Tracing an image

[JulioLuque]

Hello, for some college courses I have to use Illustrator on the school's computers meanhwile on my personal laptop I have to use affinity, I have a homework assigment in which I have to trace an image downloaded from the internet, I know i have to use the pen tool yet when im doing some of the curves ( im using this image), and i also have to color it (using black and white). I really need some help!! Are there any tutorials where can I learn how to do it, or can you give me a step by step instruction, Thankyouu!

 

 

 

 

[MEB]

Hi JulioLuque,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

[EDITED]Although you can fill open paths too, you will usually want to close close them, that is, the end point should be placed over the start point so you can control better how the shape will be filled [/EDITED]. You can then change the Fill colour in the context toolbar clicking on the Fill colour well and choosing a colour or using the Colour panel on the right of the interface (you must have the object selected).

For a deep look at the Pen Tool and how to use it (video tutorials) check Affinity Review Issue#1 pag.39 (iBooks version, the PDF doesn't include the videos). There's another tutorial covering the Pen Tool here (more basic).

 

To trace the image, place it on your document on the bottom and draw paths/shapes over it. For most elements you can use the Shape tools to create them. For example eyes and nose can be easily created with the Ellipse Tool.

 

Here's another video that may give you an idea of the tracing process.

[R C-R]

To be able to colour paths created with the Pen tool you must close them, that is, the end point must be placed over the start point.

??? Maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean, but I can change the color of both the stroke & fill of open shapes:

In this respect, the only disadvantage of using closed shapes that I am aware of is the fill will be completed with a straight line between end points.

[MEB]

Hi R C-R,

Yes, technically you can fill open shapes, but usually you want to control the whole shape and how it's filled. If you look at your own example you will see that the fill simply draws a straight line between the start and end points which in most use cases it's not very useful in the majority of situations.

Post edited.