Brucer Loc: Bedminster, NJ

My son and I came upon some difficulty trying to load a series of five Develop-Mode-synchronized RAW files from Lightroom into Affinity Photo for the merge. (These images were done in D850 Focus Shift.) So we exported them as jpg onto my hard drive, and then uploaded them into Affinity Photo for the merge. The resulting single jpg, exported back to my hard drive, looks good. But does anyone know if there is a way to transfer a series of RAW files directly from LR into Affinity and merge them? Does anyone know if it would make a difference, if I can focus merge RAW files instead of jpg?

tcthome Loc: NJ

I just imported 4 photos from LR6 to AP at once. I created a new folder & moved 4 photos into it inside of LR. I clicked on the one to the left, then shift click the one to far right to highlight them all. If the 4 photo are all in a row next to each other you can just high lite them & right click & chose edit in AP. Then I right clicked & chose edit in AP. In the AP Photo Persona they show at the top where they show as different documents.
I believe there is a video on how to focus merge in the AP tutorials & on you tube. The first link seems to be the easiest way. Move your photos to a new created folder. I have done it once but, only once & it was a long time ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl3C7P6mtaM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQFGyfgFElY

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/tutorials/photo/desktop/video/295557891/

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=focus+stacking+in+affinity+photo+

https://www.youtube.com/c/AFFINITYPHOTOofficial/videos

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

I don't think you can use focus merge on RAW files in AP - only tiff and jpg.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I know of no way to load images from Lightroom directly into AP's Focus Merge. In fact this question has been posed on the AP forum with no resolution.

bwa

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

I routinely import raw files from a SD card into Affinity Photo for focus stacking, HDR merges, panorama merges, etc. as well as for routine post processing, and when finished export the files as tiff or jpgs without problems, but I'm not sure if this is what you (the OP) are referring to. If I recall correctly, the files are changed from the DNG files they were on import to another file type during development but since what I want after processing is usually a tiff file this does not seem to have any adverse effects. I'm far from an expert on this but do find Affinity Photo does very well for the different merge/stacking functinons it does, with the process being very easy to master and the results excellent. I hope this is of some help - just trying to pass along my experience.

Brucer Loc: Bedminster, NJ

Thanks everyone. And tcthome, I watched the videos. I see how AP can deal with a RAW image for HDR, but by all I've gathered, it uploads jpgs for Focus Merge. Presumably RAW files processed, exported as jpgs, and then uploaded for the merge.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

It is not my experience that Raw files cannot be uploaded directly to Focus Merge. Simply click on the New Focus Merge tool after opening AP, then "add", then find the Raw file you want to upload in whatever folder it resides in, and click on "open". The file should then upload to the Focus Merge function. Continue to upload however many files you want to merge and it is then ready for merging. That's all there is to it. When the merge is completed you can export the merged file in several different file formats, including tiff and jpg, but also others.

Brucer Loc: Bedminster, NJ

It seems to merge jpg OK. I was wondering if there's any critical difference. I would transport the RAW files from LR to merge, after they've been developed but not yet exported. I see no point in loading RAW files directly from my hard drive and merging them, then exporting the product as a jpg, if the RAW files haven't been developed first. My lack of understanding might be this--once a RAW is in any way developed, maybe it's no longer a RAW file? Even if it hasn't been exported as jpg or whatever?

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

If there is a problem uploading files from LR to Focus Merge in AP (I do have LR but rarely use it for anything anymore, preferring AP) why not upload the RAW files from the SD card to AP Focus Merge, do the Merge, and then export the merged file in whatever of the 11 file formats available in AP you choose to LR for whatever processing you want to do there? That way instead of processing multiple files pre-merge you would only have to process one focus merged file. I don't understand exactly what you are trying to accomplish here and my comments may be off-target. If so, my apologies.

By doing the procedure in this way jpg files would not be involved as best I can tell, unless you choose jpg file in exporting the merged file (the list of availble files is shown during the export process). My preference would be tiff since those files are not compressed and carry more data, although the files are admittedly large. I've found that AP handles very large files in post processing with ease. The end results I get by doing Focus Merges as described above are excellent. Hope this is of some help.

Brucer Loc: Bedminster, NJ

Yes, that's helpful. It gives me insight into possible options. So far, I haven't even slowed down to look at those many other file options in AP. I am biased w/regard to RAW files (and I don't even fully trust DNG, though I can't remember my particular reason) and the information they contain for me to work with. Now I see maybe TIFF would be workable, and I think it's pretty cool I can export to LR. All that said, however, my particular concern remains the same: as far as the quality of the result goes, does it matter if I focus merge, say, five jpgs, or five RAW files? Am I going to get a better image by focus merging RAW files instead of jpgs post-processed first as RAW files? Or more to the point: if I were to focus merge RAW files instead of jpg, would I be getting better quality? Maybe it's just a stupid question, but I don't know about all this. Doing the post processing in LR is a cinch. I just synchronize the five RAW images, export the result as jpgs to my hard drive, then upload them for the AP focus merge. That said, you must have left LR to do your post-processing in AP for a reason, so my curiosity about that at least means I will be aware. Thanks.