Affinity Bootcamp - January 2025

[Cristina]

  On 1/23/2025 at 3:30 AM, Cassel said:

Did you figure out the issue with the shadow showing above other layers?

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Yes, the problem is solved. 🙂

And Saara also explained.  I applied the Blend Mode to two consecutive layers, and of course, it had to show the shadow from the layer below.

It was the first time I used two consecutive layers with blend mode, so it never occurred to me, and I didn't have time to check the reason.  Testing takes time! 😉

[Rene Marker]

I stuck to the lesson this time for the most part. The squares gave me a little problem. Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V wouldn't work but using the menu commands did. Didn't take the time to figure out why. The kit is by a retired designer and called Military Day. I felt the muted colors fit the photo quite well. I found this bracelet when I was cleaning out the basement in 2018. I had forgotten where it was or if I even had it. I did a little research to find out what happened to the Captain and was quite happy to find out he had been released and has lived a long life and as far as I can tell, he is still alive and lives in Arizona where he moved to when he retired from the Air Force in 1986.

[Jean Naumann]

I actually think I like Affinity Photo better than paint shop pro.  I've really enjoyed learning how to use it.  I bought the whole Affinity Suite when Version 2 first came out, and up till now had really only used Photo to edit some pdf documents and forms for family history.  But, I think I'll use it for a lot more now, so many thanks Carole.  As always I enjoy your lessons.

This is my granddaughter Bella, photos of her are always lovely, she has definitely perfected the art of selfies, as most girls her age have!

 

[Jenny MacKay]

  On 1/22/2025 at 5:05 PM, Daniel Hess said:

It's been a little while now but after my grandparents passed away, a man contacted one of my aunts and it turns out they had a brother they did not know about.  We STILL don't know the whole story but believe that he was reported stillborn to my grandparents (by a shady country doctor), then sold to an adoption ring.  He was adopted by wonderful parents in Illinois (my Grandparents, Mom and Siblings grew up on a farm near Jackson, Minnesota).  Needless to say, the DNA tests proved they were 100 percent siblings and they all met shortly after.  Uncle Ron was welcomed to the family and has been a part of most events since he came on the scene.  Since that time, my mom and both my aunts have passed on and he is "the last man standing" for that generation of the Hansen Family.  I took an old family photo, found a photo of my uncle Ron at approximately the right age, and added him to the picture, then did my best to colorize it however for best result, I submitted it to an AI type photo enhancer for the final touchups.  I am including both of those photos here AND a photo of my Uncle and his sisters before any of them passed away.  It will only let me post two of the three here so the last photo will be in the next post.

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@Daniel HessThat’s a really sad story to read. I’ve was given a book for Christmas called, Before we were Yours by Kate Wingate. It tells of those horrific stories and was a page turner. I’m glad he found his family. 

Edited January 23 by Jenny MacKay

[Corrie Kinkel]

I stayed with the lesson, because I seem to learn the basics best if I follow the tutorials. By doing so I first want to understand the program and with that knowledge I can follow my own ideas a bit later. But I played again with the blendmodes for my background, which is made by using 2 papers and a border overlay. All the papers are by Jessica Dunn; the frame and element are from the DSBlogtrain 2020 Songbird and the snowflake comes from my stash. The fonts are Winter Vibes, Lucinda Handwriting and Arial. 

Most of the work went smoothly but the framed text didn't work. In the lesson Carole used a text that she copied and pasted inside the frame. I had the frame but wanted to type my text in which didn't work, arggg I immediately thought of the wrapped text in PSP 2023 which has a bug and that doesn't work either. I probably did something wrong but it will have to wait until tomorrow, it is already after midnight so I'm off to bed. 

[Saara]

I deviated a little but I think this is similar enough to be recognised as the 5th and final project of this Bootcamp.

It features another Affinity Photo Creatives challenge composition.  This one was "Animal Show" and my image was inspired by a rather weird conversation we had during one of our weekly Zoom calls.

I picked rather muted colours and kept the design quite simple as I wanted the image to stand out.

@Cassel  I've really enjoyed taking part in this bootcamp so thank you for joining APC and letting us know about it. 😊

Edited January 24 by Saara

[Raymond]

Project 4

 

Carole...I found some Fills and other items in Corel PhotoPaint.  I made an object, used the Fill Tool, and saved it as a JPEG file.  I opened it in Affinity and then used it as per the video.

 Question/Problem:  After adding a border around the photos, I didn't like the results (my photos were spaced too close together).  How do you undo or adjust/modify a border?

 

 

[Cassel]

@Margo AhernGlad to see you started. The lessons will stay available although the tracking for the random draw of prizes will close on Monday night. Also, after that point, I will not come in with daily feedback posts. I could still answer questions if posted but the activity level of this thread will greatly go down.

@Daniel HessI have not explored the use of the Character Map with Affinity. Something else to explore!

@Jenny MacKayI am glad you enjoyed this Bootcamp. Your last layout looks great. About the book you refer to, if you ever have a chance to read about "Butterbox babies", it is also a sad story. There was a movie about it. Similar theme.

@CristinaYou should be able to follow the February workshop with Affinity OR PSP, your choice and the trial version will still be working for you. I had never worked with the "Mask below" option. Something else to study!

@Rene MarkerGreat layout. It is strange why the keyboard shortcut decided not to work. If you find an explanation, please, let us know.

@Jean NaumannI can understand how Affinity is a very attractive program to use. Its non-destructive features are great. However, remember that scripts and picture tubes are not possible without PSP, so make sure to keep both programs on hand!

@Corrie Kinkel I am not sure if there is a way to change that but when using the Frame Text tool, I can't sample the size of the text and it always seems to appear in 16px size, which is tiny on a 3600x3600 page! If I try to sample a size, like with the Artistic Text tool, I lose the frame, so it does not work that way.

@SaaraI am glad you enjoyed the Bootcamp. Are you aware of other APC members who joined us? Maybe you can encourage others to register, when we have a repeat of this Bootcamp. 

@Raymond Great page. Once you have added an outline with the Grow/Shrink command, you can't undo it directly. However, if you want to add a larger border, you can repeat the same steps with a larger setting. Otherwise, you might have to redo the steps from scratch. Of course, I could also have suggested you used the Layer FX > Outline to add that white border. That would be non-destructive and editable afterward.

[Linda J Walker]

Project 5 - This one only took me a day, but a good part of the day. There were a few glitches where I thought I knew what was done....but then had to rewatch and undo...and even then there was some more undo's needed.  There may be a few steps I could repeat again without the video, maybe. Will there be written directions at some point?  I sure have alot of 'background' layers.  I used a kit by Janet Kemp called 'Woodland Winter'. I think everything I used was in that kit.

Carole, I have to give you alot of credit for learning and then teaching us a new program! Some things are similar, but many are different from PSP.

[Linda J Walker]

  On 1/24/2025 at 1:29 AM, Raymond said:

Project 4

 

Carole...I found some Fills and other items in Corel PhotoPaint.  I made an object, used the Fill Tool, and saved it as a JPEG file.  I opened it in Affinity and then used it as per the video.

 Question/Problem:  After adding a border around the photos, I didn't like the results (my photos were spaced too close together).  How do you undo or adjust/modify a border?

 

 

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Raymond, can you turn off the layer the border is on? And then do it again with different settings?

[Jeni Simpson]

Day 11 Project 5
This was an interesting one, I wasn't sure I could manage it, and it wasn't so bad after all!
I used Jessica Dunn's Cranberry kit, because the colours seemed to match my photo, although one of the papers I re-coloured.
The clip I used came from Tammy's Songbird Scrap Designs So Thankful kit. I didn't bother re-colouring the clip because my brooch has some blue in it.

Last year, I bought a brooch I wear on a black jacket. I love this brooch and she get compliments every time I wear her.
I found out the brooch is called a Dancing Lady Brooch, and she comes from Australia.

 

[Saara]

@Cassel I think I'm the only one from APC.  As you've seen, I have a post over there with my projects from this bootcamp which might inspire some to create a few scrapbook pages, but I have a feeling they'll just find their own way of putting them together.  Like myself, their main focus is to enhance their photo manipulation skills.

[Cristina]

  On 1/24/2025 at 2:48 AM, Cassel said:

You should be able to follow the February workshop with Affinity OR PSP, your choice and the trial version will still be working for you.

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Ah, I just saw there will be a Magazine Workshop in February for PSP and Affinity Photo, too.

I'll choose the Affinity Photo, as I have done it a few times in PSP.   I still have some layouts to complete, but this is nothing new, as the number of my unfinished layouts is still high.

 

[Jenny MacKay]

@Cassel thanks for the recommendation re the book. I’ll see if it’s available to get through our library. 

[Ann Seeber]

  On 1/24/2025 at 2:48 AM, Linda J Walker said:

Project 5 - This one only took me a day, but a good part of the day. There were a few glitches where I thought I knew what was done....but then had to rewatch and undo...and even then there was some more undo's needed.  There may be a few steps I could repeat again without the video, maybe. Will there be written directions at some point?  I sure have alot of 'background' layers.  I used a kit by Janet Kemp called 'Woodland Winter'. I think everything I used was in that kit.

Carole, I have to give you alot of credit for learning and then teaching us a new program! Some things are similar, but many are different from PSP.

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Of course I had to try the conversion. -15F = -22.22C 🥶

[Margo Ahern]

Here is Project 2.  I like the shortcuts as they save so much time.  I'm not a scrapbooker and I don't have the pretty coordinated kits so some of my papers and elements I have collected may not really match my photos.

[Daniel Hess]

Here is Project Five.  Was tempted to try to recreate the one I did in the PSP version of the Bootcamp but decided to use different photo and different theme.  I DID run into some issues when I was trying to select something inside an image, copy it, then paste into another image (was wanting it to essentially be the object or element on transparent background for the new layer) and it kept showing the background outside of the selection that was copied then pasted.  Not sure what I was doing wrong because almost positive I successfully performed that operation on an earlier Affinity project.  Chose to jump onto PSP, copy the object, paste as new image and save as png.  After that when brought into Affinity, the transparent part was intact.

Edited January 24 by Daniel Hess

[Daniel Hess]

@Cassel Another great workshop.  I had only opened Affinity a couple of times before we started and hadn't been impressed, but once you got me past setting up the workspace and explained a few things, it all started coming together.  Thanks.

[Ann Seeber]

Here is my Project 4 - "Life in Another Light" - I got stuck down the rabbit hole of UVL and had a good time! The title font is Things We Saw, and the text font is Agency. The bees are from Dede Smith and the butterfly is from Cass. 

Edited January 24 by Ann Seeber

[Euka]

This bootcamp has been very interesting and informative and awesome layouts have been produced.  Thank you Carole for taking on Affinity Photo, I am sure we will eventually find it becomes easier.    Thank you also to those Affinity users here for your advice and problem solving skills and thanks to those sharing their  discoveries and solutions!  (I have almost filled a notebook with my notes)  

Text is Broadway and Black.  The light square is from Alluring Amethyst and the green a concrete texture recoloured in PSP . Frame  from Alice in Wonderland,  clock faces from the stash pile and background paper Blissful butterflies.  Nano is a gorgeous feline and is devoted to my nephew (and vice versa!!).  I have enjoyed making this journey with her.

 

[Jenny MacKay]

I had to try the pinking edges again from Project #4 . This time I got it to work. What was I doing wrong before? Maybe I was holding down the ctrl key and not the shift!?!? Whatever, it worked this time. Once again choosing colours was the hard part, but I'm learning the techniques first. 

 

 

Edited January 24 by Jenny MacKay
Incorrect image

[Saara]

  On 1/24/2025 at 1:00 PM, Euka said:

This bootcamp has been very interesting and informative and awesome layouts have been produced.  Thank you Carole for taking on Affinity Photo, I am sure we will eventually find it becomes easier.    Thank you also to those Affinity users here for your advice and problem solving skills and thanks to those sharing their  discoveries and solutions!  (I have almost filled a notebook with my notes)  

Text is Broadway and Black.  The light square is from Alluring Amethyst and the green a concrete texture recoloured in PSP . Frame  from Alice in Wonderland,  clock faces from the stash pile and background paper Blissful butterflies.  Nano is a gorgeous feline and is devoted to my nephew (and vice versa!!).  I have enjoyed making this journey with her.

 

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Euka, are you aware that you can use the recolour adjustment layer in Affinity Photo to recolour elements in your designs?  Adjustment layers in Affinity Photo are non-destructive too, so if change your mind about the colour you can go back into that layer adjustment and pick a different colour or delete the adjustment completely.

[Rene Marker]

  On 1/23/2025 at 8:46 AM, Daniel Hess said:

For more info, the brush I tried to bring in was originally an ABR that was imported into PSP.  I used PSP and did a "stamp" impression of it on a white background, then used selection techniques to copy the image and paste as new layer with transparent background.  Saved it as a PNG and that was the image I was trying to use as a "brush" in Affinity.  The image file was 2206 x 2193 which was the default size after it was imported into PSP.  I'm thinking I need to pare that down to 500 or less before trying to use it as a brush file.  I decided to do the pinking shears effect instead of what I was trying to do so that I could move on with the project.

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If you still have the ABR file, you can add the brushes to Affinity. Just drag the file to the workspace. It adds them to the Brushes panel in a new category.

[Rene Marker]

  On 1/23/2025 at 8:53 AM, Daniel Hess said:

Also note for everyone talking about "group" option and/or "linking layers", in this program its as simple as selecting (holding the control key down) two or more layers, then selecting whatever tool you want to use ... for example, the MOVE tool.  In this last exercise, select the photo AND it's pixel layer, then move tool and can move the photo with border intact to wherever you want it.  You can associate each photo with it's pixel layer by selecting both then right clicking and grouping them.  It looks different in layers panel than PSP and you might want to make sure "rename" the new grouped layer.

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I'm reading this thread again looking for tips. So I thank you for mentioning this. I'm a big fan of grouping layers so that is my default especially since you cannot use the pick tool to resize multiple layers at the same time in PSP. I will group adjacent layers to resize titles made from alphas quite often or resize photos so they are all the same size. I just tried "linking" aka selecting several layers not adjacent to each other in a template then using the "move" tool to move them. Then I tried resizing them and it worked! Since I do like using groups, I just tried making a group of several layers that are not adjacent to each other and it worked. However, if you ungroup the items, they are located in a different order in the layers panel. When I do clusters, I will have some items under a paper with others above it. I can't group all those items in order to move them at the same time but I can with linking in PSP. So it appears that if I want to move or resize clusters when working in Affinity, I can just select those layers and use the move tool just like "linking" layers in PSP.

It is nice to know I can still do the same things in Affinity but just a little differently. Gonna take some time activating the brain cells to remember these things 🙂

[Rene Marker]

@Cassel You mentioned that both the Selection Brush Tool and the Flood Select Tool have the same shortcut of "W". Just playing around today, I pressed the "W" key and it did go to the Selection Brush Tool. Then I pressed the "W" key again and it moved to the Flood Select Tool.

I just tried something else. I customized the Tools to have the Flood Select Tool above the Selection Brush Tool. Now when I press "W" it goes to the Flood Select Tool first. A second pressing of the "W" then goes to Selection Brush Tool.

So apparently the order in which the items are on the tool panel from top to bottom matters. 2 tools with the same shortcut will default to the tool the highest up on the panel.

Something else I just discovered. For example, the Erase Brush ("E") has the triangle showing 2 more tools. When you press the "E", the Erase Brush activates. Press "E" again and the Background Erase Brush is activated. A third press of the "E" will take you to the Flood Erase Tool.

Same thing happens with "P" for Pen. Press "P" again and it activates the Node tool. You can toggle between Artistic Text and Frame Text the same way with the "T".