Affinity Photo Problem

Hello, I am trying to use the Mac version of Filter Forge with Affinity Photo 1.7.1. The problem I am experiencing is the following:

In Affinity Photo, if I select an element in a layer, and then choose Filters/Filter Forge/Filter Forge, Filter Forge refuses to launch.

However, if I select a layer in Affinity Photo, but DON'T select a specific element in the layer, then Filter Forge will launch, and it will apply whatever effect I select. But, Filter Forge will apply the effect to the entire layer, and not just to the element in the layer.

I know that the Filter Forge staff and Affinity Photo staff have had some communication regarding these compatibility issues. Do you have any idea how soon Filter Forge will work properly in Affinity Photo?

By the way, Filter Forge continues to work fine in Adobe Photoshop CS6. I can select a specific element in a PS layer, and Filter Forge will apply the effect just to that element, and not to the entire layer. This is what I expect to happen. So why doesn't it work in Affinity Photo?

Thank you in advance.

Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. I have just informed the Affinity Photo team of what you said. Hopefully, they will make the necessary code changes so that PS-compatible plugins will work better with Affinity Photo.

Hello Peaches. Thanks for your reply. I have discussed this issue with both the Filter Forge developers, and with folks on the Affinity Photo support board as well. The element on which I wish to apply a FF filter is in fact in its own layer.

While FF works great, and as expected, in Adobe Photoshop, it has now been clearly established that due to a PARTIAL implementation of Adobe's plugins SDK in Affinity Photo, it is simply not possible to select an element in a layer in Affinity Photo, and apply a FF affect to it.

As I have already stated, if I select an element in a layer in Affinity Photo -- as opposed to selecting the entire layer -- FF will NOT even launch. In contrast, if I don't select the element in the layer, FF will launch, but it will apply the effect to the entire layer, which is obviously not what I want to happen.

Sadly, it appears that the Affinity Photo team does not have a lot of motivation for fixing this issue regarding Photoshop-compatible plugins. In fact, I have been told that they are in the process of developing their own plugin system for Affinity Photo. Whether or not it will make Photoshop plugins completely compatible, remains to be seen. But I suspect not.

BTW, NONE of my Photoshop plugins work 100% with Affinity Photo, which is really the deal-breaker for me, insofar as switching to Affinity Photo is concerned.

Peaches, I don't have any experience with Serif's other two products. I only began testing Affinity Photo about ten days ago.

Just to be clear, the problem is NOT with Filter Forge. As I said, it works great in Adobe Photoshop CS6. The problem, as far as I can tell, and as far as I have been led to believe, is with Serif's products, because they have not fully implemented Adobe's plugin architecture, and may possibly never do so.

Regarding Adobe Photoshop, I last purchased CS6 a number of years ago, and I have been using it ever since, because like many other users, I have refused to bite the bullet and purchase an annual subscription for Adobe Photoshop CC.

However, with all of the problems that Affinity Photo has with Adobe-compatible plugins, and with macOS Catalina coming out in a few months, I am really down to two options:

1. Stay with macOS Mojave where Photoshop CS6 continues to work.
2. Upgrade to Catalina and pay for Adobe's annual subscription.

I know a lot of graphic artists find themselves in the very same situation.

Peaches, it seems that you may have misread what I wrote. I did NOT say that the issue is not with Affinity Photo and Serif. In fact, I said the exact opposite. I said that the problem IS with Serif and Affinity Photo, because Serif has not made their product fully Adobe plugin compatible.

Adobe is THE major player in the world of computer graphics. That is why so many plugin developers learn how to make their plugins compatible with Adobe products. Adobe is their "golden goose" so-to-speak.

As I said, Filter Forge is a perfectly-working plugin when it comes to Adobe compatibility. The reason why it -- and other plugins I use -- do not work with Affinity Photo, is because Serif hasn't fully implemented the Adobe plugin architecture in Affinity Photo. Until they do that, there is NOTHING that the Filter Forge developers -- or any other Adobe-compatible plugin developers -- can do, so that their plugins will function properly in Affinity Photo. The onus is on Serif. So I think you've got it wrong. Serif is the one who is not willing to play ball.