Rene Marker

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 🙂

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.

Angela Toucan at The LilyPad has tutorials in their forum. She also has a YouTube channel. She actually uses Designer to scrap, not Photo but a lot of the commands are the same. Some steps might be different though.

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.

I then added this flower to my canvas and used the same drop shadow on it. The size of this flower is 692x656 pixels. Note the Radius and Offset settings on this shadow. Affinity automatically adjusts for the pixel size difference. I also tested this by creating a shadow for a journal card and saving it as a style. I then used the style on a photo. It again adjusted the settings due to the pixel difference. I really like this!

How to use the Style Shadows that you have created. Simple! Once you have added your layer, click on the style name. The shadow is instantly added to your layer. There is also a quirk in the way the shadow styles are applied. This post and the next one will show what happens when you use a style saved from one element and used on a different one. I used this flower element to create the first Drop Shadow in my list. The size of the flower is 965x978 pixels.

For this example I'm going to show you that you can save your drop shadow settings to be used again. In PSP, we save them as presets. In Affinity, they are called Styles. There is a Style panel that you can have as one of your Panels on the right side of your workspace. I have mine with the Color and Swatches I have at the top of the column. You can make categories for your Styles. Affinity comes with Default styles. On the top right of the Styles panel, there is a drop down menu with multiple menu items. The very first one is "Add Styles Category". I chose this option and named it "Shadows". Under the Search bar is a selection menu for these categories. Now how to add the shadow style... Create your drop shadow on a layer. Go to the Drop Down Menu at the top of the Styles Panel. Select the option "Add Style From Selection". You will be given an opportunity name the style. When you have named it and saved it, it will show up in your Styles Menu. My naming format is much like my PSP preset format. I put the settings in the name. M = Multiply 70 = Opacity 20 = Radius 25 = Offset (Note these are exaggerated shadows. If you right click on the style, you can rename it or even delete it.)

Here is some information I have learned about drop shadows in Affinity Photo from watching various YouTube videos and just playing around in the program. @Corrie Kinkel asked how to do a reverse shadow. I used a flower with a Radius of 13.9 px, Offset of 17.3 px and an Angle of 135. My settings are exaggerated to show the shadow.

Linda, with the borders being right next to the photo in the layout, you can group the 2 layers. Then you can resize all you want. I did that on mine and was actually able to add a drop shadow to the group. It only put the shadow on the border. Try it sometime. I open blank documents and just start playing without the intent of making a layout. Doesn't matter if I screw up since I'll just trash it when I'm done.

It seems like we don't get the big snowfalls that we used to get. I remember winters where we had snow on the ground from December to March but any more, we are lucky to have even minimal snow on the ground for 1 month. This month we've had snow several times but no more than 2 inches. There would be spots where the grass would be showing then get another inch or 2 to cover it. We're on the 3rd or 4th time of snow with grass showing. As for the cold, I don't remember having as many bitter cold days as we've had in the last few years. I do remember one back in the late 1980's. The Cincinnati Bengals were hosting a playoff game and the temps with windchill was in the -50's F. I believe it got the nickname of "The Freezer Bowl". I also don't remember hearing much about the Polar Vortex all those years ago. Just shows how weather forecasting has progressed with what they have learned over the years. I think the winter temps overall are a little warmer than they were years ago but the bitter cold temps seem to be happening more often than before.

Did you group the 2 layers? If you didn't, try that.

I made this layout the other day using PSP but waited to post until the swearing in ceremony had actually happened. And, it happened this afternoon. I used a retired template from Scrapping With Liz and a kit from a retired designer. The fonts are Baker Signet and Aristocrat (title).

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.

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.

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.

I've actually been thinking about doing more than 1 for some letters since I have several things I'd like to highlight. I figure if I'm going to make layouts at the end with several letters to a layout, why not just have some layouts with several items for the same letter. A lot of the items I have on my list are heirloom items that it would be nice to document but not necessarily as a whole layout for that item.

Thanks. I didn't see those typos. My new glasses need to come in ASAP!!! I made the corrections on my copy.

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.

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.

I actually ran across that accidentally. I was trying to move a layer and it ended up clipping which actually was OK. I was using a template and have always selected a paper element then put a kit paper in the layers file and delete the outside to get my paper element. (Old habits die hard... been doing this since I started 17 years ago!). So I was trying to figure that out in AP. I was just moving the kit paper to where I wanted it and it got clipped.

I found a tool that works a lot like the Magic Wand. Pays to watch youtube videos. It is called the Flood Select Tool. Keyboard Shortcut = W. Its icon is just above the rectangular selection tool on the tools sidebar. The icon is hard to see but it does look like a wand, only it is blue instead of yellow like PSP's magic wand. It enables you to select pixels of a similar color. It has 4 modes (new, add, subtract, and intersect), tolerance and contiguous just like the magic wand tool in PSP. I played with it using a template and it works just like the magic wand tool in that I can select for example, the outside of a rectangular paper layer. Then if I add a paper from a kit, I can just hit delete on the kit paper and I'm left with the portion that matches the rectangular selection. I'm much happier now!

Yes, I got to see the lobby. Visitors were not allowed in the actual working areas of the building. I have some photos, probably should do a layout. Maybe I'll use those in boot camp.

I found that right away. Did some research to see if the PSP palettes could be brought over in some way. Of course, that is a no. Google AI said that PS files for color palettes could be imported but when I tried it, I got an error message. I did find a video that showed the process of making new swatches which seems to be labor intensive. I quit researching and will explore it again later.

The company was located right here in Ohio. All the baskets are hand woven. They were very popular in the 80's/90's/early 2000's but after the man who started the company passed away, it didn't fare as well. His 2 daughters tried to keep it going but they really didn't have the vision that their Dad had. Heck, he even had the office building built in the 90's in the shape of the most popular basket they sold. Just google "Longaberger Basket Building". I was there several times when I went on day trips to the Longaberger Homestead (sadly no more) that had a great shopping area and the factory where the baskets were made. You could watch the weavers working on baskets. And, they had an area where you could make your own basket. I had friends do that but I didn't.

I still have my slide rule from high school. Not sure I could use it now but I could back then.