Sue Thomas

Overall I am impressed with Affinity. Perhaps down the road, they may make the bold and italic tool available to be used with every font.

It's early days. There is so much to learn, taking one step at a time. I love creating word art etc, and I have my favourite fonts, some of which are not part of a family.

Yes, I am able to change the fonts of words from within a sentence, which is on its own layer. What I am not able to do, with many of the fonts I use regularly, which are not part of a family, change those fonts to italic, shoud I want too, or bold for that matter, unlike in PSP.

For those fonts which are not part of a family, you still can not italic or bold them. Which limits the use of so many fonts. Which I have found frustrating. I did work out that I couldn't change the font of a few words within a sentence. Without creating them on a new layer, then arranging them, to make sense. That is the only drawback, I have encountered in Affinity.

Day 7. I had to do the text in PSP, as I failed to achieve what I wanted to do in Affinity. I highlighted the words 'are the kid sisters', only to find that the bold and italic icons weren't highlighted. I tried to do the same with Arial and other fonts like Times Roman, and I was able to change them to italic. I did try other fonts which aren't microsoft fonts, and the same thing happened. Anyone else experienced this?

I greatly appreciate your kind words. I pride myself on my insect macro photography. It's a passion of mine. These mining bees are around 6-7mm in size. Unfortunately, the details are degraded due to compression.

Yes, they are a member of the corvidae family. They are all also known for their mimicry abilities. We do, I talk to all creatures. It is inaccurate to say bird brain as an insult to someone. As birds posses incredible abilities, and intelligence.

The Grey Catbird is a member of the mimidae family. They are vocal mimic songbirds. Like the Brown Thrasher they are mimic birds. They are called catbirds due to their distinctive meow call that they make during breeding season, and over territory . I have them here, along with the brown Thrasher, which I have showcased. I don't get mockingbirds though.

It's not a background I would use often. I created the background, then chose a photo which I thought best suited it. I have never done that before. 😆

Making an observation, I would say that the Starling showcased is an adult which is about to enter breeding season. As the beaks are dark brown, transitioning to yellow as the breeding season approaches. Also the white dots will change as they enter breeding season. (white dots siginfies out of breeding season adults) Adults also have pinkish legs. Adults appear black, until the sun catches their feathers revealing a multitude of irridescent colours. Juveniles are typically brownish grey, they have a plain uniform brown plumage, including their heads. They are an invasive species in North America. I believe there are over 200 million of them in North America. The species native to Europe and the UK is the only species of Starling.

Day 6. The Affinity tutorial rendered a really nice background paper, not a lot unlike the linolium pattern in PSP. I did both, the plain background is the PSP version. I can not believe that the linolium pattern was the very first background paper I created almost 10yrs ago. Always a joy to scroll through all the creativity, wonderful inspiration. Well done ladies and gentlemen!

Carole, I do believe you are right. I should have added a frame, or some other small detail to the layout. I did add a small blur to the mask to fade out the outer edges a touch, which is the same as what I often do in PSP. I am focusing on learning how to master the use masks and its tools, which is what this workshop is all about, along with with what else I have learnt in previous Affinity workshops. I will have lots of time for revsion during the long prairie winter, when I showcase this summer's photos.

Absolutely, I too like to challenge myself. I must admit. I'm enjoying learning about masks in Affinity. I'm impressed how user friendly it is.

Day 5. It is rare for me to say that I am not overly happy with the result. I realize that I am after all a newbie to Affinity, and in time I will get the hang of this programme. Practise is what I need, but I am afraid not during the summer months.

Day 4. I had previously added watercolours, which I have used here. I did find it a bit of a challenge, as I couldn't rotate, although I did change the settings to random. I felt that I have more control when it comes to editing masks in PSP, perhaps it is because I am so familiar with them. I need to play with Affinity more, as there are settings I need to locate. For me Winter is the best time to really get to grips with this programme.

It's a cool tool, turning the dial, then back again to select the one you like.

There are far to many unique masterpieces for me to comment on each one. I will congratulate you here by saying that they are a feast for the eyes, and inspirational for the creative mind.

Aren't they industrious gorgeous little creatures. Tri coloured bumble bees.

Day 3. Used Affinity. I purposely sized down the background paper, even though I lost a lot of details in doing so, I was pleased with the end result. I also flood filled another layer, with a darker beige, lowering the opacity on the patterned layer to achieve the colour I was looking for.

The North American Robin is also a migratory bird, they nest in Canada, returning south to much warmer climes for the winter . Although there are some that decide to winter in Canada, feasting on native berries, just like those that decide to stay year round in the states. I do have my uses you know!!! lol

You have made my day, I like to think that I have influenced others, not only in the campus, but on other sites where I showcase my layouts. The majority of all creatures large and small fear humans, we are the most dangers of all creatures. I firmly believe that insects, really are worthy of a second look. After all, they have been around far longer than us humans have.

The one on the far left, was in a state of torpor, that is how it spent the night. The middle and the right is the same bee, waking up after a night of torpor, in the position I shot it, which is on the right hand side. They are lethargic until the sun warms them up enough to enable to fly, and start their day.

Day 2 Using only Affinity to create the page. Although I created the plaid, I'm certainly not a fan of plaids, or busy background papers, never the less I incorporated the paid into the layout. The background was created using one of last winter's frozen lake shots as an overlay. Again I used a macro shot of a stunning dragonfly. Many of you will know that I have a passion for finding, observing, documenting and then showcasing insects of every shape, size and species. Each and everyone, in my mind are exquisitely beautiful, which lead complex lives. Due to compression the images are no where near as sharp as they should be.

Julie,that is because the North American robin is a member of the Thrush family, whilst the European robin is a member of the flycatcher family. The early pioneers called them Robins, as they resembled the European robin, but they aren't at all related.

Is it a texture that you used, or it is embossed? Only curious to know.