StudioDorgs

I just slapped up a web page for all of my free resources for Affinity products. You can find it at:
 
https://dscape-llc.com/affinity
 
Of note at the moment, it includes updates to Dream Gradients and Dream Holiday Styles that I haven't posted here. Enjoy!

It's the end of another year and that means time for some new Dream resources for Affinity. This is a collection of gradients designed to make circles look like spheres. Created by request.

Find this and more at https://dscape-llc.com/affinity
 

Affinity Designer is definitely my program now, so I will be listing any tips and tricks newcomers might be interested in. This is mostly for people just beginning, but even advanced members might learn a thing or two. It's amazing such a program exists. Here are 42 lessons.
 
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Pinned:
 
Understanding what is Compatible:
Just because a program like Designer is compatible to many common file types does not mean everything in the documents is supported. You can open and export several of those files types, but consider certain features that are exclusive to certain programs. For example, Designer does not support Photoshop's "smart objects" but it does still support PSD file types. The file type is what is compatible, not everything in the file since tools behave differently for each program.
 
Adobe Illustrator Compatibility:
You can easily open Illustrator files in Designer, but you cannot open Designer files in Illustrator unless you change it to a file type that Illustrator recognizes. Through Designer, export it to a file type such as a PDF, and the vector quality will mostly stay the same. Be aware that any pixel editing, advanced gradients, or glows may appear pixelated.
Tip: When opening an Illustrator file in Designer, anything bleeding off the canvas will get cut off or become lost. Arrange the objects so nothing is getting cut off before opening the files in Designer. Understanding and Accessing Color Modes:
Different color modes are useful for different tasks. RGB is good for digital artwork and common printing tasks. CMYK is good for 4-colour rotary press printers. To access the different color modes, go into Document Setup in the File menu or from the Context Toolbar when the Move Tool is selected. The go into the Color tab, and then the Color Format dropdown menu.
 
Tip: To access the same color properties on your PNG image export as your file, click "More" on the Export dialogue, and under ICC Profile, select the very last option, sRGB. (Adobe is the only suite that converts RGB to sRGB automatically.) _________________________________________________________________________________
 
Other Lessons:
 
Change the Canvas Size Manually:
Create a box with the Artboard Tool and find the size you like. Once you are happy, press delete to remove that artboard but keep the new size. (This applies differently for creating multiple artboards for multiple exports.)

Creating Nested Layers:
A nested layer is a set of curves inside a route layer. The route layer can be opened and closed revealing or hiding the curves. By default, each curve is on its own layer. Create a new Vector Layer, and drag all of the curves in. (Make sure you drag them into a layer and not a curve accidentally.) Whether you are creating layers, groups, or clips, objects can be dragged in and out through the Layers studio.

Creating Clipped Objects:
If you drag curves in another curve through the Layers studio, then you clip those objects inside one. In other words, it is like creating a window. Anything that bleeds off the clipped object's space will be hiding. (The last button on the last set in the top right can also clip objects. Copied or cut objects will always be pasted in the position they were at previously. With the last button selected, they will be pasted inside the selected object in that exact position. This is good for shading.) To unclip the objects, drag them out of the clipped layer, or cut and paste with the last button on the top right unselected.
Tip: When scaling, any clipped objects must be updated manually. Cropping or Masking Objects:
The Crop Tool works differently from other applications. It crops the selected object(s) instead of the canvas. Additionally, you can drag objects to the right of a layer's thumbnail in the Layers studio to crop them in that layer's object. (This is good for creating the illusion of an unclosed path for drawings such as hair, and it is good for creating comic cells.) To remove your mask, click on the mask's "thumbnail" and delete it.

Selecting Individual Objects in Groups and Clips:
Hold Ctrl/Cmd and click (once). After that, you can hold Shift to select multiple objects in that group or clip.

Boolean Operations:
When two or more objects are intersecting, you can merge, subtract, divide, and perform other geometric operations. The second set from the top right are your boolean tools. With your objects selected, click on one to perform an operation.

Compound Booleans:
In addition to making regular geometric shapes (Illustrator's Pathfinder), you can also make compound shapes allowing the multiple shapes to be repositioned. Whether you are adding or subtracting multiple shapes, hold Alt before clicking one of the boolean buttons. You can expand your layer to select objects separately.

Power Duplicate:
Rather than copying and pasting all the time, hold Alt while selecting an object, and drag. After that, you can scale, stretch, or rotate the duplicate. Press Ctrl/Cmd J to make another duplicate in the relevance of the previous two. Keep pressing it, and keep making more duplicates.

Bitmap Pattern Fills:
With the Fill Tool (gradient), you can use a Bitmap type to insert an image as a fill. That image will be tiled, and it can be stretched, rotated, and scaled. (Click the lock icon to maintain its aspect ration.)

Making Corners Easier:
With the corner tool selected, you can select multiple corner points of a shape at once by holding Shift, and then you can change those corners round. There are also corner types you can choose from (straight, concave, cutout.)

Create a Fade Effect:
Move the Transparency Tool across a selected object(s) to create a faded transition between a solid and empty space. You can add nodes on the transparency map and slide them to adjust the level of fade.

Type on Path:
With the Artist Text Tool selected, hold your cursor near a line or shape until the cursor changes, and then click. You can start typing on that object.

Edit Smart Shapes:
There are lots of manipulation options for the smart shape presets, but if you want to edit them as you would with any other object, then you must click the option that says "Convert to Curves" under the Shape Tool's context toolbar. (Sometimes it hides in a drop down menu at the end of the list.) Once this is done, you cannot convert them back to smart shapes.

Convert Strokes to Fills:
When you are happy with the size of your stroke, select Layer > Expand Stroke. Once this is done, you cannot convert them back to strokes.

Breaking and Closing Lines:
This is important since vectors consist of closed shapes. This means to break a closed shape into an open shape, or to close it back up. With the Node Tool or Pen Tool selected, the first two buttons in the "Action" set can do this. If you want to break a path, you must first select the node where you want the break, or first create the node by double clicking on a spot on your line with the Node Tool.

Joining Lines:
This means to have two "different" open paths connect. Select the two lines and click on the fourth button in the "Action" set. (Whichever end points of the two lines are closer to each other is where the connection will occur.)

Edit Throughout All Affinity Applications:
Click File > Edit in (other app) to edit your drawing in another Affinity Application. All are compatible with each other. If you bring the file back into Designer, you will still have the vector quality. Just be careful with the operation you perform. Mesh warps and perspective tools in Affinity Photo will rasterize your artwork.

Creating Color Palettes:
In the Swatches studio, click on the flyout menu in the far right, and click on one of the Add Palette options. After that is done, you can add swatches to your palette with the palette icon underneath your recent swatches. To remove a swatch, right click on one and select "Remove Fill." To remove a palette, click on the flyout menu again and select "Delete Palette."

Add Noise:
When an object is selected, click on the circle icon in the Colours studio next to "Opacity" to change the slider into "Noise." Slide the nob up and down (right and left really).

Change Weight Variation:
With a line or object selected, click on the Pressure box in the Stroke studio to bring up the line's profile. You can add and remove nodes. Hold Alt to change the ends individually (not necessary for closed shapes).

Pixel Editing on Vectors:
Create a new Pixel layer, and drag it inside the vector object you want to edit (the same as clipping). You can now use pixel brushes right inside your vector objects.

Create Pixel Masks on Vectors:
With the object or set of objects selected, click on the Mask icon in the Layers studio. This will allow you to use the pixel Eraser Tool and selection tools on the masked vector objects. But since they are only masks, the Eraser tool does not actually break apart the paths. If you want to get your vector object back without any of the pixel editing, then click on the mask's "thumbnail," and delete it.

Only Edit the Selected Layer:
Toggle the first button in the Layers studio off to work with only the layer you have selected.

Scale Vectors on Resizing:
Toggle on the box "Scale with object" in the Stroke studio while and object(s) is selected.
 
Convert Line to Brush or Brush to Line:
The Stroke Styles in the Stroke studio are actually styles made by the Pencil or Pen Tool and Brush Tool. To convert a pencil line to a brush stroke, click on the Textured Line Style. To convert a brush stroke to a pencil line, click on the Solid or Dashed Line style.

Advanced Text Formatting:
To accomplish formats like leading, tracking, and kerning (line spacing, word spacing, and character spacing), find your option in the Character or Paragraph menus in the context toolbar of either of the two text tools.

Add Text in a Shape:
Aside from the regular square shaped text boxes from the Frame Text Tool, you can change objects into text boxes. Select an object, and select Layer > Covert to Text Frame.

Export Multiple Objects as Multiple Files:
In the Export persona, use the Slice Tool to carve a box around objects you want exported as themselves. Your slices will be listed in the Slices studio.

Change the Opacity of Stroke and Fill Separately:
Select the fill or stroke indicator in either the Colour studio or Swatches studio, and adjust the opacity in the Colour studio. The Opacity slider in the Layers studio, on the other hand, changes the opacity of the entire object (not layer, or just stroke or fill).

Show Objects Bleeding off the Canvas:
Select View > View Mode > Clip to Canvas
 
Only Show the Selected Layer (Temporally):
If Alt is held, clicking on a layer will show just that layer until deselected or edited.
 
Create Pixel Selection on a Layer:
Hold Control or Command and select the layer's thumbnail.
 
Edit Nodes without Selecting the Node Tool:
With the Pen, Pencil, or Brush Tool selected, hold Control or Command to bring up the Node Tool only while the mouse click is held.
 
Work with Small Pixels Easily:
When working in large zoomed in and tight areas, the space of moving or editing objects may not be positioned properly. Hold Alt to position them more appropriately, but do not hold Alt before moving. That will create a duplicate.
 
Set Key Commands for Rotating the Canvas:
In the preferences and under "Keyboard Shortcuts," locate the View option in the second dropdown menu. Then scroll down the list until you see "Rotate Left" and "Rotate Right." Add in a key command in the box to the right of those two actions.
 
Create a Raster Brush:
Create any design, and then in the Export persona, use the Slice Tool to create a slice box around the design. Then in the Slices studio, locate that new slice and click the last icon to export it. Now in the Pixel persona, go into the Brushes studio, and open the hamburger menu and select "New Intensity Brush."
 
Create a Vector Brush:
Set the canvas to a complete square so each side is the same size, and close it down close to the design's edges. (The left and right sides must overlap the design.) Make sure the furthest left part of the design matches the furthest right part of the design on the vertical axis. The background must be black, and the design must be white. Export your design as an image file (preferably PNG). In the Brushes studio, click open the hamburger menu, and select "New Textured Intensity Brush." Now double click that new brush, and in the new window, the bottom picture shows a preview. Move the red indicators to touch the brush's edges. And select "Repeat" if you want to repeat that brush stroke.
 
Turn Black and White Photo into a Colored Photo:
This is not really a vector designing feature, but it can still be done. Use the Selection Brush Tool on an area of a black and white photo. Then in the menu of the adjustments icon from the Layers studio, select "Recolor," and then find the right color for that selection. Repeat the same thing with the other areas on the photo. (Since each color is on an adjustment, you can go back any time and change the color.)
 
**Create Palette from Document:
This will create swatches of the colors in a document. In the Swatches studio, click on the hamburger menu and scroll down to 'Create Palette from Document.' Then you choose whether you want that palette to show throughout all of your Designer files, that one document, or your system.
 
Edit: Dec 2017
I forgot all about this topic. I made another with a very similar title on videos.

Hey guys,
 
the holiday spirit got me and I experimented a little with new symbol palette in Designer.
I thought maybe this will be useful for someone out there who’s creating last minute
greeting cards, name-tags for presents or other related stuff – or just for fooling around. ;)
 
Here’s an example, an inspirational little how-to clip plus the file.
 

 

 
Snowflake Generator.afdesign
 
Happy holidays and enjoy! :)
 
Dennis

Hi everyone,
 
I've just released a series of 10 videos at 5 minutes each about the absolute basics of image editing at this link: https://www.udemy.com/enhancing-photos-for-complete-beginners/?src=sac&kw=enhan
 
This is not a course about how to use any one bit of software. It just covers the basic processes & in what order you would do them with just about any image editing program. The majority of the videos use Photoshop Elements but I also use Affinity Photo and Pixelmator.
 
*Ahem!* - this course does not recommend any one bit of software over another. The very basic stuff I show was selected because the course is for those people who come to an advanced image editing program with all it's buttons and don't know where to start. It aims to show you what sort of things you should be starting out with. It's for people who have said something like:
 
 'I want to improve my photos. I've looked at one or two programs like Photoshop but all of them are just a confusing mass of buttons. Where do I even begin to understand what to do?'
 
All the processes I describe can be done in Affinity Photo, and it naturally leads into 2 of the Affinity Photo courses I have at Udemy - the Five Steps to Better photos course and the Solid Foundations course. Oh; and did I mention it's free?
 
Right, with that course released I can get back to doing the Affinity Photo 1.5 update videos for the other courses at Udemy. Thanks for your time & I hope the lessons prove to be of use to as many of you as possible.
 

Hello everybody!
 
This is my latest illustration in Affinity Designer using Frankentoon's newest brush pack: Texturizer Pro hope you dig! :)
 

Reglico and everyone else who download the six textures: you're more than welcome and in the spirit of Christmas, here's a link to a dozen more. They're weird, but you can get wood and nature textures anywhere. :)
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e7bxkn21ll0mgtm/Testures%20II.zip?dl=0
 

 
I didn't have a window large enough to capture images of all 12 seamless tiling textures.
 
Ah. Such is life.
 
Enjoy!
 
Gary

Hey guys,
 
Just bought Affinity Photo and since there's no Opacity + Flow pressure sensitivity options, I've pulled a rabbit out of a hat and starting off with some tips from this thread I've made some brushes and thought of sharing them with the nice people on these forums. The last in the list I think are especially useful for paiting. Hope you'll like them.
Painter's Brushset 2.afbrushes.zip

Hi guys! I needed to create a custom design for a Brand manual and I was struggling with the fact that there's no layout grid option like sketch. So I decided to download the illustrator templates of the 960.gs grid system and adapt it to affinity designer using the constraints (so no matter how wide your artboard is, the grid will always strech porportionally). Hope you find this as useful as me.
 
You've got three files:
12 column layout 16 column layout 24 column layout Happy designing!
960_grid_12_col.afdesign
960_grid_16_col.afdesign
960_grid_24_col.afdesign

I'd like to provide a little Christmas present to the community, some textures to use in Affinity Designer.
 

 
I think I've spent a little time over 23 years creating seamless tiling textures. I gave them away when I was a host on a previous website, I thought this wonderful program and crowd might like them, too. I'd discovered early on that this is the way to get a bitmap fill inside a shape, and AD doesn't come with an assortment.
 
I've never sold a collection commercially, I'm not sure if I need to...this is just a fun hobby for me, to get a texture to seamlessly tile, and to make the texture unique. I have some wood and rusty metal textures but heck, you can find these for free just about everywhere! :)
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/opcma06qu19kunc/Textures.zip?dl=0
 
Let me know if posting this media is welcome or not. If it's a hit, I will post another texture pack after the Holidays. I have to design my Christmas card for inkjet printing now, no rest for the weary!
 
My Best,
 
Gary

Some Background styles that I created from a seamless image collection I had.
 

 
 
 
Backgrounds.afstyles.zip

I just got a 610 Pro.  I do not think it has the SD card.  I will be saving to my PC anyway.
 
https://www.amazon.com/Huion-H610-Pro-Graphic-Carrying/dp/B00ZWRSQ4I/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1481300092&sr=1-1&keywords=HUION%2B610%2Bpro&th=1

I have recorded my first macro "BlueSketch" (attached below). It is doing this: if you import a scanned sketch, graphite on paper like mine, it is sometimes hard to use the digital tools to trace it. It can be hard to see what is sketch and what is digital linework. The macro adds a new raster layer on top of the sketch, fills it with blue, turns the layer into Colour mode, and adds new empty top layer for your linework / inking. Just like the layer function in ClipStudio, where I use it all the time. Put the macro in the Library and the BlueSketch is instantly done. I hope it works for you the same way it does for me.
 

BlueSketch.zip

The 610Pro has great review pretty much anywhere I look.  Figured I cant go to wrong with it

Any these any good or to cheap?  Looking for any recommendations
 
Wacom Intuos Draw CTL490DW Digital Drawing and Graphics Tablet
Wacom Intuos Draw CTL490DB Digital Drawing and Graphics Tablet - New Version
Wacom Intuos Pro Pen and Touch Tablet, Medium (PTH651)
Wacom Bamboo CTL471 Pen Tablet
 
Huion H610 Pro Graphic Drawing Tablet with Carrying Bag and Glove
Huion Pen Display for Professionals Graphics Monitor - GT-190S w/ Glove
Huion INSPIROY G10T Pen and Touch Wireless Graphic Drawing Tablet

Thanks for the suggestion. I've updated my set with a couple more brushes.
You can download them at the link below:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1phbb5t8se2kl5/Painter%27s%20Brushset-large.afbrushes?dl=0
 
 
Here is a preview
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wa3jgkzawdzalj8/preview.jpg?dl=0

Hi Folks!
 
Here I am with a freebie.
This little project starts from the need to have a tool that mimics ink tension and viscosity.
In order to do this, and make it easy to use in AffinityPhoto I needed macros, and finally these are there!
You need AP 1.5.x in order to make it work!
 
Download the package here
 
 
 
 

How this combo works
 
The technique relies on Adjustment Curves and some special tools designed to keep anything non destructive.
Tools are simple stupid brushes that together with custom ramps deliver a viscosity effect on crossing lines, resulting in a credible feathering effect.
This happens only if used together with the layer stack generated by included macros.
 
To use them import both Macros (from Library Studio) and Tools available in the package, create a new document and click one of the effects (Ink and Wet Ink) form the Library Studio.
AP will create a layer stack composed of the adjustment, a fill layer (needed to make this adjustment work) and a pixel layer which is where you want to paint.
 
These tools are designed to work best for black inking.
If you want you can play with other colours too, just be aware of the clipped results you will obtain.
You can always re-colour your layer with further adjustments.
 
 
Hope you'll enjoy!

I whipped up a couple of rope brushes for yah. Hopefully, this will work for you.
 
1. Click to download the Mixmediasalad.com Rope Brush
 
2.Unzip the file.
 
3. Open Affinity Designer.
 
4. Open the brush palette in the Draw Persona 
 
5. Click the options icon in the top right corner of the palette.
 
6. Select import brushes from the drop down.
 
7. Navigate to where you saved the brush file.
 
8. enjoy 
 
Cheers,
 
Ronnie 
 
#Affinitybrushes

Attached are a set of AD Textured Intensity brushes made from actual brushstrokes from the famed painter.

 

Usually I would not try to make strokes so literal. Nor would I borrow from such a famed source.

In that sense these strokes are a bit of a digression for me.

These are examples of brushes that use real strokes almost exactly. They carry the texture and variety of their source. Thick, skittering oil paint, and swashes of thinner oil run over uneven surfaces. 

 

I have become more and more a digital painter... but I love the texture of natural media. I find myself drawn to digital emulation of natural media. Or emulation perhaps of the texture of natural media - with a digital twist.

I have never deliberately tried to make a textured brush for such applications as Photoshop, Expression3, Synthetik Studio Artist or Affinity Designer - that looked exactly like a natural media brush stroke. 

The idea seems a little too in conflict with what makes digital art potentially its own (great) thing.

 

However. These are very nice, heavily textured oil paint strokes. Great for bold paint looks.

 

Enjoy.

CD_Monet_oilstrokes.afbrushes.zip

I think the vector Lino-cut brushes in this TutsPlus tutorial look wonderful: http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/create-a-set-of-art-brushes-you-can-use-to-make-a-linocut-style-illustration--cms-21964
 
I can't wait to try this tut using Affinity Designer, the minute after it's possible to make custom vector brushes.

Have changed this to an Epub for 1.5 (Updated Dec 7, 2016 with Gold Master Help File)
 
Here is a link to the Affinity Photo Help File in Epub Format for Version 1.5  (December 7, 2016) - works great in Ibooks. 

Very convenient to have in a portable format - or to use side by side with Affinity Photo on your computer.

    Link: https://app.box.com/s/bjv07ey7ryvqbg16zh4yjazcd65uw85c
 
    Alternate Link:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjuKWjfPlktwgfoEGfpoz65qzzsz_A
 
 
Just download it to your ipad and pick "open in IBooks"  or download it to your computer and email it to yourself and then pick "open in iBooks" from your iPad.

Its a spectacular resource on an iPad Pro.  If you have an android tablet, go to Google Play and search for "epub reader"
 

About
The Box Set is hundreds of vector and raster brushes made for Affinity Photo & Designer. Each brush was handmade
using real materials scanned at high resolutions and crafted to simulate real media. I wanted the origin of the brushes to
have a heritage of the materials they are simulating. Scanning pools of watercolor, swatches of paint, and stipples of charcoal
contributed to creating brushes with the same idiosyncratic material magic. My only request is that you take these brushes,
with their clever names, as suggestions. They work superbly out of the box, but I strongly encourage you to adjust the sliders,
rearrange or remove the textures, and discover how they can suit your hand(s).
 
Make. Discover. Repeat.
 
Cheers and happy art making,
-Jef (WREN)
 
RASTER BRUSHES
For use in Affinity Photo and Designer. The blending brush in the Oil Set is the only one exclusive to Affinity Photo.
 
DRAFTING

 
INK

 
OIL

 
Oil Brush Dynamics

Most oil brushes have blending built into pen pressure. With a single brush and hue you can adjust the luminosity of the stroke-
giving it an oily blend. The Brush's color in the example above is the color of the background. A normal pressure gives you the
hue without any lightening or darkening.
 
 
WATERCOLOR

 
 
ACRYLIC

 
VECTOR BRUSHES
For use with Affinity Designer Only. 
 
Pen & Ink
Charcoal & Graphite
Sumi-E
Painterly
Drips
Handlettering
 
LINKS
The Box Set
 
 

I am posting another set of custom Textured intensity brushes for Affinity Designer:
Textured pack E3 water - Intensity brushes (zip file - 9+mb)
 
These are recreations of an original default set of water (Sumi ink) style brushes that came with the application Expression3 from the early 2000’s.
These are more for fun than practical brushes.
The default set sold me on E3 way back in the day - a HUGE shift from the very solid vector look of other vector applications of the time. Having a bitmap texture mapped to a vector skeleton = magic!
These were originally meant I am sure as emulation of wet (and dryish) ink/brush strokes - but tended to be a little too limited to that look. Nevertheless they do make for some nice smokey brush strokes and have quite a bit of texture.
 
Example images of the strokes are attached here.
Hope the user base here finds this third set interesting.
 

How to enable the Impasto Effect for Pigmento Fat Bristles
 
Using a bit of USM is always suggested to make paintings crisper.
In this case I designed this tool ramps to work together well with Clarity and USM Live filters in a non destructive way.
This process is available for Affinity Photo only.
 
You add those filters and place them at above all layers, then paint freely.
 
The settings depend on the resolution of your canvas.
For a 4K file you can use:
 
Clarity > 8px
USM > 4px, 2, 0% for Radius, Factor and Threshold 
 
This specific tool has a subtle colour variation that pops out using sharpening.
Each stroke has its independent thickness, so the impasto is very credible.
 
Here a simple stupid sample to show the results of what you will achieve.
 
 
 

 
Hope you'll enjoy.
Happy painting!

Cheers guys!
 
Wow this is definitely my fav new brush. The "Jekyll and Hyde" brush. Gentle and refined by day, brash and bold by night...
 
Here's a few minutes tinkering. You know a sign that you're having fun, when you have to make yourself stop.  :)
 
This sort of feels like acrylic on canvas.
 
Nice work Paolo!