Isabella Flores
Affinity is a digital photo editing application that gives designers the tools they need to create high-quality artwork, photos, and designs. One common question that Affinity users have is how to paint within a specific shape or object. This can be achieved by creating a mask that is bound to an image, allowing users to paint within that designated area without affecting the rest of the image. In Affinity Designer, users can utilize vector brushes and the Vector Brush Tool to apply freehand brush strokes to shapes and object outlines. Additionally, Affinity users can take advantage of basic shapes, such as the ellipse, rectangle, and square, to create illustrations without the need for the Pen tool. By understanding the various tools and techniques available, Affinity users can effectively paint within specific shapes to achieve their desired results.
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What You'll Learn
Locking a shape/object to paint within it
To paint within a specific shape or object in Affinity Photo, you can utilise the masking feature. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to achieve this:
- Create a Mask: Start by creating a mask that will define the area you want to paint within. You can do this by selecting the shape or object you want to work with.
- Make it a Child Layer: Right-click on the mask layer and choose the option to make it a child layer. This will ensure that your paint stays within the boundaries of the mask.
- Paint Within the Mask: With the child layer selected, start painting within the mask. Your paint will be confined to the selected area, allowing you to paint "within the lines."
- Ctrl+Click for Precision: If you want to be extremely precise, press Ctrl+Click on the mask layer to create a selection. This will ensure that your paint never goes outside the selected area, giving you even more control over your artwork.
- Adjust Mask as Needed: If you need to make adjustments to the mask, you can do so by using the Node tool (A on your keyboard) to select the shape and then fine-tune its nodes.
- Unlocking Layers: It's important to note that Affinity's approach to layer locking is different from other software. Locking a layer in Affinity prevents it from being selected on the canvas, but it doesn't completely lock it from changes. To unlock a layer, simply click on the toggle lock icon next to the viability indicator in the layer panel.
While Affinity's layer locking feature may not be as robust as in other design apps, the masking technique described above provides a reliable way to paint within a specific shape or object. This method gives you the precision and control needed to create high-quality artwork, designs, and photos with ease.
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Using the Node tool to select a shape
The Node Tool is an essential tool for designers, especially when combined with the Pen Tool. It gives you full control over every curve and node, from the simplest to the most complex of designs.
To select a shape using the Node Tool, you must first create a shape. You can create a rectangle shape by using the Rectangle Tool on the left side and drawing out the shape to your desired size. The size and colour are not important, but you can adjust the Fill, Stroke, and Stroke Width in the top left toolbar if you wish.
Next, you need to convert the shape to a curve. You can do this by going to Layer > Convert to Curves or by clicking the Convert to Curves button in the top toolbar. Once your shape has been converted to a curve, you can use the Node Tool. Press 'A' on your keyboard to select the Node Tool. With the Node Tool selected, you can click and drag a handle to change the shape or curve of the line. Place your cursor over a line, and a blue line will appear. Click anywhere on this line, and a new node will be added. You can also delete nodes by clicking on the selected node so it turns blue and then hitting delete on your keypad.
To select multiple nodes, hold Shift and click on the nodes you want to be selected, and they will highlight in blue. You can select multiple nodes that are not directly next to each other. If you want to select only certain nodes in a complex shape, create a "lasso" by holding down the Alt key and moving around the selected nodes to the outside.
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Using the Corner tool to edit a shape
The Corner Tool in Affinity Designer allows you to round sharp corners on shapes and edit multiple areas of shapes and designs. It is located on the left toolbar and can be activated by pressing "C" on your keyboard.
To use the Corner Tool, first select the shape. Then, with the Corner Tool active, click on the sharp corner node you want to edit. You will see a red circle or ring appear around the node, which you can use to control the size of the corner by dragging. The corner will shape itself around the ring's circumference, providing precise and perfect results. Dragging the centre of the ring will resize the corner as needed.
You can also use the Corner Tool to simultaneously apply corners to multiple nodes by selecting the desired nodes beforehand. Additionally, you can select different Corner Types on the context toolbar, such as Corner Concave, and hover over the sharp corner node to edit.
The Corner Tool is a valuable asset in Affinity Designer, allowing designers to quickly edit and modify shapes to their desired specifications.
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Using the Stroke panel to select a texture line style
The Stroke panel in Affinity allows you to set the properties of lines, curves, shape outlines, and vector brush strokes. To select a texture line style, follow these steps:
Firstly, ensure your desired line, curve, or shape is selected. You can do this using the Pen Tool (P) or the Pencil Tool. Once you have your desired element selected, navigate to the Stroke panel. Here, you will be able to set the properties of your selected element.
In the Stroke panel, you will see a Style section. Click on the line style button to change how the line is drawn. You will have four options: 'None', 'Solid Line Style', 'Dash Line Style', and 'Texture Line Style'. Select 'Texture Line Style'.
Now that you have selected the texture line style, you can set your desired width. The width of the stroke can be adjusted by dragging to change the width or by entering specific values.
Next, you will need to select your desired brush texture. Navigate to the Brushes panel to choose the brush you would like to use for your texture. Here, you can also click on Properties to modify the brush settings that will affect your stroke.
By using the Stroke panel in Affinity, you can easily select a texture line style for your lines, curves, or shapes. This gives you the ability to add brush-based textures to your elements, creating unique and interesting designs.
Additionally, you can further customise your designs by utilising the Appearance Panel. Here, you can add multiple strokes, transparencies, gradients, and fills to any vector object. You can also apply multiple colours to your shapes and adjust their order and appearance by clicking and dragging.
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Using the Brushes panel to select a brush
To select a brush in Affinity Designer or Photo, you need to open the Brushes panel. Go to View > Studio > Brushes. Here, you can select from a range of brush presets, including custom brushes you've designed yourself and imported brushes. You can also import and export brushes to share with other users.
The Brushes panel is where you can modify your brushes, with basic modifications made from the context toolbar and more advanced adjustments made from the Brushes panel. You can adjust the size, accumulation, hardness, spacing, flow, and shape of the brush. You can also add or remove brush nozzles and adjust the jitter settings to determine how much a chosen controller affects the brush's behaviour.
To select a brush for a specific task, first select the tool you need from the Tools panel. For example, the Paint Brush Tool or the Vector Brush Tool. Then, go to the Brushes panel and select a brush thumbnail of your choice. The tool uses a soft-round brush by default. You can also select a recent brush from the current session by going to the Layers panel and choosing from the pop-up menu.
If you want to apply a vector brush stroke to a selected shape, you need to first select the Texture Line Style and a Width from the Stroke panel. Then, from the Brushes panel, select your desired brush thumbnail. If needed, you can edit the brush used as your Texture Line Style via the Brush dialog.
You can also adjust the size of your brush by pressing and holding specific keyboard keys and dragging on the page. Pressing certain key combinations will also allow you to ignore the brush size and associated tool when selecting a new raster brush from the Brushes panel.
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Frequently asked questions
To paint inside the lines, you can create a clipping mask. First, make sure you have a child layer. Then, ctrl+click the mask layer so it's a selection and your paint will never go outside of the selection.
You can drag your shape layer into your pixel layer and release it to the right of the pixel layer icon. The shape layer will then mask the pixel layer and you can paint into it.
You can select any basic shape in Affinity Designer or Affinity Photo and place it on your canvas. You will see a little orange dot that allows you to change the original shape. On the upper contextual menu, uncheck "Single radius" to change the values of each corner individually.
