Template Workshop 2025

[Ann Seeber]

5 hours ago, Cassel said:

@Ann SeeberOn your Royal Burgundy layout, is it a coincidence that there is an "apparent" dark line across the two white flowers, almost perfectly aligned?

The elements were each separately filled with the silver gradient, but that dark area appears always appears unless I change the angle.

[Carolyn Rye]

Day 5 using Affinity Photo 2.6 Just a bit more Artwork found at Cummins South Australia.

[bina greene]

9 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

I was able to read this and WOW! the crocs are scary sounding.  I had no idea there was ocean crocs. I had to read it all because I wondered why there was also a crocodile on the layout.  The shark I understood.  Do the sharks even stay away from the crocs?

Thank you, Susan. Sharks and salties find enough food in QLD to avoid conflicts it seems, both prefer prey over conflict. Local fishers and Indigenous communities in North Queensland report rare sightings of shark-crocodile interactions, often describing them as brief or avoidant. For instance, a 2017 video from Queensland showed a crocodile and shark circling each other over a carcass, with neither escalating to a fight.  Research is limited, but studies on bull sharks and crocodiles in similar ecosystems (e.g., Northern Territory) suggest spatial partitioning, where sharks dominate deeper waters and crocodiles control shallows. 💞

[Sue Thomas]

And here is my day 7.  I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Affinity.  The learning has only just begun. I am looking forward to learning so much more.  Thank you ever so much Carole for introducing us to Affinity. What will we ever do without you!  

I used the Cowslip photo as a background paper, created a date stamp. I created an outlined text for the title WILD. which is quick and easy to do. Instead of using labels or tags, I often like to use  brushes. As many will know, I am not a fan of patterned  papers, I find they can be a distractation from the  main focus, being the photo or photos.  Which to me must take presidence.   I have one more week at home in the UK,  before returning to  the prairies.  My little girls and I have sauntered through woods and fields in search of wild flowers, creating memories, which I will undoubtably cherrish and  showcase.   

Edited April 27 by Sue Thomas

[Sharla]

Day 6: Japanese theme continues with images by Hiroshige downloaded from Wikipedia. The papers are from Janet Scott’s Fresh kit.

 

[Cristina]

6 hours ago, Cassel said:

@CristinaCreating the effect for multiple surfaces in Affinity MIGHT involve masking. I'll search for it and when I have something reasonable, I will turn it into a tutorial to match the PSP one. Using Blend modes can often give such interesting results. It ends up like having completely different images/papers.

That would be great, Carole!

[Sue Thomas]

6 hours ago, Cassel said:

Great participation again today. You are all giving me a lot of "work" to do! 😉

@Jean Naumann That fishing layout is stunning: simple yet so meaningful! It might actually be worth printing and framing. I love the little stars that you put in a circle. I would just move the stitching UNDER those stars as it is not a realistic layering with the stitching on top.

@Carolyn Rye It is fun to see art on water towers. It gives it a much more interesting appearance! Did you enlarge a paper for the Anzac layout? It looks like the poppies are very blurred. Or did it happen in the resizing?

@Sharla All the colors match beautifully in your Tea layout.

@CristinaCreating the effect for multiple surfaces in Affinity MIGHT involve masking. I'll search for it and when I have something reasonable, I will turn it into a tutorial to match the PSP one. Using Blend modes can often give such interesting results. It ends up like having completely different images/papers.

@Euka I thought the paper you used under the photo seemed similar to the one used on the flower. I thing you might have stretched it. Is that right? It really looks great for pebbles!

@Bee Kelly The shadows really look large on your layout. What settings did you use?

@Leslie Pugs That Rhino font that you use is quite interesting! I had never seen that one before.

@Sue Thomas I am not at all surprised to see such a colorful title on your layout. That is so you!

@Susan Ewart Maybe I can share SOME comparisons in the Q&A as I find differences. It will take a while to get an exhaustive and fair comparison, but I can start somewhere. I am also watching a LOT of videos on YouTube, but strangely, a lot of what we do in the Campus (as far as creating from scratch) is not covered in those multiple videos, just like for PSP. I guess, what we do is typically NOT covered, even for Photoshop! 

@bina greeneRotating the template gives you such great space for your text! Did you use PSP or AP? I find that wrapped text is more flexible in PSP than AP.

@gwen jewitt Good start with Affinity. I think you might have forgotten to add the shadow effect to the yellow scalloped paper. It is interesting how that black title "Feed me" is so appropriate with the black birds.

@Harmony Birch I have to agree that using templates seems faster in Affinity, especially with the "clipping" ability.

@Ann SeeberOn your Royal Burgundy layout, is it a coincidence that there is an "apparent" dark line across the two white flowers, almost perfectly aligned?

@Donna Sillia I don't often hear of using the Selection to Path script. That is LeviFiction's script, right? It can be used in so many creative ways when you need a path.

@Jeni Simpson You are doing really well with shadows: you know when you add a much larger shadow for much thicker elements.

@Linda Rexford 10 and 11 year old for feral cats? I didn't think they lived that long "in the wild". But I guess if they get good care, that helps.

@Deana Davis As Rene has mentioned, you can save Styles for Drop Shadows. There is an article HERE. For your first project, if you want the bottom element to be very thick (as it is with the bevel and the shadow), you might want to slip the photo underneath it.

Keep them coming. This thread is a real gallery of masterpieces!

Thank you Carole, I suppose I'm predictable, when it comes to my unique style, as many of us are. lol 

[bina greene]

@Cassel Thank you, Carole!. Haha, yes the text is a bit off on several occasions.... There are orphans and widows, I can see those but as you noticed I used Affinity and I might have to go back to loading the file into another app to get a handle on the way the text looks, especially around the circle, lol.💞

[Cristina]

7 hours ago, Cassel said:

@Susan Ewart Maybe I can share SOME comparisons in the Q&A as I find differences. It will take a while to get an exhaustive and fair comparison, but I can start somewhere. I am also watching a LOT of videos on YouTube, but strangely, a lot of what we do in the Campus (as far as creating from scratch) is not covered in those multiple videos, just like for PSP. I guess, what we do is typically NOT covered, even for Photoshop! 

You are right, Carole. I am also watching a lot of videos on YouTube (PSE, Affinity Photo-Designer-Publisher), and I have learned a lot, but none of them cover what you do here.

That's why it's so important for me to participate, especially in the Workshops with Affinity.

[Cristina]

7 hours ago, Cassel said:

@Donna Sillia I don't often hear of using the Selection to Path script. That is LeviFiction's script, right? It can be used in so many creative ways when you need a path.

Carole, I don't remember ever seeing or using that script. Is there a blog post about it? I'll check if I have the script in my Levi's script folder.

 

[Jeni Simpson]

14 minutes ago, Cristina said:

Carole, I don't remember ever seeing or using that script. Is there a blog post about it? I'll check if I have the script in my Levi's script folder.

 

I have the script, although not sure I have ever used it.

[Cristina]

Participating in the Workshops is always something I like very much.

Each and Every One created unique pages that taught me something or inspired me; thank you to all who shared their work. It's much better to participate with everybody than to do it by myself.

Carole, your comments are a plus, as they always highlight areas where we can improve. Thank you!

 

[Leslie Pugs]

I use Font Expert, and I have thousands and thousands of fonts. It's a great program, altho it is one that you have to buy. I'm still using the 2018 version. You can just activate a font temporarily, and you can sort and search the fonts in all different ways. Including the link in case anyone is curious.

https://proximasoftware.com/fontexpert/

[Cristina]

14 minutes ago, Jeni Simpson said:

I have the script, although not sure I have ever used it.

I haven't found it yet.

Maybe this could be a blog post on how to use it.

 

[Jacques]

My day 6: My grandsons: Noah, Ludovyk and Brian

The photos were taken a few hours after their respective births

 

Edited April 27 by Jacques

[Jacques]

My day 7

 

[Sue Thomas]

4 hours ago, Cristina said:

Carole, I don't remember ever seeing or using that script. Is there a blog post about it? I'll check if I have the script in my Levi's script folder.

 

There is a blog post. Type in Selection to path post. And it will pop up. At the time I  debated whether or not to download it, as it needs another soft ware to download in order for it to work. You can either download both or just the script. 

[Lynda DiGregor]

Template Workshop

I used the diamond template and my photos

[Susan Ewart]

13 hours ago, Cassel said:

Maybe I can share SOME comparisons in the Q&A as I find differences. It will take a while to get an exhaustive and fair comparison, but I can start somewhere. I am also watching a LOT of videos on YouTube, but strangely, a lot of what we do in the Campus (as far as creating from scratch) is not covered in those multiple videos, just like for PSP. I guess, what we do is typically NOT covered, even for Photoshop! 

I agree.  People of those programs are really missing out on making unique pieces of art.  Being able to make your own supplies is such a bonus.  Sue T's work is a testament to that.  Making supplies fueled by your own imagiination makes for one-of-a-kind pieces.  And no need to worry about "personal use" issues should you want to sell any pieces.

[Susan Ewart]

1 hour ago, Sue Thomas said:

There is a blog post. Type in Selection to path post. And it will pop up. At the time I  debated whether or not to download it, as it needs another soft ware to download in order for it to work. You can either download both or just the script. 

I too wasnt sure about downloading the other software. it held me back from installing it and the script.  Carole, can you tell me about this other software and why do we need it.  Could a new script be written that does the same thing that doesnt need the other software

[MoniqueN.]

Day 5 Affinity

Tried to make a reverse shadow for the circle and photo's but could'nt find how to. Found it! Outer shadow 🙂 Haven't applied it to my project yet.

 

Edited April 27 by MoniqueN.

[Cassel]

4 minutes ago, Susan Ewart said:

I too wasnt sure about downloading the other software. it held me back from installing it and the script.  Carole, can you tell me about this other software and why do we need it.  Could a new script be written that does the same thing that doesnt need the other software

It is barely another "software". It is way more advanced, and it is something that already exists (open-source, so it is free). I don't know how it could be integrated directly into a script (not even sure if they speak the same language), but I have used this "workaround" in the script for Embroidered Patch. That is the first time I used that process (given to me by LeviFiction). Potrace is very stable and might have other uses. The only use I know (and use) is to convert a selection to a vector path. That is something we had asked Corel multiple times, without success.

[fiona cook]

Lesson 6

A day behind and still have the last day template to look forward to. My wave design background paper is from Marisa Lerin 'the captain paper'. The shells are from Digital Scrapbooking too. My photo groups when merging down did not show the Merge Group as an option but it worked in Merge Down to include the white border mat.

[bina greene]

Lesson 6

Many thanks for the lessons, Carole. They are really great!

 

 

[bina greene]

17 hours ago, Jeni Simpson said:

Wow, Bina, that is great information. I have surfer friends on the Gold Coast, and my housemates in Sydney would venture out on boards into the harbour, but I have never realised there is that line, in Australia, of all places, one doesn't cross on a board. Although I have visited Rockhampton, I'm no surfer, so I didn't notice that line. It didn't occur to me why my friends in Townsville never talked about going surfing. Nor did I know about saltwater crocs! Thank you for opening my eyes!

Thank you, Jeni! Townsville's Ross River is a major croc habitat and I have seen crocs on the beach in Townsville like right across the street from that Catholic Girls School, no kidding. I took a walk in Townsville to look at the Sister Kenny Memorial and afterwards  sat in a beach cafe and saw the crocs from the deck. I was totally shocked, it was like plain day, mid day, it  is not normal behavior for crocs to just take a sunbath at the beach....  like with the napkin already wrapped... lurking at you for starters....  There are sometimes media reports about tourists from Asia or Europe that fall into the Ross and then end up being killed by the crocs.... the river is liked packed with them, I find that a rather scary aspect of Townsville which apart form the croc factor is a most wonderful place!