Batch processing or converting files in Affinity Photo is a handy time-saver. You can quickly apply a set of actions to groups of images while keeping manual actions to a minimum.
But if you're used to Adobe Photoshop, you'll notice batch jobs don't work in quite the same way in Affinity Photo. And there are some things it won't do at all, which you might be used to.
Here, we look at how to run batch jobs in Affinity Photos. And we consider the things it can't do—which its more famous competitor can.
How to Run a Batch Job in Affinity Photo
From the menu bar, select File > New Batch Job. It doesn't matter if you have an image open or not.
This will open the New Batch Job panel. Here, you need to select which files you want to add to the batch process. You can add files from a variety of different locations to your batch job queue, but there are some limitations on how this works. More on that in a moment.
Start by clicking Add. Now, browse through the folders on your computer and choose some files to add. Select the files you want to add and click Open.
Sadly, you can only select files, not folders, so you can't save time by choosing multiple folders at once. Instead, if you want to add files from another folder, you have to click the Add button again and repeat the process.
Once you've selected the files you want to process, you can decide how your batch job is going to process them. To begin with, choose your output location.
If you're happy for your processed files to be saved in the same location as the original, select the Save into original location radio button. Otherwise, click the button with the three dots next to Save into. Choose a location and click OK.
Next, choose which file formats you want to output to. There are five options: AFPhoto, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and OpenEXR. You can choose as many as you want, so you could convert a group of images to JPEG, PNG, and Affinity Photo's own AFPhoto format all at the same time.
You can also set dimensions to output. Type them into the W and H fields next to the file format options. If you click the three-dot button down the side, you'll be able to further define how photos are resized and which color profiles they'll use.
If you want to apply any macros to your images as well, do that using the Available Macros column. This includes default macros, as well as those you've created yourself.
If you want to use a macro in your batch job, click it and then click the Apply button. It will then appear in the Applied Macros column. You can add as many macros as you like here, and Affinity Photo will run through them all as part of your batch job.
Finally, make sure the Parallel processing box in the bottom left is ticked. This tells Affinity Photo to use all the cores of your processor to work through your batch job. There may be times when you want to disable this, but in most cases, you should have it on, so batch processes are completed faster.
Click OK to run your batch job. Back in the main Affinity Photo interface, on the left-hand side, you'll see all your selected images being processed. How long this takes will depend on how many images you're processing, the complexity of the job, and the speed of your computer.
When it's done, all your processed images will be stored wherever you chose as your output location.
Using Your Own Macros in Batch Jobs
Just as you can create actions in Photoshop to automate tasks, you can make macros in Affinity Photo to do the same thing. And like in Photoshop, they can be added to batch jobs.
If your Macro panel isn't already open, select View > Studio > Macro from the top menu.
In the Macro panel, click the red circle to start recording your macro. Now, as you carry out actions, they'll be added to the list in the Macro panel. As an example, you could turn an image black and white, add a shadow/highlight adjustment, posterize it, adjust the posterize level, then resize the image.
What you can't do, though, is save your image in a different format and include that as part of your macro. That's something you can do in Photoshop, but in Affinity Photo, the Export and Save As menu items are grayed out while recording a macro. That's not a huge problem, but it can be jarring if you're used to the Photoshop way of doing things.
When you're done, click the stop button. Next, click the Add To Library button in the Macro window. It's the three small squares with a plus sign. Give your macro a name, and click OK to save it.
To record a new macro, you need to clear the Macro panel. Click the Reset button (the circular swirl), and it will remove the steps you recorded for the last macro. Alternatively, you could keep them in the list, press record, and then add more steps.
Open the New Batch Job panel again, and you'll be able to select your custom macros under Available Macros. Add them as before, and click OK to run your batch job with them.
How Does This Compare to Photoshop?
The New Batch Job tool in Affinity Photo is similar to the Batch tool in Photoshop, but with fewer options. Unlike Photoshop, there are no fields for automatic file renaming. And you can't tell Affinity Photo what to do if it encounters an error during a batch processing job.
That's not all Affinity Photo is missing when it comes to batch processing. You can create droplets in Photoshop to help automate tasks. These enable you to assign a macro to an icon somewhere on your computer, and when you drag and drop image files onto it, it runs them through that macro. There's nothing like this in Affinity Photo, which is a shame.
But considering the enormous price difference between the two apps, it's forgivable. If you're coming over from Photoshop, you might miss droplets and some of Photoshop's other automation tools. For everyday file conversion and batch processing, though, Affinity Photo does a surprisingly good job.
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