Affinity Photo version 2 full non-destructive workflow

In this start-to-finish video, I will show you the workflow that I used on the image using version 2 of Affinity Photo. We are going to start in the Develop Persona making some basic adjustments before entering the Photo Persona. Here we use the clone brush tool to remove some distracting cars and then add an Adjustment layer. Next, we head back to the Develop Persona to make the mountains stand out even more. It is easy to make adjustments both in the Photo Persona and to be able to re-enter the Develop Persona and everything is non-destructive.

01:04 White Balance
02:07 Cropping
03:55 Overlays Gradient
04:58 Raw Layer Embedded
05:40 Raw Layer Linked
06:40 Photo Persona
07:02 Clone brush tool
09:32 Adjustment Levels
10:44 Develop Persona mountains
13:11 Live filter Clarity Clouds
14:59 Develop darken Cyan sky

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davrodigital on YouTube channel


Thanks for watching, David

[trilokgubba]

100 likes to you for adding that clarity and detail in your explanation.

[tompatton]

By far the best explanation I've seen with regards to working back and forth between the Develop and Photo personas. Very well done David. Thank you so much for this! 🙂

[EElgar]

A wonderful lesson - one of the best I've seen. Now I understand RAW embedded vs. linked!
The features of A.P. 2 are really quite amazing, especially considering its low price. 😁

[RoryMolePublishing]

Thanks very much for clearly explaining your process with RAW development. I use almost the exact same process on my images.
I was in a bit of a quandary coming from Adobe Lightroom Classic recently even though I have been with Affinity from the beginning and have the latest update of version2. Lightroom has a wonderful masking set of tools that I thought could not be done by any other software, but since I've had version 2 of A Photo all of this changed for me. I don't need Lightroom anymore because of Photo's updated RAW capability in version 2.
Regards to you.

[cpnock]

As I dont shoot RAW that often I have not really looked at the Develop persona. The use of Overlays came as a bit of a revolution, so many thanks.

[phillipduff]

This is indeed an excellent video to show the capabilities, (leaving aside that the idea of totally changing an image by doing things bey removing cars, darkening sky and making an image which wasn't really what was there, is a very personal choice, which I am not a fan of generally unless it is commercial). I appreciate the effort put in here to help us out with understanding how to use this rather excellent tool.

[ynekevollemans]

I am so grateful for this tutorial. The possibilities with overlays are so wow. I am becoming a big fan of AF 2. Thank you sir.

[JohnPal-ekgq]

This is such a great video David. Thanks for taking the time to create and share it. I'm now subscribing to your channel and looking at what else you have developed.

[extremelydave]

Oh yeah! This answered several questions I've had about V2!!! Great video Dave!!!

[martineacott]

Thank you for this. A great explanation, and exactly the type of image I'll be doing the most work on.

[lloydstuartm.d.]

Great video! I started with Affinity and upgraded to version 2. I'm torn between using this and Luminar Neo which is so much easier to use but has less options than Affinity. I'm still not sure which one is best for me. This video was awesome though. Thanks and will subscribe!

[cliffdickinson]

Brilliant. Your understanding of this tech is illuminating and wonderful.

[bbbnnn]

David: another outstanding video - as a result I'm using the Develop Persona much more. RECOMMENDATION - do a video on Affinity V2 "Band Pass" under "New Live Mask Layer." I stumbled on to this feature and was able to accomplish amazing sharpening. A video from you would make it a more controlled process.

[RandomNameTitle]

Thanks for the useful tutorial, I've just moved from Affinity 1. By the way the car park is free, the 'pay kiosk' is actually a small public loo. I recognised the scene immediately, it's just down the road from me. 👍

[johnchilver]

This is a game changer for me. Thanks David.

[johnhorne]

Very informative and describe in a easy to understand way.

[JohnCollins-iypw]

When making small adjustments i.e. WB/ETC I prefer to place my mouse cursor in the percentage box and use the mouse wheel, this gives me much more control.

[stubrides]

Thanks so much for this video. Learned a lot....

[EdwardKilner]

Subscribed. Saved.
Finally, an explanation of destructive editing and how to avoid getting it! One minor criticism: Should have been two videos, first with quick focus on Non-destructive info, followed by the editing one.

The editing you did showed switching back and forth between Develop and Photo personas. Never would have known this was possible without this video.


Creating a folder, copying my original camera file into it, editing that in Affinity...a bit "overcooked" is it not? I'll do it but reluctantly. Why did Affinity make the change and why did they not ever explain it as you did?

Finally, my habit has been to just never use the Develop persona. What do I really miss out doing this?

Overall, 4 stars. Will be 5 stars if you provide a worthy reply.

[allanwallace]

Where can we find the image used for this, we'd like to follow along with this picture, thank you. Really nice tutorial.