Coloring an image

[nosey_gamedev]

Hi,

I'm looking for an adobe alternative so I've been learning affinity on the trial version.

In Photoshop or Illustrator it was pretty easy to recolor an imported image.

For example, I have a small icon with a transparent background in PNG, I would import it in the program and as soon as I select a color, the image gets recolored.

This doesn't work in Affinity Designer Pixel Persona or Designer Persona.

I import an image, I select a color with the image selected and nothing happens.

So what is the quickest way for me to simply recolor an icon like this? I can't find anything online.

Thanks in advance.

 

Edit: added an image as an example of what I mean.

Edited October 2, 2023 by nosey_gamedev

[anto]

12 minutes ago, nosey_gamedev said:

So what is the quickest way for me to simply recolor an icon like this?

Use FX Colour Overlay

 

 

[nosey_gamedev]

Hi,

I appreciate your quick response!

Is there any alternative way?

I need the FX gradient overlay on top of the colored image, but that color applies AFTER the gradient replacing it entirely, and I haven't found a way to change the FX order so I'd like to color the image without an FX color layer to be able to use the gradient FX.

[anto]

1 minute ago, nosey_gamedev said:

Is there any alternative way?

Here is

 

 

[nosey_gamedev]

9 minutes ago, anto said:

Here is

 

 

That looks pretty clean!

I tried to apply it however, and I'm not getting the same result as you. The coloring doesn't seem to consider the alpha/transparency of the icon image, and I'm not sure how what I am doing is different from what you are doing.

[Return]

Make sure to drag the pixel layer to the colored rectangle(the thumbnail)

 

[anto]

11 minutes ago, nosey_gamedev said:

I tried to apply it however, and I'm not getting the same result as you. The coloring doesn't seem to consider the alpha/transparency of the icon image, and I'm not sure how what I am doing is different from what you are doing.

It seems that you inserted image using Place Tool. In this case you have to do as showes @Return

[nosey_gamedev]

Ah that's it, thank you both! ❤️

[nosey_gamedev]

6 minutes ago, anto said:

It seems that you inserted image using Place Tool. In this case you have to do as showes @Return

For the sake of knowledge, how did you import the image in Designer?

Looking back it seems like you have the icon as a pixel layer automatically, but if I use the place tool or I use drag/drop, the result is an image layer and not a pixel layer.

If I convert the layer to a pixel layer the method you showed works, but did you have to apply this conversion too or was it imported as a pixel layer directly somehow?

Edited October 2, 2023 by nosey_gamedev

[anto]

3 minutes ago, nosey_gamedev said:

For the sake of knowledge, how did you import the image in Designer?

I have opened png directly in Designer.

[Return]

Copy/paste or place will be an image layer while opening will be auto converted to a pixel layer.
if you want to have it as image layer better use the recolor adjustment like (though a bit limited for to choosing colors)

 

[nosey_gamedev]

2 minutes ago, anto said:

I have opened png directly in Designer.

Ah I see now, thank you again!

[Return]

But the image layer dragging to the thumbnail position of a colored rectangle works equally as in my first video.
 

 

 

[nosey_gamedev]

3 minutes ago, Return said:

Copy/paste or place will have the image tag  while opening will be autoconverted to a pixel layer.
if you want to have it as image layer better use the recolor adjustment like (though a bit limited for to choosing co

I see, thank you again!

I will stick to the previous method as I need the LAB color space and it doesn't look like a recolor adjustment layer supports alternative color spaces, but it's good to know that the option exists!

[v_kyr]

1 hour ago, nosey_gamedev said:

For example, I have a small icon with a transparent background in PNG, I would import it in the program and as soon as I select a color, the image gets recolored.

This doesn't work in Affinity Designer Pixel Persona or Designer Persona.

That would work if you would vectorize the PNG image first into a PDF or SVG vector drawing and use that then instead ...

... this (a vector representation) would also have the advantage of an easy resizing to whatever size you want.

• haus_silh.afdesign
• haus_silh.pdf

 

For a PNG bitmap (so no vectors) another way (beside the other above shown methods) would be to just apply another color fill here, aka ...

 

 

[nosey_gamedev]

10 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Well, that would work if it would be a vector representation (PDF or SVG) of that simple house silhouette, so if you would vectorize the PNG first ...

 

 

 

Makes sense, what would be the quickest way to convert the image to a vector though? I tried right clicking and 'convert to curves', but that doesn't seem to account for transparency either, if I pick a color the whole bounding box changes color.

[Return]

There are loads of online converters for bitmap to vector.
But if it is the kind you showed above there are loads of free svg based packages to be found too.

[v_kyr]

22 minutes ago, nosey_gamedev said:

Makes sense, what would be the quickest way to convert the image to a vector though?

As the Affinity apps don't yet have any tracer/vectorizer build-in, using a third-party tool for this job would be the way to go here. - See therefor ...

You would trace the bitmap to vectors (saved as PDF or SVG) with some tool shown/listed there and then afterwards import (File->Open...) that in any of the Affinity apps.

[nosey_gamedev]

Hmm I hope a built-in vectorizer is a feature in a future release. Would be great to vectorize my hand drawn raster images within Designer.

Thanks again for the helpful replies everyone!

[v_kyr]

Sorry included the wrong link before above, you have to look after these here ...

 

12 minutes ago, nosey_gamedev said:

Hmm I hope a built-in vectorizer is a feature in a future release. Would be great to vectorize my hand drawn raster images within Designer.

Well, that's something people are already waiting years for, but who knows maybe one day it will get possible (reality).

[R C-R]

4 hours ago, nosey_gamedev said:

I hope a built-in vectorizer is a feature in a future release.

IIRC, at one point not long after the release of Affinity Designer they said they would include a vectorizer only if they could include one that did an equal or better job than the best existing vectorizer apps. But since then, they have not said anything further about it.

[anto]

17 hours ago, nosey_gamedev said:

Is there any alternative way?

I need the FX gradient overlay on top of the colored image, but that color applies AFTER the gradient replacing it entirely, and I haven't found a way to change the FX order so I'd like to color the image without an FX color layer to be able to use the gradient FX.

Another way

 

 

[nosey_gamedev]

Sweet, thank you!