Professional Image Editing Made Easy with Affinity Photo: Apply Affinity Photo Fundamentals into Your Workflows to Edit, Enhance, and Create Great Images

A comprehensive photo editing guide from a professional artist for Affinity 1.0 and 2.0 users covering best techniques to fix problems in edits and understand workflow Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Key Features Learn to use masking, selection, brushes, blend mode, and color tools in the photo editing workflow Unveil advanced personas used in the editing pipeline like tone mapping, liquification, and more Create your own brushes and build your artistic pallet in Affinity Photo Book Description In this book, you’ll explore the Affinity Photo program through practice-based learning as you make popular photo edits, learning the tools and techniques in conjunction with the workflow concept. Instead of comprehensive description of the tools, you’ll learn through practical application and understand why they work, not just how they work. This is neither a technical manual nor a workbook but a project-based hybrid approach that provides a deeper understanding of how to use each tool to achieve your goal. Starting with the fundamentals of navigating the interface, understanding layers, and making your first edit, this Affinity Photo book gradually increases the complexity of projects. You’ll go from single-layer edits, composites, and RAW development to putting together a complex composition using the tools that you've learned along the way. Additionally, you’ll learn the best practices used by expert photo editors for a flawless finish. By the end of this book, you’ll have a good body of work, be able to evaluate the edits you want to make, and achieve desired results with Affinity Photo. What you will learn Develop a repeatable methodology for use in your photo editing style Understand the most frequently utilized techniques by professional editors Complete a body of work for use and reference in future projects Develop your own libraries of assets, macros, and tone-mapping presets for your style Recreate popular editing styles used in print and film Recondition old family photos Understand and deconstruct other editing styles to expand your knowledge Who this book is for If you are a beginner to any form of photo editing or are a Photoshop user switching from Adobe, this book is for you. This book is also for small business owners who want to do brand-specific editing on stock photos but have limited experience in photo editing. Beginner-level editors, photographers, and people looking to get into product photography and advertising will be able to make the most out of this book. Table of Contents Fundamentals of Vector versus Raster Art and Basics of the Interface Opening Your First Document Layer Fundamentals – The Heart of Affinity Photo The Basics of Masking in Affinity Photo Selection and How to Achieve It in Affinity Photo Cropping and Composition Basics of Workflows and Balancing Dark and Light Blend Mode Fundamentals Basics of Stock Brushes in Affinity Photo Working with color in Affinity Photo Compositing in Affinity Photo Photo Restoration and Portrait Retouching in Affinity Photo Advanced Color Concepts and Grading Destructive Filters and Tools in Affinity Photo Creative Effects and Specialty Brushes in Affinity Photo Working with Text and Shapes in Affinity Photo Editing in Other Personas in Affinity Exporting and Artist Efficiency Tips Cover Title Page Copyright and Credits Contributors Table of Contents Preface Part 1: Foundational and Navigation Basics for Affinity Photo Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Vector versus Raster Art and Basics of the Interface Technical requirements Differentiating between raster (pixel) and vector-based images Why you would use one over the other, and how to choose the correct type of art Understanding DPI and why it matters Understanding the role image size plays in image quality Understanding color profile and how it factors into your image RGB CMYK The six areas of the Affinity Photo Interface Summary Chapter 2: Opening Your First Document Bringing in an existing photo into Affinity Photo for editing Creating a new document for a project Placing an image into an existing project Resizing the document you just created When you want to change the document size When you want to change the canvas size Creating presets and templates for use in other projects Creating presets Creating templates Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 3: Layer Fundamentals – The Heart of Affinity Photo Technical requirements Understanding layers What is rasterizing a layer? Working with layers – the demographics What are adjustment layers? What are live filter layers What are text layers? Layers – practical editing practice Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 4: The Basics of Masking in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Basics of masking and making your first mask Masking principles Making a simple mask on a Pixel layer Masking Adjustment layers or Live Filter layers When to use this technique Making a gradient mask Where is the gradient tool, and how do we read it Utilizing a clipping mask – vector Shape-based clipping masks Curve-based clipping masks Practical masking application The edit breakdown Operational steps Professional tips from this edit Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 5: Selection and How to Achieve It in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Principles of selection What is Affinity Photo doing when it selects? How to think of a selection – the three statements When do you use selection? What does a selection actually look like? Types of selection Tool-based selection Attribute-based selection Creating, adding to, and subtracting from a selection Universal steps in creating a selection Tool-based selection – using Selection Brush Attribute-based selection – tonal selection Saving a selection as a mask or channel What are a channel and a spare channel? Creating a spare channel When to use this technique Tricks for refining a tricky selection Example #1 – adding adjustment layers to increase differences and make better-defined edges Example #2 – adjusting a selection using the menu (Grow / Shrink...) Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Part 2: Fundamental Concepts Used to Create a Simple Edit Chapter 6: Cropping and Composition Technical requirements Cropping fundamentals What is cropping? The mental model for cropping a photo Using presets for cropping Reading the presets Creating your own presets Releasing or resizing a crop Using cropping tools to adjust photos Overlays The straightening tool The basics of composition Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 7: Basics of Workflows and Balancing Dark and Light Technical requirements What is a workflow? Cropping the image to get the focal points right! Setting the levels (using curves, levels, or Exposure Adjustment layers) for the entire image Applying a sharpen and blur adjustment layer to the image and masking out the areas that you do not want it to apply to Apply the color grading you want to your image Balance and finishing Intermediate concepts in composition – the three pillars of atmospheric perspective Pillar 1 – objects in the foreground are brighter Pillar 2 – objects in the foreground are more heavily saturated Pillar 3 – objects in the foreground have more details Applying the pillars A practical edit walkthrough for the workflow Tools to set exposure (levels of light and dark) Exposure Adjustment Levels Adjustment Curves Histogram – an aid in setting exposure Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 8: Blend Mode Fundamentals Technical requirements Blend modes and their uses The role of colors in blend modes Using blend modes in practical editing Blend modes and the application of textures Blend modes for the addition of elements in compositing Using blend modes and opacity together Blend modes in Adjustment and Live Filter layers Practical example Blend modes versus blend ranges Where do blend ranges show up? How to read the blend ranges Practical application of blend ranges Professional tips, tricks, and important points Tips to make your work more dynamic Summary Chapter 9: Basics of Stock Brushes in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Introduction to the brush studio panel Reading the Brushes panel Brush management (installing, deleting, and so on) Importing and exporting Exploring the individual parts of a brush The General tab The Dynamics tab Making your first brush Setting up the category Setting up your test space Building the brush Trialing and duplicating the brush Adjusting brush settings using the context toolbar Reading the context toolbar for brushes Applying the basics of brushes in an edit Steps in the edit Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 10: Working with Color in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Working with the Color panel and the Swatches panel Color studio panel The Swatches panel The three most used color spaces in photo editing The three color spaces Setting the color profile in the options menu Tools and adjustments used in color The fill bucket tool The gradient tool Practical editing using color grading Editing sequence Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Part 3 : The Practical Applications of Affinity Photo Chapter 11: Compositing in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Fundamentals of compositing What is a composite? The basics of perspective for compositing multiple images Finding images Shooting images for your library Basic compositing workflow The composition workflow Filter and layers used in compositing The Liquify filter The HSL Saturation Adjustment layer Practical composition edit Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 12: Photo Restoration and Portrait Retouching in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Exploring three common tools for photo retouching and restoration Clone stamp tool Inpainting brush The Blemish Removal tool Understanding the photo restoration workflow and its practical application Practical application What is frequency separation? Why would you use frequency separation? How to use frequency separation Portrait retouching workflow and practical application Practical application Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 13: Advanced Color Concepts and Grading Technical requirements The basics of color modes What is a color mode? So, what does 8-bit mean? The difference between 16- and 8-bit color modes What do I use most of the time and what is the best practice? Setting and modifying your color mode in Affinity Photo Adjustments and tools used in color grading Hue, saturation, and lightness adjustment Selective color adjustment layer Spilt Toning Adjustment layer Channel mixer adjustment Gradient maps Color balance Using curves to color grade LUTs Color grading practical applications Color grading practical edit 1 – teal and orange film look Color grading practical edit 2 – dynamic urban Color grading practical edit 3 – teal and pink neon Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 14: Destructive Filters and Tools in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Common destructive tools used in editing The Blur and Sharpen brushes The Dodge and Burn brushes The Sponge brush The Mesh Warp tool Destructive filters used in editing Motion Blur Depth of Field Blur Ripple Practical destructive edit Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 15: Creative Effects and Specialty Brushes in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Advanced brush concepts Different types of brushes Breaking down the intensity brushes Breaking down image brushes Working with layer effects Applying layer effects to images The practical application of layer effects Saving layer effects as styles Applying styles to new layers Specialty brush creation Creating a smoke/flame brush Creating fog brushes Creating particle brushes Creating atmospheric layers – the rain overlay Setting up the effect Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Part 4: Finishing Your Edit and Building Your Own Artistic Palette Chapter 16: Working with Text and Shapes in Affinity Photo Technical requirements Basics of text in Affinity Photo The Artistic Text Tool option The Frame Text Tool option Shapes in Affinity Photo Practical application of shapes – making a YouTube thumbnail Setting up the project Populating the project Finishing the image Making a personal gallery Setting up the gallery Adding the frames Adding lighting Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 17: Editing in Other Personas in Affinity Photo Technical requirements The Develop persona What is a RAW image and why shoot in it? Editing in the Develop persona The Liquify persona The Tone Mapping persona What does the Tone Mapping persona do? Working with the Tone Mapping persona The tools The studio panels Applying Tone Mapping Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Chapter 18: Exporting and Artist Efficiency Tips Technical requirements Fundamentals of exporting Exporting in Affinity Photo Reading the export window Exporting formats The Export persona Exploring the interface Creating a slice from the flat image Creating a slice from a single layer Saving a custom preset Artist efficiency techniques The Assets panel Working with macros and the Library panel Professional tips, tricks, and important points Summary Index Other Books You May Enjoy If you are a beginner to any form of photo editing or are a Photoshop user switching from Adobe, this book is for you. This book is also for small business owners who want to do brand-specific editing on stock photos but have limited experience in photo editing. Beginner-level editors, photographers, and people looking to get into product photography and advertising will be able to make the most out of this book.Covers Affinity Photo v.2