Developing a raw image

Working in Develop Persona

If a supported raw file format is opened, it will automatically display in Develop Persona. You can then process the image using the dedicated adjustments, Studio panels and tools. You can use non-destructive development which lets you redevelop the original raw image at any time without affecting the original file.

Develop Persona gives you access to the following:

Output options that will retain your original raw image as a non-destructive raw layer, with the raw file either embedded (copied into your document) or linked (left in its original file location).
Develop Assistant to control behavior on loading the RAW image:
- choice of RAW engine for RAW processing
- enable/disable automatic lens correction (SerifLabs RAW engine only)
- enable/disable automatic noise reduction
- enable/disable automatic tonal adjustment (curves)
- enable/disable automatic exposure adjustment
Tonal adjustments using the Basic and Tones panels.
Sharpening and Noise adjustments using the Details panel.
Lens correction adjustments using the Lens panel.
Overlays for applying adjustments to specific brushed image regions.
Crop Tool for cropping your image.
Blemish Removal Tool for correcting image imperfections.
Metadata panel for GPS Location and A/F region display.

At any point while working with an image or any selected pixel layer, you can switch to Develop Persona to make use of its unique features.

Choosing between RAW engines

The Develop Assistant provides a choice between Apple (Core Image RAW) and Serif Labs engines for processing RAW images.

Apple's engine provides the benefits of predetermined behaviors for demosaicing, lens correction, noise reduction, cropping and more.

Serif Labs' engine allows for greater manual configuration. You can specify luma and chroma noise reduction separately or disable noise reduction altogether, override lens correction, and benefit from superior demosaicing.

Apple's engine crops to whatever aspect ratio was selected in camera and so was written into the image's metadata, even if the camera sensor's aspect ratio is different. Data outside of the crop area may be removed during RAW processing. The Serif Labs engine doesn't destructively crop images, so all sensor data remains available.

Split view options

There are a variety of split view options available in Develop Persona's View Tool which give you the opportunity of seeing how your processed image compares to the original raw data.

Syncing

While applying adjustments, you can update the 'Before' and 'After' view to give you a more focused representation of the applied changes. Rather than comparing the processed image with the original raw data, you can sync the views so 'Before' adopts the current applied adjustments. The 'After' view continues to update as more adjustments are made.

Show Clipping

An incorrect level of exposure within an image can lead to pixels 'falling out' of the viewable intensity range. This results in the loss of detail in areas of shadow, highlights, or midtones and is known as clipping.

In Develop Persona, you have the ability to display Clipped Shadows, Clipped Highlights and/or Clipped Tones directly on the image. This can help you identify areas which need correcting as well as preventing overenthusiastic modifications which result in clipping. The Develop Persona remembers your choices for these options from the last time you used it, even when editing a different photo.

To develop a raw image:

Open a raw image. Develop Persona will analyze the data and pre-process it, ready for editing.*
On the context toolbar, activate your preferred Split view mode.
Adjust the image using the various panel options and raw tools.
(Optional) Sync applied settings within the view and repeat the above step.
On the context toolbar, select an Output option. Choose from:
- Pixel Layer—output will be destructive; a pixel layer is created from your developed raw image.
- RAW Layer (Embedded)—when developed, an editable non-destructive raw layer is created; the raw image is copied into your document.
- RAW layer (Linked)—when developed, an editable non-destructive raw layer is created; the raw image is kept in its original file location.
If redeveloping a raw image, if Show All Layers is enabled above your workspace then all layers (e.g., adjustments or filters) applied in Photo Persona will be displayed if the raw image is redeveloped. Uncheck to hide other layers.
On the context toolbar, select Develop.

To redevelop a raw image:

On the Layers panel, select the raw layer.
On the Personas menu, select Develop Persona.

To activate split view modes:

On the context toolbar, tap Split to cycle between:
- the processed image in isolation on a single page.
- the processed and original raw image simultaneously on the same page. Drag the After/Before slider left/right to preview different areas.
- the processed and original raw image simultaneously on separate pages as a mirror representation. Panning and zooming affects both pages simultaneously so the same area is always displayed in both pages.

To synchronize applied settings in view modes:

On the Edit menu, choose one of the following:

Tap Sync Before to update the 'Before' view to the most recent applied settings.
Tap Sync After to revert the settings applied in the 'After' view back to the settings shown in the 'Before' view.
Tap Swap Before/After to switch the applied settings between the views.

To show clipping:

On the Edit menu, choose one of the following:

Tap Toggle clipped highlights to display all 'blown' highlights as a high-contrast red color.
Tap Toggle clipped tones to display all clipped midtone areas as a high-contrast yellow color.
Tap Toggle clipped shadows to display all clipped shadow areas as a high-contrast blue color.

To rotate your raw image:

On the Edit menu, choose Rotate Clockwise or Rotate Anticlockwise.

To change initial develop settings:

When in the Home Screen, do the following:

Tap Settings at the bottom left of your Affinity app's Home screen.
From the General tab, tap Assistant Options.
Choose from the following settings:
- RAW output color format: Choose between RGB (16bit) or RGB (32bit) output when developing a raw image. Choosing the latter option allows you to maintain a full 32-bit float environment from initial raw development to export and take advantage of extra precision.
- RAW tone curve: If the default 'Apply tone curve' option is active, your raw image is adjusted using a suggested tone curve. The 'Take no action' option makes no tonal correction; the image can be altered within the Develop Persona's Basic panel later.
- RAW exposure bias: Choose whether to apply exposure bias value if stored in the raw image's EXIF data. Like Histogram stretch, both 'default' and 'initial' give the same results but reports zeroed or actual values, respectively. The 'Take no action' option ignores the exposure bias value.
- Default map region: Sets the map that displays in the Develop Persona's Metadata panel to a chosen region, if the raw image contains no GPS location data in its EXIF data.
- RAW Engine: Provides a choice of RAW processing engines for you to use—Affinity's own Serif Labs engine or Apple (Core Image RAW) engine (used by default).