Everyone who uses the program knows how to open one photo in Affinity Photo. Still, what if you need to open and edit two or more photos at the same time? How do you open multiple photos simultaneously within Affinity Photo? 

To open two or more photos at the same time in Affinity Photo you need to go to file>open. From there you merely hold down the shift key, select each of the files you want to open and then click open. The photos will all open at the same time in separate documents. 

If you’re trying to open multiple photos simultaneously within Affinity Photo but you’re having trouble actually doing it, you have come to the right place. In our guide below, we will walk you through the process of opening multiple photos at the same time in Affinity Photo. Additionally, we will briefly touch on batch processing and resizing of multiple photos. Let’s dive right in!

How Do I Open Multiple Photos in Affinity? 

Sometimes one photo just isn’t enough. When you have a project that requires you to edit two or more photos simultaneously you can save some time by opening all of them into Affinity Photo together. So, how exactly do you open multiple photos in Affinity Photo at the same time?

In our step-by-step guide below we will walk you through the process of opening multiple photos at the same time in Affinity Photo: 

1. Open the program and create a new document: Before you can do anything else you’re going to need to open Affinity Photo itself and create a new document to import your photos into. You can create a new document by going to file, new. 
2. Select file from the task bar at the top of the page and click open: File should be the first option on the taskbar. It is located next to Affinity Photo. Open should come up somewhere in the middle of the dropdown menu for file. Alternatively, you can just press ctrl plus O on the keyboard as a shortcut if you’re on Windows. It’s ⌘ plus O for Mac. 
3. Find your files in the open window: You’re going to want to find your files in the open window. If you got them online and didn’t move them they are likely to be in the downloads folder. On a separate but related note, this is why it’s a good idea to create a new folder for each project you do and fill it with the photos for that project. 
4. Hold down shift and select each photo, then open them: Holding down shift will allow you to select more than one photo. Select all of the photos that you want and then click open. This should open each of them in separate documents.

And that’s how you open multiple photos at the same time in Affinity Photo. Pretty easy right. Now let’s take a look at some more complicated things you can do with multiple photos simultaneously in Affinity Photo. 

Can You Batch Process in Affinity Photo?

Batch processing is essentially when you make some overarching edits to multiple photos at the same time. This can include things like resizing or cropping a bunch of different photos for the same collection so they all are consistently done. This, of course, leaves the question, can you batch process photos in Affinity Photo or will you need a different program like Photoshop? 

You can, in fact, batch process multiple photos together in Affinity Photo. To do so, you simply need to select the “Batch Job” tool in the file menu. From there you can follow the prompts to add whatever photos you want, then crop or resize them together. Once you’re done you just select OK and the changes will be made across all of them. 

As we alluded to previously, batch processing is great for when you’re working on a bunch of photos or images that are supposed to go together in a series. If done correctly, they will have a symmetry with one another that not only makes them more desirable but more professional looking as well. They will really feel like they go together. 

So Really, How Do You Open Two Photos at Once in Affinity Photo?

Opening two photos at once in Affinity Photo is really a simple process. You go to open the photos the same way you would open any other, except this time you hold down the shift key and select multiple photos before clicking on the open button. 

If you’re trying to open multiple photos because you want them to go together in a series or as part of one project, you may also want to think about batch processing. Batch processing will allow you to resize or crop all of your photos at once so they are 100% consistent. To do this you simply need to use the Batch Job tool in the file menu.