What are you working on (in January 2025)?

[Cristina]

  On 1/29/2025 at 6:39 PM, Susan Ewart said:

So much learn.  this is cool, it looks something like what I've heard as "color grading" and something called LUTs.  I'm trying to get back to the labs too.  After I get the wedding stuff out of the way, hopefully by mid March.  

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Yes, Susan, there is so much to learn. 😬 But I take one step after the other, otherwise it's overwhelming.

Right now, I am not watching any Scrapbook Tutorials, neither PSE nor Affinity, and that’s why I am looking forward to the next Affinity workshop.

I am learning the different tools and how to use them, like l learned PSP.  And, boy, there are so many other tools in Affinity! There are lots of possibilities for working in an undestructive way.

 I just got acquainted with Layers>New Live Filter Layer>Blur/Sharpen/Distort/Noise/Colors/Lighting/Shadow-Highlights.
In PSP, I usually duplicate a specific layer if it happens I change my mind about using some effect.  But I love this learning process.

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I did the same tutorial in PSE and I like the result better.

I think Affinity could have the Undo/Redo buttons, and Zoom In and Out (+ and - keyboard buttons) as PSP has. If there is such a thing, I haven't found it yet.
 

Edited January 30 by Cristina

[Cristina]

  On 1/29/2025 at 10:10 PM, Corrie Kinkel said:

Wow, I never heard of 3D/Extreme Shadows, but seeing the great depth in your layout it reminds me of the Shadow Box masterclass. Nice to see that you could create the effect now with Affinity.

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It's also my first time hearing about 3D/Exxtreme Shadows, and it sounds interesting. 
Besides the Shadow Box, it also reminded me of the 2018 Overflowing Masterclass.
 

[Ann Seeber]

Working strictly in PSP I followed the tutorial to color one part of a black & white image. It started with a color photo and erased the grayscale layer to revel the spot color underneath. I have a grayscale photo that I wanted to add color to the main subject, which is a cheetah and her cub sheltering from a strong wind, for my February Wild Cat Calendar. So I used my Smart Selection Brush to select the cat(s) and then I used the Changed to Target Brush to fill the selection with leopard pattern that I already have. It looks pretty good except for quite a few color artifacts on the part I colorized. I don't know what caused them or how to do it without them showing up unannounced. Here's the image with and without the color...

Edited January 30 by Ann Seeber

[Julie Magerka]

This photo came to me from a friend whose g'daughter this is. She is 11 years old! I used PSP for this layout. I tried doing the extraction in AFF and it worked fine, but I wasn't able to export the image as .png. I looked up how to do it, but when I tried, there was no option for any format but JPEG.

I extracted her from the white background and used materials from different designers. I just needed to do a layout since I haven't had much time lately.

[Julie Magerka]

  On 1/30/2025 at 1:14 PM, Ann Seeber said:

Working strictly in PSP I followed the tutorial to color one part of a black & white image. It started with a color photo and erased the grayscale layer to revel the spot color underneath. I have a grayscale photo that I wanted to add color to the main subject, which is a cheetah and her cub sheltering from a strong wind, for my February Wild Cat Calendar. So I used my Smart Selection Brush to select the cat(s) and then I used the Changed to Target Brush to fill the selection with leopard pattern that I already have. It looks pretty good except for quite a few color artifacts on the part I colorized. I don't know what caused them or how to do it without them showing up unannounced. Here's the image with and without the color...

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I really like this effect. I used it recently and I think it adds so much to a layout.

[Ann Seeber]

  On 1/30/2025 at 2:04 PM, Julie Magerka said:

I really like this effect. I used it recently and I think it adds so much to a layout.

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Thanks, Julie. Do you see the flecks of color in the colorized part? Any idea why that happened or how to not have it happen? Maybe @Cassel has an answer for me...

Edited January 30 by Ann Seeber

[Rene Marker]

  On 1/30/2025 at 2:02 PM, Julie Magerka said:

 I tried doing the extraction in AFF and it worked fine, but I wasn't able to export the image as .png. I looked up how to do it, but when I tried, there was no option for any format but JPEG.

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You can export to png files but only in Affinity Designer.

[Cassel]

  On 1/30/2025 at 2:02 PM, Julie Magerka said:

I tried doing the extraction in AFF and it worked fine, but I wasn't able to export the image as .png. I looked up how to do it, but when I tried, there was no option for any format but JPEG.

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When you Export, you should have a drop-down list of file formats and PNG is there (the first one).

[Jannette Nieuwboer]

  On 1/30/2025 at 2:02 PM, Julie Magerka said:

Deze foto kwam van een vriendin van wie dit de kleindochter is. Ze is 11 jaar oud! Ik heb PSP gebruikt voor deze layout. Ik heb geprobeerd de extractie in AFF te doen en het werkte prima, maar ik kon de afbeelding niet exporteren als .png. Ik heb opgezocht hoe ik dat moest doen, maar toen ik het probeerde, was er geen optie voor een ander formaat dan JPEG.

Ik haalde haar uit de witte achtergrond en gebruikte materialen van verschillende ontwerpers. Ik moest alleen een lay-out maken omdat ik de laatste tijd niet veel tijd had.

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@Julie Magerka Dit is echt helemaal de stijl van Julie. Dat vind ik zo leuk dat iedereen zo zijn/haar eigen stijl heeft.

[Corrie Kinkel]

  On 1/30/2025 at 2:02 PM, Julie Magerka said:

This photo came to me from a friend whose g'daughter this is. She is 11 years old! I used PSP for this layout. I tried doing the extraction in AFF and it worked fine, but I wasn't able to export the image as .png. I looked up how to do it, but when I tried, there was no option for any format but JPEG.

I extracted her from the white background and used materials from different designers. I just needed to do a layout since I haven't had much time lately.

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Lovely and I like the detail of the ballet shoes and the soft colors! 

[Julie Magerka]

  On 1/30/2025 at 2:48 PM, Ann Seeber said:

Thanks, Julie. Do you see the flecks of color in the colorized part? Any idea why that happened or how to not have it happen? Maybe @Cassel has an answer for me...

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Wouldn't have noticed but for your mentioning it! Hope Carole can help with that.

[Julie Magerka]

  On 1/30/2025 at 3:04 PM, Cassel said:

When you Export, you should have a drop-down list of file formats and PNG is there (the first one).

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I didn't notice the top dropdown list. I was only opening the lower file type list!!!! Oh duh!!!!

[Julie Magerka]

  On 1/30/2025 at 4:41 PM, Julie Magerka said:

I didn't notice the top dropdown list. I was only opening the lower file type list!!!! Oh duh!!!!

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And since you're being so helpful, do you know any way to control the size of the windows in AFF? If I move a window too much, it jumps into full size and then I have to drag the corners and keep adjusting to get it more manageable. Seems like a lot of time spent doing that.

Edited January 30 by Julie Magerka

[Cristina]

  On 1/30/2025 at 9:35 AM, Cristina said:

I think Affinity could have the Undo/Redo buttons, and Zoom In and Out (+ and - keyboard buttons) as PSP has. If there is such a thing, I haven't found it yet.

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Thanks to a photographer's post, I found another easier way to zoom in and out than the Zoom tool (Z).

It's from the Navigator Panel. The more we work with it, the more we learn. 

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Edit: Also, you can keep the Ctrl key pressed and scroll to zoom in or use the keyboard + and -. 

Edited January 30 by Cristina

[Julie Magerka]

  On 1/30/2025 at 4:46 PM, Cristina said:

I have found another and easier way to zoom in and out besides the Zoom tool (Z). Thanks to a photographer's post.

It's from the Navigator Panel. The more we work with it, the more we learn. 

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Yeah, check with me in about two to three years, and I should be quite fluent in Affinity, if I don't give up before then!😛

[Cristina]

  On 1/30/2025 at 4:49 PM, Julie Magerka said:

Yeah, check with me in about two to three years, and I should be quite fluent in Affinity, if I don't give up before then!😛

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Same here! 🤣

[Cassel]

  On 1/30/2025 at 1:14 PM, Ann Seeber said:

Working strictly in PSP I followed the tutorial to color one part of a black & white image. It started with a color photo and erased the grayscale layer to revel the spot color underneath. I have a grayscale photo that I wanted to add color to the main subject, which is a cheetah and her cub sheltering from a strong wind, for my February Wild Cat Calendar. So I used my Smart Selection Brush to select the cat(s) and then I used the Changed to Target Brush to fill the selection with leopard pattern that I already have. It looks pretty good except for quite a few color artifacts on the part I colorized. I don't know what caused them or how to do it without them showing up unannounced. Here's the image with and without the color...

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The Change to target command is not the best to use for colorizing because it changes one color to another with no option to tweak it. It works

I have plans for one masterclass about colorizing black and white photo but I would add the color to a separate layer. That gives you flexibility to add/remove sections and change the colors independently from the rest of the image or other sections you want to color.

As for the artifacts, I don't know why they are there. Maybe the Change to target was not applied to those areas??

[Julie Magerka]

This image was just too cute to pass up. I saw it, copied it from FB (the Cincinnati Zoo video post), and used it in AFF. (Quality not great). I didn't have too much trouble using the tools I wanted, but I feel so bumbling and awkward working in that environment. Just a simple layout with some elements (from ET Designs) and brush work. Used Adjustment Recolor to change the background and overlay edge. Fonts are Belmonth (script) and Tuce.

Oh, and he's a porcupine.

Edited January 30 by Julie Magerka

[Susan Ewart]

  On 1/30/2025 at 1:14 PM, Ann Seeber said:

Working strictly in PSP I followed the tutorial to color one part of a black & white image. It started with a color photo and erased the grayscale layer to revel the spot color underneath. I have a grayscale photo that I wanted to add color to the main subject, which is a cheetah and her cub sheltering from a strong wind, for my February Wild Cat Calendar. So I used my Smart Selection Brush to select the cat(s) and then I used the Changed to Target Brush to fill the selection with leopard pattern that I already have. It looks pretty good except for quite a few color artifacts on the part I colorized. I don't know what caused them or how to do it without them showing up unannounced. Here's the image with and without the color...

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That is really neat Ann.  I only noticed the artifacts once you mentioned them.  Could you use the clone tool on them?

[Ann Seeber]

  On 1/31/2025 at 3:37 AM, Susan Ewart said:

That is really neat Ann.  I only noticed the artifacts once you mentioned them.  Could you use the clone tool on them?

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It looks daunting for the clone tool, Suz. I'll use a different fill method next time, as Carole mentioned. Thanks!+

[Cristina]

  On 1/30/2025 at 11:44 PM, Julie Magerka said:

This image was just too cute to pass up. I saw it, copied it from FB (the Cincinnati Zoo video post), and used it in AFF. (Quality not great). I didn't have too much trouble using the tools I wanted, but I feel so bumbling and awkward working in that environment. Just a simple layout with some elements (from ET Designs) and brush work. Used Adjustment Recolor to change the background and overlay edge. Fonts are Belmonth (script) and Tuce.

Oh, and he's a porcupine.

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Julie, what a cutie photo of him holding the corn on the cob.  Love the layout too!

      "...but I feel so bumbling and awkward working in that environment."

It also feels different for me.  I am not familiar with all the tools available and their respective settings.  But I remember it was the same when I started learning PSP. 

I am going through the same process again, and I am happy with every bit of discovery I make in Affinity and PSE. 

I know more now than when I started the Affinity Bootcamp. 😄 

[Mary Solaas]

I did a B&W photo with color showing through early last year. Not sure what discussion in the forum prompted it, but this was my take on it. I started with a photo from Laurie (a duplicate of course), made it into a black and white photo, erased the portion of the flower (I see that there is a portion I didn't erase in the middle of the flower). In my pspimage the color photo is the bottom layer and the black and white photo is the next layer. Since the 2 were together, I then just started erasing the flower on the top layer. The completed flower image wasn't accepted so I will post it next.

[Mary Solaas]

This is the result.

[Susan Ewart]

  On 1/31/2025 at 8:14 AM, Ann Seeber said:

It looks daunting for the clone tool, Suz. I'll use a different fill method next time, as Carole mentioned. Thanks!+

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I wonder if Affinity has a spot-healing brush and I wonder how it works if it did have one.  

[Susan Ewart]

  On 1/31/2025 at 10:28 AM, Cristina said:

 

Julie, what a cutie photo of him holding the corn on the cob.  Love the layout too!

      "...but I feel so bumbling and awkward working in that environment."

It also feels different for me.  I am not familiar with all the tools available and their respective settings.  But I remember it was the same when I started learning PSP. 

I am going through the same process again, and I am happy with every bit of discovery I make in Affinity and PSE. 

I know more now than when I started the Affinity Bootcamp. 😄 

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Guess who just bought PSE 2024 (stand Alone).  Yup, me.  First there was none to be had, then I was on Amazon again and there was licenses available only for Canada so I jumped on it.  I decided on PSE because I have previously downloaded PS styles not knowing what they were so that was deciding factor.  And I have some PS brushes that are too large to convert to using in PSP, even using ABR Mate.  Maybe PSE will open them. I remember how foreign PSP was and how much I struggled but kept going anyway.  I think everyone is doing fabulous.  The layouts you are making are beautiful.