unni

I bought AD and APub about a month back just to have all the three package. I am a serious hobby photographer basically. I am also not an artist or graphics designer and do not know the basics of drawings, shadowing, giving a 3D look, etc. Browsed through various videos and discussions and also got support from @firstdefence@Gnobelix on this forum when I got stuck in some menu selections. Below is a drawing made with AD. It was a good experience to make this and learned many aspects of vector software. BR, unni

@firstdefence@Gnobelix Thank you for the guidance. I tried both the methods. Depending upon what all layers come below one of the two method has to be selected. I noted that whenever pixel persona in AD or switching to AP from AD to do pixel edit is used, the shape (text also)gets pixelated on the edges. This creates bleeding when used as mask or something else as there is a gradual transition in the edge which is the nature to pixel layer. So I am forcing myself to stay in vector mode as much as possible and switch to pixel only when all options fail. This way it also helps to explore various vector tools and methods. Presently, I am trying to make a wooden barrel and this issue came up while making shades on the metal band that wraps the barrel. I wanted to restrict the blurred shade from spilling over. After it is complete, I shall put it on the forum but will take a while. During the youtube search, I saw people drawing a barrel with pixel method and vector method, both looked good. Best regards, unni

I have drawn a round shape. Then in effects, gave a gaussian blur of 0.8px. Then outer shadow of 38 pixels, 15 px offset, angle 315 deg. Then a simple rectangle vector mask with 100% white inside rectangle. Similar to AP, I was expecting what is outside the mask boundary to be masked fully. (Should not be visible). In the screen shot below, it is noted that the greenish blur and grey shadow is crossing out of the rectangle. It appears that the "Effects" items are not masked.(All the listings of the effects tab). Is this the way it is supposed to be , I would like to know. I am completely new to vector based software and only 2 weeks into self learning Designer.

would like to see when the label is made and pasted on the bottle. to see how you will warp the label and the text, whether the text will compromise clarity due to warping in pixel mode under AP. AD does not allow vector text warp.

Hello everyone, Yesterday I assisted my niece to purchase and download APhoto, AD and Apub over telephone, she is about 1000 Kms from where I live. Just completing graduation in Fashion Design, I suggested to purchase the three packages and start learning and using it for designs, photo shoot, drawings etc. She is practically new to such softwares and has only little knowledge in PS. I told her that Affinity will be very useful for her work and there are several tutorials etc for beginners. Tonight, I have to assist her on installing the packages. My brother is a surgeon, not well versed in these areas ! I told her that I will help her to get started with the basics and from thereon, with the help of many videos, further progress can be made. Thanks to Serif for this wonderful softwares and the 50% discount(will end on june 20th)

@firstdefence thank you for the detailed and encouraging comments!!

@firstdefence @dannyg9 Many thanks for the valuable observations and suggestions. I realize now that lot of minute aspects are to be finished properly for the final perfection. Most of these aspects do not appear in my vision because I do not have natural artistic skills. To some extent these skills can be developed by learning. Since I work in an entirely different field not related to art, the only time I learn something is during such hobby attempts. So things do not stay in the head. However, I enjoy attempting to learn and improve upon !

@Sandy Rivkin https://affinity.help/photo/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/GetStarted/scanningImages.html?title=Scanning images

microsoft version is not having horizontal curvature of the right half of building but full building appears to lean back compared to other image. AP version has slight curvature on right half but building is not leaning back. i think its a tradeoff between various parameters. i had used the warping tools to correct such issues in one case but the extent of correction depends on original image and number of frames. i have observed that images taken with higher focal length lens is easier to merge with lesser distortion. but if we have a panoramic nodal accessory, this issue will be further minimized. i made one at home for experimenting with 360 deg pano.

AP functions very well with panoramas and focus stacking.

@John Rostron the text on the cork is not warped. i shall try what you have suggested. i have learned little more on the warping of text by watching another video. thanks john.

My first try with AD. I made this by watching the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGLp-wSSkrc A small change I tried to do was to warp the text similar to the curved surface of the bottle. Looks like it can be done only in AP. After switching to AP for warping, I find that the quality of the text degrades because it is probably getting converted to pixel. The white label has the text in black which has jagged edges. May be the way I have done it is not right. Have to figure out whether there is another way to do it. I am not an artist and graphics is not my field. So experience and skill is zero. I am trying some baby steps by attempting to learn from published videos by others. It feels good to make such drawings or content with AD. Best regards, unni

I am an existing user of Affinity Photo. I just purchased Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher to have the complete suite. I do not have immediate requirement for AD and A.Publisher as I am not into such professional work. However I would like to learn those areas more as a hobby which may come of use later. Also it feels good to have the complete trio package from Serif , a great company providing products at unbelievable prices. Best regards, Unni

I was trying to learn adding some light rays to the image. The original, layers panel and final image are given below. The basics are from two video tutorials, links are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FEw2BrsTek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wh3ZVDt8Kk The light rays layer I made differently, not as per details given in tutorial. I created a new pixel layer and used a brush from "sprays and splatter" drop down menu. White colour was selected for the brush. Made 10 to 15 clicks without dragging the mouse. This layer was then used for the zoom blur as per procedure given in the videos. Since every picture is different, some modifications have to be made in procedure when trying to adapt from videos. One major point is the fill slider that is not present in AP. Colour Dodge blend mode works better with this fill layer slider. I managed with the sliders in the Re-colour adjustment layer though it will not produce similar results as in PS. BR, Unni Original image, Layers panel, Image after editing and Light rays layer given below.

thanks john. what i have noted is halos whenever selective adjustments are attempted. there are various videos on tackling it, for PS. i realized, understanding them is crucial. those methods are all related to modifying masks, having another clone layer, growing selection borders, blurring masks etc. i was always doing simple modification of mask by painting black or white but this is tedious and will never bring a smooth transition ,it will finally result in halos and unnatural look. best regards, unni