• Affinity Suite
• Affinity Photo Tethering
• Affinity Photo Cr3 Raw
• Affinity Photo 1.8 Review

Affinity Photo 1.8 is here, and as usual is free to existing users on the platform(s) you have purchased a license for. Read our handy guide—How to install Affinity updates—if you need any help updating.

Let’s take a look at what’s new in Affinity Photo 1.8…

Affinity Photo has become the first choice for photography and creative professionals around the world, who love its speed, power and precision. Born to work hand-in-hand with the latest powerful computer technology, it’s the only fully-loaded photo editor integrated across macOS, Windows and iOS. Move work between Affinity products (Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher can be purchased separately) Shared Affinity Format and History Design across disciplines as easily as switching tools or personas; Save your file in Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer, they are 100% compatible; Undo tasks performed in other Affinity apps. Faster, smoother and more powerful than ever, Affinity Photo continues to push the boundaries for professional photo editing software. With a huge toolset specifically engineered for creative and photography professionals, it has everything you need to edit and retouch images, create full-blown, multi-layered compositions or beautiful raster paintings, and so much more.

1. PSD Smart Object import

This feature is one we know a lot of you have been waiting for. Affinity Photo has always been able to import (and export) PSD documents, but now it can also import smart objects. Smart objects are converted to ‘embedded documents’ and a similar workflow can be applied: simply select the embedded document layer and choose Edit document on the context toolbar (or double click on the layer thumbnail) to open the smart object in a new tab. This is commonly used for mockups where you can drop in your own imagery, then go back to the parent document and see your design with the correct perspective.

2. Manual lens corrections

Previous versions of Affinity Photo offered automatic lens corrections, but 1.8 offers a complete manual override, allowing you to apply any lens profile correction you wish. This is a boon for photographs taken with manual lenses (no electronic connection) as they don’t communicate lens data to the camera, and it’s also useful for lenses that are adapted to other camera bodies, since the adapters will often change the lens ID which prevents it from being automatically identified.

3. Enhanced plugin support

Another feature new to Affinity Photo 1.8 is one a lot of you have asked for—improved plugin support, especially for the new Nik collection, where you can now work with wide colour spaces and enjoy full functionality with 16-bit precision documents.

4. Improved RAW processing for batch processing

Affinity Photo’s RAW development has undergone quite the transformation since its initial debut in version 1.4—it’s had some notable improvements, some of which are explored in the article What’s new with RAW in Affinity Photo 1.7?. Up until now, though, those improvements have been restricted to the development of single RAW files when loaded into the Develop Persona.

With version 1.8, however, you can now take advantage of 32-bit output, removal of the default tone curve, improved demosaicing, improved noise reduction, automatic lens corrections and wide colour space support when using RAW files with batch processing.

Here are a couple of workflow examples:

• Panorama stitching: if you set the RAW Output Format to 32-bit on the Develop Assistant, you can then batch process to 32-bit TIFF files (don’t forget to change the output format for the TIFF export options) and stitch those TIFFs. Because 32-bit is an unbounded pixel format, you don’t have to worry about clipping highlights or losing valuable pixel data, and you can tone map your finished panorama, giving you complete control over its tonality.
• Statistical stacking: astrophotography is a great example where you absolutely need all the precision you can muster. You can take the same approach as with panorama stitching by processing to 32-bit TIFFs and then adding them to a new stack. This allows you to take advantage of the extra precision for the tonal stretching required with astrophotography processing.

5. Selection Brush antialiasing

The powerful Selection Brush Tool now has a new option which is enabled by default, and it’s called Soft edges. Whenever you create a selection using this brush, when you release the mouse button to commit the selection some quick edge analysis is performed and the selection becomes ‘matted’ or antialiased. This is an incredible timesaver because it negates the need to jump into selection refinement for quite a number of use cases. Previously, even if you were cutting out a straightforward object with distinct edges, you would often need to use selection refinement to avoid having a ‘jagged’ cutout—now, simply create your selection, add a mask and you’re done!

You can of course disable ‘Soft edges’ on the context toolbar if you prefer a selection comprised of absolute pixels (e.g. for selecting shapes or working with pixel art).

And that’s not all…

OK, so this is more than five things, but I’d also like to draw your attention to these nice little additions to Affinity Photo 1.8…

Enhanced brush modifier

This little-known feature is incredibly useful for brush-based workflows, especially architecture workflows where you need to quickly create oval brushes for blocking in shadow detail.

With a brush tool selected, holding Ctrl+Alt (macOS) or Alt+Right click (Windows) then dragging with left-click will offer you the usual modifier to alter the brush Width and Hardness. All fairly standard so far. However, if you single click on the left mouse button, you will now toggle to Shape and Spacing instead. As mentioned above, this allows you to quickly create a ‘squished’ or oval brush shape. Single-clicking again will toggle to Rotation, then another single click will move back to Width and Hardness.

Between these three modifier options, you have an expanded amount of control over your brush properties without ever leaving your canvas.

Improved New Document dialog with templates (available in all 1.8 updates)

A new feature found across all Affinity apps is the redesigned New Document dialog, with intuitive categories for common presets and a brand new Templates section—this new template feature allows you to install third party templates and create your own from existing documents.

Metadata editing

Previously, Affinity Photo would read image metadata, but its editing capabilities were somewhat restricted—in 1.8, however, you can now edit file information, IPTC details, copyright declarations and other important fields during the editing process. Metadata import is now more robust too, ensuring vendor-specific tags are not lost when images are brought into Affinity Photo.

Canon CR3 RAW file support

Widely requested by many users, Canon’s new CR3 RAW format is now supported for RAW development: CR3 is used by Canon’s newer cameras such as the 90D, 250D, M50 and new mirrorless EOS R, Ra and RP models to name a few.

Many other improvements and fixes

It wouldn’t be a major point release without tons of quality-of-life improvements! Here’s a list of the most impressive upgrades:

• High intensity colours are now supported when compositing with filter effects (HDR authoring)
• New stock brushes, including a masking set for quick and easy compositing
• (macOS) A unified toolbar which increases working real estate on your screen
• The ability to read XMP sidebar metadata (copyright information, image tagging) when developing RAW files
• Selecting a mask now automatically toggles to a greyscale colour model, then toggles back to the previous colour model once another layer is selected
• PSB import stability has been improved
• The HSV colour model has been reintroduced to the HSL adjustment dialog, giving you more control over how colour saturation is applied
• Improved JPEG encoding for better quality at reduced file sizes

Watch more tutorials

Did you know that we have a fantastic range of video tutorials for Affinity Photo?

Find out more about our 1.8 updates

Not got Affinity Photo yet?

If you are thinking about trying out Affinity Photo, head over to our main website to find out more…

Affinity Photo is a competitive photo editing app that raises questions whether it can challenge Photoshop’s dominance. How does Affinity Photo work? Continue reading to find out.

Editor’s Note

Affinity Photo is one of the aspiring photo editing apps, offering plenty of features to accommodate both entry level and professional users. The program is smooth, yet it costs less than Adobe’s photo editing program. With users presented with an opportunity to tune their images using simplified processes to accomplish tasks that require advanced editing technique like HDR, the software surely deserves your time with its free trial.

Affinity Photo ranks high among the small brands that put a strong game to give the giant Adobe Photoshop a run for its money. The software has the potential of giving Adobe sleepless nights, thanks to its latest update Affinity Photo 1.8.

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There is no doubt that Affinity Photo ranks high in our books. The app is unique in appearance and allows the processing of raw image files before editing, merging, as well as manipulating them to your liking. What makes the program more intriguing is the list of features planted in it. The functions attached to the program are essential and sufficient for professional-level editing tasks. Moreover, the software is packed with amazing features such as Live Filters that let the user utilize filters non-destructively.

One thing you will notice that distinguishes the program from its dominating competitor Photoshop, is its low, fixed price for a perpetual license. Affinity Photo requires users to make a one-off payment and enjoy the software for many years without incurring more costs. This approach is more than welcome, especially to professional photographers who are not fond of Adobe’s subscription model. The app is compatible with the Windows platform, Mac, and iPad. For Android device users, check out these best photo editing apps.

Affinity Photo Essential Features

With Affinity Photo only half a decade old, its updates bring a fresh breath to the forever improving platform, speeding up processes, as well as providing new functionality accompanied by fixes. Ever since its launch, the software has gone on to become a house brand delivering enhanced tools and features to make life easier for professional photographers. The platform also plays well with other foreign kids by managing to integrate smoothly with third-party file types, as well as plug-ins.

As a photographer who values time, you will be pleased to learn about the easy layout of tools that promote productivity. In addition, it has excellent features, such as end-to-end Metal compute, that allow users to get the most out of their Mac’s discreet GPU. This feature promotes accelerated processes, and Windows platform fanatics should expect this upgrade in the near future. The latest update of the software is more concerned with the compatibility, as well as enhanced functionality. Thus, users that have been with this software can attest on how fluent and flexible the platform has become. The major upgrade that enabled the program to support HDR / EDR monitor worked as a game-changer.

Key Features

• Digital lens corrections
• A cost-effective perpetual license
• Edit Smart Objects
• Enhanced manual control
• Compatibility with many file types

Affinity Photo is a software that continues to address what professionals require. With its latest update, users can now manually apply lens corrections; a move implemented by the brand to enhance quality results. The metadata section also offers a much-improved interface with all thanks pointed towards Affinity Photo’s latest update. This improvement allows users to add copyright data, tags, as well as descriptions. The program also supports the latest Canon CR3 raw files which displace CR2 raw file formats.

Affinity Photo also supports editing of PSDs containing Smart Objects Layers, which comes as a great feature to those willing to import various file types. The program does not support the use of Smart Objects, but that’s due to its capability of lossless Layer resizing. However, an introduction of Smart Objects will be a welcome move, especially to those working parallel with Photoshop.

The new document dialogue, which breathes out a fresh look packed with a great number of pre-sets, is also amazing. The dialogue is complemented by thumbnail previews, as well as the ability to make your own. However, the major issue in this area is that the dialogue fails to offer a clipboard document option to drop into when the user makes a screen grab.

Affinity Photo Handling and Interface

Affinity Photo interface is unique and provides various features that have proven useful. The interface is split into Personas; work spaces created to enable the user to execute certain tasks. These work spaces are self-explanatory, featuring titles such as Photo Persona, Liquify Persona, Develop Persona, Tone Mapping Persona, as well as the Export Persona. Personas are automatically selected in most cases, based on the type of file you opened.

The interface is excellently set up with all necessary tools placed where you expect them to be. If you’re an experienced photo editor, then it will take you less than 10 minutes to get fully acquainted with the layout. The Develop Persona works as a default workspace, featuring all editing tools to process a raw image. Multiple raw files are launched in various tabs, making it easy to switch between files.

How is the Quality of Results?

Photos that are processed raw tend to have milder results, making it necessary to sharpen utilizing the Unsharp Mask. While other programs such as ACR and Lightroom automatically apply the sharpening, Affinity Photo offers this process manually. This is ideal to photo editors who prefer putting their imagination to practice.

With everything put into consideration, the image quality that can be achieved using Affinity Photo is impressive. You can achieve even high-quality results by applying either basic or advanced editing skills.

Pros and Cons of Affinity Photo

Affinity Suite

Pros

• Cost-effective pricing format
• Less-intrusive Live Filters
• Feature-rich software similar to Photoshop

Cons

• Quirks when saving or exporting files
• Image catalogue is not available

Affinity Photo Tethering

Affinity Photo Cr3 Raw

Affinity Photo Review

Affinity Photo software is a strong competitor to Adobe’s Photoshop despite lagging behind in terms of clientele base size. Even though Photoshop takes the cake in providing better overall performance, Affinity Photo’s low-cost price provides great value for money. Most of the features presented in this platform are quite similar to Photoshop, making it a better alternative instead of Adobe’s dominating software.

Affinity Photo 1.8 Review