Affinity Designer A Complete Guide – Edition by Gerardus Blokdyk – Ebook | Scribd – Account help

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ready to start learning? Go to the Color Wheel and click on a nice blue color. Select the Artistic Text Tool. Go to the Contextual Toolbar and type impact in the Font selection box see yellow rectangle. If you don’t have the impact font, choose another that has thick characters. Press Caps lock on your keyboard. Type Beach on one level and type Lifestyle on the next. Try to get your document to look like ours. The entire document is not shown, just the text.

Go to the Layers Panel and click on the bottom Rectangle layer so it’s highlighted in blue. We now want to lock this background layer, so it won’t move around while we do our other edits. When you want to lock a layer, there’s four ways to do it. Go to the Menu bar – Layer – Lock 2. Click on the lock icon in the Layers Panel area see the yellow rectangle below. Right-click and select Lock. Lock the Rectangle layer however you want. After you’ve locked a layer, there will be a lock icon on its layer.

Go to the Contextual Toolbar and click on the Center Align button see the yellow rectangle in the below image. Now that the text is centered, let’s adjust the spacing of the letters to “BEACH” so that the word extends a bit more either way in comparison to the underlying word.

Click on the Character Panel see the white rectangle in the below image to open the Positioning and Transform panel. Note: You may have to click on the Positioning and Transform group icon see the green rectangle in the below image to open the drop-down menu where we typed If so, then just click on its group icon and you’ll see what we have. Double-click on the Text Tracking value box see the yellow rectangle in the below image and type Feel free to use its slider, if you prefer. We now need to resize the text, so it extends as far to the bottom corners as possible.

To do this, we’ll use the Shift key and the bottom right blue node and then the top left blue node. This is what your document should look like now: Note: If we had only used the blue nodes and not the Shift key, we wouldn’t be able to extend the text to the very edges of the document. Now, we need to open the image with the beach image. Here is the current hyperlink to the image we’ll be using. If you have problems opening up this hyperlink, email us and we’ll send you the Designer Images folder over email.

It should be right in front of you after you open it from its original location. When you do this, the beach image as well as its corresponding layer will be above the other two layers. The image will be small because our document is larger pixels x pixels than the image. When you do this, you’ll see that it’s not possible without extending beyond the border of the document. This is ok to do, but now you know that if you hold-down the Shift key while extending the blue nodes that it’s easier to cover the entire document.

Note: Maybe the second choice is better in this instance because it will give us more leeway if we want to reposition the beach image when it is behind the text. Go to the Layers Panel and make sure there are three layers: 1. Top: Beach image 2. Middle: Text 3. Bottom: Rectangle Now, let’s make a child layer. Click on the top layer so it’s highlighted in blue and then drag it belowand-to-the-right of the middle layer. Review: Before we continue, let’s review what we’ve learnt about child layers.

These layers, when repositioned in the Layers Stack only affect the layer they’re attached to, and not layers below them. After we did the action above, we can now see the bottom blue Rectangle layer. The beach image has affected the text so instead of a black fill, we see the beach image. This is what our Layers Panel should look like now: Review: What do the icons that we surrounded with the yellow and white squares mean? Done: This is our almost-final image.

It is also called Word Art. Before we go, there is one final edit we can do to this image. If you’d like to reposition the beach image in the text, do this: Click on the child layer so it’s highlighted in blue maybe already is. Click on the bottom right-hand blue node and extend the beach image beyond the document see the below image.

Click on the middle of the beach image and drag it around to your perfect spot. We think it looks best when the ocean’s horizon in parallel with the lower portion of the A. This is now the new final image. This ends this lesson on how to use child layers. It allows us to make unique shapes very quickly. Here is an image of the five Boolean Tools with their names typed out for you. In order to use the Boolean Tools, we need to have at least two objects selected at the same time.

We’ll keep this lesson as simple as we can and only use two objects. We’ll create one pink circle and then duplicate it. These will be our two shapes. Instead of trying to explain how to use these tools, let’s just jump in If so, then let’s Click on the pink color on the Color wheel to change its color.

We can do this because we know the first circle is active. Meaning: It has blue nodes surrounding it and it’s layer in the Layers Panel is highlighted in blue. Select the Move Tool to move the duplicated circle from above the first circle and place it to the right of the other circle shape see the image below for what we want you to do.

This is what you should have on your screen now. Notice how the blue nodes surround both circles. This is what the Layers Panel should look like when both shapes are selected. We’ll call this our starting Layers Panel position. So, every time before we click on a new Boolean Tool, we need to make sure we always start where both of our original circles are selected like the above two images.

Let’s start clicking on some Boolean Tools, shall we? We’ll show you what to click and what the new shape looks like. There really isn’t much to discuss other than to see what happens and to think to yourself and remember what happens to our two selected objects when you click on a Boolean Tool.

Note: We’ll use these Boolean tools when we create a flat character with shading later on in this book. Click on the Add Boolean Tool. Result: The two shapes are now one. This is how it appears in the Layers Panel. You should be back at the starting position now with both circles selected: Click on the Subtract second Boolean Tool.

Result: Subtract removes the circle positioned on top of the other layer and leaves behind a subtracted portion of one of the objects.

Notice how the left-side circle is completely gone. Result: Only the area where the two shapes intersected remains. Pay attention again at how the original two circles are completely removed and only the leftover portion remains. Note: We’ll be using this Boolean Tool in to create a beautiful flower design later on in this book. Note: The way we pronounce “Xor” is “Core” like coring out an apple.

The X being the Greek letter chi, which is pronounced “kai” – or so we think : Result: Creates a transparent area where the two objects overlapped each other. The core was taken out and the two shapes without this middle area remain.

Result: This Boolean Tool cuts and divides the original two objects into three separate objects see the Layers Panel in two images below. The division occurs where the Stroke outlines were. There won’t appear to be any change to the object in the document when this tool is first done. But, each of the three objects you can see in the Layers Panel are now their own individual shapes in the document.

All you have to do is move each one away from the other. We’e finished working with the Boolean Tools. Now, it’s your turn to go back and create two new shapes and after you select both of them, go through the different Boolean Tools and watch their shapes change. Do this 10 times and it’ll start to sink in how you can possibly use these tools for future design ideas.

This completes our lesson on the Boolean tools. In our opinion, this is the most important tool you should become familiar with. Shortcut: Press P to select this tool. We think it’s very important that you know these Modes, so we’ll show you what each does. The Node Tool, which can be thought of as a sibling tool to the Pen Tool, works much the same way. Simplistically, you can get a sense of what each Mode does by looking at its thumbnail.

We’ll explain and show you how to use each below. As you are going through this lesson, please take some time and create your own lines to get a feel of how these lines work on your screen. Note: The Pen Tool is the icon with the yellow square around it in the below image. Let’s discuss these modes The first Mode is the Pen Mode.

In the below image, we made a simple flowing line using the Pen Mode see yellow rectangle. We’re done now explaining what the first Pen Mode is.

But, before we move on to the next Mode, we think it’s important for you to know the different parts of the Pen line. As we continue in this book, we may say something like – “when you move the directional handle you can increase the curve of the path segment”. This language is confusing to new users. So, we how we can explain visually what we mean by the below graphic we created for you. Remember that ‘path’ and ‘line’ are the same. The second Mode is the Smart Pen Mode see the yellow rectangle in the below image This Mode creates curved lines between anchor points.

So, when you click out three points in the shape of a triangle, you won’t get three straight lines, but three curved lines see the below image. Practice: Take your time and create five new shapes. Learn to see how the shapes look and feel as you create them.

Notice how one of the nodes is red and not blue. Can you think of why this is so? This means it’s the ending node you clicked on to close your shape. Check out this shape below. Notice that we didn’t close our shape and notice where the red node is located.

If the image is a bit unclear, the red node is the left-most node. That’s all we are going to talk about with this node. Let’s now look at the third Pen Mode option. The third Mode is the Polygon Pen Mode. This is the mode you want to use when you want to only make precisely straight lines see the below image.

Which kind of graphics would that person be most interested? Note: Affinity Designer makes making perfectly straight lines simple. Just hold-down the Shift key when making a straight line and the line will be perfect. It is a very handy trick. That’s all we have on the Polygon Pen Mode. The fourth Mode is the Line Mode.

It is used for making single line segments. When using this Mode, you cannot add a curve to the path segment. It just creates a line. There are no nodes in between the starting and ending nodes.

Practice: Create five lines using this mode. Try to make them horizontal and vertical. Use the Shift key when creating two of these lines and experience the difference between using and not using the Shift key. That’s it with the four Pen Modes. In the below image, we have all four types of lines in one document. No, we did not intend to a cool face with them : Remember that when you create these different lines, each line will make up its own layer in the Layers Panel.

This is perfect because it makes it very easy to make changes to each individual line. If one is above the other, then you can change their positions in the Layers Panel and then change how they look on your document. This ends this lesson on the Pen Tool.

Basics How to Save, Share, and Export The last basic skill new users want to know how to do is how to save their work on either their computer, share via emails, or exported using one of the many file formats Affinity Designer offers.

Since there are three ways of doing these options, we’ve divided this lesson into three parts. For this lesson, we’re going to create two objects on a document that will consist of a yellow rectangle, a blue triangle on a transparent background.

If you remember how to create these without reading the below instructions, please do so now. Go to the Color Wheel and set its color as yellow. Go back to the Color Wheel and set its color to blue.

This is what you should have in your document. Now that we have a document that is about the same on my screen as it is on yours, let’s learn the different ways we can save, share, and export. All of the options we need are in the Menu bar – File This will save our file in any folder we choose and in the official. We named our document File 1a. Notice the file type after our named document.

This simply means that you can reopen this file in Affinity Designer and start where you left off. Note: If on the other hand the file format was. Its file size will be significantly smaller than the.

We use a separate external drive for all of our Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer files, which are in the af. This will open up its pop-out window where we have to choose into which file format we’ll export our document as see the 11 colorful thumbnails at the top of the below image. Click on every file format icon at the top of the below screenshot and notice how the options change per file format clicked upon. We’ll go over these options now Since the JPEG file format is the most often used export format, we’ll use the above image as a reference.

Here’s a list of the options with a brief explanation of what each does: Size see white line : This is the size of the file per its dimensions. You can increase or decrease these amounts and the Estimated File Size see yellow line will increase or decrease in size. Preset see blue line : These are the quality presets you can use if you want to. There is a pop-out window where you can choose which quality level you want. Quality see red line : This is a slider where you can set any level of quality export you want.

Pay special attention to the Estimated File Size see yellow line as you adjust this slider. Remember, your file sizes may not be the same as ours because our shapes probably aren’t perfectly matched. Area see pink line : This pop-out window allows you to choose which part or whole of the document you want to export. You can choose to export the Whole Document and its file size will be according to the above screenshot But, if you chose Selection Only, the file size will be This is because you will only be exporting the selected blue triangle.

Practice: Go to the Layers Panel and click on the bottom layer so it’s active see below image. Now click on the pop-out window for Area and choose Selection Only. Notice how the file size is not the same as the blue triangle. The file size is only Note: We think it’s cool Affinity Designer gives us the option to export a document as a whole or as individual layers. This might allow a team of graphic designers to work on different parts of a design cooperatively. For example, one person could do the detailed artwork while another works on the text.

Finally, when you are done adjusting the file to be exported, press the Export button see three images above to export your file. When you press Export, this window will appear. Here you can rename your file like we did for the Save As Press Save to complete the export. Click on all of the buttons and drop-down windows to get a sense of your options. Play around with everything at least twice to start to get a feel for what you’re doing.

Send us an email if you ever have any questions and we’ll help you as fast as we can. We are almost always online to help. We use this option all the time. We try to work as transparently with our clients as we can, so when one asks us for a progress report on a graphic design job, we’ll send them what we have using this simple Share option Affinity Designer gives us to use.

When you choose to Share by Mail, immediately a new Email template will pop out where all we have to do if type in the receivers Email address, add something to the Subject line, add an appropriate text and press Send. Away it goes to our client. We also use the Mail function to email our current work to ourselves.

That way our documents can be stored on our email server in case our physical devices are damaged, stolen, or stop working. In fact, we send ourselves our documents just about as often as we save them. Murphy’s Law is all too real sometimes. This ends the first 10 basic skills new users want to know how to do. Thank you again for purchasing our book. We hope it really helps you. The next section of the book starts with a helpful lesson on how to properly use colors.

We added this section to this book because this information is not easily found on the internet in as a consolidated manner as we’ve created for you. We hope we’ve written it in an interesting and informative manner. If you’re already a pro, then maybe you can skip forward to the first step-by-step lesson after this unit. But, if you’re not a pro, and a beginner and don’t know what color theory is all about, then this lesson was written for you. When we started four years ago, we had never been introduced to color theory.

Maybe it’s the reason I wear mostly black and solid colors :. So, what is color theory and why is it important? Color theory is a method of using single or multiple colors in specific schemes to achieve a specific feeling or emotion.

But there has been a huge amount of research done concerning the power of colors, that ‘theory’ may not be the right word anymore. Maybe you remember in primary school your art teacher introducing you to the color wheel.

It was divided by colors around a wheel with three Primary colors Red, Blue, Yellow and other colors in between these. This color wheel is what artists and graphic designers use to create awesome color combinations for such things like branding products, company logos like Nike and marketing materials. In Designer, we use different primary colors than Red, Blue and Yellow because we are creating software-based products for digital screens or for print media.

These colors are the primary colors for their respective color wheels. When we open new document, we have to choose a Web or Print template. When we start working on our document, we can see the color wheel in the Colors Studio.

This color wheel is called an HSL color wheel. It’s called this, not because it’s a completely new color wheel, but because it properly shows the correct RGB or CMYK primary colors or Hues on its outside ring and has an adjustable inner triangle where we can change the Hue’s saturation and lightness values. We’ll explain how to use the HSL color wheel in the next few paragraphs. As we were thinking about creating this book, this chapter on color theory was the most important part we wanted to teach.

We divided this lesson into two parts. The first part will teach you the basics of Color Theory and the second will teach you some technical parts of each color format that we think you need to know so you can be a more educated designer.

If you ever get bored, you can simply turn the page : Part I – Color Theory In this lesson, we’ll teach you the basics of Color Theory as well as how to use the different Color Formats and their differing modes of color. Basically, Color Theory is how to use colors properly. We think it has four parts: I. HSL Each color is made up of three parts: 1. Saturation: The degree of vibrancy of a Hue also called Tone. Lightness: How light or dark a Hue is Affinity calls this Luminosity.

Saturation is made up of Tone middle line. Please take a look at the graphic below that we created for you. We suggest you try your best to become completely familiar with this image and how the HSL color wheel works. As we said in the introduction, the color format is CMYK. So, the colors or more formally ‘Hues’ you see on the outside ring are made up of the three primaries: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow.

The colors next to these are secondary and tertiary colors. So, let’s now look at this color wheel. The secondary color Red is selected. We know this because the white-circled node on the outside ring is where Red is located 1.

Now, we have the option of making the Red color less saturated 2 , darker 4 , or brighter 3, 5. We’ve listed these numbers also like this: 1. Hues – the outside ring. Saturation Tone – move inner node towards left side desaturates a Hue. Lightness – move inner node up or down lightens or darkens a Hue. Shade – move inner node towards black darkens a Hue.

Tint – move inner node towards white lightens a Hue. Hue vs. Color A Hue is a color in its purest form. Look at this screenshot of the Color Sliders for Cyan. A Color is a variance of a Hue. Look at this screenshot of a darker shade of Cyan.

It is not Cyan, but a color close to Cyan. Notice its different color values see yellow rectangle. Note: Practically speaking, everyone uses Color and not so much Hue. Knowing the difference is important, but not necessary to be a pro graphic designer. The difference between these two is determined by the end-use of the creative process. This can be a confusing answer for beginners. To answer this is to think about what happens when the colors are combined together.

RGB is considered an additive color process because it uses light as color and as you add more colors together, they get brighter and eventually combine to make white. This combination of light makes it possible to create approximately These different possible colors are called its ‘gamut’.

We’ll explain more about this in the next section. CMYK is considered a subtractive color process because it uses a physical material pigment or ink to create color. When you add one pigment to another light is absorbed thus making the combined colors darker instead of brighter. Its gamut is about half the range as RGB. The smaller gamut therefore produces less vibrant colors. Note: Notice how the RGB colors start on a black background.

This is to mimic a computer’s screen. The CMYK colors start on a white background, to mimic paper. Question: Do you know why the last letter for this color format is K and not B for Black? When all three primary colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow are combined, they don’t produce pure black, but an almost black or Key. Therefore, a separate black color is needed to complete this gamut.

Think of the cartridges in a color printer: It uses four color cartridges for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black sometimes two black cartridges. Let’s now talk about the CMYK color wheel with its specific parts and how to arrange these parts and colors into useful color combinations.

The CMYK color wheel has three main parts: 1. There are three color groups: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary 2. Colors can be warm or cool. Primary colors are Hues or “pure” colors. Secondary colors are made from mixing two primary colors. These are Indigo, Green, Red.

Tertiary colors are made from mixing one primary and one secondary color. K or black is added to help the darkest combined colors go to black. The combination of all the colors does not create black. So, black is a needed addition to finish this color space’s gamut of colors. Note: The traditional color wheel we all learned in primary school has Red, Blue, and Yellow as its primary colors.

These wheels use different primary colors because they are specific to the type of media their colors will be seen on. If you accidently use a RGB color wheel for a print media document, the colors when you go to print them will not look as you see them on your screen and your client will not be a happy camper. Color Schemes Knowing how to group colors to create aesthetically pleasing combinations is a skill you need to know how to utilize in order to be able to do your best work in Designer.

Some designers use the term ‘Color Harmony’ when talking about combining different colors in their works. This idea of harmony makes sense when you see colors that don’t belong together in a pattern. It really is quite poor taste of colors. In this lesson, we’ll cover the six most-used color schemes using the CMYK color wheel as a guide.

There are more, but these six are the ones we’ve seen used the most often. The six color schemes are: 1. Monochromatic 2. Analogous Complimentary Triadic Double Complementary Tetradic Achromatic Note: Please do your own online study of the different color schemes and all of their meanings and usages.

The more you study this subject matter the faster you’ll be able to master using these color schemes. There are more than these six we’ve covered. Monochromatic color schemes are made up of a single Hue with varying tints, tones, or shades.

This image here shows you the options you could use if you chose blue as the base color. This color scheme is easy on the eyes and is popular among minimalists. Analogous color schemes are made up of three colors that are next to each other on a color wheel. This image below shows you one such combination of hues.

This color scheme is often found in nature and is pleasing to the eyes. It creates a serene and comfortable mood. We suggest you either use warm or cool analogous colors and not a combination of both. For example, look at these three colors that you might see in a nice sunset. Complimentary color schemes are colors that opposite each other on the color wheel.

This combination creates a high level of contrast. Our favorite complimentary colors are Blue-Orange and Cyan-Magenta. We don’t usually use them at full saturation or full vibrancy because they would look too intense.

Because the pairing includes one warm and one cool color, the effect and be significant and provides a rich and eye-catching contrast.

Triadic color schemes are three colors evenly spaced around a color wheel. This scheme provides a high contrast look without being too strong like complimentary colors might be. Double Complementary color schemes are four colors made up of two sets of two complimentary colors. It allows you to create as much or as little contrast as you want. We recommend you chose two base colors and use its complimentary color as accent colors.

This scheme provides more variety than a complimentary color scheme by adding an additional pair of warm and cool colors. Achromatic color schemes lack color and instead use white, blacks, and greys. The company Apple uses achromatic color schemes in their packaging. This color scheme is considered sophisticated and clean.

This is the classic rule for creating balance. We recommend you give it a try when you create different works of art. This rule is one professional designers pay special attention to. Color Meaning Color has meaning and evokes emotional responses. This is a established truth and needs to be understood.

Here is a simple list of some of the different color and their meanings. Again, do yourself a favor and do your own internet search on this topic and you’ll see the research is vast and comprehensive. Red: Passion, energy, danger, heat, anger, excitement, aggressive Green: Nature, calmness, peace, health, renewal, harmony Blue: Calm, relaxation, spirituality, trust, tranquil, soothing Cyan:Calmness, empathy, clarity, communication, compassion, stability Magenta: Free-spirit, kindness, warmth, welcoming, supportive Yellow:Energetic, vibrant, happy, warm, optimism Black:Death, power, mysterious, sophistication, formality, elegance Note: Take some time and think about some of your favorite brands and find out why they chose the colors they’re using as their logos and advertising materials.

Become a pro at using colors to maximize your effectiveness as a graphic designer. These values are represented by a numbered sequence. Drag the circle’s edge inwards or outwards to set the light’s distance from the page.

To apply a directional light: 1. From the Type pop-up menu, select ‘Directional’. On the Lighting panel, drag the cross-hair within the Direction dial.

To load a 3D bump map: 1. On the Lighting panel, click Load bump map, navigate to, then select your image. Adjust Texture to set the amount of texture displayed. It can be used to reduce contrast, boost shadow detail and recover highlight detail.

Moving the slider to the right will boost a greater range of shadow tones. Moving the slider to the right produces a stronger contrast, similar to the Clarity filter. Move the slider to the left for a flatter result. Move the slider to the right to recover a greater range of highlights. Moving the slider to the right produces a stronger contrast, moving the slider to the left produces a smoother result but may make posterization more visible. Fill layers Fill layers contain an adjustable solid or gradient color.

They can be used for photo editing and corrective or creative purposes. Fill Layer radial gradient based on model’s lipstick color. A fill layer will automatically resize to fill the page if the canvas size is modified. A new layer is added above the current layer or at the top of the Layers panel if no layer is selected with a solid color applied. You can use the Color panel or Swatches panel to update the solid color. Color picking from another layer is also popular for harmonizing colors.

For details see Selecting colors. To apply a gradient to a fill layer: 1. Select the Gradient tool from the Tools panel. From the context toolbar, select a fill type from the Type pop-up menu.

Drag the cursor across the content. Once applied, you can modify the gradient and its colors to suit your specific needs. For details see Gradient editing. Snapshot layers A snapshot layer is created from a predefined project snapshot and is added to your project as a single, flattened pixel layer. The snapshot layer is added above the current layer or at the top of the Layers panel if no layer is selected. Layer masking A layer mask is used to reveal a portion of a layer while the rest of the layer remains hidden.

This means that you can use a mask layer to ‘delete’ areas of a layer that you don’t want. Masking can be applied at any level in the Layers panel—as an independent mask layer or applied to a specific layer or to a layer group.

This is governed by the mask layer’s positioning in the layer stack. The non-destructive power of masking Masks are applied as a separate layer, allowing them to be freely edited and moved. Mask layers affect any layer below them within the Layers panel.

They can also be clipped to individual layers so that only that layer is affected. Alternatively, mask layers can be added to layer groups so they only affect that group. Adjustment layers and Live Filter layers also have mask layer properties. The added mask will hide areas outside a selection if a selection is in place or display the entire layer if no selection is in place.

The added mask will hide the entire layer regardless of any selection in place. The selected layer becomes a mask for the layer below it. By default, a created mask layer is clipped to the selected layer or added at the top of the Layers panel if no layer is selected. It can be moved within the Layers panel to affect greater or lesser areas.

You can create a mask from a selection which has been ‘painted’ on your image using Quick Mask mode. See Edit selection as layer using Quick Mask mode for more information. You can use the Pen Tool to draw a closed shape that can be made into a mask. From the tool’s context toolbar, click Mask. To create a luminosity mask: 1. On the Layers panel, click on the layer’s thumbnail with the and s pressed.

From the Layers panel, click Mask Layer. To edit a pixel mask: 1. On the Layers panel, select the mask thumbnail representing the mask layer. Do one of the following: o To ‘erase’ from the mask, paint on the page using the Erase Brush Tool.

A white fill completely restores, while greyscale fills partially restore the mask by varying amounts. To refine a pixel mask: 1. On the Layers panel, select the mask’s thumbnail. From the Layer menu, select Refine Mask. To invert a pixel mask: 1. Do one of the following: o From the Layer menu, select Invert. To return to normal view, click the thumbnail or press the.

To add a vector mask: 1. Add vector content, e. On the Layers panel, drag the created vector content’s layer directly onto the thumbnail of another ‘target’ layer. The thumbnail of the target layer changes to indicate that a mask and crop has been applied. To add a pixel mask to vector content: 1.

On the Layers panel, select a layer with vector content. Paint on the page using the Erase Brush Tool. By default, the Assistant will add a layer mask to the selected layer to accommodate your paint strokes. Once the mask is in place, you can ‘restore’ the mask using the Paint Brush Tool.

To delete a mask: 1. Press the. Layer operations. Alternatively, you can view and edit a single layer including layer masks, adjustment layers and fill layers in isolation. Before and after layer hidden. To hide or show multiple layers simultaneously: In the Layers panel: 1. Select multiple layers using -click or -click. Select any other layer in the Layers panel to resume standard editing view.

Selecting Before you can move or modify layers, you must first select them. Furthermore, you can select and edit a single layer including layer masks, adjustment layers and fill layers in isolation.

To select a specific child layer: 1. On the Layers panel, expand the parent layer or layer group to show its contents by clicking the layer’s arrow. Click to select the child layer. Locate a layer in the Layers panel, by -clicking and selecting Find in Layers Panel.

Duplicating Affinity Photo lets you make duplicate layers to increase workflow or to temporarily create a ‘backup’ layer. A power duplicate feature also allows you to duplicate and repeatedly transform layer contents. Layers panel before and after layer duplication. A duplicated layer is placed immediately above the original layer.

You can also duplicate a selected layer using the same command from the Layer menu. Power duplicate If you duplicate a layer s and then transform the duplicated contents, you can immediately duplicate the transformed content. The transform is applied accumulatively to subsequent duplicates.

A original content, B original content duplicated and rotated, C transformed duplicate duplicated numerous times. To ‘power duplicate’: 1. Select a layer s. From the Layer menu, select Duplicate. Transform the duplicated layer content. A duplicate is created and the transform is automatically applied to the duplicate. Repeat step 4 to create more duplicates with the transform accumulatively applied.

Aligning Layer content can be aligned on the page accurately using the Arrange commands. Before and after alignment applied. For example, you can align in relation to Selection Bounds, page Spread or page Margin. If margins are not set, alignment is to the page edge instead. The Arrange pop-up panel also offers options for distributing objects.

To align layer content: 1. Select your layer s. Do one of the following: o On the Toolbar, click Arrange, set your options from the pop-up panel, and then click Done. Layer clipping Clipping involves positioning one layer inside another, creating a parent – child layer relationship.

The path of the parent layer becomes the new boundaries for the child layer. Any areas of the child layer which lie outside the parent layer’s path are masked hidden. Clipping can also be used to confine an adjustment, filter or mask to a single layer or layer group. Before and after the middle pixel layer has been clipped to the top pixel layer. Layers panel showing clipping procedure. About clipping When scaling a parent layer, child clipped layer scale to maintain the correct aspect ratio.

Scaling a clipped layer has no effect on the parent layer. A clipped layer can be edited independently from its parent, e.

Any layer can act as a parent or child in clipping relationships. Therefore both pixel and vector layer content can be either clipped or clipping. Layers can be clipped on creation by activating Insert inside the selection targeting. For more information, see the Targeting topic. The clipped layer is nested within the clipping layer in the Layers panel, becoming a child of the clipping layer.

To select clipped layers: 1. On the Layers panel, expand the clipping layer’s contents if needed by clicking the layer’s arrow. Click to select the clipped layer. The clipped layer can now be edited as needed. Paste Inside This feature allows you to paste on or more layers inside another layer. The layer to be pasted could be copied from another document. The model image layer was pasted inside a transparent pixel layer of brush strokes; a light blue gradient fill layer was used under other layers.

To copy and paste inside: 1. Select one or more layers from the current or other loaded document. From the Edit menu, select Cut. Select the layer which will act as the parent layer.

From the Edit menu, select Paste Inside. The pasted layer is shown within the path of the parent layer, producing layer clipping. From the Edit menu, select Copy. Distributing Layer content across multiple layers can be distributed or spaced evenly on the page using the Arrange commands. Distribution and spacing Distribution involves setting an even distance between layer content across multiple layers. Before and after auto-distribution. Spacing ensures there is an equal distance between the edges of layer content.

Before and after spacing. Settings Settings can be adjusted from the Arrange pop-up panel on the Toolbar. If this option is off, a specified distance between selected layers’ contents can be set adjacent to the Auto Distribute option.

To distribute layers’ contents: 1. Select your layers. On the Toolbar, click Arrange, set your options from the pop-up panel, and then click Done. Grouping Layers can be grouped together for easier management and for restricting adjustments or masks to particular layers within your project.

Layer groups can be nested together within a ‘parent’ layer group. Grouped layers remain together so they can be easily selected, moved and copied. Furthermore, once a layer group is established, adjustments and masks can be applied to the group and will affect all the layers within the group but not those outside the group. Groups, and nested groups, can be broken apart at any time into their separate layers. Layer groups display as a nested Group layer on the Layers panel. To create a group: 1.

Select multiple layers. In the Layers panel, -click each layer. Do one of the following: o On the Layers panel, click Group Layers. To ungroup layer content: 1. On the Layers panel, select the layer group.

From the Arrange menu, select Ungroup. To select a specific layer within a layer group: 1. On the Layers panel, expand the layer group to show its contents by clicking the layer’s arrow. Click to select a layer within the group. Merging and flattening Merging layers combines multiple layers together.

Pixel, vector, mask, adjustment or image layers can be merged into a new merged layer or into the first available pixel layer beneath it in the layer stack. The entire document can also be flattened to produce a single-layer document.

Once layers have been merged, they become a single layer and their previous contents are no longer separately editable. There are several ways of merging layers. To merge all visible layers: In the Layers panel: 1. A new layer is added one step above the selected layer. This layer is a merged copy of all visible layers. To merge selected layers: 1.

On the Layers panel, select multiple layers using -click or -click. From the Layer menu, select Merge Selected. The selected layers merge down into the lowest layer in the selection. The selected layer merges with the first available pixel layer beneath it. Any non-pixel layer existing between the layers to be merged will not be included in the merge.

To create a copy of all visible layers merged: 1. From the Edit menu, select Copy Merged. A flattened version of the visible layers is added to the Clipboard. The document will then contain a single flattened layer. Ordering Once created, any layer in the layer stack can be reordered. This stacking order will dictate which layer content will show in front of other layer content; the higher the layer in the layer stack the more that layer will be brought to the front of the image.

To change a layer’s position: Do one of the following: 1. When you see a blue line between two layers, drop the layer to place. With layer s selected, choose one of the following from the toolbar: o Move to Back—repositions the selected layer s at the bottom of the layer stack.

The above options are also available from the Arrange menu. Targeting Targeting controls where new layers are placed in the layer stack on creation. This default targeting behavior can be modified so a new layer can be created below the current layer, at the top of the layer stack regardless of selection , or nested inside a layer.

Alternatively, you can access the default behavior, as well as the other targeting options, from the Arrange menu. Rotating and shearing Layer content can be rotated and sheared directly on the page using the Move Tool.

Before and after rotate and shear applied. Positioning the cursor around the bounding box of your layer content will allow you to rotate or shear the layer content. Feedback is provided by the following cursors. Rotation is also possible about a custom rotation center placed on your page.

To rotate layer content: 1. With the Move Tool, select layer content on a chosen layer. You can rotate layer content with more precision using the Transform panel. To move the rotation center: 1. The center shows centrally within the selected layer content.

Drag the rotation center to a new position in the selected layer content or anywhere on the page. Once you’ve moved the center, you can rotate your layer content about it as described above. For vector shapes, lines and text, you can snap the rotation center to the bounding box, center, key points, or the geometry of other objects or even the same object. To shear layer content: 1. Position the cursor close to a side handle and drag on the page. You can shear objects with more precision using the Transform panel.

Locking Locking is useful when you need to prevent a layer from being moved or transformed unintentionally. To lock a layer: 1. On the Layers panel, select the layer to be locked. Opened images, or images developed from Develop Persona, appear as a locked background layer by default.

Rasterizing Shape, Line, and Text layers can be rasterized to create raster layers. This “flattening” operation can be performed manually or automatically when applying filters or retouch brushes.

Rasterization is only a requirement if the appearance of complex vector gradients or effects need to be honored, particularly for print artwork. When applying filters or retouch brushes to the above layers, automatic rasterization occurs. This means the layers can’t be edited as vectors afterwards. Ensure shapes, lines and text are completely edited to your satisfaction beforehand. Creating pixel selections A pixel selection is simply a drawn area on your image bounded by a flashing dashed line, often called ‘marching ants’.

Selection boundaries are defined depending on whether individual pixels are included or excluded. Once your selection has been created, you can invert it so all included pixels are excluded and vice versa.

If there is no selection in place, a new selection will be created. If you ‘invert’ when no selection is in place, a marquee is placed around your entire page, therefore selecting every pixel in your image. Painting pixel selections Using the Selection Brush Tool you can define a selection by painting on your page. Default Selection Brush ‘expansion’ behavior By default the Selection Brush Tool is set to expand the selection to include similar color value pixels to those selected, even if these are not directly painted.

In other words, the selection will grow up to high contrast edges within the image. Before and after selection painted. This makes selecting an area of similar color and tone effortless. The selection will only expand to pixels with similar color values if they are adjacent to the stroke painted.

To select a separated area, you must start another stroke within that area. Alternative ‘non-expansion’ behavior As an alternative to the expansion method detailed above, the Selection Brush Tool also has a non- expansion method of selection. This method will only select pixels which are under the brush when the stroke is painted.

Difference in selection method between non-expansion before and expansion after. To create a pixel selection: With the Selection Brush Tool selected: 1. See Selection Brush Tool for details. Drag on your page. See the note below for details.

Dragging left or right will decrease or increase the brush size, respectively. Alternatively, use the [ or ] s, respectively. Flooding pixel selections Using the Flood Select Tool you can define a selection of similar color value pixels with a single click. Flooding and tolerance When using the Flood Select Tool, Affinity Photo will analyze the target clicked pixel and use its color value to create a selection which includes pixels with similar color values. Before and after pixel clicked.

The number of pixels selected is determined by the tool’s tolerance setting. The higher the tolerance the more variance allowed between the target pixel and selected pixels. Therefore a higher tolerance will likely lead to more pixels being included in the selection. Contiguous behavior By default, flood selecting is contiguous.

This means pixels with similar color values must be adjacent to one another to be selected. Therefore, pixels must be directly connected to the target pixel or other selected pixels to be selected. If there is a high contrast edge between areas of similar color, the pixels on the opposite side of the edge will not be selected using a single click.

As an alternative, the contiguous behavior can be switched off. This will mean pixels of similar color to the target pixel will be selected regardless of their position within the image. Difference in selection method with contiguous on before and off after. To create a pixel selection: With the Flood Select Tool selected: 1. Optional On the context toolbar, set the Tolerance.

Click on your page. To create a pixel selection using multiple target pixels: With the Flood Select Tool selected: 1. On the context toolbar, set the Mode to Add. Repeat step 2 as needed. Alternatively, you can subtract or intersect a ‘flood selection’ from the current selection using the other Mode options. For more information on the available selection modes, see Creating pixel selections. Drawing pixel selections Using the Free Hand Selection tool you can draw on your page to define a pixel selection.

As your cursor moves across the page, the selection will extend to follow its path and continually be connected to the initial starting point.

Free hand selection in the process of being drawn. If you decide to create a selection based on any range, your image is analyzed and all pixels which fall into the chosen range are included in the selection. Pixels which are not in the chosen range are excluded. Color, tonal and transparency range selections are available from the Select menu. Try creating range pixel selections before applying an adjustment layer. This allows you to target the adjustment directly to any one of the Color or Tonal ranges.

Pixel selections from layers You can create pixel selections based on layers or layer groups or layer luminance. This partial selection is based on the percentage of their opacity i. Transparent areas will not be included in the selection. From the Select menu, select Selection From Layer. Pixel selections from channels You can create pixel selections based on a single channel or combination of channels.

This feature is available from the Channels panel. Selection created from the image’s blue channel. Pixels are selected based on the contribution that the chosen channel makes to its color value.

If a channel only contributes partially to a pixel, that partial amount is selected i. To combine channels in a single pixel selection: In the Channels panel: 1. Alternatively, you can subtract or intersect a channel from a selection using the other options on the context -click menu.

To create a pixel selection from a selected layer’s channel: 1. In the Layers panel, select a layer. In the Channels panel: o -click a channel named after the selected layer e. Pixel selections from shapes You can convert a curve or shape path drawn using the Pen Tool into a selection.

When created from a curve, the resulting selection will be closed using a straight line between the end nodes. The original line or shape will be discarded when the selection is created. Ensure you keep a copy of your original line or shape if you wish to use it later in your project.

To create a pixel selection from a drawn line or shape path : 1. Do one of the following: o Using the Pen Tool draw a curve or closed shape on your page. From the context toolbar, click Selection.

You can convert geometric shapes created using the Shape tools into selections by converting them to curves and then using the procedure above or creating a selection from the shape’s layer. Sampled color pixel selections You can create a pixel selection by sampling colors from pixel layers. For lower tolerance settings, pixels must be very close in value to the clicked pixel.

For higher tolerance settings, pixel color can vary widely from the clicked pixel. Drag the slider to set the value. To create a pixel selection from a sampled color: 1. Select the pixel layer containing the color to be sampled. From the Select menu, choose Select Sampled Color. Click on the color to be sampled. Click Apply. Marquee pixel selections The marquee selection tools allow you to create selections based on standard geometric shapes, such as ellipses and rectangles.

For pixel-accurate selection, Force Pixel Alignment on the top Toolbar will snap pixel selection areas to full pixels when created, moved or modified. If this option is off, selections can occupy partial pixels.

Furthermore, if snapping is active, selection areas can snap to page edges and guides when being created using the Marquee Selection Tools or moved. Drag with left and right button down Marquee and Free hand Selection tools to automatically add areas to the current selection.

Modifying pixel selections Once you have a pixel selection in place, it can be modified in several ways. Transforming and editing selection In addition to the options mentioned above, you can move or transform a selection using the Move Tool or edit it using pixel-editing tools in Quick Mask mode. When checked, the selection shape is made more rounded with increasing Radius values. For some selection tools, feathering can be applied to a selection from the context toolbar.

In addition to the modifications discussed here, you can also refine the edges of your selection. This option is available from the context toolbar and the Select menu. Moving and transforming pixel selections Once a selection has been made, it can be moved and transformed in a variety of ways.

Moving and transforming a selection and its contents If you have a selection in place, you can move and transform it, and the pixels it encompasses, using the Move Tool. Furthermore, with the Move Tool active, the Transform panel can also be used for precision working. Moving and transforming a selection only If you’re looking to reposition a selection, but leave the pixel content untouched, you can use the Marquee tools.

However, if you wish to transform your selection while leaving the pixel content untouched, you need to enter Quick Mask mode. Once in Quick Mask mode, you can resize, reposition, rotate or shear a selection using the Move Tool or Transform panel. To move and transform a selection and the pixels it encompasses: 1. With a selection in place, select the Move Tool. Resize, reposition, rotate or shear the selection on the page using the displayed handles or, for precision, use the settings on the Transform panel.

The pixels within the selection will be moved and transformed to match the new selection. Every time the selection is moved or transformed, new pixels may be included within the new selection area.

These new pixels will then be moved and transformed if the above procedure is followed again. To move a pixel selection leaving pixel unaffected : 1. With a selection in place, select a marquee selection tool or the Free Hand Selection tool.

Drag inside the selection To transform a selection leaving pixel unaffected : 1. Do one of the following: o Press Q. Select the Move Tool. Repeat step 1 to exit Quick Mask mode and display the selection as a marquee. By default, the Quick Mask is presented in the workspace as a translucent, red overlay.

The red areas are not included in the selection. Edit selection as layer using Quick Mask mode Using Quick Mask mode, you can modify or create a selection using pixel-editing tools.

When entering this mode, your selection is temporarily presented as a pixel mask. Pixels can be added or erased using the standard Painting and Erase tools. By default, the Quick Mask is presented in the workspace as a translucent, monochrome overlay.

The monochrome areas are not included in the selection. This default view can be changed depending on your preferences. You can create a new selection from scratch using the Painting tools by entering Quick Mask mode without a selection in place. To edit a selection using Quick Mask mode: 1.

Click or drag on the page using any pixel-editing tool. Followers 1. Reply to this topic Start new topic. Recommended Posts. Posted October 6, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options James Ritson Posted October 6, Patrick Connor Like Loading Posted March 10, Alfred Posted March 10, Alfred Like Loading Windows PCs. Photo and Designer, latest non-beta versions. R C-R Posted March 10, Marcux Wuqub Kame Posted October 20, Posted October 20, Join the conversation You can post now and register later.

 
 

 

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Mesh warping Mesh warping lets you distort specific areas of your image without affecting other areas. Monochromatic 2. Consider it progressive learning. These reports kept us up to speed but provided little value because they put our competitors on the same playing field. This can be changed by updating your Preferences.