When importing FITS files, the software automatically applies the appropriate Bayer pattern to the images. Stacking can be set using mean, median and sigma clipping, depending on the data and intended result.Ĭalibration frames like bias, darks, dark flats and flat frames can be added, helping improve the final stacked image. Stacking Persona Stacking PersonaĪffinity Photo 2 can stack one-shot colour, monochrome RAW and FITS camera images like its predecessor. Most of the newest features are either for everyday processing or behind-the-hood updates, possibly in anticipation of new features to be added later.Īffinity Photo 2 could easily become your go-to photo editor as Serif does seem keen on adding features that are useful to astrophotographers. Overall, Affinity Photo 2 is well thought out and extremely powerful, with a very attractive cost compared with rival image-processing software. Like its predecessor, Affinity Photo 2 can’t use Photoshop actions, but you can create macros and save many pre-set adjustments and tool manipulations to automate processing steps. Layer maskingĪn annoying trait carried over from its predecessor is compressing TIFF files by default, which can cause quality problems if the saved file is further processed in other software.Īn interesting feature is that several plugins designed for Adobe Photoshop also worked well with Affinity Photo 2, but we found that the success of running plugins depended on the computer’s graphics card. The lack of colour on the adjustment tools in the interface made it a little difficult initially to identify the tool we wanted, but this is a minor niggle.Īll the adjustment tools worked very well, creating an adjustment layer nested within the image layer being worked on, which is slightly different from the older version where adjustment layers sit above the selected layer. However, we found that the adjustment tools didn’t allow us to rearrange them, nor are they arranged alphabetically. Tools can be made visible or hidden, and moved about. We liked the way that the interface layout could be customised to suit the user. Develop Persona: which is automatically activated when RAW image files are openedĪdjustments to images can be made here, if necessary, before opening within the Photo Persona for further editing.Photo Persona: where all the edits and adjustments are made to the images.There are five Affinity Persona icons at the top left, below the menu bar, but we only needed to use two during our test: There are also lots of tabs to access the different adjustment tools used to make changes to your images, including levels and curves, colour and so on. It is intuitive to use, with a menu bar at the top and a toolbar on the left. On opening Affinity, the user interface looked a little different to the previous version, but very similar to most image-processing software. Updates were prompted, downloaded and installed without issues. If you already own the older version of Affinity Photo, installing Affinity Photo 2 won’t overwrite it. The software downloaded easily, flawlessly installing on the PC and Mac computers we tried. To try out the software before buying, Serif offers a 30-day trial. There are licences for PC, Mac and iPad, plus a Universal Licence that allows the full Affinity Suite to be installed on multiple machines with different operating systems. We liked Affinity Photo 2’s one-off payment user licence model, not locking you into paying a long-term, monthly subscription. User interface Purchasing Serif Affinity Photo 2 With ease of use and an extremely affordable price, it will certainly entice many astrophotographers desiring a single package that does image sub-stacking and post-processing, and that won’t break the bank. Version 2, which we’re looking at here, is the latest big upgrade and was released in November 2022. Several useful astrophotography tools were added in 2021, including image stacking, star alignment and background and gradient removal. Serif’s Affinity Photo software was released in 2015 and has since been regularly updated with new features. Serif Affinity Photo 2 image-editing software review
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