Wizaerd Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 I'm finding the gradient options in Affinity to be less than stellar. I'm trying to manually create depth maps for an image, but need gradients that conform to a shape, or follow a contour. Is there any way to do this within Affinity Designer or Photo? OMGParticles 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstdefence Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 You can create a brush that has a gradient to it and apply that to a path that follows a shape. But... It has side affects as the brush bends around an internal corner, imagine several layers of semi transparent layers overlapping. Quote iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9 (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum) Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdenby Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Hi, Wizaaerd, Look at the fx options, such as 3d and bevel/emboss, etc. Those apply a bit map overlay in and/or around the vector perimeter. Quote iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb, AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb iPad 12.9" Retina, iOS 10, 512 Gb, Apple pencil Huion WH1409 tablet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Hello Wizaerd, I don't know if this would be convenient for you, but with Designer you can simulate the gradient using the fx "Outline". The disadvantage is that you have to start from the center, adding inner outlines doesn't work properly or I miss something. Draw the shape, apply an external "Outline" fx of the desired colour and thickness. Right-click on the shape and choose "Group". Then apply as many outlines as necessary by grouping before adding a new one. To obtain the gradient effect, add a fx "Gaussian blur" by checking the box "Preserve alpha". This workaround is far from ideal and the rendering is not great, but... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyJack Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 6 hours ago, reglico said: .... with Designer you can simulate the gradient using the fx "Outline". The disadvantage is that you have to start from the center, adding inner outlines doesn't work properly or I miss something. Don't overlook the Contour setting for the FX Outline! Gradient is right there. (inside works, u just need to have a fill for the object.... opacity then can be set inside the FX Outline dialog if needed.) (if you want to blur it further do as @reglico suggested: group the single object and add an FX Gauss Blur protect alpha) Zodman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Hello JimmyJack, I don't know if I'm doing it wrong, but here the "Inside Outline" fx doesn't work as expected: the first added contour fits well inside the shape, but the next ones start from the outside and cover the previous ones. In my screenshot, the first outline is blue, the second is green and the third is brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyJack Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Hi @reglico, I guess the main point of my post was that one can have a gradient follow the outline of a shape with a single FX using Fill Style: Contour..... instead of Solid Colour. But if I understand your question correctly, (and you still want to using a group inside a group inside a group etc), All those groups share the same object border. So each "Inside Stroke" starts from the same point. Each subsequent Inner outline will obscure the ones bellow it. So as the stack gets longer each outline will need a thinner dimension. It sounds like you expected each level of outline to start where the one below left off? In other words I think it's behaving properly. Unless I'm missing something.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 @JimmyJack, I feel stupid, I haven't noticed the "Fill" window in the "Outline" tab yet! If I had noticed it earlier I wouldn't have fought with the addition of multiple contours! Fortunately, you posted your screenshot. At first I even thought there was a difference between Mac and Windows. I owe you a big thank you, I learned something again today and I'll fall asleep a little less stupid tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jowday Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 On 10/4/2018 at 9:02 PM, Wizaerd said: I'm finding the gradient options in Affinity to be less than stellar. I'm trying to manually create depth maps for an image, but need gradients that conform to a shape, or follow a contour. Is there any way to do this within Affinity Designer or Photo? Is this that Vectorstyler has, what you are looking for? https://www.vectorstyler.com/tutorial/introduction/ https://www.vectorstyler.com/#beta-link Quote "The user interface is supposed to work for me - I am not supposed to work for the user interface." Computer-, operating system- and software agnostic; I am a result oriented professional. Look for a fanboy somewhere else. “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.” ― Confucius Not an Affinity user og forum user anymore. The software continued to disappoint and not deliver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grafika Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Or just use the gradient "Across Stroke" option (in VectorStyler). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Patrick Connor Posted January 10, 2020 Staff Share Posted January 10, 2020 @grafika Welcome (finally) to the Serif Affinity forums Quote Patrick Connor Serif Europe Ltd Latest V2 releases on each platform Help make our apps better by joining our beta program! "There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self." W. L. Sheldon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jowday Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 21 hours ago, grafika said: Or just use the gradient "Across Stroke" option (in VectorStyler). Also interesting Quote "The user interface is supposed to work for me - I am not supposed to work for the user interface." Computer-, operating system- and software agnostic; I am a result oriented professional. Look for a fanboy somewhere else. “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.” ― Confucius Not an Affinity user og forum user anymore. The software continued to disappoint and not deliver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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