How to Draw Shapes in Affinity Designer

Edited 2 days ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Affinity Designer is a powerful vector graphics editor used by digital artists, designers, and hobbyists to create a wide variety of digital artwork. One of the fundamental aspects of using Affinity Designer is the ability to create shapes. Shapes form the basic building blocks of design and it's important to understand how to create and manipulate them. This guide will discuss in detail how to create, customize, and use shapes in Affinity Designer.

Understanding the basics of Affinity Designer

Before moving on to the process of creating shapes, it is important to understand the basic interface of Affinity Designer. Upon opening the software, you will find a user interface that includes various panels such as Toolbar, Context Toolbar, Inspector, and Layers and Color.

The toolbar contains the essential tools used to create and edit artwork. These tools include tools used to create shapes. The contextual toolbar provides options specific to the tool you are currently using, allowing you to refine your shapes. The Inspector, often located on the right, will help you with layers, colors, and other properties.

Getting started with the shape tool

Affinity Designer provides a comprehensive suite of shape tools that you can use to create a variety of geometric shapes. Some of the primary shape tools include:

• Rectangle Tool: It is used to draw rectangles and squares.
• Ellipse Tool: Useful for creating circles and ellipses.
• Rounded Rectangle Tool: Allows you to create rectangles with rounded corners.
• Polygon Tool: Used to create polygons with any number of sides.
• Star Tool: Creates stars with configurable points and inner radius.

Creating basic shapes

To create a shape in Affinity Designer, follow these steps:

1. Choose a shape tool: Choose the appropriate shape tool from the toolbar. For example, if you want to draw a rectangle, choose the Rectangle tool.
2. Draw a shape on the canvas: Click and drag on the canvas to create a shape. Hold down the Shift key to constrain the proportions (perfect square or circle).
3. Adjust shape properties: Use the context toolbar to adjust properties such as the corner radius for rounded rectangles or the number of sides for polygons.

Customizing shapes

Once you've created a basic shape, Affinity Designer gives you various options to customize it:

• Adjust the fill and stroke: Choose your shape's fill and stroke colors from the Color panel. You can set solid colors or gradients.
• Change the shape's dimensions: Click the shape to see the bounding boxes. You can click and drag these to resize the shape. Use the Transform panel for precise adjustments.
• Modify corner styles: If you're working with rounded rectangles, you can adjust the curve of the corners in the contextual toolbar.

Manipulating and transforming shapes

After you've created and customized your shape, you may need to make further changes or alter it. This can be done as follows:

• Rotate shapes: Select the shape and look for the rotation handles. Click and drag the shape to rotate it. For precise angles, use the rotation inputs found in the Transform panel.
• Moving shapes: Simply click and drag to move the shape around on your canvas. You can use the arrow keys for minor adjustments.
• Duplicate shapes: With the shape selected, press Ctrl + J (or Cmd + J on a Mac) to duplicate it. The copy will appear directly on top of the original.

Using the pen tool for custom shapes

For a more advanced approach to creating shapes, you can use the Pen Tool. This allows you to create custom shapes with curves and angles:

1. Select the Pen Tool: From the toolbar, select the Pen Tool. This allows creating paths with precision.
2. Plot points: Click to set anchor points on the canvas. These points will define the edges of your shape. Click and drag to create a curve if necessary.
3. Close the path: To create a closed shape, make sure your last anchor point connects to the first one.

Once you create a custom shape using the Pen tool, you can customize it in the same way as basic shapes.

Combining shapes with boolean operations

Affinity Designer allows you to combine shapes using Boolean operations to create complex designs. Here are the main operations:

• Union: Merges the selected shapes into a single shape.
• Subtract: Removes the top shape from the bottom shape.
• Intersect: Keeps only the overlapping areas of the shapes.
• Split: Divides shapes into segments based on overlapping areas.
• XOR: Removes the overlapping region and keeps the rest.

To use these operations, select the shapes you want, then go to the toolbar or layer menu to apply the operation.

Layer management and organization

When working with multiple shapes, organizing them with layers is important to maintain a clean workspace:

• Create new layers: Use the Layers panel to create new layers. Organize your shapes into these layers for easier management.
• Group shapes: Group shapes together by selecting them and pressing Ctrl + G (or Cmd + G on a Mac). This helps manage multiple elements as a single unit.
• Lock and hide layers: Lock layers to prevent accidental editing. Use the eye icon to hide layers from the canvas when needed.

Practical example

Let's consider some practical examples of how you can use shapes in Affinity Designer:

Creating a simple icon: To create a cloud icon, use the Ellipse tool to create overlapping circles. Merge them using the Union Boolean operation to create a cloud shape.

Designing a badge: Use the Polygon tool to create a hexagonal badge. Add text and smaller shapes like stars or circles inside the badge for decoration.

Create a vector character: Combine various basic shapes like rectangles and circles to block out key body parts. Refine details using the Pen Tool and Boolean operations.

Advanced tips and techniques

To improve your efficiency at drawing shapes, consider these advanced tips:

• Snap to Grid: Enable snapping options to perfectly align shapes with the grid or other shapes.
• Using Artboards: Manage multiple designs in a single project using artboards.
• Customize keyboard shortcuts: Adjust keyboard shortcuts to suit your needs when drawing and editing shapes.

Final thoughts

Drawing shapes in Affinity Designer is an essential skill that lays the foundation for creating sophisticated and professional designs. By mastering the tools and techniques described in this guide, you will be well on your way to becoming proficient at using Affinity Designer for your design projects. Constant practice and exploration of the software will open up new possibilities and refine your digital artwork creations.

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