With the Vector Persona enabled, Choose one of the shape tools, e.g., Rectangle Tool

2. Drag on the page to create the shape. If needed, constrain the shape's proportions to a square by pressing a secondary finger (or thumb) on the screen as you drag. The same applies for ellipse and circle shapes.

3. Modify options as required, either by changing the values on the context toolbar or by dragging the red handle(s) (if available).

When you pass your finger over a handle, a straight red guideline will appear to suggest the direction of drag needed to modify your shape.

T o r e s e t a s h a p e h a n d l e t o i t s i n i t i a l p o s i t i o n :

• Double-tap the red handle that has been previously moved. Any other repositioned handles on the shape will not be affected.

T o e d i t a n e x i s t i n g s h a p e :

1. Select the shape, either by tapping the shape or by double-tapping the layer entry in the Layers Studio.

2. Edit the shape as required by either by directly dragging the red handle(s), or by changing the values on the context toolbar.

T o c o n v e r t a s h a p e t o c u r v e s :

• Select the shape using its associated shape tool.

• Tap To Curves on the context toolbar.

The shape is now made from curves. Segments and nodes can be modified with the Node Tool.

Modifiers

As you create shapes, the following modifiers can be used while the shape is being drawn:

•Hold down a secondary finger (or thumb) to constrain the shape's proportions at the time of creation.

SEE ALSO:

About geometric shapes

C O R N E R I N G S H A P E S

Cornering lets you selectively round sharp corners on shapes.

Ideal for rounding corners on geometric shapes or on closed shapes drawn with the Pen tool, the tool let you selectively apply cornering as and when you need it. A pre- requisite is that the corner must be a sharp corner, so geometric shapes such as polygons, stars, and

triangles are great candidates for corner rounding.

Using an on-screen red "shaping" ring you can control the size of the corner by dragging; the corner will shape itself around the ring‘s circumference for precise and perfect results. You‘ll see the ring only as you drag from a sharp corner node.

T o c r e a t e a r o u n d e d c o r n e r : 1. From the toolset, select the Corner Tool.

2. (Optional) Adjust the context toolbar settings.

3. Select and drag the sharp corner node to be rounded and drag inwards or outwards. A ring is shown around which the corner will be automatically rounded. The more you drag, increasing the radius, the more pronounced the corner.

You can apply rounded corners simultaneously to multiple nodes that have been selected previously.

Applying a rounded corner to a shape created with any of Affinity‘s Shape tools will convert that shape to curves. From that point, you won't be able to make use of the Shape tool's inherent ‘morphing‘ behaviour,

T o e d i t a r o u n d e d c o r n e r : 1. Select the shape.

2. Tap on the sharp corner node. (Although the corner is already rounded, the original shape's outline is retained.)

3. Drag the centre of the ring to resize the corner as needed.

SEE ALSO:

Corner Tool

E X P A N D S T R O K E

The Expand Stroke operation allows you to convert any pencil, pen or brush stroke to curves. You can also separate an object's stroke outline from its interior fill.

Before After

The expand stroke feature has a range of uses. It can be used to:

• Modify the shape of strokes by adjusting its curves and nodes.

• Separate a shape into its two components: its stroke and fill (without stroke outline)

• Flatten strokes prior to SVG export in web development.

Once a stroke has been been subjected to expand stroke, it loses its edit-ability using the original tool.

T o e x p a n d a s t r o k e :

• From the Edit Menu, select Expand Stroke.

Segments and nodes can be modified by using the Node Tools. A shape's stroke can be separated from its fill by dragging.

SEE ALSO:

Vector Brush Tool Edit lines and shapes

Converting objects to curves

C O L O U R

A B O U T C O L O U R

Affinity Designer can use different colour models to represent different ways of describing colour. A model (RGB, CMYK, LAB, or Grey) can be selected as you create your new

document.

Colour definitions are described comprehensively on the internet, so in this chapter we'll just focus on how to set a colour model, the model's colour space, and how a colour profile represents that colour space.

In terms of selecting colour as you design, Affinity Designer offers the Colour Studio, which shows the HSL colour wheel by default but offers RGB, CMYK, HSL or LAB sliders instead.

Within the Studio, a Swatches section offers easy access to preset swatches for single-tap application.

If you're happy to leave colour management until output is required, you can create new documents with the suggested default colour format RGB/8 with sRGB |EC61966—2.1 colour profile. However, for professional printing it's recommended to ensure a CMYK colour profile is adopted on document creation.

SEE ALSO:

C O L O U R M O D E L S

A screen uses varying amounts of light to create the colours that you see. In the physical world, inks are used to create the colour on the page. Colour is stored by turning colours into numbers. A colour model is used to describe the numerical system used.

As not all devices have the same ability to display colour, a colour space is used to define the gamut (available range) of colour, By working within a colour space suitable for the intended output device, you can be confident that your colours will be able to be displayed as

intended.

In Affinity Designer, you can use an RGB workflow as default or take advantage of an end-to-end CMYK or Lab colour-managed workflow as you create a new document instead,

A b o u t c o l o u r m o d e l s

Different colour mode|s represent colour as numbers in different ways, When working in Affinity Designer, you can choose one of four colour models.

R G B m o d e l :

The RGB model is an additive colour model. The primary colours of light, Red, Green and Blue, are combined in various degrees to make other colours in the attached spectrum.

C M Y K m o d e l :

The CMYK model is a subtractive model, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow are combined to make each colour. A fourth ink, Black, is also used for extra control and can be used either on its own for a true black, or combined with the other inks for a rich black.

A representation of the CMYK colour model When the three colours are combined they make black. Black is also added as a separate colour for extra tonal control.

The way that the colour model is implemented is defined by the colour space that is chosen; this is possible by selecting a colour profile.

L a b :

Lab colour represents the theoretical range of human vision using three channels: Lightness (L), and two colour channels of opposing values of ‘red - green' (a) and ‘yellow - blue‘ (b). It can be very useful when used creatively, especially as Lightness can be adjusted without any change to hue or saturation.

A representation of the Lab colour opposition model. Lightness (L) is controlled separately to the two colour channels (a, b).

T o s e l e c t a n e w d o c u m e n t ‘ s c o l o u r s p a c e :

• As you create a new document, select a colour space and profile from the Colour section.

The colour space is a combination of the colour model and a bit depth setting (8 or 16). For example, RGB/16 means RGB colour model with a bit depth of 16 bit.

T o c h a n g e y o u r d o c u m e n t ' s c o l o u r s p a c e a t a n y t i m e : From the Document Menu, tap Convert Document and choose an alternative Colour space from the context toolbar.

SEE ALSO:

About colour spaces Colour management

C O L O U R S P A C E S

Your colour space dictates the range of colours that are available to your screen or other output device.

A b o u t c o l o u r s p a c e s

Each output device, for example, your display or printer, is only capable of producing a certain range of colours. A colour space is a specific implementation of the colour model used to define the colour gamut (i.e., the range of available colour). For example, Adobe RGB, sRGB, Apple RGB, and so on, are all unique colour spaces for the RGB colour model.

Different colour spaces are also available for CMYK and LAB colour models.

In order for a device to know which colour space to use, it looks at the assigned colour profile. You can choose your colour space by assigning a colour profile to your document.

W h i c h c o l o u r s p a c e s h o u l d I u s e ?

Which colour space you choose depends on what you're doing and the colour model you're choosing to operate in.

If you're unsure of what colour space to operate, it's advisable to stick with the default sRGB lEC61966-2.1 profile if using the RGB colour model.

If you need to use a colour space that is not available in Affinity Designer, it will have to be installed on your system. Devices can install colour profiles for you.

Consult your system's colour management documentation for instructions.

SEE ALSO:

C O L O U R M A N A G E M E N T

The colour and tonal information in a digital document is stored as numbers. When we share these documents between devices, the device has to work out how to display the colour. As not all devices can display the same colour gamut it can lead to colours looking different on each device.

Images without colour profiles (or with unsupported Colour profiles) may not look the same across each device.

To ensure that the colour looks the same on each device, we use colour profiles to tell the device how to display or render the colour information.

In Affinity Designer, an opened file's colour profile is honoured by default. You have the option to convert it to the current working colour space. When placing images into an existing document, the image‘s embedded colour profile will always be converted to the document‘s current working space.

On export, you can choose to embed the document's or a named colour profile to ensure accurate colour management. Alternatively, the exported file can be unprofiled by not embedding the document or named profile.

A S S I G N I N G C O L O U R P R O F I L E S

Affinity Designer lets you choose global default colour profiles, assign a colour profile as you create a document, or at any point during your session.

Most commercial printers can accept sRGB as they'll be able to do their own

profiling at the print stage to get the best results for your work. However, it's best to consult your print partner for an appropriate CMYK colour profile and ensure that your colour space is set to CMYK/8

T o s e l e c t d e f a u l t g l o b a l c o l o u r p r o f i l e s : 1. From the Home screen, select Preferences.

2. Select the Colour tab, then select an RGB, R6832 (HDR), Greyscale, CMYK, or LAB colour profile from the pop-up menus.