Editing challenge

  • There are multiple approaches, but I'm curious how other people would handle something like this in Affinity Photo.

    How would the brain trust lighten up the dark parts (i.e. the lower 3/4 of the screenshot) so the shadow isn't so extreme?

    This section of the picture makes no sense on its own, of course, and having a smooth border doesn't matter for my application (because I can just use the Clone Brush to blend it in).

    You have to click on it so it doesn't just show up as a black square. :)


  • You have to click on it so it doesn't just show up as a black square. :)

    If you’re literally seeing a black square I think you need to adjust your display settings. It’s quite dark in the bottom left-hand corner, but it still looks brown to me! Having said that, clicking on it reveals a vertical strip with a huge amount of additional content.

    Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
    Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.5.1 (iPad 7th gen)
    Affinity Studio (version 3) on Windows

  • I just mean that the thumbnail is a black square. The content when you click on it is what I'm posting about: getting very dark areas to be exposed similarly to the ones that aren't dark.

    By the way, my monitor - the main one - is calibrated. And it had better be, since I make large-scale prints (up to 44")!

    Edited 4 times, last by nickbatz (January 10, 2026 at 11:10 PM).

  • I just mean that the thumbnail is a black square.

    I understood that. I see a brown square here, and it’s quite a bit lighter at top right than at bottom left.

    Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
    Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.5.1 (iPad 7th gen)
    Affinity Studio (version 3) on Windows

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