Hands down the best tutorial out there. 80% of the tutorials you look for don't even consider the fact that you have ZERO prior knowledge into this field.
Thank you very much! I’m really happy to hear that. That’s exactly the audience I was aiming for! People who don’t have any prior knowledge, or experience working with graphic editing apps. I’m really glad to hear you found it useful!
I've been using Affinity Photo for three years and love it -- but I wish I'd seen this video when I first started!! It is one of the few tutorials appropriate for absolute beginners, far better than the ones put out by Affinity themselves.
I am just starting out and this video was brilliant, it helped me understand the concept of layers and masks. And the way you explain things is so patient, so zen :-) Thanks a lot!
Thank you so much! I’m really happy to hear that!. I’m always kind of worried that my videos are a bit too long, because I take a lot of time to explain things and sometimes go into too much detail. Especially these days, everybody just wants the answers really quickly. So I’m glad that you felt it was very Zen like. I’m trying to embrace taking things slow, and being relaxed with it. Because sometimes it just takes time to learn something new. You can’t learn it in a one minute short. Especially was things that can be kind of complicated to wrap your head around. And like I said in the video, it took me a while to finally understand how masks worked. I appreciate your comment!
Hey, I just stumbled on your channel since I've started using Affinity Photo 2. You say your content is usually made for advanced users, but I will echo what everyone says about this video : your beginners content is really great and I think you can have a huge audience with that kind of content. Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much for the kind words! Yeah, when I started the channel, there weren’t a lot of tutorials aimed toward advanced users, or advanced techniques. So I started the channel with that in mind. But over the course of making videos, I realized there were still a lot of people who didn’t have a strong foundation of some of the basics which are required to do some of the more advanced techniques. So I started a few videos going over some of the basics, like this one, and it seems to have really gained an audience. So I definitely want to keep making videos with some more advanced techniques, but also make videos geared toward new users, so they can start to have a better understanding of more advanced things you can do in affinity photo. And comments like this keep me motivated, so thank you very much!
You’re welcome! I actually got this idea when teaching my mom how to use affinity photo, as she wanted to do some photo editing for old family photos but had never used a graphics editor before. So I explained it in ways that would be easy to understand. That gave me the idea to make a similar video for my channel. Happy to hear you found it useful!
thank you so much. Such a relaxed way of explaining, yet gets all the key info across, concise and informative. Love your approach, and the way you explain. Huge appreciation. Keep up the great work.
Thank you very much for the support! I was the same way! I didn’t fully understand how masks worked, so I was always hesitant to use them. But now I use them all the time! I’m glad I could help you understand! And thanks for the subscription!
Thank you! Willing to learn but just starting out. I want to throw in the towel every time someone tries to explain beyond my capacity. Simple concepts need simple explanations, which you've provided. MUCH appreciated.
Thank you very much! This video actually came about when I was teaching my mom how to use affinity, and realized it’s important to sometimes take the approach that not everyone has previous experience with photo editing. I’m really glad to hear you found it helpful.
Thank you very much! I really glad to hear that. I’ve got a few more videos I. My beginner series, and a lot of stuff of retouching techniques, so enjoy! And thanks for your support!
I'm a newcomer to digital photography but had a lot of experience with "wet" photography. I tried Lightroom/Photoshop but just switched to Affinity after seeing many videos explaining why folks are leaving Adobe. This particular video finally "turned on the light" as to how layers and masks work and the interplay/integration between them. Congratulations on a great job!
Thank you so much! I’m really glad to hear that. It’s interesting that once you understand it, it’s pretty easy, but it sometimes takes awhile for it to “click” or for the “light to turn on” like you said. I know it did for me, which is why I wanted to make this video.
Wow! Thank you very much! That really makes me happy to hear! Reading comments like this keeps me motivated to continue making videos. Thank you very much for the kind words. 🙏🏼🙏🏼 and I appreciate the subscription!
@mahadakini3024 thank you! I wanted to make something that even someone with little to no photo editing experience could understand. So I’m really happy to hear you found it helpful!
wow I love your description of masks, so easy to understand. I never thought of lowering the flow to make a soft transition, Brilliant. More like this please.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you found it easy to understand. It always helps me to kind of find a “physical” analogy when working digitally. I plan to make more!
Thank you very much for that! Yeah, I’m always trying to balance getting through the information quickly, but not trying to rush. I think once I start explaining, I start moving really fast, so I’m always trying to slow myself down. So I really appreciate you saying that!
Great video and explanation! I've watched quite a few videos on masking and your video made it so simple to grasp!!! I'm visual too and although I knew a lot about layers, it didn't occur to me how "masking" is really just a layer with options! Thank you for making this video and for the great way you approached showing us all about masks!
Thank you very much for your kind words! And that’s a really great way to think about it. A mask, it’s kind of like a special layer on a layer, which lets you choose what part of that layer you want to see, and hide. And I know for me, sometimes visualizing things how they would work in the real world always helps me. Really appreciate your comment!
Thank you for a first-class educational video I have struggled in the past trying to get to grips with masks but you have made it so I can now understand how it all works. Thank you again.
I’m really glad to hear that! Masks also took me awhile to understand, so I wanted to make this video to help people who might be having the same trouble. So I’m really glad to hear you found it easy to understand!
Really great explanation of how layers and masks work. I'm a newbie. I'll have to watch the mask part again since I couldn't quite get it to work like you showed.
@@brgphotography Well, I think maybe I was trying to use Mask in the wrong way. I have an image with a black background. I wanted to make it a white background so the image, a logo, stands out better. Maybe that's not the right situation for using Masking?
@bikedad57 Right. That situation does really require a mask. The most flexible option would be to first have one fill layer. (layer->new fill layer) This will creative a new layer that is just one solid color. Then you can change that color at anytime by making sure you have the move tool selected (the little arrow) then changing the color in the color pallet. This will change the color of the fill layer. Then you could have just your logo on a new layer above that fill layer. Then you could change the background layer color to any color to see how different colors look. Is your logo and black background on separate layers, or the same layer?
@@brgphotography they are on the same layer, which is why I'm having such trouble, I guess. I'll try the fill layer method you suggest tomorrow and let you know how I do.
@bikedad57 let me know how it works. Once you get used to working with layers, it’s a really good habit to put different elements on different layers, so you can always go back and make changes to each individual element. It’s not impossible, but it takes a little more work to change the white background to black if it’s all on the same layer. Of course, it depends on the complexity of your logo.
Brilliant thank you........ I am now switching from PS to Affinity and getting to grips with how everything works. After watching this one I am now about to work my way through many of your other tutorials 🙂
Thank you very much! If you’re coming from PS, most of the skills are transferable. Honestly when I first started using affinity photo about 6 years ago, there weren’t that many videos on it, so I just watched PS tutorials and figured out how to do the same thing in Affinity. Judging from what I’ve seen, I’d say affinity photo is about 90% as capable of PS is. There are definitely a few things that PS can do that affinity photo doesn’t do yet, but there are also things that affinity photo can do which I think is a bit more efficient than PS. Welcome to Affinity Photo!
@@brgphotography It's looks very similar to PS layout! I've only had Affinity for a couple of days, so I'm still finding my way around it.But lucky for me to find your tutorials this early on 🙂Thank you
Thank you very much for the kind words! I’m really glad to hear that I accomplished what I set out to do! Sometimes you just just have to look at things a little different way to make them a little easier to understand.
Best tutorial I have found, not too fast, well explained. Hopefully I can watch all your videos and learn how to get the best out of Affinity. One Question how do I save all my work. Thanks again Mal.
You’re very welcome! I glad you found the pace just right! You mean saving all your work and layers? Just go up to File->Save. And when you get a little get box pop up, make sure you select “save as.” This will keep all your layers and masks. If you select “flatten,” it will compress all your layers down to one and you won’t be able to work on them when you re-open the file. So when you select “save as,” it should save it as an affinity photo document, and you should be able to open it at a later time and all your layers and masks will be there! Hope this helps answers your question!
More than a year after paying for Affinity, I cannot do effective work. All "tutorials" start with screens that look different from mine, no explanation of how to open tools or effects in the simplest layouts. This is very helpful. Thank you.
@@brgphotography It had not become intuitive. I think I’m armed with that now. I know what I want to see and masks were obviously the tool I lacked. Thanks so much.
thank you so much for the video .. I finally understand how to stack photos and use the layer mask a little better ... I wish you would do one on stacks in detail... need in real estate photography. Thanks
@@brgphotography Using the pen tool to select something such as a window and be able to change the window only on a photo to bring more light into it... that along with shooting stacks and adjusting... most people doing these are frustrating because they move so fast and assume too much from the ones watching.
@FredHoffman I see. Actually I almost never use the pen tool to make selections. I usually use the selection brush tool, the use it to make a mask. Maybe I’ll make a video about different ways to make selections. That’s a good idea. Thanks.
@@brgphotography I with you on the selection brush tool except when shooting architectual and the windows or the outside must be exact, it is critical to get the edges spot on.
@FredHoffman that makes a lot of sense. Maybe I’ll make a video about that. Because you can make a selection a number of ways. The pen tool, which unfortunately I’m not that good at 😅, the selection brush tool, luminosity ranges, colors, etc. But, if I remember correctly, once you have your pin Path completed, you should be able to set it as a selection, instead of a path. Then while you have that area selected, any adjustment layer you add, will be automatically masked that selection. Then that way you can make adjustments just in that area. You can also save that selection as a spare alpha channel, so you can reuse that mask at any later time. This is a good topic, and I think I’ll definitely make a video about it.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. I don’t have too much experience making brochures like that, but I could probably go over a few of the basic concepts in a future video. Thanks for the idea.
This is amazingly helpful and so well explained ... I've done a bit of this before but was really working in the dark ... now I get it! 😎If you ever have time would be great to know more about the Pattern Layer which I've previously used for creating seamless patterns - if you have any tips/guidance for this I'm all ears thank you!
Thank you! I’m glad I was able to make things easy to understand! 😊 To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever used the pattern layer for my work. I’ve played with it a little just to check it out, but I haven’t really a use for it with the kind of work I do (portraits.) So unfortunately I don’t have any good tips for it. 🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️ But I appreciate your comment, as many times I get ideas for future videos from comments and people letting me know what kind of things they’d like to learn. 🙏🏼
@@brgphotographyhello thank you so much for all of the hard work that goes into making all of the video tutorials that you’ve made available for all of our s to learn from. Now I’d like to know what type of editing tablet are you using in all of your videos.
@leonard187 hey man thank you very much for the kind words! Yeah, it does take a little time, which is why I’m not posting like every week. But I do want to try to post more often. As far as my tablet, I use a Wacom Intuos Pro small size. I actually made a whole video about it. Which Intuos is best for you? ua-cam.com/video/It52oPkqAbU/v-deo.html
Good tutorial but I think I need to figure out the use of brushes before I work on masks- Still not sure what brushes I should be using with a mask layer. I think I spotted Ben using the dodge and burn brushes but I have looked in the customise tools panel and can’t see them. Are they somewhere else?
Thank you! Hmm, I’m pretty sure I didn’t use the dodge and burn brushes, because I don’t ever use them anymore. When I do dodge and burn, I use a sieves layer, then use a paint brush to “reveal” the adjustment. Basically using just a normal brush set you white. I’ll usually have the flow set to 2% and the hardness down to 0% so the edges are really soft. Then with the low flow I can slowly build up the effect. But you should be able to find the dodge and burn tool in the customize tool section. It looks like a little magnifying glass and a flame icon.
Super well paced vid, really well and calmly explained. But @ 14:07 Black Reveals. I thought White reveals as @ 10:45 ????????. That is really totally confusing. Is this a bug or is that a magic brush ???. As everyone below that has commented seem to have had a euphoric moment I have to guess that I have I missed something very basic here or am I the only one that has noticed this ???, I think not. What am I not getting here.
Yes and no. Remember, the mask is applied to the gradient layer only (the top most layer.) So the black part of the mask is hiding the gradient layer. It’s hiding the gradient layer because the mask is applied to that gradient layer ONLY. And white is revealing. Meaning it’s showing the gradient layer where the mask is white. And because the gradient layer is being hidden, it is showing us the layer that is below. So don’t think of black as revealing. Think of black as hiding the layer it’s attached to. And, IF you have something below that layer you’re going to be able to see it. You can test this out in affinity photo. Open up a new document, and create a new fill layer. Under layer-> new fill layer. You can fill the layer with any color. Now add a mask. The mask will be white by default. Now, with the mask selected, take a black paint brush and start painting black in the mask. You will see that the black is now hiding your fill layer where you painted. And since it’s hiding that fill layer, you can see what is below. If you have nothing below, it will just be white. Or it will be that white and gray checkerboard if you had transparent background selected when you made the new file. So, in a sense you are correct. By painting black, you are hiding the layer the mask is attached to. Thus, by consequence, revealing the layer that’s below.
So in a sense you are correct. But it’s more about how you think about it. Yes, by painting black in the mask, you are hiding the layer, but you are “revealing“ the layer that happens to be below. But I think you’re going to confuse yourself if you think about it like that. You need to think about it as black is hiding the layer that the mask is attached to. And, by consequence of the layer being hidden, it becomes transparent. So, if you have some thing below the layer that the mask is attached to, you will be able to see it. If you don’t have anything under there, it will just be blank. Trust me, I know it can be really confusing. And it took me a while for it to click in my head. I guess one way you could think about it is, “black reveals what’s on the layer below, because you are hiding what’s on the layer with the mask.“ Not sure if that helps, or makes things more confusing 😅
@@brgphotography Many many thks for the reply. Yep it's a bit paradoxical but I guess when you use it enough times it just becomes the norm, but getting into it initially is rather confusing but time heals and I guess it just becomes the norm. Thks again.
@joeking5211 no problem! I know that because it was confusing for me in the beginning, I wanted to make sure you understood it. Because I know it took me time to wrap my head around it. But like you said, the more you do it, it will become second nature, and it will start to make more sense. Glad I could help!
Hmm. Do you mean a cross shape? I believe if you go to settings-> User interface, there is a setting called “always show brush crosshair” and you can check it on or off. If it’s on it will always show a little + sign with your brush tools. I turn my off. Does this help?
When you say jewelry retouching, what kind of retouching are you referring to? Cleaning it up, removing, cloning? I’ve retouched jewelry a bit, but it’s mainly just making it a little bit brighter/sharper. And a few times removing some jewelry.
Sounds like a good idea. I’ve done a few shots in the past with jewelry so I’ll have to go back and check my process. But would make for a good video. Thanks for the recommendation!
If there is a way for affinity to open synced photos, I’m unaware of it. And I’m not sure if affinity photo can open several photos in the one document, so I would probably open each photo individually, then select one photo, and copy and paste it on a new layer over another photo. Then I would put the unflashed synced photo on the top of the layer stack, (over the shot that used a flash) then create a mask. Then I would invert that mask (thus hiding it) then paint in the areas you want revealed with a white paint brush. Assuming you were on a tripod, the shots should line up. Hope this helps.
@@brgphotography if that would work, it’s only 4 steps more than Photoshop, and I’m looking for an alternative to get rid of Photoshop. I wish companies would stop advertising that they ate alternatives to Photoshop when they are not.
Ive been editing video and making short films for several years. Ive used photoshop for years using masks and adjustment layers. Affinity has a very :"Un-Intuitive" "restraint" on brushes, one being you have to have a layer selected and the others are: "Who Knows" but you cant paint. On the second hour on the 4th or 5th video by some other guy, this is explained for 2 seconds. You click on a lil checkmark and you can paint. Which checkmark? IDK i gotta watch 6 hours of some Englishman go on and on about Tea and Crumpet's. But I dont think I will. I think Im done until you make a checkmark that says "Click here to paint on this layer". I got things to do, photos to edit, films to produce. Im sure alot of people are unable to use your software. PLEASE TELL PEOPLE HOW TO USE THEIR BRUSHES!!!!!!!!
Sorry you’re having trouble. Though you should be able to just select the layer and start paining. Just make sure the layer is visible. Don’t accidentally click the little circle or box on the far right (depending on if you’re using version 1 or 2.) That little box hides the layer, so you won’t be able to see it.
Danke für das gute Video. ich sehe es gerade zum 2.Mal, da ich kein Englisch kann und den deutschen Kommentar mitlesen muss. Das ist natürlich etwas schwierig, gleichzeitig auch zu sehen wo Du hinklickst. Aber toll erklärt!!
Thank you very much! I'm glad to see that you are still able to find the video useful, even when reading subtitles! But I actually do want to get better at explaining things a bit slower so it's easier to follow! I really appreciate your comment!
Great tutorial, thank you, but please: Why background-music??? What’s the point??? For HSPs very difficult to focus on the words spoken. Everybody does that in YT videos, and I am trying to raise awareness. Music in films is a dramaturgic tool and used for creating drama or bridge parts where there is no speaking, but has no place when the protagonist shares s.th. of importance. Please reconsider, thank you!
Thank you for your comment! I think, I recently started adding background music mainly just because I thought just my voice only would get a little monotonous. But I’m always trying to play around with a good volume, where it’s not really distracting, but just somethings subtly in the background. I guess so there’s not so much dead air during the times when I’m not talking. I’ve had another comment on the type of music that I use in the background, and that it can sometimes be distracting so I might reconsider my choice of using music or not in my future videos. I will say that I like having a little bit of background ambience/music, so it’s just not silent when I’m not speaking, so I might first start playing around with having the volume even lower, so it’s just subtly in the background, but not really distracting. But I appreciate your feedback!
hello friend thank you for still making incredible videos for us, this guy has me very much considering switching to adobe plz help convince me I'm crazy lol do you have any tutorials that give us control in affinity similar to this ua-cam.com/video/gEmHElQT73o/v-deo.htmlsi=6A7uVo9QLIhQCAq5 and also with your skin softening macros do you have a video showing how to apply it because I still can't figure it out.
You’re welcome bud! Let me take a look at that video later this evening and get back to you. Are you referring to this video? ua-cam.com/video/FCNWu8FIhfE/v-deo.htmlsi=L0y6iF8vmVvpX43T I think show how to install them in that one. But one thing, at least for me, is Affintiy photo doesn’t want to activate the macros with a tablet. It only works when I click on it with the mouse.
Hey brother, so after looking at that video, you can totally get that look in affinity photo, you just have to work a little bit differently. It’s actually pretty neat, and it gave me an idea for a video I might make in the near future, so I might actually put a video explaining how he did it. But the main way to get that look, is by using the HSL adjustment layer and desaturating the colors individually in your image. You can also hue shift a little bit, and adjust their luminosity. Then, just using a curve adjustment layer, you could get the contrast and tones you like. You could even add a clarity filter to add some mid-tone detail to add some texture. I was able to get a very similar look in about five minutes of playing in affinity photo, so I think I will make a video about this real soon, because it seems like it’s a popular look.
You explained both layers & masks EXACTLY how I understand them in my head. This is a fantastic video.
Thank you very much! I was really trying to make it as easy as possible to understand.
Hands down the best tutorial out there. 80% of the tutorials you look for don't even consider the fact that you have ZERO prior knowledge into this field.
Thank you very much! I’m really happy to hear that. That’s exactly the audience I was aiming for! People who don’t have any prior knowledge, or experience working with graphic editing apps.
I’m really glad to hear you found it useful!
I've been using Affinity Photo for three years and love it -- but I wish I'd seen this video when I first started!! It is one of the few tutorials appropriate for absolute beginners, far better than the ones put out by Affinity themselves.
Thank you soooo much! I’m really happy to hear that. I’m glad you found it helpful!
I am just starting out and this video was brilliant, it helped me understand the concept of layers and masks. And the way you explain things is so patient, so zen :-) Thanks a lot!
Thank you so much! I’m really happy to hear that!. I’m always kind of worried that my videos are a bit too long, because I take a lot of time to explain things and sometimes go into too much detail.
Especially these days, everybody just wants the answers really quickly. So I’m glad that you felt it was very Zen like. I’m trying to embrace taking things slow, and being relaxed with it. Because sometimes it just takes time to learn something new. You can’t learn it in a one minute short. Especially was things that can be kind of complicated to wrap your head around. And like I said in the video, it took me a while to finally understand how masks worked.
I appreciate your comment!
@@brgphotography T
Would you have any videos on just the raw editing part / development?
Thank you once again, much appreciated.
@tiborbogar7739 not yet, but it’s a topic I plan on making a video about in the near future.
@@brgphotography Thank you!
Hey, I just stumbled on your channel since I've started using Affinity Photo 2. You say your content is usually made for advanced users, but I will echo what everyone says about this video : your beginners content is really great and I think you can have a huge audience with that kind of content. Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much for the kind words!
Yeah, when I started the channel, there weren’t a lot of tutorials aimed toward advanced users, or advanced techniques. So I started the channel with that in mind. But over the course of making videos, I realized there were still a lot of people who didn’t have a strong foundation of some of the basics which are required to do some of the more advanced techniques. So I started a few videos going over some of the basics, like this one, and it seems to have really gained an audience.
So I definitely want to keep making videos with some more advanced techniques, but also make videos geared toward new users, so they can start to have a better understanding of more advanced things you can do in affinity photo.
And comments like this keep me motivated, so thank you very much!
Solid tutorial on Affinity Photo Layers. You invested time to explain things clearly. TYhanbks so much!
You’re very welcome! I’m glad you found it easy to understand!
I really appreciate this video. Thanks for taking the time to explain layers and masking in such a visual way.
You’re welcome! I actually got this idea when teaching my mom how to use affinity photo, as she wanted to do some photo editing for old family photos but had never used a graphics editor before. So I explained it in ways that would be easy to understand. That gave me the idea to make a similar video for my channel.
Happy to hear you found it useful!
thank you so much. Such a relaxed way of explaining, yet gets all the key info across, concise and informative. Love your approach, and the way you explain. Huge appreciation. Keep up the great work.
Thank you very much! I’m really happy to hear that!
I hated dealing with masks because I wasn't 100% clear. Now(thanks to you) I am. I'm now a new subscriber. Thanks!
Thank you very much for the support!
I was the same way! I didn’t fully understand how masks worked, so I was always hesitant to use them. But now I use them all the time!
I’m glad I could help you understand! And thanks for the subscription!
@@brgphotography absolutely! You won’t get rid of me now lol
@authorericar.stinson4849 😂😂
Thank you! Willing to learn but just starting out. I want to throw in the towel every time someone tries to explain beyond my capacity. Simple concepts need simple explanations, which you've provided. MUCH appreciated.
Thank you very much! This video actually came about when I was teaching my mom how to use affinity, and realized it’s important to sometimes take the approach that not everyone has previous experience with photo editing.
I’m really glad to hear you found it helpful.
Bravo! Great tutorial!
Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it, and hope you found it helpful!
'Excellent tutorials on layers and masks. Looking forward looking at your other tutorials. I can understand your explanations very easily.
Thank you very much! I really glad to hear that. I’ve got a few more videos I. My beginner series, and a lot of stuff of retouching techniques, so enjoy! And thanks for your support!
Thank you for such a clear explanation of what Layers and Masks are and how they are used. Exceptional presentation - Thank you.
Thank you very much! I tried to make it really easy to understand, so I’m happy to hear you say that!
I'm a newcomer to digital photography but had a lot of experience with "wet" photography. I tried Lightroom/Photoshop but just switched to Affinity after seeing many videos explaining why folks are leaving Adobe. This particular video finally "turned on the light" as to how layers and masks work and the interplay/integration between them. Congratulations on a great job!
Thank you so much! I’m really glad to hear that.
It’s interesting that once you understand it, it’s pretty easy, but it sometimes takes awhile for it to “click” or for the “light to turn on” like you said. I know it did for me, which is why I wanted to make this video.
By far the best explanation of Affinity Layers and Masks. Superbly explained. So happy i found your channel. Subscribed
Wow! Thank you very much! That really makes me happy to hear! Reading comments like this keeps me motivated to continue making videos.
Thank you very much for the kind words. 🙏🏼🙏🏼 and I appreciate the subscription!
Thanks for this clear video
You’re welcome!
Thank you. This is the best tutorial I have seen on layers and masks.
Thank you so much for saying that! I’m really happy to hear that you found it helpful!
This is the best tutorial I have seen on this topic.
Wow, thank you very much for the kind words! I’m really happy to hear that!
I love this tutorial...it's really really good for the beginner like me. thank you so much.
@mahadakini3024 thank you! I wanted to make something that even someone with little to no photo editing experience could understand. So I’m really happy to hear you found it helpful!
wow I love your description of masks, so easy to understand. I never thought of lowering the flow to make a soft transition, Brilliant. More like this please.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you found it easy to understand. It always helps me to kind of find a “physical” analogy when working digitally. I plan to make more!
Love your videos! i understand mask and layers so much better!
Thank you very much! I’m really glad to hear that! It makes me happy to hear that I can help someone understand it a lot better!
I'm just starting out with the whole photo editing thing. Great video, thank you.
You’re very welcome. I really wanted to make it easy to understand, especially for total beginners.
Really helpful video. Your unrushed precise explinations are great. Many thanks
Thank you very much for that!
Yeah, I’m always trying to balance getting through the information quickly, but not trying to rush. I think once I start explaining, I start moving really fast, so I’m always trying to slow myself down. So I really appreciate you saying that!
Great video and explanation! I've watched quite a few videos on masking and your video made it so simple to grasp!!! I'm visual too and although I knew a lot about layers, it didn't occur to me how "masking" is really just a layer with options! Thank you for making this video and for the great way you approached showing us all about masks!
Thank you very much for your kind words! And that’s a really great way to think about it. A mask, it’s kind of like a special layer on a layer, which lets you choose what part of that layer you want to see, and hide.
And I know for me, sometimes visualizing things how they would work in the real world always helps me.
Really appreciate your comment!
Thank you for a first-class educational video I have struggled in the past trying to get to grips with masks but you have made it so I can now understand how it all works. Thank you again.
I’m really glad to hear that! Masks also took me awhile to understand, so I wanted to make this video to help people who might be having the same trouble. So I’m really glad to hear you found it easy to understand!
Really great explanation of how layers and masks work. I'm a newbie. I'll have to watch the mask part again since I couldn't quite get it to work like you showed.
Glad you found it useful.
Were you able to get it to work? Anything I can help clear up?
@@brgphotography Well, I think maybe I was trying to use Mask in the wrong way. I have an image with a black background. I wanted to make it a white background so the image, a logo, stands out better. Maybe that's not the right situation for using Masking?
@bikedad57 Right. That situation does really require a mask.
The most flexible option would be to first have one fill layer. (layer->new fill layer) This will creative a new layer that is just one solid color. Then you can change that color at anytime by making sure you have the move tool selected (the little arrow) then changing the color in the color pallet. This will change the color of the fill layer.
Then you could have just your logo on a new layer above that fill layer. Then you could change the background layer color to any color to see how different colors look.
Is your logo and black background on separate layers, or the same layer?
@@brgphotography they are on the same layer, which is why I'm having such trouble, I guess. I'll try the fill layer method you suggest tomorrow and let you know how I do.
@bikedad57 let me know how it works.
Once you get used to working with layers, it’s a really good habit to put different elements on different layers, so you can always go back and make changes to each individual element.
It’s not impossible, but it takes a little more work to change the white background to black if it’s all on the same layer. Of course, it depends on the complexity of your logo.
Wow, you made it so clear to understand the concepts of both layers and masks. Thank you
You’re very welcome! I’m happy to hear you found it helpful!!
thank you so much. That’s the best tutorial I’ve seen about masks. Helped me a lot
Thank you very much! I’m really happy to hear that! So glad you found it helpful.
Thanks for the great explanation of Layers and masks! Looking forward to seeing more of your tutorials!
You’re very welcome! Really glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Brilliant thank you........ I am now switching from PS to Affinity and getting to grips with how everything works. After watching this one I am now about to work my way through many of your other tutorials 🙂
Thank you very much! If you’re coming from PS, most of the skills are transferable. Honestly when I first started using affinity photo about 6 years ago, there weren’t that many videos on it, so I just watched PS tutorials and figured out how to do the same thing in Affinity.
Judging from what I’ve seen, I’d say affinity photo is about 90% as capable of PS is. There are definitely a few things that PS can do that affinity photo doesn’t do yet, but there are also things that affinity photo can do which I think is a bit more efficient than PS.
Welcome to Affinity Photo!
@@brgphotography It's looks very similar to PS layout! I've only had Affinity for a couple of days, so I'm still finding my way around it.But lucky for me to find your tutorials this early on 🙂Thank you
@kerrytarrant6605 thank you very much for the kind words! I’m glad I could help!
Great topic, thanks 👍
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks a lot man. Really appreciate these videos for us beginners.
You’re welcome! Glad to hear that you found it helpful! I plan to make more videos geared towards beginners.
This was a great video. You made a complex concept quite understandable. Difficult to do. Thanks.
Thank you very much for the kind words! I’m really glad to hear that I accomplished what I set out to do! Sometimes you just just have to look at things a little different way to make them a little easier to understand.
Thanks so much. Very well explained!
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Eines der besten Videos zu diesem Thema auf UA-cam. Die Frage in einfachen und leicht verständlichen Worten erklärt. Sehr gut gemacht 🙂.
Thank you very much! I’m happy to hear that you found it helpful! 🙏🏼
Excelente, aun con subs en español y 0.75 en velocidad comprendí, aficionado desde Costa Rica 🎉❤
¡Muchos gracias! I’m happy to hear you could understand!
Best tutorial I have found, not too fast, well explained. Hopefully I can watch all your videos and learn how to get the best out of Affinity. One Question how do I save all my work. Thanks again Mal.
You’re very welcome! I glad you found the pace just right!
You mean saving all your work and layers? Just go up to File->Save.
And when you get a little get box pop up, make sure you select “save as.” This will keep all your layers and masks. If you select “flatten,” it will compress all your layers down to one and you won’t be able to work on them when you re-open the file.
So when you select “save as,” it should save it as an affinity photo document, and you should be able to open it at a later time and all your layers and masks will be there!
Hope this helps answers your question!
@@brgphotography Thanks for the prompt reply. Unbelievable. Thanks again Mal
More than a year after paying for Affinity, I cannot do effective work. All "tutorials" start with screens that look different from mine, no explanation of how to open tools or effects in the simplest layouts. This is very helpful. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I’m really happy to hear that!
The other tutorials you are referring to are all using v1. This version is the newer one (v2) and it came out last year sometime.
The older ones use V1. The videos made after the videos I made on the V2 bugs are all V1.
Some very good mask points you’ve made here are going to put me over the hump on using them. Thanks for the clarity.
I’m really glad to hear that! Once you get used to them, and finding different ways to use them, masks can be extremely powerful and super useful.
@@brgphotography It had not become intuitive. I think I’m armed with that now. I know what I want to see and masks were obviously the tool I lacked. Thanks so much.
You’re very welcome! I’m glad I was able to help!
BRO! I mean... BRG, you are the real MVP!!
Haha! Thank you for the kind worlds brother! Really appreciate it!
thank you so much for the video .. I finally understand how to stack photos and use the layer mask a little better ... I wish you would do one on stacks in detail... need in real estate photography. Thanks
I’m glad you found it useful.
What would you like to see more in detail? Maybe I can make a video about it.
@@brgphotography Using the pen tool to select something such as a window and be able to change the window only on a photo to bring more light into it... that along with shooting stacks and adjusting... most people doing these are frustrating because they move so fast and assume too much from the ones watching.
@FredHoffman I see. Actually I almost never use the pen tool to make selections. I usually use the selection brush tool, the use it to make a mask.
Maybe I’ll make a video about different ways to make selections. That’s a good idea. Thanks.
@@brgphotography I with you on the selection brush tool except when shooting architectual and the windows or the outside must be exact, it is critical to get the edges spot on.
@FredHoffman that makes a lot of sense.
Maybe I’ll make a video about that. Because you can make a selection a number of ways. The pen tool, which unfortunately I’m not that good at 😅, the selection brush tool, luminosity ranges, colors, etc.
But, if I remember correctly, once you have your pin Path completed, you should be able to set it as a selection, instead of a path. Then while you have that area selected, any adjustment layer you add, will be automatically masked that selection. Then that way you can make adjustments just in that area. You can also save that selection as a spare alpha channel, so you can reuse that mask at any later time.
This is a good topic, and I think I’ll definitely make a video about it.
enjoyed it. got lot out of it. brochures, Tri fold Z fold master pages. would be interested in that.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
I don’t have too much experience making brochures like that, but I could probably go over a few of the basic concepts in a future video. Thanks for the idea.
I'm new to Affinity Photo and this explanation is very clear. Thanks, Ben!
You’re very welcome! I have a few other videos in this beginner series, and plan to make more!
Super tutorial! Very demonstrative! Thanks!
Thank you for the kind words! I’m happy to hear you found it helpful!
Masks unmasked, very good explanation.
Aww man! What a great title idea! Why didn’t I think of that! 😂😂. Thank you!
This is amazingly helpful and so well explained ... I've done a bit of this before but was really working in the dark ... now I get it! 😎If you ever have time would be great to know more about the Pattern Layer which I've previously used for creating seamless patterns - if you have any tips/guidance for this I'm all ears thank you!
Thank you! I’m glad I was able to make things easy to understand! 😊
To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever used the pattern layer for my work. I’ve played with it a little just to check it out, but I haven’t really a use for it with the kind of work I do (portraits.)
So unfortunately I don’t have any good tips for it. 🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️
But I appreciate your comment, as many times I get ideas for future videos from comments and people letting me know what kind of things they’d like to learn. 🙏🏼
I'm still learning, that's an excellent video. Thank you.
Awesome! I’m really glad you found it helpful!
@@brgphotographyhello thank you so much for all of the hard work that goes into making all of the video tutorials that you’ve made available for all of our s to learn from. Now I’d like to know what type of editing tablet are you using in all of your videos.
@leonard187 hey man thank you very much for the kind words! Yeah, it does take a little time, which is why I’m not posting like every week. But I do want to try to post more often.
As far as my tablet, I use a Wacom Intuos Pro small size. I actually made a whole video about it.
Which Intuos is best for you?
ua-cam.com/video/It52oPkqAbU/v-deo.html
Excellent job !
Thank you! I hope you found it helpful!
Thanks, good refresher.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.
Sign me up. Great job of teaching.
Thank you! Hopefully will have some more interesting videos soon!
Thank you, that's quite helpful.
You’re welcome! Glad you found it helpful!
Brilliant! Have liked and subscribed. Cheers! 👍
Thank you very much! I appreciate the support! Glad you enjoyed it!
Well described, thank you.
Thank you very much! 😊
Really good descriptions, well done
Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Good tutorial but I think I need to figure out the use of brushes before I work on masks- Still not sure what brushes I should be using with a mask layer. I think I spotted Ben using the dodge and burn brushes but I have looked in the customise tools panel and can’t see them. Are they somewhere else?
Thank you!
Hmm, I’m pretty sure I didn’t use the dodge and burn brushes, because I don’t ever use them anymore.
When I do dodge and burn, I use a sieves layer, then use a paint brush to “reveal” the adjustment. Basically using just a normal brush set you white. I’ll usually have the flow set to 2% and the hardness down to 0% so the edges are really soft. Then with the low flow I can slowly build up the effect.
But you should be able to find the dodge and burn tool in the customize tool section. It looks like a little magnifying glass and a flame icon.
Informative, thanks!!
Thank you very much! Hope it helped!
That was a good beginner lesson 👌🏼
Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it!
Super well paced vid, really well and calmly explained. But @ 14:07 Black Reveals. I thought White reveals as @ 10:45 ????????. That is really totally confusing. Is this a bug or is that a magic brush ???. As everyone below that has commented seem to have had a euphoric moment I have to guess that I have I missed something very basic here or am I the only one that has noticed this ???, I think not. What am I not getting here.
Yes and no.
Remember, the mask is applied to the gradient layer only (the top most layer.) So the black part of the mask is hiding the gradient layer. It’s hiding the gradient layer because the mask is applied to that gradient layer ONLY. And white is revealing. Meaning it’s showing the gradient layer where the mask is white.
And because the gradient layer is being hidden, it is showing us the layer that is below.
So don’t think of black as revealing. Think of black as hiding the layer it’s attached to. And, IF you have something below that layer you’re going to be able to see it.
You can test this out in affinity photo. Open up a new document, and create a new fill layer. Under layer-> new fill layer. You can fill the layer with any color. Now add a mask. The mask will be white by default. Now, with the mask selected, take a black paint brush and start painting black in the mask. You will see that the black is now hiding your fill layer where you painted. And since it’s hiding that fill layer, you can see what is below. If you have nothing below, it will just be white. Or it will be that white and gray checkerboard if you had transparent background selected when you made the new file.
So, in a sense you are correct. By painting black, you are hiding the layer the mask is attached to. Thus, by consequence, revealing the layer that’s below.
So in a sense you are correct. But it’s more about how you think about it.
Yes, by painting black in the mask, you are hiding the layer, but you are “revealing“ the layer that happens to be below.
But I think you’re going to confuse yourself if you think about it like that. You need to think about it as black is hiding the layer that the mask is attached to. And, by consequence of the layer being hidden, it becomes transparent. So, if you have some thing below the layer that the mask is attached to, you will be able to see it. If you don’t have anything under there, it will just be blank.
Trust me, I know it can be really confusing. And it took me a while for it to click in my head.
I guess one way you could think about it is, “black reveals what’s on the layer below, because you are hiding what’s on the layer with the mask.“
Not sure if that helps, or makes things more confusing 😅
@@brgphotography Many many thks for the reply. Yep it's a bit paradoxical but I guess when you use it enough times it just becomes the norm, but getting into it initially is rather confusing but time heals and I guess it just becomes the norm. Thks again.
@joeking5211 no problem! I know that because it was confusing for me in the beginning, I wanted to make sure you understood it. Because I know it took me time to wrap my head around it. But like you said, the more you do it, it will become second nature, and it will start to make more sense.
Glad I could help!
Very nice! Thank You!
You’re very welcome!
Stellar .... thank you
You’re very welcome!
Well explained Thanks
You’re welcome! I’m glad to hear it was easy to understand.
Perfect. Thank you bro
You’re welcome brother! Happy you enjoyed it!
I'm new to affinity and it's swell!
Welcome to Affinity Photo! I hope my videos can help you get used to the software!
Problem when I select a tool such as selection I see an X rather than dotted circle. How to fix?
Hmm. Do you mean a cross shape?
I believe if you go to settings-> User interface, there is a setting called “always show brush crosshair” and you can check it on or off. If it’s on it will always show a little + sign with your brush tools. I turn my off.
Does this help?
very well explained!
Thank you very much! Really glad you found it helpful.
I would like to see a jewelry retouching video with affinity photo since the competition has many and they are not equivalent, thank you.
When you say jewelry retouching, what kind of retouching are you referring to? Cleaning it up, removing, cloning?
I’ve retouched jewelry a bit, but it’s mainly just making it a little bit brighter/sharper. And a few times removing some jewelry.
@@brgphotography cleanliness, brilliance, detail, purifying the color from a good photograph.
@@brgphotography cleanliness, brilliance, detail, purifying the color from a good photograph.
Sounds like a good idea. I’ve done a few shots in the past with jewelry so I’ll have to go back and check my process. But would make for a good video. Thanks for the recommendation!
Can Affinity sync several photos for painting in flashed areas in real estate?
If there is a way for affinity to open synced photos, I’m unaware of it.
And I’m not sure if affinity photo can open several photos in the one document, so I would probably open each photo individually, then select one photo, and copy and paste it on a new layer over another photo.
Then I would put the unflashed synced photo on the top of the layer stack, (over the shot that used a flash) then create a mask. Then I would invert that mask (thus hiding it) then paint in the areas you want revealed with a white paint brush.
Assuming you were on a tripod, the shots should line up.
Hope this helps.
@@brgphotography if that would work, it’s only 4 steps more than Photoshop, and I’m looking for an alternative to get rid of Photoshop. I wish companies would stop advertising that they ate alternatives to Photoshop when they are not.
Thanks for Sharing
You’re very welcome. I hope you found it helpful.
Ive been editing video and making short films for several years. Ive used photoshop for years using masks and adjustment layers. Affinity has a very :"Un-Intuitive" "restraint" on brushes, one being you have to have a layer selected and the others are: "Who Knows" but you cant paint. On the second hour on the 4th or 5th video by some other guy, this is explained for 2 seconds. You click on a lil checkmark and you can paint. Which checkmark? IDK i gotta watch 6 hours of some Englishman go on and on about Tea and Crumpet's. But I dont think I will. I think Im done until you make a checkmark that says "Click here to paint on this layer". I got things to do, photos to edit, films to produce. Im sure alot of people are unable to use your software. PLEASE TELL PEOPLE HOW TO USE THEIR BRUSHES!!!!!!!!
Sorry you’re having trouble. Though you should be able to just select the layer and start paining. Just make sure the layer is visible. Don’t accidentally click the little circle or box on the far right (depending on if you’re using version 1 or 2.) That little box hides the layer, so you won’t be able to see it.
good video
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Should have another foundation video out soon!
Danke für das gute Video. ich sehe es gerade zum 2.Mal, da ich kein Englisch kann und den deutschen Kommentar mitlesen muss. Das ist natürlich etwas schwierig, gleichzeitig auch zu sehen wo Du hinklickst. Aber toll erklärt!!
Thank you very much! I'm glad to see that you are still able to find the video useful, even when reading subtitles! But I actually do want to get better at explaining things a bit slower so it's easier to follow! I really appreciate your comment!
🙏🤘
Thank you!
Great tutorial, thank you, but please: Why background-music??? What’s the point??? For HSPs very difficult to focus on the words spoken. Everybody does that in YT videos, and I am trying to raise awareness. Music in films is a dramaturgic tool and used for creating drama or bridge parts where there is no speaking, but has no place when the protagonist shares s.th. of importance. Please reconsider, thank you!
Thank you for your comment!
I think, I recently started adding background music mainly just because I thought just my voice only would get a little monotonous. But I’m always trying to play around with a good volume, where it’s not really distracting, but just somethings subtly in the background. I guess so there’s not so much dead air during the times when I’m not talking.
I’ve had another comment on the type of music that I use in the background, and that it can sometimes be distracting so I might reconsider my choice of using music or not in my future videos.
I will say that I like having a little bit of background ambience/music, so it’s just not silent when I’m not speaking, so I might first start playing around with having the volume even lower, so it’s just subtly in the background, but not really distracting. But I appreciate your feedback!
hello friend thank you for still making incredible videos for us, this guy has me very much considering switching to adobe plz help convince me I'm crazy lol do you have any tutorials that give us control in affinity similar to this ua-cam.com/video/gEmHElQT73o/v-deo.htmlsi=6A7uVo9QLIhQCAq5 and also with your skin softening macros do you have a video showing how to apply it because I still can't figure it out.
You’re welcome bud! Let me take a look at that video later this evening and get back to you.
Are you referring to this video? ua-cam.com/video/FCNWu8FIhfE/v-deo.htmlsi=L0y6iF8vmVvpX43T I think show how to install them in that one.
But one thing, at least for me, is Affintiy photo doesn’t want to activate the macros with a tablet. It only works when I click on it with the mouse.
Hey brother, so after looking at that video, you can totally get that look in affinity photo, you just have to work a little bit differently. It’s actually pretty neat, and it gave me an idea for a video I might make in the near future, so I might actually put a video explaining how he did it.
But the main way to get that look, is by using the HSL adjustment layer and desaturating the colors individually in your image. You can also hue shift a little bit, and adjust their luminosity. Then, just using a curve adjustment layer, you could get the contrast and tones you like. You could even add a clarity filter to add some mid-tone detail to add some texture.
I was able to get a very similar look in about five minutes of playing in affinity photo, so I think I will make a video about this real soon, because it seems like it’s a popular look.