Affinity Designer Complete Course for Beginners

[@TheMaryWriter]

This summer I left adobe, discovered affinity and snagged the full suite on sale. Your tutorials have been great getting started. I've used adobe for well over a decade and I was pleasantly surprised to learn how similar the programs are. Your tutorials are perfect for someone like me who knows the basic groundwork but needs a simple overview of where everything is. If anyone I know picks up affinity I'm sending them to your channel.

[@bydesignmethod]

Hey Writer - thank you so much, I truly appreciate that wonderful comment and you taking the time to watch my video. I think you're really gonna like Affinity!

[@khanssae7]

can I work with affinity designer as a freelancer designer?

[@bydesignmethod]

@@khanssae7 Absolutely. I made $60,000 USD (over three years) freelancing on Fiverr and another $5,000 or so on UpWork. It's great to own a program and not have to keep paying for every month.

[@laaljaabderrahim3062]

👍👏 Appreciated tutorial. Thank you very much!

[@bydesignmethod]

You're so welcome. Thank you so much for watching and leaving a comment. Truly appreciated!

[@-Lokky]

I don't have Affinity Designer because I really have no use for it, Affinity Photo meets all my needs, but It's great that you started making Designer videos for people that use it, I'm sure they'll be much appreciated as I appreciate your Affinity Photo videos.

[@bydesignmethod]

Thanks Lokky! I'm mainly use Photo as well but many use Designer so it was time!

[@gandolfred]

Added to bookmarks. My daughter was just looking for an affinity course for beginners. And there it is! Thank you 🙂

[@bydesignmethod]

Fantastic! I hope she finds it helpful. I always try to explain in a way I would like to be taught (I think advanced users sometimes forget steps in between due to habit) Appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment!

[@richardadonnell]

🎯 Key points for quick navigation: 00:04 *📝 Introduction and Document Setup* - Overview of the tutorial's purpose, - Creating a new document, using presets, and setting dimensions, - Important settings like color format, transparent background, margins, and bleed. 02:18 *🛠️ Interface Breakdown* - Explanation of the interface: tools, canvas, panels, and tool refinement bar, - Using tools with shortcuts, identifying tool groups, and navigating the canvas, - Resetting the studio layout to default. 05:58 *🖱️ Basic Tools and Navigation* - Using the Move tool (shortcut: V) to resize and rotate objects, - Zooming in/out and moving around the canvas using shortcuts, - Managing layers by toggling visibility and organizing elements. 08:21 *🎨 Changing Colors* - Options for changing colors using the top right and bottom left menus, - Using the color wheel, sliders, and hex codes, - Applying fill and stroke colors to shapes and managing color removal. 10:54 *📚 Understanding Layers* - Importance of layers in design and their impact on object visibility, - Creating, renaming, and reordering layers, - Practical examples of layering objects and adjusting their stack order. 13:32 *🔧 Artboard Tool* - Purpose of the artboard tool for multi-page designs, - Creating multiple artboards and organizing designs within them, - Practical example of using artboards for different color schemes or mockups. 15:37 *🖋️ Node Tool* - Importance of the node tool for editing curves and shapes, - Converting shapes and text to curves for detailed editing, - Practical examples of modifying shapes and text using the node tool. 16:59 *🖋️ Node Tool and Pen Tool Basics* - Using the node tool to edit curves and shapes, - Drawing shapes with the pen tool and converting them to curves, - Adjusting shapes by adding and moving nodes. 18:12 *🔄 Contour Tool* - Offsetting strokes on shapes and text, - Using contour types and merging shapes, - Baking appearance and converting to curves. 20:35 *🔺 Corner Tool* - Rounding out sharp corners on shapes, - Basic usage to alter geometric shapes. 21:05 *✒️ Pen Tool* - Drawing and editing shapes using the pen tool, - Understanding stroke color, width, and pen modes, - Utilizing rubber band mode for precise tracing. 24:16 *🎨 Vector Brush Tool* - Setting brush width and opacity, - Changing brushes and adjusting settings, - Using shortcuts to control brush size. 26:25 *✂️ Knife Tool* - Cutting shapes and text, - Using the knife tool to create new curves, - Utilizing the built-in scissor tool for precision cuts. 28:22 *🌈 Gradient Tool* - Applying gradients to shapes and text, - Adjusting gradient type and colors, - Adding multiple colors to create complex gradients. 30:04 *🌫️ Transparency Tool* - Creating fades with the transparency tool, - Adjusting the strength and direction of the fade. 30:50 *📦 Place Tool and Vector Crop Tool* - Using the place tool to import images, - Cropping shapes with the vector crop tool, - Maintaining proportions while drawing shapes. 32:00 *🧩 Shape Builder Tool* - Combining and subtracting shapes, - Creating complex shapes by addingor removing sections, - Practical examples of using the shape builder tool. 34:04 *🔤 Artistic Text Tool and Frame Text Tool* - Differentiating between artistic and frame text tools, - Adding titles, headlines, sentences, and paragraphs, - Practical examples of using both text tools. 34:32 *🖌️ Color Picker and Style Picker Tools* - Using the color picker to sample and apply colors, - Using the style picker to apply styles from one object to another, - Tips for unloading previous styles to avoid confusion. 37:23 *📐 Advanced Layers and Clipping* - Clipping objects within other shapes, - Understanding layer hierarchy and grouping, - Adjusting opacity and using noise in layers. 40:45 *🔄 Blend Modes* - Applying blend modes to interact with other layers, - Examples of different blend modes and their effects, - Creating unique designs using blend modes. 42:17 *🎛️ Adjustments* - Applying non-destructive adjustments like black and white or recolor, - Clipping adjustments within layers and editing or deleting them, - Practical examples of using adjustments to enhance images. 43:32 *✨ Effects* - Adding effects to text and shapes, - Applying multiple outlines and other effects, - Customizing effects to achieve desired looks. 44:45 *🌀 Warp Tool* - Warping text using different presets, - Adjusting nodes to further customize the warp, - Exploring different warp styles. 45:46 *🖼️ Additional Layer Functions* - Using the mask layer button for advanced masking, - Adding vector and pixel layers, - Removing layers using the delete function. 46:44 *📸 Pixel Persona* - Switching to the pixel persona for photo-editing features, - Using the selection brush tool to isolate objects from backgrounds, - Applying pixel brushes for detailed and realistic designs. 48:51 *📤 Exporting* - Exporting documents in different formats, - Resizing and adjusting document settings, - Exporting with transparent backgrounds. Made with HARPA AI

[@bydesignmethod]

Thank you!

[@richardadonnell]

@@bydesignmethod Thanks for the video - great presenting style and voice! 😎

[@red0ctane19]

Yessss! Thank you for this! You have such a great teaching style and I appreciate all of your videos. Can't wait to share this with my wife to get her up and running in designer comfortably.

[@bydesignmethod]

Let's go Octane!

[@mtm7031]

Your video is really amazing 👌 thank you so much for sharing your knowledge 🥰 you are awesome 😎

[@bydesignmethod]

Thank you so much, I truly appreciate that. I hope you find them helpful!

[@jpla8716]

This was extremely helpful. Thank you. Have had Affinity suite for over a year now,and am still so intimidated by it that I only use Designer to print my sublimation projects. Ive been using inkscape for everything else. I refuse to let another year go by without learning how to navigate Affinity.

[@bydesignmethod]

You're so welcome and I really hope you find it helpful. Affinity is super powerful, take your time playing around and have fun. Finally - thanks so much for watching and taking some of your time to leave me a comment. I really do appreciate it.

[@AlecDrow]

Straight to the point. Very useful! Thank You very much!

[@bydesignmethod]

You're so welcome Alec, thank you so much for your support! truly appreciated!

[@e-volvellc]

Another superb video making the complex seem simple. Thank you.

[@bydesignmethod]

Thank you sticking around, appreciate you!

[@ariyan689]

Thank you very very much for very clear presentation.

[@bydesignmethod]

Thank you so much for watching, I'm glad you found it helpful. I appreciate the comment!

[@ATW2007]

Thanks for the great video, it not only helped me get better but was also really entertaining and funny. keep it up.

[@bydesignmethod]

Thank you so much ATW! I really appreciate you watching and taking a moment of your own time to leave a comment. I'm glad it helped!

[@alamenalsharef7991]

بارك الله فيك

[@bydesignmethod]

شكرا جزيلا لك يا صديقي

[@elonanamor6420]

Great video easily explained for beginners. Even though I use Affinity all the time there are tools I don't use often and forget about them. It is always a great review for me.

[@bydesignmethod]

Thank you as always!

[@LancashireLass]

This was fantastic. Really helpful and with absolutely no messing about. Well maybe a tiny bit of messing about. 🙂

[@bydesignmethod]

LOL thanks so much for watching and taking a moment to leave a comment! I appreciate it!

[@socialwagner]

You are great, man! Thank you!

[@bydesignmethod]

You are so welcome! thank you so much for watching and taking a moment of your own time to leave a comment. I always appreciate them.

[@socialwagner]

@@bydesignmethod If you keep it in this style, your channel will very soon be one of the big ones! I subscribed.

[@bydesignmethod]

@@socialwagner Thank you so much!

[@tbfoxtrot]

Wonderful guide but where did you get the apple from it just appeared. Thank you.

[@bydesignmethod]

It was a file I had downloaded and brought into Designer before-hand. Just a quick sample to show a trace. Thanks so much for watching!

[@hilarysutherland682]

I don't have all those tools on the left. I tried to reset the studio under window and I still don't get them. I tried to customize the tools and I don't see the fill bucket?

[@bydesignmethod]

Hey, Are you on PC/MAC or using a tablet?