(Workaround) [Affinity Photo] View a channel without alpha as transparency?

bitinn

Hi,

When trying to view a texture with channel packing (where alpha is not transparency), how can I tell Affinity Photo to not display a channel with alpha applied?

My problem as following: I am viewing a single channel which contains roughness map but AP always use my decal in alpha to mask channel even if it's set to disabled.

I tried to find a profile in AP that treat RGBA/8 PNG as Linear or Raw, but there isn't one. So is this possible? If not, what's the alternative for viewing channels on macOS?

bitinn

Bump this old thread as I haven't found a definitive answer

myclay

definitive answer;
 not possible with the current version of Affinity Photo and the original channel-setup,
the only so far known workaround is posted here;

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/57177-affinity-photo-view-a-channel-without-alpha/

1. Create a spare channel and then a Mask channel from your Alpha - the Layer Channel (not the composite one)
2. Fill your Layer Channel Alpha
now you can at ease edit the RGB channels while you can toggle the alpha mask(the one above your Layers) on and off.
3.To finalize the Layer, right click on your Spare channel and load it into the Layer channel alpha.

To be able to edit your alpha;
you would have to either strg click on your mask layer to put it into your Pixel selection
or to right click on the spare channel to load it into the pixel selection.

For Packing Textures including the alpha channel, something else like channel shuffle is a necessity.

bitinn

myclay said:

definitive answer;
 not possible with the current version of Affinity Photo and the original channel-setup,
the only so far known workaround is posted here;

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/57177-affinity-photo-view-a-channel-without-alpha/

1. Create a spare channel and then a Mask channel from your Alpha - the Layer Channel (not the composite one)
2. Fill your Layer Channel Alpha
now you can at ease edit the RGB channels while you can toggle the alpha mask(the one above your Layers) on and off.
3.To finalize the Layer, right click on your Spare channel and load it into the Layer channel alpha.

To be able to edit your alpha;
you would have to either strg click on your mask layer to put it into your Pixel selection
or to right click on the spare channel to load it into the pixel selection.

For Packing Textures including the alpha channel, something else like channel shuffle is a necessity.

oh god, thx! didn't realize you replied there!