I confess that I have always been partial to Watercolor & Ink paintings. I suppose they’re something you can either love or hate. Anyway, I set out to create a method to simulate a Watercolor & Ink treatment on a photograph. I have attached a macro that will do this.
1 - Start with a Pixel layer. In most cases, you can open an image as a Background layer. 2 - Click the “Watercolor & Ink Simulation” macro to generate a nice, somewhat stylized image. 3 - The macro generates 2 groups - one for the base colors (the “watercolor” part) and one for the outlines (the “ink” part). 4 - You can adjust many of the parameters to your taste. Expand the “Outline Group” and the “Color Group” to access the individual layers.
I) In the “Outline Group,” find the “Thicken Outlines” layer. This is a Levels adjustment. If you move the Black Level slider up or down, the outlines will become more or less prominent. ii) In the “Color Group,” there is a layer called “Lighten Colors.” This is also a Levels adjustment. Adjusting the Gamma slider up or down will lighten or darken the base colors. iii) In the “Color Group,” there is a layer called “Posterize Colors.” This is a Posterize adjustment, and its default value is 8. If you move this up or down, you can inject greater or fewer colors into the image, changing its effect from more realistic to more cartoon-like.
[As an aside, I am indebted to the Affinity Revolution user for his video tutorial entitled “Turn any Photo into a Pencil Drawing,” which formed the basis for much of the “Outline Group” portion of this effect. Thanks, Ezra!]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
So, here is a before and after version using an image taken at Hearst Castle in California.
And here is another before and after version taken at a very tourist-laden luau in Hawaii.
Use an Empty mask Layer (+ icon) and paint in white to reveal. Empty mask is same effect as channel invert in Photo.
Make sure you paint in pixel not vector.
To invert Selection, make selection then long press on screen to bring up menu. Then tap Invert Selection in menu.
Hi Rushdie,
Welcome to the forums
When using the Pen tool in Affinity Designer you can't preselect a Textured Line Style, it will always draw using a Solid Line Style, then once drawn you can change the line type by selecting the brush in the Brushes Studio.
If you wish to draw using the brush shown in your screenshot, you will need to use the Vector Brush tool, not the Pen tool.
If you wish to change the default size for a brush, open the brush editor and set it here. For more info on brushes please see the following video - https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/tutorials/designer/ipad/video/273644549/
