access the kits? And with a pen, not a mouse???

Though I imagine sitting down under a blossoming cherry tree with an iPad on my lap and scrapping dreamily would be something I'd like to try...
Click to expand...
I move my files using the cloud Files app on my iPad, but you can use Dropbox too. And yes, I use my Apple Pencil. I only use my Wacom pen on my computer (no mouse for anything at all) so for me it’s not much different.
 
i wanted to try affinity but could not launch it on either my desktop and laptop ,both have windows 10
 
zanthia said:
i wanted to try affinity but could not launch it on either my desktop and laptop ,both have windows 10
Click to expand...
Silly question, but do you have the correct version? I run it on my windowns 10 and never had any issues. I know they have different versions for mac and windows... I've been thinking of switching to Mac but don't fancy buying Affinity again...
 
Vicki Robinson said:
I move my files using the cloud Files app on my iPad, but you can use Dropbox too. And yes, I use my Apple Pencil. I only use my Wacom pen on my computer (no mouse for anything at all) so for me it’s not much different.
Click to expand...
No mouse???? I can't even imagine that... My notebook has a touchscreen which I love - expecially for scrawling up/down but no mouse is inconcerivable for me.. On a different note, I'm surprised so few people have heard of Affinity...
 
Jam-on-toast said:
No mouse???? I can't even imagine that... My notebook has a touchscreen which I love - expecially for scrawling up/down but no mouse is inconcerivable for me.. On a different note, I'm surprised so few people have heard of Affinity...
Click to expand...
I’ve been mouse-less for more than 10 years - the Wacom pen acts as my mouse and it’s perfect for me. It’s programmable, so I‘ve programmed many of the common photoshop functions into it. I do lots of extractions for my products, and the pen allows me to be much more precise. the tablet itself is also programmable, so the buttons do all sorts of actions for me.
 
Jam-on-toast said:
Silly question, but do you have the correct version? I run it on my windowns 10 and never had any issues. I know they have different versions for mac and windows... I've been thinking of switching to Mac but don't fancy buying Affinity again...
Click to expand...
Email them - sometimes they’ll let you swap licenses.
 
Jam-on-toast said:
Silly question, but do you have the correct version? I run it on my windowns 10 and never had any issues. I know they have different versions for mac and windows... I've been thinking of switching to Mac but don't fancy buying Affinity again...
Click to expand...
i downloaded the demo so i think it would have to be the latest version - this was last year.
 
Jam-on-toast said:
Vicky... have you come across the recent issue when PSD files (templates) where some of the elements with effects applied to them - shading, transparency, not sure eactly what - open in Affinity with those elements missing altogether? it's nothing huge, usually a clipping mask for a photo - a banal rectangle that I can easily add - but it's a shock when I open the file to work with and ...ooops... I need to go back and downloand pngs...
Click to expand...
I’ve just opened several of my own templates in Affinity Photo for my iPad and they all seem to work as expected. While researching possible issues, it seems the problem occurs with “shapes” that a designer as not “rasterized” or “simplified” before saving the template. That issue seems to have been caused by changes in the way Photoshop CC handles the shapes themselves. I don’t find any problems with the effects applied to the layers.

When you have time, feel free to grab (using your coupon) one or two of my new layered quick pages (because they have both photo spots and layer effects) and test them. I’d be interested to see how they work for you.
 
Vicki Robinson said:
I’ve just opened several of my own templates in Affinity Photo for my iPad and they all seem to work as expected. While researching possible issues, it seems the problem occurs with “shapes” that a designer as not “rasterized” or “simplified” before saving the template. That issue seems to have been caused by changes in the way Photoshop CC handles the shapes themselves. I don’t find any problems with the effects applied to the layers.

When you have time, feel free to grab (using your coupon) one or two of my new layered quick pages (because they photo spots and layer effects) and test them. I’d be interested to see how they work for you.
Click to expand...
Oh, thank you! You might be onto something. Yes, you are right, it is usually about basic shapes, not effects applied to them. I'll let the other designer know... Your quickpages open as they should... looks like I'll be making a page soon... :)
 
I installed Affinity Photo on my M1 Big Sur Mac laptop and use it regularly for making origami diagrams. There are a few cool features, but I cannot imagine making the kind of LO's that are my style with it, primarily b/c I can't do the complex masking that's part of my style. I'm just learning to use the Affinity pen tool and have decided I hate it. The real deal breaker though is that the GUI is horrible for someone like me with mild vision issues. I haven't done serious digiscrapping since March but now that I'm participating in the December party, I'm remembering just how much easier it is to do stuff in Photoshop. It's not just a learning curve. Some features that are a critical part of my workflow don't exist in Affinity (I checked the help forums). When I have to upgrade my Mac to Big Sur/Monterey, I will bite the bullet and pay for a Photoshop CC subscription.
 
Ona suggested having a central thread for Affinity hints, so I'm posting process notes for this LO
Letters from the Earth - Anna Lift

Letters from the Earth - Anna Lift

  • Media owner hoodsmom
  • Date added
  • Comments 8
Process notes for the big image...
I still have the same complaints I did in 2021 about Affinity and I am sticking to v1 because the v2 GUI was even worse for me given my low vision issues. But I'm more willing to scrap with it and am learning what I can and cannot do in Affinity compared to Photoshop. The 2nd biggest issue for me is that there is no way to lock the focus to the layer you want to work with. I can't tell you how many times I have had hours of work ruined because I didn't realize I was working on the wrong layer. Third biggest issue, which is close to being a deal-breaker, is no way to turn off unhelpful GUI elements that get in the way so you can't see what you're doing. I checked around Black Friday 2024 on the Affinity Forum and people with similar complaints said none of these issues have been fixed in the current iteration of v2.

Instruction1.jpg
Oops. Instruction 3 should have said: Merged the layer then dropped it onto the text...
I have found that at least in v1, creating a child layer is devilishly hard because the drop zone is so hard to hit. My understanding is that in v2 the drop zones may have been improved.

Instruction2.jpg
Reference for steps 3-4: youtube dot com/watch?v=j8jszUpmSM0

Instruction3.jpg
 
Angela Toucan said:
I have a YouTube channel for digi-scrapping with Affinity. You can find the link in the about me bit of my user profile.
Click to expand...
Angela, I am so grateful for your Affinity tips and tutorials - you've inspired me to try a few and as a result I spent hours playing with the software.

One thing I've been wondering about... I love sketch effect on photos and have tried a couple of how-to videos from YT - successfully. One of the tutorials even offers a free macro, but when I installed it, not much happened to the photo I was trying to apply the effect to. I also tried recording my own steps and turn them into macro - didn't work for me either. Have you tried creative photo editing with Affinity? I own both Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo - version 1 for both and the tutorials I tried had all been posted before v2 became available.
 
hoodsmom said:
Ona suggested having a central thread for Affinity hints, so I'm posting process notes for this LO
Letters from the Earth - Anna Lift

Letters from the Earth - Anna Lift

  • Media owner hoodsmom
  • Date added
  • Comments 8
Process notes for the big image...
I still have the same complaints I did in 2021 about Affinity and I am sticking to v1 because the v2 GUI was even worse for me given my low vision issues. But I'm more willing to scrap with it and am learning what I can and cannot do in Affinity compared to Photoshop. The 2nd biggest issue for me is that there is no way to lock the focus to the layer you want to work with. I can't tell you how many times I have had hours of work ruined because I didn't realize I was working on the wrong layer. Third biggest issue, which is close to being a deal-breaker, is no way to turn off unhelpful GUI elements that get in the way so you can't see what you're doing. I checked around Black Friday 2024 on the Affinity Forum and people with similar complaints said none of these issues have been fixed in the current iteration of v2.

View attachment 438916
Oops. Instruction 3 should have said: Merged the layer then dropped it onto the text...
I have found that at least in v1, creating a child layer is devilishly hard because the drop zone is so hard to hit. My understanding is that in v2 the drop zones may have been improved.

View attachment 438917
Reference for steps 3-4: youtube dot com/watch?v=j8jszUpmSM0

View attachment 438918
Click to expand...

This is some pretty advanced scrapping! Love your page and all the blending you did here!

I totally understand your frustration about not liking a software and struggling to find your way to it. And Affinity and Photoshop are VERY different - when I was shopping for my new scrapbooking software (because my trusted CraftArtist had been discontinued) I couldn't do anything in Photoshop without detailed instructions - not even add a background paper to my project and it frustrated me immensely. So, I chose Affinity because it had a somewhat similar interface to what I was used to. I know I wouldn't be able to scrap with the software I hated.

I don't really understand what you mean by not being able to keep GUI elements out of the way when scrapping, but one way of making sure you don't work on the wrong layer is to LOCK the layers you don't want to touch - this way you won't be able to click on them.
 
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