Affinity Bootcamp - January 2025

[Jacques]

My 3rd project, not perfect but I tried...

Edited January 19 by Jacques

[David Belton]

  On 1/19/2025 at 1:33 PM, Rene Marker said:

I don't use the shortcut keys so didn't realize that both have the same shortcut.

Although I wish there was a shortcut for "Rasterize".  Or even a way to add it to the toolbar at the top. Heck, I would like to have Undo and Redo on that toolbar but you can't add them. Since I use my mouse, I tend to use that toolbar instead of the menus for a lot of stuff.

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I would like to have these functions in the toolbar as well. You can use the "History" tab under the layers pallet to undo or move several steps back or forth at a time. 

[Daniel Hess]

Here is Project Three.  My Swirl was a blue color (Fire and Ice Swirls02 from either CF or DigitalScrapbook.com) and I needed it to be of a reddish/pinkish hue.  I selected it's layer, then used the Flood Select Tool (Magic Wand equivalent) set to contiguous OFF and first selected inside the actual swirl then changed color to what I was looking for, then selected the paint brush tool with fairly large brush and painted over the selection.  Once I had the color I wanted for that, I de-selected.  I next used the Flood Select Tool (contiguous off) and selected one of the berries (or beads maybe) so it had all of them.  Changed the color again and used paint brush to set color I wanted.  De-selected and I then used FX to put a little bit of bevel on the swirl layer so it wasn't so "flat". 

 

Edited January 19 by Daniel Hess

[Linda Rexford]

  On 1/19/2025 at 4:50 AM, Cassel said:

@Linda J Walker I won't fault you for using PSP to do something you can't yet do in Affinity. I don't want anyone to get frustrated. A new program means things working differently, in a different place, with different names, etc. As for posting images, the filesize has to be under 300kb, so keep that in mind.

@Sharon Murray If the layer was put with the Place command, it will be an "Image" layer and that, you can't delete parts of it. You would have to right-click > Rasterize. After that, it can be selected/deleted. I added that in the cheat sheet. As for the layers, you just have to be careful to move them between others so they don't end up as clipped or masked. That is something that was not happening at all with PSP so it is a new "habit" to learn.

@Raymond The end result for your project looks good. I wish I could see and understand the actual difference between the different resizing modes.

@Carolyn Rye Is it possible that you are selecting different layers too fast? I know that, occasionally, some layers become selected when I do that. I didn't figure out what triggered it sometimes, and not other times. Another possibility is that some layers were hidden? Maybe if you had duplicates? Glad that the cheat Sheet is useful.

@Jenny MacKay The file size should be under 300kb when you save. Do you see that in the Export window? You can reduce the quality until it reaches that threshold. If you are in Tasmania, maybe I'll connect with you as I am trying to reach for an old penpal I had in the 70's. I am pretty sure I found her, but I can't REACH her. 🙂

@Saara I guess you don't know what you are missing without PSP 😉 Scripts and picture tubes do not exist in Affinity. They don't even exist in Photoshop (although scripts ARE possible if someone codes them in javascript, but very very few do). Maybe we can challenge you to take the PSP Bootcamp when it comes. You can use the trial version (which is 30 days).

@Jeni Simpson Glad to see you do the sandwich. I am sure you will catch up! Keep going.

@Daniel Hess To answer your question, the equivalent of the Magic Wand is the Flood Select tool. It looks like a magic wand. It only selects based on colors, unlike PSP where there are different modes. For the "Promote section to a Layer", in Affinity, you would simply do Copy and Paste and it will paste as a new layer in the exact same position. There is another command that does it but Copy/Paste is the fastest in my opinion. "Paste as a new layer" is automatic when you do Paste. For "Paste as a new image" you would do File > New from Clipboard (after having copied the image). As for "Paste inside selection", I have not found it yet.

@Euka Creating and using patterns in Affinity is very different than in PSP. We will look at it in Project 3. I agree with you that selecting multiple layers to apply the same effect is great. It is a great time-saver. I love that too.

@Cristina You are correct, if your layer is an "Image" layer, it won't let you manipulate sections of it. You have to rasterize it (right-click > Rasterize) to manipulate only its selections.

@SharlaGreat layout. You selected a good photo for that happy layout.

@Gerry LandrethYou mentioned the Inner Shadow doing the equivalent of the "reversed shadow". I would have to correct you on that. The Inner Shadow is more like a cutout effect: it will appear ON your element instead of OUTSIDE of it. Play with the Offset and you will see how the shadow covers the element.

@Marie-Claire Simple is often better when you are learning something. Too many things at once and they fight in your brain!

@Linda Rexford Great pose of those cats! One more and they make a pyramid! You might get a bit more 3D effect if you add shadows to the elements.

@Rene MarkerThe shortcut W is for the Flood Select tool AND the Selection Brush tool tool. I find it strange and for me, if I click W, it activates the Selection Brush tool and not the Flood Select tool. 

@Cheryle Becker Hopefully, if you had gremlins acting up when you were exporting your file, they are gone now. You could add some shadows to your elements, photo and papers to give them more 3D effect.

Someone shared a mention of a great guide on YouTube. I found it and I wanted to share the full length. It is great. It is one hour long but you can skip to specific sections if you look in the description. It might help with some of the questions you might have about what is where. It is basic, but a great overview. Watch it here.

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I uploaded the wrong image, the one without shadows.  I just uploaded the correct one.  Thank You!

 

[Jacques]

A little better. I still need to figure out how to get the mice out.

 

I added a small white border (cheating a little: I used PSP)

 

Edited January 19 by Jacques

[Saara]

@Daniel Hess  There's a much easier way to change the colour of an object in Affinity Photo.  If you check out the adjustment layers, either the HSL adjustment or the Recolour adjustment will do the job nicely.  You can find the adjustment layers by clicking on the little circle under your layers panel, next to the FX button.  In order for the adjustment to apply only to the object you want to change the colour of, you need to clip it to that object.  You can do this by dragging and dropping the adjustment onto the layer the object is on.

HSL adjustments are more complicated to work with, but you can target individual colours within an object with that one so it's well worth learning how to use that one.

[Linda Rexford]

If you are having trouble moving layers by dragging them, you can use the tool bar at the top that will change the layer order.  You highlight the layer you want to move and then you can choose to Move to back (down to bottom), Move back one (just down one layer), Move forward one (one layer up) or Move to front (make it the top layer)  

[Ann Seeber]

LESSON 3 - LET THEM EAT CAKE! - Title font is Bremen, kit used mostly Maria Lerin Field Notes #12 Mini

[Rene Marker]

Finally got this layout done. I took a few liberties (aka did steps different than Carole) in making my layout. For the photos, they were all the same size but larger than the canvas so I put them in a group and resized them to the size I wanted. I also used the "align bottom" command from the Arrange menu to align them while in the group. I also needed to make an exposure adjustment on all 3 photos so did that with them in the group. That way the adjustment did not affect any other layers. I ended not having to do the pattern step because the glitter from the kit I used was already 3600x3600. (Kit is Check-In by Meagan's Creations at Sweet Shoppe Designs). I also saw in a video I watched that the Frame Text Tool is especially handy when you want text in paragraphs. So I tried it out. Evidently this is Affinity's way of doing wrapped text. I drew a "rectangular frame" in the area I wanted to put the text then started typing. It adjusted automatically at the end of the line.

[Marie-Claire]

  On 1/18/2025 at 9:48 PM, Corrie Kinkel said:

Lovely photo of Poncho, I have missed seeing him here and I see you still have the same weather as I have! I have found those swatches too but I'm not sure I want them because I also have found the color wheel, which I used in PSP.

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Yes Corrie we have the same terrible weather. It has been foggy and dark here for days now, and in a day or two rainy days will follow. It is really not weather to go outside, even Poncho does not like to go for a walk.

[Ann Seeber]

  On 1/19/2025 at 8:00 PM, Rene Marker said:

Finally got this layout done. I took a few liberties (aka did steps different than Carole) in making my layout. For the photos, they were all the same size but larger than the canvas so I put them in a group and resized them to the size I wanted. I also used the "align bottom" command from the Arrange menu to align them while in the group. I also needed to make an exposure adjustment on all 3 photos so did that with them in the group. That way the adjustment did not affect any other layers. I ended not having to do the pattern step because the glitter from the kit I used was already 3600x3600. (Kit is Check-In by Meagan's Creations at Sweet Shoppe Designs). I also saw in a video I watched that the Frame Text Tool is especially handy when you want text in paragraphs. So I tried it out. Evidently this is Affinity's way of doing wrapped text. I drew a "rectangular frame" in the area I wanted to put the text then started typing. It adjusted automatically at the end of the line.

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Very interesting, Rene, especially since I saw your baskets. Love your color scheme here. Just a heads-up, there's a line that needs correction in the first paragraph. It should read: seven stories tall and would resemble the Market Basket. (both resemble and Basket have typos). Nice that we can control text in Affinity like that!

[Marie-Claire]

Day 7 - Project 3

[Daniel Hess]

  On 1/19/2025 at 5:17 PM, Saara said:

You can do this by dragging and dropping the adjustment onto the layer the object is on.

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For sure that seems to be an easier way to do the layer.  I tried it and it's like using the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness adjustment tool in PSP.  I still wanted to separate the "beads" from the other part of the swirl to make a different "separation" of colors so to speak so I'm gonna have to tinker with it to see if can use the adjustments with selections inside a layer as opposed to the entire layer as one entity.

[Sharla]

Project 3, Day 7: I felt quite comfortable with using Affinity for this project. Yes, things are different to Paintshop Pro but it feels like quite a smooth program and it hasn’t crashed once since I’ve been using it which is definitely in its favour. 

I appreciate the videos Carole - they are nice quick way into the learning process. Thank you.

The photos are from Freepik. The papers and elements are from a mini kit called Dandelion wishes by Jessica Dunn. The glitters are from a kit by Marisa Lerin.

 

[Daniel Hess]

  On 1/19/2025 at 9:10 PM, Sharla said:

Dandelion wishes by Jessica Dunn

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Same flower I used in my layout.  Good choice 😉

[Rene Marker]

  On 1/19/2025 at 8:41 PM, Ann Seeber said:

Very interesting, Rene, especially since I saw your baskets. Love your color scheme here. Just a heads-up, there's a line that needs correction in the first paragraph. It should read: seven stories tall and would resemble the Market Basket. (both resemble and Basket have typos). Nice that we can control text in Affinity like that!

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Thanks. I didn't see those typos. My new glasses need to come in ASAP!!!

I made the corrections on my copy.

[Saara]

  On 1/19/2025 at 8:56 PM, Daniel Hess said:

For sure that seems to be an easier way to do the layer.  I tried it and it's like using the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness adjustment tool in PSP.  I still wanted to separate the "beads" from the other part of the swirl to make a different "separation" of colors so to speak so I'm gonna have to tinker with it to see if can use the adjustments with selections inside a layer as opposed to the entire layer as one entity.

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Daniel,  all adjustment layers automatically have masks attached to them, so you can add multiple HSL adjustments to one element and use the brush tool to paint in black to hide the bits you don't want to be that colour.  Does this make sense?  It's difficult because I know what I mean but no sure if I'm explaining it in a way that somebody not used to this program would understand.

Editing to add, you have to make sure that you paint with black on the actual adjustment, not the object.

Edited January 19 by Saara

[Jeni Simpson]

  On 1/19/2025 at 2:31 PM, Sharla said:

Okay, so I have got as far as Project 2, Day 5. This is a photo, taken by me, of Saltburn Pier (Saltburn is a seaside town in the north of England) covered in snow one wintry December day. The papers etc... are from a kit called Winter’s Day by Elif Safin.

 

 

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Sharla, what an interesting photograph. I love quirky things and this scene has that element for me. The page is simple, lovely, and cool for me enjoying summer, finally!!!

[Saara]

This is my page for Project 3.  As we had to use 3 photos this time, I used actual photos rather than one of my Affinity Photo creations.

Up until I was 8 my dad's mum and stepfather lived near Weston-Super-Mare (which is in Somerset in the south west of England) and we spent the first 2 weeks of June there each year.

I absolutely love this photo of my mum.  She would have been 35 at the time and a 6 year old me thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.  Our last holiday there was in the summer of 1974 and it was strange going back with my husband after all this time.  A lot has changed in 50 years, including the pier which had to be rebuilt after a fire in the 80's, but I had my heart set on recreating the photo my dad had taken of my lovely mum, along with our daughter who travelled up from Devon to join us for a day at the beach.

I really enjoyed putting this page together as it has huge sentimental value for me.  I used a couple of the scrapbooking sets I bought from Opticillusions on Etsy, Under The Sea and Under The Boardwalk, with the glitter layer, the rope and knots coming from Piixabay.

[Cindy Sheets]

Okay, I like to go off the rails in tutorials and tend not to follow exactly. I used Katie Pertiet Love of a Lifetime kit. The color picker was very annoying but might be because I was using a template and had to write my text over the template and then delete the template words.

[Jean Naumann]

My layout for project 3.  A family outing last year to see Taylor Swift, they all got into the mood and dressed up.

It is getting easier to find my way around Affinity, I think I've even got the colour picker working!

[Cassel]

@Angela Tilghman Great layout, and such a fun photo of the sledding panda!

@Jeni Simpson I hope your friend hurries to register as I will close the registration tonight. I think that having only 7 days to explore a new program in 7 lessons will be tight.

@Rene Marker Although there is no shortcut for Rasterize command, you can create one. Go to Edit > Settings > Shortcuts and select the Layers in the drop down under Photo. Then scroll near the bottom and you will find Rasterize. Since Ctrl-R is already assigned to the Rulers, you can choose Shift-R or Alt-R for it. Then, it will be your own shortcut. I do find that right-click > Rasterize is just as fast since you don't have to go through the Menu. Glad that you are also exploring the program on your own. There is so much to discover!

@Jenny MacKay Even though you might think that the glitter tile does not match the photos, it matches the rest of the layout so I think you did great.

@Sharla Great snow layout! Nice layout about reading.

@Jacques You did well in aligning the photos even if they are vertically arranged. Sometimes, a layout or a template deserves to be rotated to accommodate the photos. What do you mean by taking the mice out? 

@Daniel Hess Great layout. I see you are exploring the program a bit further than the tutorials. That is good! As Saara mentioned, when you use an Adjustment layer in Affinity, it is just like one in PSP (although you have to add a mask layer to it): then, it gives a "black and white" sort of layer where you can brush black/white/grey. And like in PSP, "black will block [the effect]".

@Saara Thanks for mentioning the Recolor adjustment layer. I didn't know about it and thought that the HSL, although it can give the same result, looks misleading. Great third layout. I love the little sign you hung under the photos to add the time/names.

@Ann Seeber I am not 100% sure but I am wondering if the middle photo you used has been squished. It just LOOKS like the seat is not as high as in the other photos.

@Marie-Claire We never get tired of seeing Poncho. You must have thousands of pictures of him!

@Cindy Sheets It is ok to change the layout a bit from the tutorial, but if it is too different, I don't know which lesson you followed, and I need that information to enter your projects for the random draw. It looks like some of the text is stuck between the photo and the frame. Is that intentional? I would suggest moving the sub-title so it is not stuck partially under the frame.

@Jean NaumannGreat layout. I am glad you are comfortable in using the Color picker. That will come in handy!

Keep those layouts coming!!

[Jacques]

  On 1/20/2025 at 2:42 AM, Cassel said:

@Angela Tilghman Great layout, and such a fun photo of the sledding panda!

@Jeni Simpson I hope your friend hurries to register as I will close the registration tonight. I think that having only 7 days to explore a new program in 7 lessons will be tight.

@Rene Marker Although there is no shortcut for Rasterize command, you can create one. Go to Edit > Settings > Shortcuts and select the Layers in the drop down under Photo. Then scroll near the bottom and you will find Rasterize. Since Ctrl-R is already assigned to the Rulers, you can choose Shift-R or Alt-R for it. Then, it will be your own shortcut. I do find that right-click > Rasterize is just as fast since you don't have to go through the Menu. Glad that you are also exploring the program on your own. There is so much to discover!

@Jenny MacKay Even though you might think that the glitter tile does not match the photos, it matches the rest of the layout so I think you did great.

@Sharla Great snow layout! Nice layout about reading.

@Jacques You did well in aligning the photos even if they are vertically arranged. Sometimes, a layout or a template deserves to be rotated to accommodate the photos. What do you mean by taking the mice out? 

@Daniel Hess Great layout. I see you are exploring the program a bit further than the tutorials. That is good! As Saara mentioned, when you use an Adjustment layer in Affinity, it is just like one in PSP (although you have to add a mask layer to it): then, it gives a "black and white" sort of layer where you can brush black/white/grey. And like in PSP, "black will block [the effect]".

@Saara Thanks for mentioning the Recolor adjustment layer. I didn't know about it and thought that the HSL, although it can give the same result, looks misleading. Great third layout. I love the little sign you hung under the photos to add the time/names.

@Ann Seeber I am not 100% sure but I am wondering if the middle photo you used has been squished. It just LOOKS like the seat is not as high as in the other photos.

@Marie-Claire We never get tired of seeing Poncho. You must have thousands of pictures of him!

@Cindy Sheets It is ok to change the layout a bit from the tutorial, but if it is too different, I don't know which lesson you followed, and I need that information to enter your projects for the random draw. It looks like some of the text is stuck between the photo and the frame. Is that intentional? I would suggest moving the sub-title so it is not stuck partially under the frame.

@Jean NaumannGreat layout. I am glad you are comfortable in using the Color picker. That will come in handy!

Keep those layouts coming!!

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@Cassel Mon anglais n'est pas super: Je voulais dire "Mettre en évidence" elles ne sont pas assez visibles

[Jenny MacKay]

I wanted to try another page for Project #3 to practice. 
 

 

Edited January 20 by Jenny MacKay
Page had an error on it.

[Linda Rexford]

Here is Project #3.  All the papers and Glitter came from Creative Fabrica and Design Bundles.  The heart scatters are from Sheila Reid.  The heart balloons I made in Affinity Designer. 

 

Edited January 20 by Linda Rexford
text correction