Affinity Photo 2

Solid Foundations

Simon Foster

'I've done some Affinity Photo tutorials on YouTube, but they just cover one tool or technique. How do I actually enhance a photo, start to finish?'

'There are so many tools in Affinity Photo. So many things to remember. As a beginner what do I need to know and what do I not need to know?'

Enrol on this course and get the answers to these questions from someone with 35+ years in the business.

Affinity Photo is the hottest image editing program for the Mac and Windows, & now it's at version 2. It has many powerful tools for making your photos stand out. But you need to know how to use it, and how to get the best out of it. It's not enough to just learn what a few sliders do. You need to know how a professional sets about developing photos - where they start, what steps they take, which tools they use and most importantly - why.

The course starts with a thorough grounding in the five steps you need to consider taking when you enhance a photo. These steps are so fundamental that I make sure that they are covered properly and in detail. Practically every image you see is available as a download and every step has practice videos. Not a multi choice quiz where you just have to remember the name of a tool. That's not enough - you need practical exercises for a program like Affinity Photo and I give you exactly that in a unique way.

Your practical exercises are consistent. I'll give you a picture and tell you what I want you to do with it. Then you have a choice. You can listen to the advice I give you about how to do the job, or you can skip the advice and try doing the exercise - crop a picture, deal with the color balance, erase some blemishes and so on. Then come back to the video and I'll show you how I did it. I'll also give you some valuable tips about tools, techniques and workflow along the way. Then at the end of the first section you take five photos and do all five steps on them. I don't know of a better way for you to really nail down the fundamental concepts and be ready to move on to more advanced subjects.

Did you notice I said 'fundamental' twice instead of 'basic'? There's a reason for that. This course is aimed at beginners and existing users who want to round out their knowledge but that doesn't mean it's over simplified. Heck, no. You will learn the same tools and techniques that are used in professional studios everywhere. I've been in quite a few and - just between you and me - there's things on this course that I've had to explain to people who use image editors on a daily basis. That's something I can do for you too. As well as being a designer for decades I also spent some time as a teacher and my university degree is all about how people learn. And it is my firm belief that the right way to learn something like Affinity Photo is not to just learn the tools. The right way is to learn the right workflow. You learn the right workflow by using the right tools for the job, and the best way to use them.

Affinity Photo 2: Solid Foundations takes you from complete beginner through to accomplished user. I'll take you through the steps you need to take when developing an image. I use the most important tools for the task in hand and show you the best practices with each. The right way to use a tool, why you are using it, when to use it and cover some mistakes people make with those tools.

I assume no knowledge on your part. All you need is a willingness to learn plus a demo or copy of Affinity Photo 2 for the desktop. I'll take you though all the basics like getting the color and tone sorted. rotating and cropping, sharpening and reducing noise, selections, layer masks etc. Then we'll go on to more advanced topics like layer blend modes, vector art, text and painting. By the end of the course you will know how, when and why to enhance your photos, and really make them shine.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

Use affinity photo 2 to enhance images using proven techniques
Know why they are doing things a certain way

Be aware of the various 'gotchas' and problems that may arise
Use the right tool for the right job

Use affinity photo 2 to enhance images using proven techniques
Know why they are doing things a certain way
Be aware of the various 'gotchas' and problems that may arise
Use the right tool for the right job

Syllabus

First Things First...

Hi and Welcome!

Jump Right in! Edit a Photo, Part 1

Jump Right in! Edit a Photo, Part 2

The 5 Step Method

Cropping, Part 1

Cropping, Part 2 - why Crop at all?

Cropping, Part 3 - Your Turn!

Cropping, Part 4 - The Nuts & Bolts

Get the Dark & Light Right, Part 1 - Levels and the Histogram

Get the Dark & Light Right, Part 2 - Shadow and Highlight

Get the Dark & Light Right, Part 3 - Dehaze (and Vibrance/Saturation)

Get the Dark & Light Right, Part 4 - Curves

White Balance, Part 1 - White Balance & the Lens Filter

White Balance, Part 2 - Correcting Color Casts

Color Balance

Color Balance using Curves

Dealing with Digital Noise

Your Turn! Deal with Some Noise - and say Hello! To the Clarity Filter

Sharpen your Image, Part 1 - Unsharp Mask

Sharpen your Image, Part 2 - The High Pass Filter

The Healing Tools

Layer Masks

Frequency Separation

The Clone Brush

Red Eye Removal and Defringing

Practice the 5 Steps! Project 1

Practice the 5 Steps! Project 2

Practice the 5 Steps! Project 3

Practice the 5 Steps! Project 4

Practice the 5 Steps! Project 5

Resize your Images, and a bit of a Rant About Dots Per Inch...

Export your Work, Part 1

Export your Work, Part 2 - the Export Persona

Export your Work, Part 3 - Output for Print

Time to get Picky! Selections Explained

Starting Simple...

Modifying Simple Selections

Drawing Selections

Select by Hue. Or Tone. Or Color...

Live Mask Layers

Layer Blend Ranges

The Selection Brush and Refine Selection

Practice Time! And Place Image! And Compound Masks!

Save, Mix and Match Selections

RAW Editing with Affinity Photo

So... What is a RAW File Anyway?

The RAW Editing Process

Back to the Photo Persona (& a little bit more about RAW...)

Your Turn and the Great RAW vs jpeg Debate Answered - Pretty Definitively...

The Tonemapping Persona

Round out your Knowledge Right Here...

Layer Blend Modes

Layer Blend Mode Uses

Dodge and Burn Techniques

Perspective Projection

Perspective, Warping & Compositing your Images

Equirectangular Projection, Part 1

Equirectangular Projection, Part 2 - Adding a Gradient

Focus Merging

Liquify your Images

Filters and how to Maximise their Potential

Creating Lookup Tables

The History Panel

Snapshots

The Undo Brush

Macros

Batch Processing

A Bit More About Adjustment Layers

Getting Creative with Shapes, Text and Brushes

Vector Shapes, Part 1

Start Working with Vector Shapes

Vectors, Part 3 - Have a Heart!

Say Hello to Linked Layers

The Pen Tool

Vectors, Part 4 - Layer Effects

Text, Part 1

Text, Part 2- The Paragraph, Character and Glyph Panels

Working with Palettes

The Basics of Affinity Photo Brushes

The Brush Properties Panel

Painting with Affinity Photo, Part 1

Painting with Affinity Photo, Part 2

Affinity Photo 2.2 has landed! Here are the highlights...

Good to know

Know what's good

, what to watch for

, and possible dealbreakers

Teaches a powerful image editing program for Mac and Windows

Develops the fundamental skills needed to make photos stand out

Led by an instructor with over 35 years of experience in the field

Provides hands-on exercises with practical examples

Covers both basic and advanced topics, making it suitable for beginners and existing users

Provides a comprehensive overview of the five essential steps for enhancing photos

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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Affinity Photo 2: Solid Foundations with these activities:

Practice the five-step method

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Solidify understanding of the five-step method for editing photos.

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