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How to Create Vector Illustrations in Affinity Designer
Edited 3 days ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team
Affinity DesignerIllustrationVectorBeginnerTipsDesignGraphic DesignMacSoftwareTechniques
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Creating vector illustrations is an essential skill for any graphic designer, and Affinity Designer provides a robust set of tools to accomplish this task. In this detailed guide, we will introduce you to the process of creating vector illustrations using Affinity Designer. This guide is intended for beginners and intermediate users who want to enhance their skills in vector graphics.
Getting started with Affinity Designer
Affinity Designer is a powerful vector graphic design application, suitable for creating illustrations, icons, branding, and other design elements. To get started, you need to download and install Affinity Designer on your computer.
Once you have Affinity Designer installed, open the application and create a new document. You can do this by clicking File > New. You will see a dialog box where you can choose the properties of your document, such as size, resolution, and color mode. Choose the settings that best suit your project. For a general vector illustration, setting the color mode to RGB and the resolution to 300 dpi is a good start.
Understanding the interface
Affinity Designer's interface is user-friendly and consists of various panels, toolbars, and a canvas area where you'll create your drawings. Familiarize yourself with the following important components:
- Toolbar: Located at the top of the interface, it contains essential tools such as the Pen Tool, Move Tool, and Shape Tool.
- Tools Panel: This panel is located on the left side, it contains drawing tools like pencil, brush, eraser, etc.
- Layers panel: Found on the right, this allows you to manage various elements of your illustration, such as layers, groups, and effects.
- Colour panel: Also on the right, it enables you to choose a colour, apply a gradient, or use swatches.
Basic tools for vector illustration
Here, we will introduce you to some essential tools that you will use often when creating vector illustrations:
Move Tool
This tool allows you to select objects on your canvas and move them. Simply select the Move Tool from the Tools panel or press V on your keyboard to activate it.
Pen tool
The Pen tool is essential for creating custom shapes. Select it from the toolbar or press P. Click on the canvas to create a starting point, then click again to create a straight line. For curves, click and drag to create a Bezier curve.
Shape tool
The Shape tool lets you create basic geometric shapes such as rectangles, circles, and polygons. Select the Shape tool from the toolbar or press M. Click and drag to create the shape on your canvas. You can modify its properties such as fill color, stroke color, and thickness from the top context toolbar.
Node Tool
The Node Tool allows you to edit the nodes and curves of shapes created with the Pen Tool or Shape Tool. To activate it, select the Node Tool from the Tools panel or press A. Once selected, you can click on the path to manipulate the nodes and achieve the desired shape.
Creating your first vector illustration
Let's start by creating a simple vector illustration of a tree. This project will introduce you to various Affinity Designer tools and techniques.
Step 1: Make the tree trunk
1. Select the Rectangle Tool from the toolbar or press M.
2. Draw a rectangle on your canvas to represent the tree trunk. You can adjust the size by dragging its corners.
3. Use the Fill color palette in the Color panel to choose a brown color for the trunk.
Step 2: Make the leaves
1. Select the Ellipse Tool from the toolbar or press U.
2. Draw several ellipses on the trunk to create the leaves of the tree. Adjust the size to add variety.
3. Use the Fill color palette to apply green to the leaves. For a more natural look, use different shades of green.
Step 3: Add texture with the pencil tool
1. Select the Pencil tool from the Tools panel or press N.
2. Use it to draw lines showing the texture of the tree's bark.
3. Adjust the stroke thickness in the context toolbar for different looks. You can also change the stroke color to dark gray.
Step 4: Adjusting and refining the illustration
1. Use the Node tool to adjust the curves and angles of your shapes if necessary.
2. Group the foliage layers. Select all the foliage elements and press Ctrl + G (Windows) or Cmd + G (Mac) to group them.
3. Duplicate the foliage group to add more layers. Press Ctrl + J (Windows) or Cmd + J (Mac).
Working with colors and gradients
Color plays an important role in vector illustration. Here's how you can use colors and gradients in Affinity Designer to add depth and vibrancy to your designs:
Applying solid colors
To apply a solid color to any shape or line:
1. Select the object using the Move tool.
2. Go to the Color panel and click on the color box to open the color picker.
3. Select a color or enter the specific hex code to apply the color you want.
Creating and applying a gradient
Gradients add depth and dimension to vector illustrations. Here's how you can create and apply a gradient:
1. Select the object you want to apply the gradient to.
2. In the Color panel, click the Gradient type selector and choose between a linear, radial, or elliptical gradient.
3. Use the Gradient tool from the toolbar or press G to adjust the direction, color, and opacity stop of the gradient directly on the object.
Organizing your design with layers
Proper layer management is important in any design project. Layers allow you to work on different components of your illustration independently, without affecting others:
1. Open the Layers panel to see all your layers.
2. To create a new layer, click the Add Layer button at the bottom of the Layers panel or press Shift + Cmd/Ctrl + N.
3. Drag and drop layers to reorder them and affect their overlapping on the canvas.
4. Use layer locking and visibility toggles to focus on specific areas without interference.
Exporting your vector illustration
Once your illustration is complete, you'll want to export it for use in a variety of formats:
1. Go to File > Export.
2. Choose your required format. For vector-based work, SVG and PDF are commonly used. For raster images, you can choose PNG or JPEG.
3. Configure additional export settings such as resolution, compression, and color space to suit your needs.
Conclusion
In this guide, you've learned the basics of creating vector illustrations with Affinity Designer. You started with setting up your workspace, then began using the essential tools, and finally, you explored more advanced techniques like color application and layer management. With practice and creativity, you can develop complex illustrations using these fundamental skills.
Keep exploring Affinity Designer's features to discover more advanced tools and techniques, such as vector effects, masks, and advanced blend modes. With continued practice, you will greatly improve your proficiency in creating stunning vector illustrations.
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