One of the interesting, and sometimes frustrating, things about using a vector editing program like Affinity Designer is that design can sometimes get a bit technical. Sure, you could draw your shapes by hand, or you could use tool like XOR for more precise alterations. But what exactly is XOR and how is it used?

In total, XOR is a Boolean operation that combines multiple objects or compounds into a composite shape. If two shapes are merged together using XOR, the new shape adopts the properties of the lowest object in the selection and any overlapping regions become transparent.

When first getting started in Affinity Designer, it can be a bit challenging to learn all the different Boolean operations, especially if you’re not a math-minded person. Keep reading to find out what XOR is, and how to use it.

What is XOR in Affinity Designer?

When working in Affinity Designer, there are various methods and techniques you could use to create your design. Optimized for the latest technology, you could essentially get has complicated or as simplified as you’d like. This goes for all elements in a design, included creating shapes.  

When you draw a shape in Affinity Designer, it often a fairly simple task. However, there comes a time when many designers feel the need to create more complex shapes. While there are various tool for creating complex shapes, each one has its own purpose and use.

Supposed you would like to create a sort of Ven diagram with two overlapping circles that have a transparent middle. You could slightly overlap one circle over the other and change the transparency, but that would affect the opacity of the entire circle. Instead, a better option is to use XOR.   

Affinity Designer’s XOR essentially joins two forms and deletes the path the overlaps. This allow the areas of the shape that are not overlapping to remain the same.

What are Boolean Operations?

Affinity Designer is a sophisticated vector editing program that lets you design extremely complicated objects by hand. However, you can also easily build a complicated form by mixing simpler shapes. This is done by using Boolean operations.

Boolean operations can be found in almost any graphic design software and are heavily used in computer programing.

In mathematics, Boolean operations are a set of algebraic equations that are expressed with binary operators and indicate truth values. Basically, Boolean is a term that represents “true” and “false” in an equation.

In graphic design, this meaning is very much the same. Boolean operations are used to express how shapes are joined or combined. Essential these are geometry tools that allow you to combine separate objects that overlap with each other.  

Affinity Designer has various Boolean operations for combining forms by creating compound and joining objects. This includes:

• Add
• Intersect
• Subtract
• Divide
• XOR

Boolean operations are extremely useful tools for any product development or visual design endeavor. Affinity Designer’s five Boolean operations allow you to quickly create a complicated-looking form without all the extra hassle. The trick here, is know how and when to use them. 

How Do You Use XOR?

Let’s continue with the example of creating a Ven diagram. Suppose you’ve created your two circles and have arranged them with one overlapping the other. Now what?

To merge the shapes, you will need to apply the XOR function. XOR is found in the Geometry sub-menu of the Layer’s menu at the top of the screen. First, select the two shapes, then select XOR in the toolbar. The effect will instantly be applied to the shapes, merging them together and making the overlapping regions transparent.

Joining Objects vs Creating Compounds: What’s the Difference?

When it comes to using XOR and other Boolean operations, there are two different approaches you could take: joining objects and creating compounds. While both approaches can create a variety of shapes, each one is used for different reasons.

Joining objects in Affinity Designer is a destructive process. This means that you’ll end up with a new object that you can’t return to later and make changes to. This is the default setting when using Boolean operations.

Creating compounds, on the other hand, is a non-destructive process. This means that the object can be broken up or altered at any time without restrictions.  To use this approach, the Alt key must be held down prior to clicking the Boolean operation in the toolbar.

Final Thoughts

You should now have a better understanding of what XOR is and how to use it. XOR is just one of the geometrical tools that Affinity Designer has for making complex shapes. Understanding what the tools do and the different approaches for using them can making designing much easier and make for a more productive workflow.

As a vector editing program, Affinity Designer offers various types of tools and features for altering and resizing elements in a design. After clicking around a bit, you may have noticed the “Expand Stroke” option in the Layer menu. But what is it and how is it used?

In total, Expand Stroke expands the stroke of a line or shape, essentially transforming it from an open path into paths that form a closed shape. This allows users to edit different points of the path individually, like you would a normal shape.

When first getting started in Affinity Designer, it can be a bit challenging to learn all the different tools and features, especially if you’re used to working in a competitor program. Keep reading to find out what Expand Stroke is, and how to use it.

What is Expand Stroke in Affinity Designer?

Affinity Designer is a vector graphics editing program used to create world class logos, icons, concept art, mock-ups, and more. When you draw a line in Affinity Designer, it essentially creates an open path with an adjustable skeletal structure. The boundaries of that line, however, cannot be changed.

Affinity Designer’s Expand Stroke transforms a single stroke into pathways that create a closed shape. The forms are then flattened so that the boundaries may be manipulated, allowing you to modify them separately as you would a conventional shape.

How Do You Use Expand Stroke?

Supposed you want to change the boundaries of a line that you drew. This isn’t going to be possible because it is still an open path. However, by using the Expand Stroke function, you can change the line’s limits into pathways that create a closed shape, allowing you to alter them separately. But how do you do this?

Expand Stroke is found in the Layer menu at the top of the screen. To expand the stroke of a line, simple select the layer, then click Expand Stroke. The effect will instantly be applied to the line, flattening the stroke and turning it into a closed shape.

Expand Stroke Effects in Affinity Designer

Once Expand Stroke is applied, there are various adjustments that can be made that wouldn’t be applied to a simple line.

Some of these features include:

• Separating a shape into two different components: fill and stroke
• Modifying the strokes of a shape
• Flatting a shape for easier scaling
• Keep the stroke width consistent when scaling
• Create a shape outline
• Adding filling and stroke to a single curve

It is important to keep in mind that these features can only be applied to vector-based lines. Expand Stroke will not work on pixel strokes since they are based on pixels and not vector graphics.

How Do You Expand Text in Affinity Designer?

Let’s say you’re working on a logo in Placeit. While this program has great templates for creating customized logos, maybe the font isn’t doing exactly what you’d like it to. Can you change the text to your liking in Affinity Designer?

In short, yes! But you wouldn’t use Expand Stroke to make the changes. Instead, you would use a tool called Convert to Curves. This would allow you to make changes such as adjusting several nodes of the text to change the letters to best fit the design.

Convert to Curves is also found in the Layer menu, so it’s best to understand the differences between the two tools so that you can easily choose the best one to use for your design.

Expand Stroke vs Convert to Curves: What’s the Difference?

While both Expand Stroke and Convert to Curves change objects to allow for better adjustments and customization, there are some major differences between them.

The Expand Stroke function does precisely what its name implies: it expands the stroke of a shape or line, transforming it into the shape itself.

Convert to Curves, on the other hand, is a tool for transforming text-based objects into regular shapes. These objects have specialized features that allow for simple adjustments to be made from the toolbar. However, this can also cause limitations. So, for more precise adjustments, they need to be converted into a normal shape.

Final Thoughts

You should now have a better understanding of what Expand Stroke is and how to use it. Affinity Designer has a plethora of tools and effects that allow users to make precise adjustments to their design.  Understanding what the tools do and how to differentiate between similar tools can make for an easier and more productive time while designing.

Serif’s Affinity Designer is a dynamic graphic design platform that has reimagined the way that users can design and create any type of visual communication. One of its most intriguing features is the use of Personas to bundle certain functions and tools together and perform certain types of tasks from a specially curated mode. In particular, the Pixel Persona is attracting a lot of positive attention.

Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer offers tools and functions that are specially curated toward working with raster-based, or pixelated, images. Having this feature built into Affinity Designer allows for a seamless transition between raster editing and vector editing within the same application.

While Affinity Designer might be better known for its highly affordable one-time payment model (as opposed to purchasing a subscription to use certain software), it is garnering a significant fanbase for its innovative functions. Chief among these is the Pixel Persona suite of raster tools. Keep reading to learn why users of all skill levels are so fond of this feature and why it has the potential to be a game changer.

What Is Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer from software developer Serif is the David to Adobe’s Illustrator, the Goliath of graphic design platforms. For decades, the latter has reigned supreme over the creative software space but the former has been steadily closing the gap thanks to innovative features that reimagine how graphic design programs can be used by people of all skill levels.

One of the most intriguing of these is the use of Personas in Affinity Designer. Basically, each Persona bundles specific tools to perform certain types of tasks. Of the three Personas built into Affinity Designer, it is the Pixel Persona that is turning the most heads and garnering the most positive feedback.

Pixel Persona is an exclusive bundle of tools that enable users to perform a wide variety of tasks exclusively within the realm of raster, or pixel-based, graphics. This unique capability built into the vector-based mainframe of Affinity Designer gives users the best of both design worlds.

To put it simply, with a simple point and click with the mouse, Affinity Designer can be transformed from a vector-based program to a raster-based editing platform. Pixel Persona is like having another graphic design program within a program, eliminating the need to switch over to a separate app just to work on raster-based elements or layers.

A Quick Primer on Raster vs Vector Images

To fully appreciate the value of Affinity Designer’s built-in Pixel Persona, it is helpful to understand the differences between raster-based images and vector-based images, the two standard formats in the graphic design universe.

• Vector images are created through the use of mathematical equations and geometric shapes (e.g., lines, curves, and fixed points) and can therefore be infinitely scaled without any loss of resolution. For this reason, vector files are said to be resolution-independent but they lack the fine detail and nuances of raster files.
• Raster images are composed of pixels, tiny colored blocks that, depending on their number in a particular file, can create incredibly rich and detailed images, like a photograph or an intricate drawing. While raster images typically correspond to higher-quality visual content, they have limitations as to scale and will appear pixelated if enlarged beyond their original resolution.

Having both capabilities within the same platform and being able to switch effortlessly between the two is a graphic designer’s dream. And Affinity Designer makes it possible with its Pixel Persona.

The Benefits of Using Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer

Generally speaking, the main benefit of using Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer is being able to seamlessly switch between vector-based editing functions and raster-based touch-up features with the click of a mouse button. From a workflow standpoint, this ability amounts to game-changing efficiency.

Switching Affinity Designer into Pixel Persona means that a bevy of raster-based editing tools is instantly placed at the user’s digital fingertips and the fineness of detail, vibrancy of colors, and nuances of shading that are not possible with vector graphics, are now made possible. Here is a sampling of the raster editing tools that can be found in Pixel Persona:

• Pixel tool for intricate brush and detail work
• Effortless darkening and lightening through the use of the Pixel Persona’s built-in burn brush and dodge brush tools
• Various paint brushes with a wide range of brush sizes for painting various visual effects onto an image
• Multiple selection tools including freehand selection (click and drag) and brush selection (painting over the desired area)
• Coloring areas of an image is an effortless task with the Pixel Persona’s flood fill tool
• Create unique visual effects using digitally rendered smudges with charcoal, graphite, or chalk
• The blurring tool can be used to soften bold or dark edges
• To create greater clarity within an image, the sharpening brush can be used to boost the contrast between neighboring pixels
• No raster editing tool set would be complete without an eraser and the Pixel Persona’s eraser tool can undo mistakes and remove unwanted portions of an image no matter how large, small, or intricate

With such powerful raster editing tools at the user’s disposal, Affinity Designer with its Pixel Persona is truly a one-stop shop for any graphic design project.

How To Use Personas in Affinity Designer

There are three distinct Personas integrated into Affinity Designer: Designer Persona, Pixel Persona, and Export Persona. Switching between these different modes is as simple as clicking the icon corresponding to the desired Persona on the main toolbar or making a selection from the Personas list on the File menu.

Affinity Designer is by default a vector-based platform with a robust raster-based toolset contained in its Pixel Persona. In normal operating mode (vector graphics editing), Affinity Designer is in Designer Persona.

The Export Persona is used exclusively for selecting images (or portions of them) for exporting in a variety of available formats.

Conclusion

Every now and then in the world of computer software, a newly released program provides consumers with a compelling alternative that challenges the old guard. Such is the case with Affinity Designer, which is giving longtime favorites like Adobe Illustrator a good run for their money with innovative features like Pixel Persona, that give Affinity Designer dual-format editing capabilities.

Affinity Designer is a fantastic graphics editor, but it also has a few quirks. Most of these quirks are benign holdouts from the days of physical photo editing. However, many of these quirks can have drastic consequences if you do not understand them. For instance, Affinity Designer will seemingly rasterize your images on occasion.

Generally, Affinity Designer will warn you that it will rasterize some areas of your design if there is a type mismatch in your layers. These mishaps can arise from incompatible layer types, missing plugins or fonts, or just bugs in the software. In either case, the software will do as it says. It will convert your image into a raster or bitmap image.

Fortunately, most of these issues have quick fixes. By reading further, you will learn the proper troubleshooting techniques you must do to keep your designs as you want them.

The Reasons Affinity Designer Would Auto Rasterize Your Design

People use vector graphics editors such as Affinity Designer to create stunning icons, logos, badges, and other graphics that require scalability. However, you cannot use vector graphics in the final design, and this is where most people notice most of Affinity Designer’s quirks.

Computer monitors, printers, and other display devices are inherently raster-based applications. The process graphics as a series of colored pixels arranged in a grid. As such, most graphics editors will rasterize items when the user’s intent is not clear to ensure compatibility with these devices, removing any scalability in the process. If this is what you want, great but it can be concerning if you wanted or expected something else.

Luckily, Affinity Designer will not do anything without your consent and will warn you when it has to rasterize things. These warnings let you troubleshoot your work to ensure everything works as you intended. As such, it might be a good idea to understand which conditions will cause the warning in the first place.

Merging Incompatible Persona Layers

Merging layers is the most common issue that will prompt Affinity Designer to rasterize things. It is also the most common action most graphic designers make when finalizing their work. The issue comes down to incompatible layer types which you can easily overlook with complex designs that require multiple objects and layers.

Affinity Designer recognizes three different image layers:

• Raster layers stores image information as a series of pixels that corresponds to the color to display at a particular location on your monitor
• Vector images are equations that tell your computer how to draw the various object on the screen
• Adjustment layers store any modification you made to the other layer types without altering the originals

Because of their different natures, you cannot directly merge these layer types. Instead, you must convert them to a single layer type before you can work with them further. Thus, Affinity Designer displays the prompt.

Missing Plugin or Font

All image rending problems extend from a layer type mismatch in some way. For instance, a missing plugin or font is the next most common cause for rasterizing. it comes from the Designer does not know how to read the image data you imported from a third-party app such as Placeit.

Affinity Designer will try to rasterize them so you can at least use the contents in your designs. If you need to edit the images further, you must install the missing plugins into Designer if they are available for your system.

A Conflict Between Plugins

Most of your Affinity Designer plugins come from different developers. As such, they may not always be kind to each other. Whether it is resource conflicts or duplicate features, these issues can reveal themselves as missing or damaged features. To prevent a system crash, Affinity Designer may default to shutting both plugins down and simply rasterizing their effects.

If your problems began as soon as you installed a plugin, one of these plugin conflicts might be the cause. Thus, you can troubleshoot the issue just by uninstalling the offending plugin to see if the issue persists.

A Bug in the Affinity Designer Renderer

If all else fails, then your problem might just be a bug in Affinity Designer itself. While no development team wants to ship broken software, you cannot always test every possible working condition. As such, some things may slip out into the wild. In these cases, your best bet is to contact Affinity support for an update and use workarounds until then.

Conclusion

Affinity Designer will always try to render your images as close to their original states as possible. If it cannot do this for any reason, the software will rasterize the images, or convert them into lists of pixels. However, it will warn you about these changes so you can troubleshoot the situation.

Affinity Designer Boolean operations such as Subtract let you build custom shapes from more primitive ones. Subtract is particularly useful when you want to cut something out of a larger shape. However, there will be times when you want to use Subtract but find it “grayed out” or unavailable.

Generally, Affinity Designer will gray out and prevent you from using Subtract and other Boolean tools if using them would cause undesirable effects. These effects could be anything from a system crash to corruption or irreparable damage to your graphics and files. How you fix them will depend on their causes and situation.

By reading further, you will learn some of the more popular fixes. You also learn how you can avoid these situations to make full use of Affinity Designer’s features.

How to Troubleshoot Issues While Subtracting Objects in Affinity Designer

Subtract and other Boolean tools can bring your graphic designs to the next level. Through it, Affinity Designer lets you remove segments of your designs to change their look. Also called a Geometry operator, this powerful tool only requires a simple procedure to use:

1. Create the objects to subtract using your favorite shape tools and procedures. You will need at least two objects to use Subtract.
2. Convert the shapes to curves. You will find the converter on top of the toolbar.
3. Select the object you want subtracted to activate the Boolean Menu. You will find the buttons on the top toolbar.
4. Move the selected object to the right location.
5. Subtract the top object from the bottom one. The Subtract button shows two shapes with a minus (-) sign.

Subtract will function as a paper punch and cut out a silhouette of the top shape from the lower one. You can then save your new shape as a preset that you can use later without repeating these steps. You can even repeat the procedure you create even more complex shapes and characters.

Affinity Designer Will Not Always Let You Use Subtract

Under most circumstances, you can use Subtract as much as you want, but that is not always the case. In some rare situations, Affinity Designer will deny you access to the Subtract tool by graying out the button. The most common of these situations include:

• One or both objects are rasterized and no longer vector shapes.
• Both object layers are not selected in the Layers panel.
• The shapes are members of different groups.
• Both shapes fall in the same selection box.

These moments often sneak up on wary designers, especially those who are new to the editor.

Troubleshooting Subtracting Rasterized Objects

Subtracting is a vector image function. It does nothing for rasterized or bitmapped images. As such, Affinity Designer will block access to the tool if either object is a bitmap. If this is the case, you must either ensure that both objects are the same type and use the appropriate procedure:

• Raster shapes: Use Affinity Photo or Placeit and use one of the objects as a negative mask on the other.
• Vector shapes: follow the instructions above

If you cannot convert them to vector objects, your only solution is to revert to an older copy and restart your edits from scratch. This time be careful to not rasterize them.

Troubleshooting Subtract Selection issues in Affinity Designer

Inappropriate selections are the most common reason why Affinity Designer will disable the Subtract tool. In these situations, subtracting operations would be meaningless or would crash the system. As such, the tool remains disabled to prevent you from accidentally clicking it.

You can create inappropriate subtract selection in two ways. You can fail to enable the object layers, or you can inadvertently select both objects at once. Both scenarios lead to the same situation but for different reasons.

Ensure Both Layers are Active and in the Same Group

The Subtract Tools requires two objects to function: the master shape and the subtracted shape. However, they must be on separate layers. This is because the Subtract Tool will remove an area similar to the top to be subtracted shape from the master shape underneath. As such, you need both layers active, in the same group and appropriately aligned.

Ensure You Only Select the Top Shape

However, you can only have the subtracted object selected. This is because Affinity Designer will remove the layer in the process, combining the two shapes into one. As such, the software will disable the Subtract Tool until you deselect one of the shapes.

Conclusion

Affinity Designer’s Subtract Tool Lets you create custom shapes and characters that can enhance your designs. However, there are some situations where the software will prevent you from using the tool. By understanding the reasons behind these cases, you can easily work around them.

Since its release, Serif’s Affinity Photo has become a go-to image editing resource for users of all skill levels, from professional graphic designers to marketing directors to students. From high-resolution photographs to intricate illustrations, Affinity Photo is a robust platform for working on images of all types, and among its most powerful features is the rasterizing tool.

Rasterizing in Affinity Photo converts an image or layer into a raster-based file, transforming it into a series of individual pixels. This process opens the door to a diverse range of thoughtfully designed editing functions such as inpainting, color manipulation, and a bevy of specialized brushes.

When it comes to working with graphic design files, the two primary types of image formats are vector and raster. While the former is infinitely scalable and resolution-independent, the latter will produce the highest quality and finest detail. For projects where a premium is placed on the final appearance, rasterizing an image is the only way to achieve the desired aesthetics. Here’s what this means.

What Does Rasterize Do in Affinity Photo

In the world of graphic design editing, there are two primary types of images, those that are raster-based and those that are vector-based. Both are vitally important to the creation of any type of document containing graphics and each has its own unique merits.

Basically, raster files are composed of colored pixels. Depending on the number of pixels and their size, an image composed of these building blocks can be incredibly detailed with vibrant colors and nuanced tones. This is why high-resolution photographs and intricate illustrations are more likely to be raster-based file formats.

Rasterizing in Affinity Photo will convert an image into pixels. This step, in and of itself, is nothing more than priming an image for the editing that follows. What rasterizing an image does is open the door for the newly pixelated image to be touched up and manipulated in any number of ways.

Here are the fundamentals of rasterizing in Affinity Photo:

• Rasterizing, also known as “flattening”, is primarily performed on shapes, lines, text, and image layers
• While rasterizing can be applied manually in Affinity Photo, many of the pixel editing tools automatically rasterize an image layer as they are deployed and used
• In many cases, rasterizing components that were originally vector-based is an irreversible process, and therefore, any vector-based work (e.g., resizing, certain types of gradients, and other effects) should be finalized before rasterizing

All in all, rasterizing in Affinity Photo is a preparatory stage for the true editing work that follows. There is an incredibly broad and diverse range of tools that can be utilized to edit and manipulate the pixels of an image. To gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for what types of editing can be performed on a pixel level, it is helpful to examine more closely some of the tools that Affinity Photo has to offer.

Raster Editing Tool Example 1 – Inpainting

One raster editing tool in Affinity Photo that is extremely useful when touching up an image is known as inpainting. By the simple act of brushing over the targeted area of an image with a specialized brush tool (which is customizable to a particular size for greater accuracy), inpainting can transform an image by removing defects or unwanted elements.

This popular feature is used to:

• Reconstruct portions of an image that are damaged or deteriorated
• Remove unwanted elements from an image, such as objects, people, or background clutter
• Cover up defects in an image resulting from lighting flaws, lens scratches, or dust

With each stroke, inpainting collects data from pixels surrounding the affected area and essentially paints over the targeted portion of an image with reconstructed pixels. The end result has the appearance of the removed areas having never been there in the first place, and in some cases, the repair is undetectable.

Raster Editing Tool Example 2 – Cloning and Healing

Another powerful editing tool that can be used in Affinity Photo once an image has been rasterized is the cloning and healing brush. With this feature, users can manipulate pixels to cover up major defects or add elements to an image. Here is how it works:

• As the name suggests, cloning makes an exact copy of a selected group of pixels and places them wherever the user wants and in a manner that is so seamless that they appear to have been there all along
• It is even possible to copy pixels from a completely separate document (so long as it has been flattened) and paste them into the target file
• Healing is similar to cloning in that pixels are copied and pasted onto a targeted area but by mirroring the visual elements of the native pixels (e.g., time, texture, transparency), a true match can be achieved so that the healing is virtually imperceptible

With the cloning and healing brush tool, even flaws occurring when an image is first captured or created can later be edited to nearly perfect results.

Raster Editing Tool Example 3 – Retouching

The retouching feature in Affinity Photo is actually a tool chest full of specialized editing brushes that perform detailed, pixel-centric edits to an image. Here is a sampling of the raster-based editing capabilities of these brush tools:

• Dodge Brush – applying brush strokes over a targeted area with this tool lightens the affected pixels
• Burn Brush – this tool has the opposite effect as the Dodge Brush by darkening targeted pixels
• Smudge Tool – as the name suggests, this tool picks up color traits of pixels at the beginning of a stroke and deposits them as the brush moves across the targeted area of an image, thus creating a blended smudging effect

Other retouching tools can be used to sharpen and blur pixels, increase or decrease the saturation of colors within a group of pixels, and even blend adjacent pixels together to create a seamless flow.

Affinity Photo Users Can Customize Rasterizing

With the aid of the built-in Assistant Manager feature, users of Affinity Photo can customize various tools and functions to their particular needs, including the way that certain tools automatically rasterize images. For example:

• An eraser tool can be programmed through the Assistant Manager to rasterize a layer mask added to a vector layer and erase directly on it
• Certain brush tools, like the Burn Brush and Smudge Brush, can be set to rasterize a layer the moment that brush strokes are applied by the user
• There is also the option to have various effect filters automatically rasterize the layer that they are placed upon

While setting various editing tools to automatically rasterize an image the moment they are deployed in Affinity Photo is a great convenience and a substantial time-saver, the option also exists to turn this feature off when desired.

Conclusion

Affinity Photo provides users of all skill levels the ability to perform professional-level edits to image files. From removing unwanted elements to patching up glaring flaws, Affinity Photo’s editing tools can do just about anything. But the first step is to rasterize an image layer and with the built-in Assistant Manager feature, even this task can be done effortlessly.

If your Inkscape has crashed while you were in the middle of the project, you may worry you won’t be able to find the file again. As long as you have the AutoSave feature on, you’ll be able to locate Inkscape’s attempt to salvage the file.

The AutoSave file for when you have a crash will be in “Windows (C:)\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\inkscape”. If you don’t have AutoSave on, you may need to use a program to recover the file.

We’ll cover more in-depth how to locate the files, how to enable AutoSave, and several other important pieces of information that you may find helpful for making sure you never lose hours of an important project!

Where does Inkscape Save Crashed Files?

Finding your Inkscape crashed files isn’t too difficult. The crashed files should always appear on the C drive. Unless you’ve set up a completely different pathway, this is the default place the files will show up.

“Windows (C:)\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\inkscape” is the default location. The “YourUserName” portion is just selecting which windows account you are looking for the crashed files on. If you have only one account, there will only be one actual name. Ignore the folder that says default or public.

The AppData folder is hidden by default. You’ll have to unhide it in order to access the folder. This is how you get to the work that you’ve been working on when the crash happened. Make sure you turn on AutoSave to access these files.

How to Unhide AppData Folder

For Windows 10/11 this process is very easy. I’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how to do this:

1. Open file explorer on the bar at the bottom. It looks like a yellow folder.
2. Click View at the top of the box.
3. Go down to where it says “view”.
4. Click on “show”.
5. Check “hidden items”.

There you have it, the hidden AppData folder should now be accessible.

Recover a Lost/Deleted File

There are several programs that can go and attempt to recover a file that may have been lost or deleted completely. You may have to look around for one you feel suits your needs.

For example, this one has paid and free options for the program. They also include the process of how to run and use the wizard as it’ll attempt to recover the file that is no longer there. However, there is no guarantee it will be able to get the file back.

Where does Inkscape Save Recovered Files

Inkscape saves the recovered files in the same folder above. You’ll see them labeled as AutoSaves. You can also manually save things you want, wherever you want.

The AutoSave is good in case of crashes or if you are bad at remembering to save. However, if you prefer to manually save and want them in a specific folder, all you need to do is select “save as” and choose the directory where you’d like the files to be saved too.

Keep these in an easy-to-locate folder so you don’t lose track of where you keep all your projects. Windows search for specific files is sometimes hit or miss on if it can find the file, so it’s easier to stay ahead of any potential future headaches.

How do I Turn on Autosave in Inkscape

Turning on AutoSave is highly recommended in case you run into any issues such as crashes, or even power failures. Losing all your hard work can be hard to deal with, so it’s always a good idea to make sure it’s turned on.

1. Go to “edit.”
2. Then click on “preferences”.
3. Select “input/output”.
4. Finally, select “AutoSave”.

There you have it, AutoSave will now be turned on for you.

How do I Save in Inkscape

Saving in Inkscape is easy. As mentioned above you can use the AutoSave feature or the save as an option. It’s a good idea to use both together, just in case you end up with a corrupted file. There is a keyboard shortcut as well. To do this, hit “Ctrl+S” to have it use a quick save. 

Now, you may be wondering about the “.svg” save extensions. Well, there are a few and each one means something different. These extensions are important if you are trying to save the file for Inkscape use or if you want to export it into another program.

SVG (Inkscape)

There are two types of the “.svg”. This one is for saving to use with Inkscape. That means you can only open it properly with everything working with Inkscape. Using this should be fine as long as you plan to keep it only in the program.

This includes all the data associated with the file that only matters when using Inkscape.

SVG (Plain)

This is useful when you want to share your project and the recipient doesn’t have Inkscape but does use the “.svg” file option. Saving it as plain will allow them to view it properly and even edit/work on it.

SVG Compressed

This one will save as “.svgz”. This means it’s saved as a compressed version of your project. If you are low on hard drive space, or you just want to keep the files smaller as a personal preference, this is the best option.

You won’t lose quality or anything either. It’s simply making the file smaller, but once you open it, everything will still look the same as if you had saved it without the compression.

Conclusion

As you can see, it’s not overly complicated how to find the crashed files. However, it can be difficult or nearly impossible if it crashed without the AutoSave feature. You may end up losing some work if you only use manual saves. It’s important to turn AutoSaves on, not just for Inkscape, but for anything where you are putting hours of work into something. This prevents most future headaches and problems that may arise during a system or power failure.

Creating a mask is a great way to make non-destructive edits to an image in Affinity Photo. This can help with situations such as removing a background, creating a more eye-catching sky, or getting rid of unwanted elements. But how is it done?

Affinity Photo offers several different ways to use a layer as a mask:

1. Apply a pixel mask
2. Create a grouped mask
3. Isolate mask layers
4. Create gradient masks

Making is one of the most useful tools available in Affinity Photo. However, it can also be quite difficult to figure out. This how-to guide will walk you through three different methods of using a layer mask in Affinity Photo.

Use a Pixel Layer Mask

A layer mask is a tool that allows you to see only a section of a layer while obscuring the rest. This effectively lets you ‘remove’ areas of the layer without causing any damage. However, there are several different mask types in Affinity Photo.

A pixel mask is a rasterized mask that functions similarly to an eraser. These can be changed, produced, and destroyed at any moment without causing irreversible changes to the design.

Making a pixel layer mask in Affinity Photo is a straightforward process. Begin by choosing the layer you want to work with, then select ‘New Empty Mask Layer’ from the Layers menu at the top of the screen to create a mask that hides the whole layer.

Before generating a mask, make sure you click on the layer you intend to work in. The mask is clipped to the chosen layer after it has been produced.

Creating a Grouped Mask

There are moments in photo editing and design when you may need to make several different adjustments until you get it right.

For example, let’s say you would like to apply a few different adjustments to a single tree in a landscape photo. You would need to apply the adjustment and paint it over the tree over and over for each adjustment that you’d like to apply. Instead, you could apply a grouped mask to streamline the process.

To do this, apply the first adjustment you would like to make to the photo. Once applied, add the adjustment layer to its own group by clicking the layer and hitting Control/Command ‘G’.

Next, you will apply a mask to the entire group. Hold down Alt/Option and click the mask icon at the bottom of the layers panel. This will apply a black mask to the group, covering any adjustments you’ve made.

Now you can grab your brush and paint white over the areas where you would like the adjustments to peek through. Plus, any new adjustments that are added to the group will have the mask applied as well.

Isolating Layer Masks

Once you’ve applied a mask to an image, it can be a bit difficult to figure out if you’ve painted over the entire area you wish to have the mask applied. Though it may look fine to you on the screen, any missed sections can still show up in printing or if other edits are made. You can check this by isolating the layer mask.

To do this, hold down Alt/Option and click on the mask thumbnail. This will isolate the layer by temporarily hiding all the other layers. You should now see a screen with only black and white painted areas, allowing you to easily view the sections where the mask isn’t correctly filled in.

To Exit isolation, simply press the Esc key.

Using Gradient Masks

Gradient masks are helpful when compositing images so that you aren’t left with hard and jagged edges. For example, let’s say you wanted to change the sky in a photo.

First, add a mask to the layer, then select the gradient tool. At the top of the screen, you should see a dropdown box labeled ‘Type’. Click that box and select Linear.

Now, stating at the top of the image, click and drag your mouse to the bottom of the image. This will paint a gradient from white to black across the photo. The white areas of the photo will remain clear, while the black areas will become transparent. To reverse the gradient so that the black is at the top and the white is at the bottom, click the reverse button at the top of the screen.

This will allow anything beneath the photo to show through on the transparent sections, slowing fading out as the gradient changes to white.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this article gave you a better understanding of how to use a layer mask in Affinity Photo. Masking is a great tool to play around with when editing, and can really enhance your end design.

Graphic design programs like Affinity Photo are great for getting creative and making unique and custom designs. They offer tools to warp and distort images and text so that you can perfect even the smallest of details. But how is it done?

Affinity Photo has a number of different tools and methods for warping images in various ways. The most popular ways to distort an image include:

1. Use the Mesh Warp Tool
2. Apply the Perspective Tool
3. Distort images in the Liquify Persona
4. Apply distortion filters

Whether you’re trying to wrap a label around an image of a product or create a distorted perspective for an abstract design Affinity Photo can get it done. In this quick guide, you’ll find a few ways in which you can warp images in Affinity Photo.

Warping Images with Affinity Photo

Warping an image can be as simple as pulling out different areas of the photo to create a spherical effect or as complicated as designing a complete interior scene with a blend of photos. Luckily, Affinity Photo provides a variety of different tools to help users achieve different distortion effects.

Below are a few of the most popular ways to warp images.

1. Using the Mesh Warp Tool

The Mesh Warp tool distorts an image with the use of a customizable mesh grid. This is best for manipulating shapes in the entirety or a specified portion of an image.

For example, let’s say you have a photo of a tree and you would like to expand the branches without affecting the rest of the tree. This is could be done with the Mesh Warp tool.

To use this tool, select the layer you would like to edit, then click the Mesh Warp tool in the toolbar. Your image will be outlined with the moveable handles at the corners. These can be moved to distort the photo.

To add more warpable sections, simply double-click on that area in the photo to add another node. Then move that node around to warp that section.

An example of using the Mesh Warp too can be found here.

2. Using the Perspective Tool

To warp an image by skewing perspective, you would use the Perspective tool. This tool allows you to change the perspective of a photo by adjusting different planes and nodes with the use of a grid.

A good example of this is adding a photo to a frame or t-shirt when making a mockup. Though this can easily be done in programs like Placeit, using the Perspective tool gives you a bit more control.

To do this, click on the layer you would like to warp, then click the Perspective tool in the toolbar. This will place a grid across the entirety of the layer.

Moving different areas of the grid will warp the photo depending on the placement. For example, if you wanted an image to appear to be on the left face of a box, you would move the corners of the grid so that the edges lined up with those of the box.

When your edits are where you want them, hit apply to save the effect.

3. Distort Images with the Liquify Persona

Affinity photo is divided into five different sections or Personas. Each one of these provides different interfaces and ways of working within Affinity Photo and

If you would like to warp an image, the Liquify Persona is the best section to work in. This can be accessed from the second button on the upper lefthand side of the screen just below the File menu.

Once in the Liquify Persona, you’ll see a set of different tools on the lefthand toolbar. Each of these will provide different ways to warp and distort your image.

4. Warping Images with Distortion Filters

Affinity Photo also has a variety of filters that can be applied to photos to create a distortion effect. These include:

• Shear Filter
• Ripple Filter
• Twirl Filter
• Pinch/Punch Filter
• Mirror Filter

Distortion filters can be applied by selecting the layer you want to work in, then select the filter you would like to apply from the Filters menu at the top of the screen.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this guide helped you learn how to warp images in Affinity Photo. Warping is a great way to edit an image so that you can get your desired result. However, there are various ways to distort and warp, so it’s important to make sure you are using the correct tool to get the job done.

Adobe Photoshop has been the most popular photo editing app for years. Despite its status, it can be difficult for beginners to use because of all the menus and options. Competing apps like Affinity Photo have surfaced in recent years to try to bridge the gap, but is Affinity Photo good for beginners like its counterpart?

Affinity Photo is good for beginners because it is easy to understand and master, and it is more affordable than a Photoshop license.

Affinity Photo is considered one of the first choice software for professionals in the photography industry. So, read on to find out more about Affinity Photo and its user-friendly features.

Is Affinity Photo Beginner Friendly?

Many people want good photo editing software that can create high-quality products without the complexity that some products need to achieve them. Affinity Photo provides all of the basic features and more in a user-friendly way.

The Affinity Photo interface is reportedly easy to understand and use. Here are some reasons why:

1. All of the basic photo editing tools are easily accessible, even though the advanced features require more learning to use.
2. The processing speed on the app is fast, meaning that slowdowns will not get in the way of creativity.
3. Affinity Photo is also more affordable for a wide variety of users because you only have to pay one price to access the full software, instead of using a subscription package that requires you to pay a monthly or weekly fee.

Affinity Photo has all of the tools beginners and amateurs need to edit photos and feel confident in the final product.

Beginner’s Tips to Get the Most Out of Affinity Photo

Want some advice on how to optimize and get your money’s worth out of Affinity Photo? Follow these tips to find advanced editing features and create the best photo edits possible.

Use Layers to Keep Your Editing Project Organized

Just like other photo editing apps, Affinity Photo has the option to separate your work into layers. Layers allow you to move, change, and delete things without affecting your entire edit. Text, vectors and other things you add to the image will get their own layer, making them easy to change at any time.

Separate major edits you make into their own layers, so you can see the before and after and compare the final products. This will allow you to make better decisions on the direction of your edit. They can also help you track progress, because you can see what has been done and what has not.

Make Your Images Better Using Adjustment Layers

Adjustment layers give you the freedom to make changes to the color and tone of your pictures.

To add or remove shadows from your picture, use the shadows and highlights adjustment layers and use the sliders to adjust to your liking. To change the brightness or contrast of an image, use the brightness/contrast adjustment layer, and so on.

Use Selections to Reduce the Amount of Adjustment Layers

If you only want to enhance or change the main subject of the image you are editing, you can select the main subject using the selection brush before choosing adjustment layers to add to it. You can do the same for all of the other parts of the image.

An Easier Way to Export Images in Different Formats

To save time when choosing to export your image in a different format, go to the file menu and select Export. From there, select the file type you want to use. This is much quicker than using the Export persona.

Set Affinity Photo to Autosave to Always Have the Latest Version of Your Photos

To avoid losing your work in case of a software or computer crash, or user error, you should enable Autosave on Affinity Photo.

To do this:

1. Go to the Preferences menu
2. Go to Performance
3. Change the File Recovery Interval to less than 600 seconds

Now, let’s look at the next tip below.

Use Live Filters to Avoid Destroying Your Work

The usual way to prevent photo destruction when adding filters is to duplicate the layer you are adding the filter to, then add the filter. However, filters for features like sharpening and clarity are added directly to the main photo and ruin the image.

To avoid this effect in most apps, you would have to duplicate the main layer twice and then add sharpening or the effect of your choice. Luckily, Affinity Photo has a feature called live filters that saves you from doing this. Live filters function the same way as normal filters, but they are already added to a separate layer which prevents the image from being destroyed.

Pros of Affinity Photo vs. Photoshop

There are more pros to using Affinity Photo.

They include:

1. Newer code: Affinity Photo is new and fresh compared to Photoshop. It was built using new code meaning that it is optimized and fast compared to Photoshop which has been around for at least 25 years.
2. Easy to use: Affinity Photo has some of the same features as Photoshop, but the layout is easier to understand and all of the photo editing features are labeled and easily adjustable.
3. Cheaper option: Affinity Photo is also more cost-effective than Photoshop, with all features unlocked for a low one time payment, whereas Photoshop has a monthly or yearly subscription.
4. Separates workflow: Photoshop is focused on workflow automation, and Affinity Photo separates the workflow into the editing tasks that need the most attention and the least attention.

Now, let’s see the cons.

Cons of Affinity Photo vs Photoshop

Like all things, there are some bad sides to Affinity Photo.

Here are some cons for Affinity Photo:

1. Less compatibility: Because Photoshop has existed for longer than Affinity Photo, more apps offer compatibility with it than Affinity Photo, but this does not mean that Affinity Photo will never improve compatibility.
2. Slow to update: In a similar vein, Adobe Photoshop has regular updates, whereas Affinity Photo has them at least once a year, if that.

Ultimately, the choice of which software to use is up to you and your photo editing needs. Both apps are great and similarly built, but they place emphasis on a different set of features.

Conclusion

Affinity Photo is good for beginners because it is accessible, affordable, and easy to understand. Although there are advanced features within it, they are also not difficult to learn and there are many tips you can learn to enhance your experience in the software. Affinity Photo and Photoshop are direct competitors, but both offer similar features. The software you choose depends on your preferences.