Hilltop

Slice & dice your designs with the Knife Tool in Affinity Designer. In this video, we’ll look at how to chop up your vectors with precision and style. 
 

Yeah another Alfa! Just showing where I started blocking in and doing a few bits all over the place and then a week later. Can't decide on the lady so not quite finished either, perhaps a different pose, facing the car? Not sure. Anyway will update when I've decided and I'm done.

Hello,
I use many sets of icons and logos that I save in the assets. Many are just black icons - with the dark mode, they are very very difficult to see. It would be very good to have the option to set the color background for the asset (at Sub-Category level).
It would be also useful to have the option to define the "preview" size. I have saved some "large" logos and I wish I can have a "full picture" preview rather than just looking at the left part. 
 
Thank you!
Mario Gattone

Fill them in with what? Solid colours, gradients, patterns, images, text?
Have you looked at the Vector Flood Fill Tool ?
See attached video for some examples.
Was your attached document created with a beta version of software?
I only ask as I can’t open it with 2.1.1 because it apparently contains features from a later version.
2023-07-29 09-25-48.mp4

Hi @People_Word,
Welcome to the Affinity Forums!
One way would just paint the rastered blur with a brush that has such a dotty grid as texture assigned.
Attached a version that tries it fully non-destructive (editable): v1105 blur raster.afpub

The Help says: "Corners – determines the method used to control how corners are drawn within the stroke." … while 'overlap' can occur a bit uncontrolled occasionally.

The Corners also get influenced by the Join options in the Stroke panel, for instance …
… Join round:
…  Join mitre:

Found a really tiny reference photo and thought I'd see if it still looked like a car once I'd finished with it. I'm probably going to add a background as it's boring but not decided what yet. I will update when/if I do. No blurs in this one just gradients.

Bindweed
500 x 750 mm | 300dpi Affinity Designer

Part of the 'Untamed Project' and a mix of Raster and Vector drawing

Raster Outlines with Vector Backgrounds
 
Coloured Version with Texture Overlay using the new 2.1 Asset to Fill Feature

Tinted Version using Hue Overlay and without dot texture 

Apps: Publisher
Platforms: All
Affinity Publisher now has the ability to define custom text variables as fields. This allows you to add new fields and assign whatever value to them you wish.
Within the Fields panel, you will now see a new section for "Custom". Within that there is a + button where you can add your own fields. For example, in this screenshot three custom fields have been created: <product name>, <price> and <release date>. 

I can now add these fields into my document, so any references to the price, name and date are drawn from the field values. In this example this means when the price and product name is confirmed I can just update the field value and every instance of that is updated throughout my document.
For iPad you can find custom fields at the bottom of the fields panel. You can add fields using the "Add custom field button". On iPad to edit the field you need to long press on it which gives the options in the flyout menu.

Here an example how to quickly vectorize a part of a photo – i.e. a pixel selection – in place:

apu_trace_image_wrap_outline.mp4 Yeah, it's gonna be jagged. Get over it. That's jazz.  

Someone asked a question in another forum about how to cut out shapes from each other in a non-destructive way. So I made this tutorial using a classic Saul Bass illustration as an example. It talks about some of the ways that are destructive (such as using the Boolean Subtract method) and then goes over a more flexible way with the Erase blend mode and also using Warp Meshes. Enjoy!
 
 

Why do you need a "function" to stop you doing something? Just don't do it! (Other people may want to be able to do it, even if you don't.)

VIDEO
 
FREE STYLES
 
JOIN THE COMMUNITY

 
UPDATE 1 - MORE COLORS 
 

Hi All,

Below is the list of all new feature and improvements which are included in the 2.2 beta.
To learn more about these features please click on the link to go to each feature's dedicated post. To give feedback or report bugs against any of these features please reply to that same post (also check out bug reporting and feedback tips).
Features and improvements affecting all platforms
OCIO v2 Support (new in build 1931)
Custom text variables (new in build 1903)
Additional keyboard shortcuts for brush tools (new in build 1903)
Alt-click new layer automatically adds selection to that new layer (new in build 1903)
Cross References added to Affinity Publisher
Greyscale and no-FX view mode options added
Change guide colour
Long press tool shortcuts
Custom date formats available in Publisher
All supported image files now available from File->Open in Publisher
Find and replace includes scope and result count
Go to previously viewed spread
Create symbol option added to Layer Menu
Additional options when creating indexes
Windows and macOS features and improvements
Object creation data entry (new in build 1931)
Move data entry (new in build 1931)
Data merge allows fields to set URLs, File locations, emails and anchors (anchors new in build 1931)
Delete node added to right click menu
"Select All on Current Layer" option now available
Grid presets and favourite fonts now sync between apps on device
iPad features and improvements
Decimal place accuracy preferences added to iPad
"Prefer to keep selection" preference added


Getting the 2.2 beta
If you have not enrolled into the beta program yet and would like to take part, you can do so here. This will immediately give you access to the latest 2.2 beta builds to try for yourself.
If you are already enrolled in the beta program you have two options:
If you still have the 2.1 beta installed, you can now run up those beta versions and you will be prompted to update them to the 2.2 beta. If you have uninstalled the 2.1 beta, you will need to go back to Your Account -> Downloads and product keys and find your previous order for the Affinity Beta Software Program, and you can download the 2.2 beta from there. Thanks,
Ash

I spent the last weekend creating a tool to convert Adobe suite .grd gradient files to .afpalette files for use in the Affinity suite.
There are so many great resources for gradients out there but no easy way to get them into Affinity applications without a lot of manual labour.
The tool is hosted on GitHub (the Javascript code is available for the curious), but all processing is done in your browser. No files are uploaded anywhere.
https://mikestimpson.com/GrdToAfpalette/
There are a few limitation around colourspace (RGB only) and transparency (not supported), and I have not tested with a huge number of .grd files. It works for what I needed 🙂

Mind officially blown, thank you @Balakov
Stock Photoshop Gradients.zip

Perhaps I misunderstand your remark as you only have to download the lens flare PNGs, drag & drop them in APh and adjust the position and blend mode & options. 

Where is the lens flare tool? I mean seriously? Do you expect us to screw around wasting serious amounts of time with pathetic brushes when all you have to do is include a simple all-in-one lens flare tool for photo work?
Whats going on at Affinity?

I don’t know how the OP did what they did, and it would be interesting to find out, but you can do this sort of thing with Symbols (only available in Designer).
See attached video which shows a very simple warp; note that the duplicate Symbol must be grouped before it is warped otherwise the original and its duplicates will all be warped.
2023-06-15 08-27-39.mp4

Inspired by the vinyl record centre label posted on Sunday I thought I have a go at trying to create a reasonably-decent vinyl LP.
It’s not perfect by any means but it’s probably usable for most general one-off at-a-glance cases.
I haven’t measured anything so the proportions are probably a bit off but it’s just for fun.
(It looks a bit ‘smudgey’ at some viewing angles on my monitor so I don’t know how it will look for you.)

From Arkshuk, [John] Rae also learned about Inuit beliefs: It is said that many years ago, not long after the creation of the world, there was a mighty conjuror (Esquimaux of course) who gained so much power that at last he raised himself up into the heavens, taking with him his sister (a beautiful girl) and a fire. To the latter he added great quantities of fuel, which thus formed the sun. For some time he and his sister lived in great harmony, but at last they disagreed, and he, in addition to maltreating the lady In many ways, at last scorched one side of her face. She had suffered patiently all sorts of indignities, but the spoiling of her beauty was not to be borne; she therefore ran away from him and formed the moon, and continues so until this day. Her brother is still in chase of her, but although he sometimes gets near, he will never overtakes her. When it is new moon, the burnt side of the face is towards us; when full moon, the reverse is the case. (Quoted in Fatal Passage, Ken McGoogan)     John Rae ,FRS FRGS, (13 – 1893) was a Scottish surgeon who explored parts of northern Canada. (Wikipedia)

This my first artwork totally using Affinity Designer and Photo. I've converted from Adobe as I'm now retired and just producing pictures for my own pleasure (mainly motor racing).

This is the late Carlos Pace's Martini Brabham BT45 at the German GP in 1976. Based on a photo by the brilliant Rainer Schlegelmilch.

This was just a quick one that I decided to do for a futurism section on reddit a little while back. Really could do with a couple of adjustments that I will do sometime. Shock horror the AI crowd piled in proclaiming it was generated which seems to be the way now if it’s more complicated than a stick man. No point in trying to argue your case on there as they always know best.

In the Windows version "Plugins" doesn't even show. After Haze Removal there's nothing more.

Before converting over to Affinity Software (I use 8 of the 9 apps, I don't use Publisher on the iPad (yet)), I was a proponent of Xara Designer Pro. In that software, their contour tool had three features I desperately WISH Affinity would make available as well:
First, the created contours are DYNAMICALLY LINKED to the object from which the contour is created. This means that once you create the contour based on an object (including text), you can change the source object (such as edit the text), and the contour automatically and dynamically changes with those edits.
Second, the created contour is automatically "added" to all elements of that contour. This is especially evident when adding contours to text. Currently in Affinity, if you create a contour on a text object, each letter has its own independent contour, and as you expand the contour, it looks horrible. To fix this, you have to select all the contour elements and use geometry > add to add each letter to make a single contour element. This should happen automatically. To be even better, you might want to also add a setting that gives us a checkbox: "Automatically add contour elements?"  Here is an example of what I mean:

Third, it would be great to be able to designate the NUMBER OF CONTOUR LAYERS in a single contour.  Xara allows you to have a single contour with up to 10 layers, each of which can have a different color. Here is an example:

Thanks for considering this - I believe it would boost the usability of the contour tool immensely in the Affinity Suite.