Pentaptych (5 Piece Wall Art) in Affinity

[ali83]

Hi,

 

I want to create these 5 piece wall art. But I am a newbie.

 

I researched and these are called Pentaptychs. How do I create them? Any tutorial or any detailed guidance is greatly appreciated.

 

I have both the Designer and Photo.

 

Thank you.

[dutchshader]

i would use designer for this, create 5 artboards and place the same image on each artboard.

 

[ali83]

Thank for the tips and screenshot, appreciate it.

 

Yes I did the same in Designer but when I place the image onto an Artboard, image is too much zoomed in and I can’t zoom out.

 

Also how do I give these 5 artboards some shadow to add some depth to them?

[dutchshader]

You have to scale each image the size of all artboards together.

Don't think that there is a way to add shadows to a artboard.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, ali83 said:

Also how do I give these 5 artboards some shadow to add some depth to them?

You can't add shadow effects to artboards, but I assume from the question that you are trying to create an image of a Pentaptych rather than five individual photographic panels that would be hung on a wall (which of course would have real world shadows).

 

If so, you might try opening the source photo as a regular, non-artboard file. Then:

1. Set guides where you want the edges of the panels to be (using the Guides Manager set to percent makes this easy to do accurately).

2. Duplicate the photo layer 4 times. Each of the layers will become one of the panels. (You might also want to make a 5th duplicate as a backup or alternately work on a duplicate of the original photo.)

3. Make sure 'Snap to Guides' is enabled in the Snapping manager.

4. For each of the panel layers use the Marquee tool to select everything that should not be on that panel, snapping the selection(s) to the guides as appropriate for that panel & then erase or delete everything selected. (To save memory & file space, you may also want to rasterize each layer at this point.)

5. Resize the canvas to the desired dimensions for the wall background. Make sure you do not rescale the document instead -- the panel layers should be surrounded by empty canvas at this point.

6. Create the wall layer sized to the canvas dimensions, using a rectangle for this in AD or a fill layer in AP. Move this layer to the back & set its fill color to whatever color you want the wall to be.

7. Select all 5 panel layers & use the Arrange > Align Horizontally > Space Horizontally function to separate the panels. Unchecking 'Auto Distribute' & entering the spacing in the numeric field gives you complete control over how far apart the panels are spaced.

8. Finally, with all 5 panel layers still selected, add an Outer Shadow effect.

 

The attached Pentaptychs.afdesign file shows a very crude, low resolution example of what this method can produce. It was done using only AD, but it probably would be easier to do in AP.

[MEB]

There's no need to go through all that If the project was already created with artboards. Just select each artboard layer in the Layers panel then go to menu Layer ▸ Convert Artboard to Object, add the Shadow FX to the converted artboards (now rectangles) as desired and then adjust the Document dimensions to encompass them all.

[carl123]

Why not, just create your 5 rectangles, group them, then resize the group to cover any sized image.

Then just use the Group as a clipping mask on the image layer.

This way you can just copy the Group layer to any new image to use over and over again.

Can be done in Photo or Designer

 

[R C-R]

7 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Why not, just create your 5 rectangles, group them, then resize the group to cover any sized image.

Then just use the Group as a clipping mask on the image layer.

Unless I am missing something, the problem with that is it does not include the parts of the image between the rectangles, creating gaps that a true pentaptych would not have.

[carl123]

It's wall art, not an atomic reactor circuit diagram

You can fill in the missing bits with your imagination, nothing will explode.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, carl123 said:

It's wall art, not an atomic reactor circuit diagram

You can fill in the missing bits with your imagination, nothing will explode.

Yes, it is wall art, but in real life contemporary work of this type is often hung with gaps between the individual panels. We have a similar four panel piece in our home that was hung with 8" gaps between the panels to better fill the space devoted to it. This creates a striking, disjointed effect that everyone seems to like because it conflicts with the natural tendency to fill in the gaps between the panels with imagined content.

 

Do a web search on triptych, pentaptych, or polyptych for images & you should be able to find many examples of this type of art, for example those on the https://photoshop-kopona.com/43447-polyptych-in-psd-yellow-flowers-on-a-green-background.html page.

[John Rostron]

3 hours ago, R C-R said:

Unless I am missing something, the problem with that is it does not include the parts of the image between the rectangles, creating gaps that a true pentaptych would not have.

Your response here is ambiguous. Does a 'true' pentaptych have gaps in the basic image or not. I looked at various definitions of pentaptych and none of them mention this. However, most describe it as having the outer panels as being hinged. 

[toltec]

3 hours ago, R C-R said:

Unless I am missing something, the problem with that is it does not include the parts of the image between the rectangles, creating gaps that a true pentaptych would not have.

 

How could you do that ? You have to have the gaps in order to keep the shape. You are effectively moving the parts of the circle (for example)  apart, which immediately "steps" the circle.

 

You must include the gap as a gap to maintain the integrity of the circle. Same for anything, even an atomic reactor circuit diagram

 

That looks awful. Then again. lots of modern "art" looks awful 

[R C-R]

12 minutes ago, toltec said:

You must include the gap as a gap to maintain the integrity of the circle.

It is art, not a geometry exercise. Take a look at the examples on the web page I linked to. The discontinuities can transform the mundane into something striking & unusual. Obviously, it does not appeal to everyone, but no form of art does that.

[lepr]

.

[John Rostron]

5 minutes ago, owenr said:

 

The only definition of pentaptych which states R C-R's rule is the definition invented today by R C-R.

 

But in Art, the artist creates their own rules!

[toltec]

1 minute ago, John Rostron said:

But in Art, the artist creates their own rules!

 

There are rules ?  

[John Rostron]

Just now, toltec said:

 

There are rules ?  

Touche!

[lepr]

.

[dutchshader]

Wonder if this all would help ali83 

[dmstraker]

Gosh. What a lot of conversation and complexity.

 

I don't use AD. With AP, I'd start with the original, play with guide lines, then do a series of crops. 

[ali83]

Thank you so much everyone for your input, really appreciate it but admittedly, for a newbie like me, it's lot of things I need to absorb from this thread.

 

I am attaching another picture to make things clear.

 

Basically I need to be able to create 5 panels with ANY picture I want (and later on I can just paste the picture on a wall art mockup as shown in pic - also notice the shadows).

 

@R C-R

Quote

five individual photographic panels that would be hung on a wall (which of course would have real world shadows).

 

Yes, that's I want (with one picture that is on 5 panels) (and there will be a little gap among these 5)

 

@carl123

 

Your approach is the most simple (as compared to using Artboards) and fast.

 

Ideally I should be able to just paste new image behind these rectangles, position it freely and then bam, just export and done. Would really appreciate if you could post more steps (I'm a newbie or just let me know the tut videos I should be watching)

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, owenr said:

The only definition of pentaptych which states R C-R's rule is the definition invented today by R C-R.

 

From https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pentaptych (emphasis added):

 

Quote

 

pentaptych (plural pentaptychs)

1. A picture, or combination of pictures, consisting of a centrepiece and double folding doors or wings, as for an altarpiece.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for pentaptych in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

 

 

Or visit http://oilpaintingshops.com/panel/5-panels-pentaptych, check out the side panel at https://www.yliving.com/elementem-brooklyn-night-5-panel-canvas-pentaptych-wall-art-print.html, or just Google "pentaptych" & choose the images or shopping filters.

 

Contemporary polyptychs come in all shapes & sizes, both with & without gaps. The individual panels usually consist of stretched canvases, but other materials like wood are sometimes used. Our 4 panel polyptych consists of polished, painted, & lacquered wood panels, each about 1.5" thick & 16" wide by 30" high. They are inlaid with numerous carved, etched, & painted mother of pearl (??) pieces that form flying bird & butterfly shapes & foliage in the background & two large peacocks in the foreground that each span two panels. It is a unique piece that we like very much.

[lepr]

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[ali83]

@carl123 

 

I finally did it or like 95%.

 

2 things though.

 

1. How do I move the background picture (and re-position it) cos seems like I can't. I can only position the rectangles.

 

2. How to add shadows to these rectangles?

 

Thank you so much again.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2017 by ali83
Forgot to attach image

[R C-R]

33 minutes ago, owenr said:

Thanks for confirming that you invented your previous definition of "true pentaptych".

I didn't invent anything. I just used the term to indicate I was referring to its contemporary meaning rather than the badly out of date definition taken from the 1913 Webster's Dictionary. It is the same phrase & meaning used around where I live by the artist community to refer to this kind of work, to differentiate it from a single panel reproduction of a 5 panel pentaptych.