Affinity Bootcamp - January 2025

[Sue Thomas]

  On 1/21/2025 at 6:19 AM, Jeni Simpson said:

Surely they have heard of Shirley Bassey or Tom Jones?

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Tom Jones yes!  Shirley Bassey, nope,  until I  mention her songs  in the Bond movies, Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever,and Moonraker. Even then they refer to them as British, and not Welsh.  Shirley was born and raised  in Splott, in Cardiff. Cardiff being the Capital of Wales.  Tom was born in Treforest, Pontypridd. Both were born not to far from where  I  was born.

Edited January 21 by Sue Thomas

[Ann Seeber]

  On 1/21/2025 at 1:14 AM, Jeni Simpson said:

Project 2
On our travels around the farm, in December, we came across a few cows, with the odd bull amongst them. These cows had an amazing view of the Clutha River across the road from the farm. They were curious and came towards the truck, although not too close, they were used to the truck and more used to horses during mustering time.

I used Nellie Bell's Lion Kids papers for the three papers, and Jessica Dunn's pail and barn from her Charlottes Farm kit.

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Great title! 😄

[Jenny MacKay]

  On 1/21/2025 at 3:39 AM, Cassel said:

@Jacques Maybe to get your mice stand out more, you might want to replace the busy paper underneath them? That is likely why they are harder to see with that busy background.

@Jenny MacKayGreat layout to showcase fun photos. I have two suggestions if you don't mind. The text in the center might be enlarged. There is enough room and it would make it easier to read. The other detail is the sub-title you have under the title. If you add a shadow on the title, we assume it has thickness. If it does, you could now add a flat "handwritten" sub-title. Even having the subtitle overlap the edge of the paper would not be realistic. Could you put that sub-title all on the blue paper?

@Linda Rexford Awe!!! cute photos!! Great color for the glitter.

@Euka You won't lose points for using PSP for things you don't know how to do with Affinity. There are things you still don't know how to do in the new program. It will come but in the meantime, you just use some familiar tools while learning a new one.

@Ann Seeber I do see a slight difference in the photo on both pages: we see less of the adult's head on top. It not a lot but it does make a difference.

@Angela Tilghman Good sizing of the photos. Did you use the snapping? I love that (I was happy to see it appear in PSP2023 too!)

@Cristina Did you happen to use a pattern under the photos? or is it a texture?

@Gerry Landreth The look on the black cat is special!!! It looks like "What are you doing now?"

@Linda J Walker You are lucky that Affinity has not crashed on you. It has for me a few times. See how technology is so "all over the place" for different people? I don't know if there is anything similar to Auto-save in Affinity. I have not found anything yet. And yes, if you rely on it being "stable" and don't save, you might be stuck that one time it will crash, unexpectedly.

@Jeni SimpsonGreat start with your first layouts. Nothing complicated is needed to get acquainted with the program.

@Corrie KinkelIf you add an inner glow to give a bevel-like look, make sure you also add a shadow since it means there is thickness.

@Raymond If you had used the glitter tile with a small size, it would have just looked like a texture and NOT like glitter. You can try that sometime, in a future project. But using a different design is a good idea. It is just harder to have something seamless.

@Julie MagerkaGreat to see you catching up. You will get to it. I am glad my videos suit you as far as showing what is needed in scrapbooking projects.

@Carolyn RyeWhen you are not getting the same thing with the layer effects are you getting something different, or getting nothing at all?

As for spelling, I probably still make mistakes. My excuse is that English is NOT my first language. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it! 😉

Watch out for the 4th project tomorrow!

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Thanks for the tips. I’ll have a play with the title. I guess if I was doing this for real I’d write a lot more about the day, but I get what you’re saying. 

[Daniel Hess]

  On 1/20/2025 at 8:51 PM, Linda J Walker said:

I was working on Project #3 last night.

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Re: the puppy's name.  Our last Doberman before Tyson was named Rambo.  We OFTEN called him Bo and he would "answer" to it so it was all good. Photo is of Rambo.  

[Daniel Hess]

  On 1/21/2025 at 2:46 AM, Carolyn Rye said:

I do not get the same effect options as Carole.

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I was sort of finding that to be the case at first until I realized it defaults to the top "effect" in the list when you click the FX icon and you have to first select the line item and then make sure it is "checked" and THEN the adjustment screen will be correct.  I kept finding myself adjusting bevel when I thought I had selected the outer shadow.

[Saara]

@Cassel I've just watched today's video and I'm curious as to why you use the eraser brush to create the edging for the black paper?  A much better way to do this would be to use a mask as it's non-destructive - the eraser brush actually deletes pixels whereas masks, as the name suggests, cover up the bits you don't want to show.  That way, if you get further into your project and either notice you've done something wrong or you decide you don't like that pinking shears edge and would prefer something different, you can change it without having to delete that layer and start all over again.

I know that actual, physical scrapbooking is always going to be destructive when cutting into paper, but with digital scrapbooking it doesn't have to be.

[Jenny MacKay]

I can definitely see the differences between Affinity Photo V1 and the newer V2. I struggled with creating the pinking edges because the tool wouldn't erase from one edge to the next like in the video. I had to carefully erase the edge while keeping the mouse in a straight line. There’s probably an easier way to do it, but I don’t think my scrapbooking style involves using too many fancy edges. Still, it’s great to explore and learn what the software can do!

[Julie Magerka]

  On 1/21/2025 at 11:36 AM, Daniel Hess said:

Re: the puppy's name.  Our last Doberman before Tyson was named Rambo.  We OFTEN called him Bo and he would "answer" to it so it was all good. Photo is of Rambo.  

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Isn't he a magnificent looking fellow.

[Cassel]

  On 1/21/2025 at 1:48 PM, Saara said:

@Cassel I've just watched today's video and I'm curious as to why you use the eraser brush to create the edging for the black paper?  A much better way to do this would be to use a mask as it's non-destructive - the eraser brush actually deletes pixels whereas masks, as the name suggests, cover up the bits you don't want to show.  That way, if you get further into your project and either notice you've done something wrong or you decide you don't like that pinking shears edge and would prefer something different, you can change it without having to delete that layer and start all over again.

I know that actual, physical scrapbooking is always going to be destructive when cutting into paper, but with digital scrapbooking it doesn't have to be.

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I sure could have. I guess it is the habit of working in that manner that is still with me. That is a "new way of thinking" that I have to learn!

[Saara]

  On 1/21/2025 at 2:48 PM, Cassel said:

I sure could have. I guess it is the habit of working in that manner that is still with me. That is a "new way of thinking" that I have to learn!

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It's the other way around for me.  Coming into this from photo compositing creative space, my instinct is to work as non-destructively as possible.

[Rene Marker]

  On 1/21/2025 at 2:51 PM, Saara said:

It's the other way around for me.  Coming into this from photo compositing creative space, my instinct is to work as non-destructively as possible.

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So many of the videos I've been watching on YouTube talk about the non-destructive way of doing things but then most of them are doing it as a photographer, not a scrapbooker. But I can see where it actually is a good idea for scrapbooking as well. I have actually learned a lot from those videos as I have from this boot camp. Combining the two modes of learning has been a game changer for me.

[Saara]

  On 1/21/2025 at 3:38 PM, Rene Marker said:

So many of the videos I've been watching on YouTube talk about the non-destructive way of doing things but then most of them are doing it as a photographer, not a scrapbooker. But I can see where it actually is a good idea for scrapbooking as well. I have actually learned a lot from those videos as I have from this boot camp. Combining the two modes of learning has been a game changer for me.

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I just find it a better way of working.  Even for something as simple as trimming a paper element down to size.  If you make a selection the size you want and then delete everything outside of that selection, it's fixed at that size.  If you decide later that you think it would fit with your layout better if it was a bit bigger, you can't resize it without risking pixelation, so you'd have to delete the layer and start again.  If you used a mask (leaving the paper layer covering the entire canvas), selecting the mask layer and then clicking on the mask icon on that layer whilst holding down CTRL will select the mask and give you the handles to move and / or resize it.  If you try this using a heavily patterned paper, you'll see quite clearly that it doesn't move or resize the actual paper layer, but rather move the mask around over the top of it.

[Angela Tilghman]

It wouldn't let me upload the 600x600 so I changed it to 500 x 500 and it uploaded.  Any reason why your requested size is too big?  Need to start a new journal of what I'm doing so that I can follow along with that to keep track of the steps I've used.  Go COMMANDers!  I get a lot of my papers and graphics from Creative Fabrica.  Great site to use.

Edited January 21 by Angela Tilghman

[Rene Marker]

I didn't follow Day 9 completely. I'm not a fan of "pinking shears" at all. Never used them in paper scrapbooking as well as digital scrapbooking. So I skipped it. I only use any paper with an edging (like scallops) if the template I'm using has them and are mostly hidden under lots of paper layers. LOL

For the outline portion of the lesson, I chose the Outside option. Instead of flood filling it with a color, I used a paper, actually the same glitter as my Day 7 layout since I used the same kit. My photos were the same size so I again put them into a group to resize. After I made the outline using the paper, I moved the layer under the photo and put the 2 layers in a group. The other thing I tried was adding the drop shadow to the group. It worked for what I wanted as I only wanted the shadow on the glitter paper.

 

[Gerry Landreth]

Project 4. Rudy is very bad at Hide & Seek. He forgets his tail or a paw. And when I call him, he peeks out and says, "Shhhhh! I'm hiding!"

[Saara]

My project for today once again features one of my photo composites.  It's the one I use for my profile picture and was created for one of our monthly challenges at Affinity Photo Creatives.  I also wrote the little poem that goes with the image.

[Sharon Murray]

Still getting caught up.  Here is my project 2.  (Layering is easier now with the help of your suggestions and the cheatsheet and putting my elements between the layers as like clipping masks in PS!)  Thanks 🙂

  

 

[Corrie Kinkel]

Project 4

I went with the layout in the video because it fitted my photos so well, but I again didn't use a kit. The background paper is from Sweet Moments gl20 from Marissa Lerin as are the scatters and the other papers are from Digital Scrapbook Blog train  december 2024. The mushrooms are from DB Magnolia in the juli Blog train and the leave comes from my stash The font is Fairy Tales, a freebie from Creative Fabrica. With every layout done I'm getting more comfortable and I'm surprised how quick this program works with setting shadows for all the layers, but also with saving and resizing. I understand I'm lucky the program hasn't shut down on me so far, but saving my project regularly has become a second habit after many PSP crashes. When I want to apply a shadow I still look at the spot on my screen where that option was in PSP and it still feels strange that you do not have to apply it after choosing the shadow settings. 

Carole I didn't found the kerning, only the leading; I'll have another look around tomorrow.

When I took a peek at the Affinity website there is a section where you can buy some supplies and the last entry is a free brush pack. Those are now in my Affinity brushes!

Edited January 21 by Corrie Kinkel

[Corrie Kinkel]

  On 1/21/2025 at 5:34 PM, Rene Marker said:

I didn't follow Day 9 completely. I'm not a fan of "pinking shears" at all. Never used them in paper scrapbooking as well as digital scrapbooking. So I skipped it. I only use any paper with an edging (like scallops) if the template I'm using has them and are mostly hidden under lots of paper layers. LOL

For the outline portion of the lesson, I chose the Outside option. Instead of flood filling it with a color, I used a paper, actually the same glitter as my Day 7 layout since I used the same kit. My photos were the same size so I again put them into a group to resize. After I made the outline using the paper, I moved the layer under the photo and put the 2 layers in a group. The other thing I tried was adding the drop shadow to the group. It worked for what I wanted as I only wanted the shadow on the glitter paper.

 

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Rene nice you used another setting for the photo border, it confirmed to me that my assumption was correct. I didn't use it for my layout because I had my photos otherwise organized. You already have looked at so many videos and I will try to do so as soon as I have more time than I have now. Life happens and not always as I like it to be.

[Linda Rexford]

Project 4, I used one of the kits Carole suggested from True Heart Digitals.  I also had issues with the eraser brush, but I finally got it to work.  I went with a scallop edge, I thought it fit the theme better.  I know it was mentioned to use masks instead.  I find that one of the hardest things to do and I don't know why.  I would love to learn how to do that so it works!

Edited January 21 by Linda Rexford
text correction

[Julie Magerka]

Anyone else having this problem with Project 4 - adding frames to the 3 images. I've done it over and over, and still get no flood fill of white or any other colour!!!!

[Rene Marker]

  On 1/21/2025 at 11:14 PM, Corrie Kinkel said:

Rene nice you used another setting for the photo border, it confirmed to me that my assumption was correct. I didn't use it for my layout because I had my photos otherwise organized. You already have looked at so many videos and I will try to do so as soon as I have more time than I have now. Life happens and not always as I like it to be.

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I will admit that I have let things slide around the house during this time. Also, with the extremely cold weather, I have no desire to go out so I have more time to look at videos and play with the software. I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment today (1 year checkup from my surgery last January) but I called yesterday to see if I could get it changed because of the cold. I don't want to take the chance of being on the highway and something happening with the car (it is a 90 minute drive). Thankfully, they had something next week when the temps will be more seasonal. So that left me with even more time. Heck, my new glasses came in today and I didn't even go get them! Not sure I want to go tomorrow either. Feels like temperatures have been below 0 degrees Fahrenheit since yesterday and will be again tomorrow.

The scrapbooker I know that uses Affinity Designer posted a tutorial at The Lily Pad today on how to warp shadows. I've played with it and it is really easy since she shows how to get the shadow on another layer.

[Saara]

  On 1/21/2025 at 11:39 PM, Julie Magerka said:

Anyone else having this problem with Project 4 - adding frames to the 3 images. I've done it over and over, and still get no flood fill of white or any other colour!!!!

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Julie, if you haven't rasterised your photos then you can simply add a stroke to them.  Select one of the photos and you should see the fill and stroke options in the context tool bar.  If you have rasterised them, you can add an outline via the FX panel.

[Linda J Walker]

  On 1/21/2025 at 11:39 PM, Julie Magerka said:

Anyone else having this problem with Project 4 - adding frames to the 3 images. I've done it over and over, and still get no flood fill of white or any other colour!!!!

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Are you adding the new raster layer?

[Linda J Walker]

Carole,

Project 4--added the white border to my photos....but the border is on a new layer. That is okay but I am going to need to move my photos and maybe change the size some. I can change the size of the photo, but the border doesn't change--how do I make them change together???