Is "Photos Library" just a way for Apple to mess with Photo Apps like Affinity?

Ever since macOS 10.15 Catalina has Photos no longer stored the original image files with their original filenames, but renamed them, probably, because the unique filenames will make it easier to handle duplicates across many devices in iCloud. How Photos 5.0 on Catalina Manages original Files and Filenames

But in the Info in Photos we are seeing the original image files. And when I want to edit with Affinity, I opening a photo in Photos in the edit mode and am call the Affinity editing extensions directly from Photos, so Affinity does not have to find the photos.

Photos will restore the original filenames when exporting the originals from Photos. I am keeping an archive of all originals outside of Photos anyway. This way I will be able to get all originals back, unmodified, if there should ever be a problem that Photos does no longer run or cannot open the Photos Library, better safe than sorry.

Photos is largely a database for organizing pictures which also has some powerful editing tools. Of course, you are free to use other apps, some of which may be more powerful than Photos, but which will certainly cost more.

By the way, Photos renames files because lots of people have many pictures with the same name. I'm not sure how many different IMG_0001's that I have! So Photos gives each file a new name and records this in a database. The database connects many aspects of the pictures, including thumbnails, metadata, edit steps, and so on. Messing around inside the Photos package can disrupt the database and make it unusable.

And you can certainly use other editing tools with Photos. I often use GraphicConverter for some functions, and that is easily workable from within the Photos editing window:

Check out those three little dots in the upper right corner in the Edit window-- they let you use extensions provided by many editors like Photoshop and Light Room.

And,

Oops-- I see léonie posted some of the same stuff 2 minutes before me.

Try to use Affinity directly from Photos.

• You can either select the photo in Photos and use the command "Image > Edit with..", then select Affinity to open the photo in Affinity.
• Or, as Richard explained, use the extensions installed by Affinity. The extensions are called from the Edit view.

From the "Image > Edit With" menu - this will launch the full Affinity.app on the selected image:

Or from the Edit mode - this will launch selected extensions. I prefer to use Affinity like this, as I do not have to bother with the Personae, and can go straight for Retouch or Haze Removal:

Mal_Paso wrote:

Yes, thanks, but you can't even open the "Photos Library" from Affinity

Of course you can't open Photos Library from Affinity-- Photos is a database. Do you usually open your Excel files in Affinity? By all means, if you don't need Photos to help organize your pictures, do not use it.

You're absolutely right that if Photos is not doing what you want it to do then don't use it. It's an app that's good for some but not for everybody. But to blame it because Affinity crashes when printing seems... eccentric :)

Hmmm, I've been printing and processing files on Macs for 30 years. Like I say, you're dead right: if Photos is not the app for you then it's not the app for you. But Photos has nothing to do with printing from Affinity...

I like your details more!