Manual affinity designer free download

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Summary What is Affinity Photo?
 
 

The Affinity Designer Manual A Step-by-Step Beginner\’s Guide – replace.me

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. This lesson will show you these values and why they are what they are. We hope this knowledge will help you be a better and more informed designer. Please do yourself a favor and go over this lesson multiple times. We asked a friend of ours who doesn\’t know anything about color, and she was a bit confused at first.

She said she didn\’t understand how a number could represent a color. So, let\’s take the first image below as an example. You can see this in the middle top right-hand corner of the image. Because it\’s CMYK, each letter on the left side of the image corresponds to one of the letters. C is Cyan. M is Magenta. Y is Yellow. K is black. Each color, for example C or Cyan , is represented by a number from 0 to We understand this is confusing for new users, but we promise that as you begin to understand what\’s going on inside each Color Format\’s pop-out windows, you\’ll see the logic of it.

Please contact us by email if you have any questions. We promise to answer you as fast as we can. Now that we\’ve explained why this lesson may be confusing, let\’s close our eyes and jump on in The Color Formats we\’ll cover in this lesson are: 1. CMYK uses a code that looks like this: , 0, 0, 0. Each number is a percentage see the below image for a reference. Simple, right? Notice how the in the C value box see yellow rectangle makes the Fill circle see the yellow arrow Cyan.

Any adjustment of the value boxes will affect the Fill color. RGB uses a code that looks like this , 0, 0. This code represents Red. The value range is between These numbers are not percentages – just numbers. The range of numbers from 0 to is based on a mathematical equation we\’ll explain in a moment. Each pixel has three colors red, green, blue. Each color has a color depth of 8 bits.

Because RGB is the color format for all digital screens, let\’s start with a pixel and what it represents. This image below is what a pixel on your screen might look like. Every pixel is made up of three possible colors. Each Channel is made up of 8 bits of color depth. Three Channels together is called a Pixel. Each Pixel is made up of 24 bits 3 Channels x 8 bits of color depth. Each bit is made up of one 0 and one 1 Binary code used in computers : This allows for 28 or color combinations per channel.

Each pixel has a specific RGB value ranging between zero is counted as a number. This is the same as if you count the 0 zero as a number. Did you understand all that? If not, please re-read it again and again until you do. If you can grasp this, then you\’re way ahead of where we were when we started. Now, let\’s play around with these numbers Examples: a. Because if you add red and green light together, you get yellow. Now that we\’ve discussed the RGB color format and you have a rough understanding of how it works with its value system, let\’s now discuss its twin color format of RGB Hex.

RGB Hex is the color format most professional graphic designers use and is why we created this entire chapter. If you know how to use the RGB Hex code after reading this chapter, we know we\’ve done our job. Experimenting with colors as we create new designs is a fun and rewarding experience. Why is this so special?

Because it allows designers to use the exact color their clients want them to use because the Hex code in one country is the same in another. This color is represented as a 6-digit code that looks like this: FF00FF. FF00FF is the code for Magenta. Ready to jump in? The Hex code is based on the RGB values between per each color. Each color or Channel is represented by two numbers, two letters or a combination of a number and a letter. These are two zeros, not letters.

The doesn\’t mean anything. It\’s just there to show you\’re using a RGB Hex code. There\’s a mathematical formula to figure out this code, which we\’ll show you next.

Ready to learn something new? First, let\’s look at the Legend and apply this knowledge to the equations below Legend: are their number values. But, we think it\’s better to know how to do the math regardless of how easy it is to find already-made Hex code colors. We hope you feel the same. All we do is the opposite from above The Legend is the same, but the math is the opposite. This is the color\’s value. If you think you understand how these calculations work, then we are very happy for you because we think this knowledge will make you a much better designer than if you didn\’t know these things.

We\’ll work with these codes as we continue in this book so that you\’ll gain more practical experience with them.

The last color format we need to discuss is Pantone. Pantone colors are a set of standardized colors that allow designers, manufacturers, and printers to consistently use a specific color repeatedly with no chance of variance the world over i. It is similar to RGB Hex, but more precise as there are no blending of colors. You can find the different Pantone\’s in the Swatches Panel by clicking on the Swatches tab and then clicking on the pop-out window see yellow rectangle for the different Pantone options.

Note: Pantones are a patented process, so educate yourself before you use them too widely. While it is free to use these colors in Designer, if you use them professionally, we highly recommend you contact their corporate headquarters first. But we encourage you to expand your knowledge on these color formats. Not to sound cheesy, but knowledge truly is power. This ends this extra lesson on the Color Theory, Modes, and Codes. The resource we use the most is DaFont.

Having a huge repertoire of great Fonts ready-to-use in the Designer program is a very beneficial thing. We think for new users, this is the most important thing to learn when first starting out. Ready to add a new Font to Designer? Click on Download on the next screen. Note: dafont. This is important because many Fonts on this website are free for personal use, but not for commercial use.

Double-click on the. Note: You may have to use a third-party downloader app to open the. Switch between full featured vector and raster workspaces with a single click. Thousands of designers around the world told us how they need their graphic design app to behave.

We put that knowledge at the core of Affinity Designer. Saveable history with alternate futures. The UI has been created to give you the best user experience possible so you can spend more time creating. Timesaving tools such as Select Same and Select Object allow you to efficiently match attributes or select all objects of a certain type for easy editing, while studio presets for the UI layout allow you to save your favourite workspace setups for different tasks and easily switch between them.

Whether on Windows, Mac or iPad, the file format is exactly the same. Affinity Designer is full of tools meticulously developed for achieving high productivity, while maintaining percent accurate geometry.

Effortlessly add a contour to any object or increase the width of single open curves. The options you have for setting up grids and guides is almost unlimited. This is what we mean by power. From the beginning we developed our engine to work to floating point accuracy.

Multiple areas of focus can therefore be created. Handles are independent of each other and can be repositioned and edited individually. This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. Decreasing the value brings the image under the handle increasingly into focus. A selected handle shows as a double ring, as opposed to a single ring deselected.

Diffuse Glow Diffuse Glow broadens highlights in the active layer or selection by brightening gradually outward from existing highlights, producing a soft halo effect. This creates a romantic, almost dreamy effect, similar to that of photographing an image through a soft diffusion filter. Using diffuse glow to add intensity and softness to the highlights of an image.

About the Diffuse Glow filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. As the tolerance decreases, the effect spreads to areas that were darker to begin with. Sharpen filters.

Clarity The Clarity filter enhances the local contrast in an image. Its greatest influence is in the mid-tonal range. This results in a sharpening effect.

Using the Clarity filter to accentuate the outline and details of the image\’s subject. About the Clarity filter In Photo Persona, this filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. In Develop Persona, this filter is available on the Basic panel Enhance. Setting the value via a text box is not available in Develop Persona. Unsharp Mask In spite of its misleading name, the Unsharp Mask filter is a flexible and powerful way to increase apparent sharpness in an image.

Unsharp Mask can be used to add punch to an image, or to help sharpen soft images. About the Unsharp Mask filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. A smaller radius enhances smaller scale detail.

Use higher values for grainy images or skin tones. The Unsharp Mask filter affects the whole image or selection. High Pass The High Pass filter retains details where sharp color transitions occur, generally at the edges, and suppresses the rest of the image.

High Pass filter applied with an Overlay blend mode for sharpening. About the High Pass filter When a High Pass filter is applied at a high radius value to a duplicate layer and combined with a contrast blend mode such as overlay, soft light or hard light , it can be used as a useful sharpening technique. At higher radius values, only edge pixels are kept.

Distort filters. Ripple The Ripple filter adds a watery, undulating pattern, like ripples on the surface of a pond. The Ripple filter used to achieve a unique effect. About the Ripple filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. Drag on the image to set the origin. Twirl The Twirl filter applies a clockwise or counter-clockwise distortion effect to images. The Twirl filter applied to a fireworks photograph.

About the Twirl filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. Negative values give a counter-clockwise effect, positive values give a clockwise effect. Spherical The Spherical filter gives objects the appearance of being wrapped around a spherical shape, distorting the image and stretching it to fit the curve.

Sharks have good days too! About the Spherical filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. Negative values give a concave effect, positive values give a convex effect. Displace The Displace filter applies distortion according to a pattern defined by a displacement map.

The lightness values of pixels within the displacement map determine the degree to which the distortion occurs. Using a texture as a displacement map to blend objects together. About the Displace filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. Negative values shift pixels upwards, positive values shift pixels downwards. If this option is off, the displacement map retains its native dimensions.

Pinch creates a concave spherical distortion squeezes an area and Punch creates convex spherical distortion bulges an area.

Negative values give a pinch effect, positive values give a punch effect. Lens Distortion The Lens Distortion filter provides a way of correcting distortion caused by the curvature of a camera lens. It\’s especially useful for correcting barrel distortion where straight edges are bowed outwards , or for correcting pincushion distortion where straight edges are bowed inwards.

About the Lens Distortion filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. Drag to the left negative value to remove barrel distortion, drag to the right positive value to remove pincushion distortion.

It\’s also useful to turn grids on so that you can see when the lines are straight. Perspective The Perspective filter can be used to either correct converging perspective lines caused by lens distortion, or to apply perspective for a creative effect.

Lens distortion can often cause the perspective of a photo to be out, creating the appearance that lines are not vertical or horizontal when they should be. About the Perspective filter The Perspective filter can be adjusted in single or dual plane mode, if applied via the Filters menu Distort category.

If using the non-destructive, live filter, only single plane mode is available. When the perspective filter is applied, the image is stretched and cropped to the original canvas size. If this option is off, only anchor points and lines display. If disabled, the image will look continuous; if enabled, the image will have visible seams where the perspective tool has been applied that can then be retouched.

When selected, your page displays the adjusted and original images simultaneously with a sliding divider which can be repositioned and shows \’Before\’ and \’After\’. Noise filters. Denoise The Denoise filter is a powerful form of noise reduction. At higher settings, it also creates a really pleasing, posterizing effect. About the Denoise filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter.

Higher values will give a better quality finish but the application of the filter will take longer. This process is very complex and therefore may take some time to apply. Add Noise All digital images have a certain level of noise random pixel distribution which helps to create atmosphere, texture, and depth.

After image manipulation, such as resizing, cloning, applying gradients, etc. The Add Noise filter adds random pixels to the image, introducing a level of noise to help return the textures in the image.

This also helps to seamlessly blend effects. About the Add Noise filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. It is often best used in color images. It\’s often the best choice for grayscale images. Diffuse The Diffuse filter adds noise to the edges in the image or selection. About the Diffuse filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. Color filters. Vignette The Vignette filter can be used to either add vignetting to an image, or remove it from the image.

About the Vignette filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. Negative values darken the effect, positive values lighten the effect. Defringe Purple fringing, or bichrominance as it\’s more correctly termed, is a form of chromatic aberration caused by the over-excitation of the pixels on the sensor in the camera.

The effect can occur anywhere within an image but it\’s most common at the edges of high contrast areas, especially when a dark element is strongly backlit, such as branches silhouetted against a blue sky. The Defringe filter selectively adjusts these areas to remove the color fringing.

Using the Defringe filter to remove purple fringing from the window edges. About the Defringe filter This filter can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter. On selecting the Defringe filter, it will default to settings which remove the purple fringing, as this is the most common type. This can be manually adjusted as necessary in the dialog, or by sampling the fringe color on the page to remove it. Drag the slider or click on the image to define the hue. Lighting effects The Lighting feature simulates lighting from one or more light sources.

About lighting Lighting effects simulate ambient, point, directional, and spot lighting in your design. You can supplement the single light source with additional light sources for more advanced lighting control; different light source types can be used in combination, each being independently configured and positioned using on-screen handles.

Affinity Photo also lets you create lighting effects from 3D bump maps made from texture inherent in any image. Source types Different source types give dramatically different results. The types are best imagined with a few examples. Casts light directionally from infinity, e. Lighting effects can be applied as a non-destructive, live filter, which can be accessed via the Layer menu, from the New Live Filter Layer category.

Higher values reflect more light. Set the value lower for larger and more widespread highlights; higher for smaller, sharper highlights. You can Add, Copy or Remove additional light sources. Use Clear bump map to remove any applied map. To apply a spot light: 1. From the Filters menu, select Lighting. From the Type pop-up menu, select \’Spot\’. Drag the on-screen handle at the apex of the \’fan\’ shape to adjust the distance and direction of the light.

Optional Drag the Elevation handle situated along the center line to set the height of the spot light above the page. Optional Drag the outer and inner handles at the end of the fan to set the outer and inner cone, respectively. To apply a point light: 1. From the Type pop-up menu, select \’Point\’. Reposition the default point light by dragging the center handle over a subject of interest.

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. Auto Distribute—when selected default , the selected layers\’ contents are distributed evenly within the selection bounds.

Is there a online or PDF manual I can review before making a purchasing decision? I own affinity designer and that\’s the closest thing to a manual and I\’d like to be able to make annotations or bookmark certain pages. You might want to consider revising the layout of that page. Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, zerne.

You can bookmark sections of the online help in just the same way as you would with any other web pages; e. Symbols or Exporting using Export Persona. I\’d buy it as long as I get an \”Affinity User\” discount. Well, if you think about it, that is exactly what is being offered for sale. Affinity Photo 1. What is being offered for sale is an implementation of a set of features, not merely a list of those features!

You can post now and register later.