for version 1

(updated for beta

1.0.19988 ) THe pumpKIn TUToRIal
Affinity Designer is a brand-spanking new vector drawing app. It was in
beta for a while and can now be had from the Mac Apps Store exclusively.
In this introductory tutorial, we'll go right into making our Jack O'lantern
just in time for Hallowe'en!
Along the way, we'll go into tools, panels and menus that apply to our
Pumpkin project. This tutorial isn't designed to be a one-stop for every thing
in Affinity designer, but it will serve as a good starting point that we can
build our knowledge on.
Let's see Affinity Designer in action!

SeCTIon TITLEs in aCTIon TITLEs Basic knowledge of Mac OS X 7.5

or higher. This tutorial was done
in Mac OS X 10.10, so the interface

description of what
This is an
information
in aCTIon sub-TITLE elements may loOk difFerent for
you.
box. UsualLy it A purchased copy (via the Mac ApP
the section covers or has calLout Store) and/or the latest beta,
for crucial info. arRows to A balLoOn which you can get from the online
what it's about. points to forum
what it is
describing.
# Heads UP! read this whole document first,
then folLow the in Action
The first step This is for very sequences.
important
sometimes steps
neEd more text.
information! This document wilL be updated to
# This gives
reflect changes in the Designer
apP as they hapPen, so be sure
The last Step additional info there isn't a new version at the
that isn't directly location you originalLy got this
pertinent to the
one from.
This style of text box is issue at hand--
the above are how like an introduction,
steps in the aside or a FYI kinda
sequence are thing. It may include the --but is good info of course, the context of these
numbered. The hash author's opinions & to know. it can also things can & wilL overRide
mark (#) is replaced experience. look like this. these meanings, even for things
by a (DUH!) number. that aren't mentioned.
Just sayin'.

1 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 TO Begin WITH... It's recommended to browse through the Help (from the Help Menu, of course) at least once before
following this tutorial. Compared to many other apps, the help for Affinity Designer is ... well helpful.
It's clearly written and organized. If you do select it from the menu (or using the command-shift-/
shortcut) and it shows up blank, just click on it or reselect it from the menu. That usually works in
getting it to appear. In this beta (1.0.19988) Help pops up in no time. Yah, I know I rant about
reading the Help file, but look at it this way, by reading it you empower yourself. You learn how to
It's important to know that Affinity Designer is at version 1. find answers. You think I did this tutorial without any ... Help? Hmmm?
Usually a one-dot-zero version is a sign that an app is crash-
prone and barely useable. (Below) Artist conception of That which cannot be named.
Not in this case. Affinity Designer has undergone months of beta
testing and within 2 weeks of its initial launch in the Mac App
Store, there was already a beta released that addressed a
number of user-submitted bugs/issues. Now, barely a month out,
there's been 4 betas out that resolve additional issues and add
functionality. I've been using (and abusing, but that's a story for
another tutorial) software for a pair of decades now and this
app is definitely ready for prime-time.
I have every confidence that the developers will deliver on their
promise to continue to improve & add features to Affinity
designer -- making it better and more affordable than other...
illustrative apps. Or to paraphrase (with apologies to) Mark
Twain: "I love vectors, it's Adobe I can't stand."

This may be repeated throughout this tutorial, but I want

to make it clear from the start, that the procedures and
methodology outlined here is my personal workflow. In plain
speak, it's what works for me. It may not work at all for
you. All that's required is for you to give it a honest try.

Since it's Hallowe'en, I can share one of my most

horrible experiences from high school to make my point.
Yes, it was English class.
Diagramming sentences.
The horror. The horror. Even Chluthlu would run
screaming for Its life from it.
Made no sense to me. Once all that vile underlining and
angled lines (i.e. garbage) were removed I did learn
structure of a sentence from it. Not a total waste.
So even though the workflow I'm outlining may seem like
it's some kind of Mountain of Madness, look at what we
want to do & how it was done. Once you get that, then
you, with love, craft your own method of madness, one
step beyond mine. Make it yours.
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn",
true believers!

2 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 We'lL make a vector pumpkin using an imported image as

IT's PumpKIn Carvin' TIme! reference. Unlike what Dr. Frank N. Furter claims, it won't
take 7 days. But then, we're making a Pumpkin, not a man.

overview
This is the As we go though the steps to create Read the Help file for AfFinity
sketch we'lL be if you have a our Crepuscular candle container, The Designer! Topics wilL be mentioned &
using for sketch you like first time we use a menu or paletTe, you can do a search on them in the
reference. betTer, go we'lL loOk at options and go a bit in- help window. if alL that info was in
ahead & use depth on it. From then on, it's expected this tutorial, it would be so much
it. that we'lL remember what it does. longer. Besides, this way, you'lL know
how to find info betTer.

Create a folder, name it AD Pumpkin, or

whatever makes sense to you.

Put the Pumpkin Sketch 01.png and

alL other files that were in the Zip
archive inside The shiny new folder.
Save your AfFinity Designer files inside
that folder, toO.

Get in the habit of saving your files

often. Sometimes even do a Save As...
to save incremental copies. Sometimes
things get corRupted -- it's always
goOd to have a falL back.

3 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.


STARTIng fROm sKETCh!
SETTIng THings Up
1 Fire up AfFinity
Designer & go to the File
menu. Select New or go alL
fancy and use the keyboard
shortcut ComMand-N. You'lL
seE a dialog box like this
4 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.
We have to begin somewhere, so it might as
well be at the beginning... A new document.
3
2 First we want to seE
what Type of documents
these are the difFerent types of
documents we want to select
Photo, as it's the closest we
Type, Page Preset &
we can create, so click on
the pop-up menu butTon
have to "Digital art".
Document Units sets to the right of Type:
up the basics for the
document.
now click on the page
preset pop-up menu butTon.
4
Below is what it shows for
Photo. PretTy extensive, ain't it?
ToO bad we're not going to use
any of them. We'lL be rolLing our 5 Just to be completists, here's
own Page preset. CurRently the choices for Document
there's no way to save a custom units. Let's choOse inches
preset. it's on the way, because the author lives in a
though... country of measurement LudDites
(the ol' USA, donchaknow).
6 For Colour format, use RGB/8, if
we do print this, it'lL be on our
home inkjet, so RGB wilL work
just fine. RGB is best for
The onscreEn graphics, toO.
if we go back and
margins want to change them
neEds to be after the page is made,
put in one at be sure to re-do alL of
7 Color profile, Use sRGB. ApPle RGB
a time. them. Else they wilL or *d•be 1998 RGB Could be used,
zero out. (that's a though. make sure transparent
confirmed bug) background is unchecked.
 8 DOn't know about you, but I like to make
9 2 things should've hapPened, first the simple 10 became 10 in inside the
entering info as quick & painlesS as text box. Second the Page height text box should have a nice blue
posSible. So first click in the Page width rounded rectangle outline. usualLy the tab key wilL just move from list to
text box. Enter in 10 and presS the tab key. text box, unlesS you activate it to do more, as shown below.

10 11
Now with our tab key
empowered, we can finish
this dialog with just our
keyboard. With Page
Height outlined in blue,
presS enter or return.
Now it's editable. Type in
10 and presS tab.
We don't want Portrait or Retina
checked, so just keEp presSing the
tab key until we get to DPi. if it
doesn't have 300 (or even if it
does), presS your cursor down
arRow. The list now apPears. Use
the up/down arRow keys to select
the number we want: 300.
The system preferences in the Mac OS X has lots
of noOks and CranNies. Makes Most english mufFins
jealous, it does. if you're unable to use tab to go
from one area to another area in the New dialog box,
the isSue may be with Your Keyboard prefs.
Open up your System prefs and click on the
Keyboard icon. Now click on the shortcuts tab
butTon. You'lL seE something like the image below...

12
Once the Dpi is set, tab
over to the Left
Margin, presS return,
type in ".25" and hit tab.
now Right Margin is
active, repeat the above
until alL margins have
0.25 in in them. KeEp
tabBing until OK is
active and then presS
return. Don't forget
to save the file inside
the AD Pumpkin folder.
You can name it
something like Pumpkin,
if'n you want to.

Houston, we have new

document. Next up, we'lL
import our image file.

...Click on the
AlL controls while this may be a
Radio butTon and default for Yosemite,
we can tab with it's beEn an option For
Using tab to go to all the pros! quite a few OS versions.
controls, pressing spacebar
will toggle a checkbox.
5 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.
 To the right are the Persona Personas are unique to Affinity Designer. It's a bit like having

TOo TOol for schOol buttons located on the left

side of the top tool bar.
Draw
Below is the Draw tool panel. This panel contains the tools
we have in the Draw Persona. Letters inside the brackets
are the single-key shortcuts to that tool. If different
tools have the same shortcut key, then you can cycle
through the tools by pressing the key multiple times.
export a swiss army knife®, each one of the Personas does things
the others cannot. Each persona has its own tools we can
use.
Draw is where we create Vector elements. We can make
curves, fill them with colors or gradients.
Pixel allows us to make raster (pixel) based art using brush
and pencil tools. Similar to Sketchbook Pro or Painter.
pixel Export is where we can use the auto-created slices or make
our own, that can be exported as separate image files.
Inactive personas
are greyed out.

When we refer to
Move ToOl [V] The tools in Red are a tool in text the
ones that we'll be key short cut may
Node ToOl [A] using in this tutorial. be added like this:
Move Tool [V]
pen toOl [p]
The Gradient toOl has a lot
pencil toOl [n] of options and can give some
pretTy impresSive results Most of these shapes have
brush toOl [b] once you know how to use it. some pretty great ways to
We'lL cover it pretTy modify themselves. Usually
thoroughly in this tutorial. through an interactive widget
gradient toOl [g]
on the selection itself. They
really are worth a bit of time
transparency toOl to play around with.

place image toOl We'lL be using this

toOl on the next page!
vector crop toOl

rectangle toOl [m] the Rectangle and

ElLipse toOl has
some pretTy neat
elLipse toOl [m] options that we'lL
get a handle on.
rounded rectangle toOl [m]

triangle
the Triangle toOl has a
Art Text ToOl [t] boat-load of difFerent
shapes it can create. to
Art Text ToOl the right is the fulL list.
pan toOl [h] shares its spot
with Frame Text
zoOm toOl [z] toOl. The light
gray triangle Hold down the Option
indicates there's key before selecting
more toOls there. this tool & you'll see a
purr-fect little cuddly
easter egg.

6 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 We'll be placing our pumpkin sketch into our new document. Then we'll resize it and take a look at

STARTIng fROm sKETCh! the layer palette and create some named layers to store our vectors in. All this is still preparing
to do our art, so have patience young Jedi, soon you'll be bending vectors to your will.

sKETChy IMpoRT
3
1 Unlike most toOls, this one Notice that on my setup, alL my

2
Click on the Place makes a select file sheEt pumpkin files are in the Pumpkin
image toOl in the drop down from the top of Project folder. However you name it,
toOl box. the document window. find the Pumpkin Sketch 01.png file
that came with this tutorial & click
on it to select it. Click Open.

4
The sheEt rolLs up & the cursor
changes into the place file toOl. There's
a holLow triangular pointer on the left
side of the toOl. mOve the cursor so
The tip of that pointer is in the top left
corner of the margins -- the ones we
placed at .25 at the top, botTom, left &
right. if you don't seE them, don't sweat
it, just click & hold a bit from the
upPer left corner of the document.

5 With the cursor stilL presSed down, drag

the cursor to the botTom left of the
document, either at the blue border lines or
the same distance as it was from the upPer
left. In anywise, we should have a square
image placed pretTy much in the center of
our document. The next page has a screEn
cap of what it should loOk like, with some
calLouts if it neEds to be adjusted.

7 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 Here's what the placed Pumpkin picture should look like. If it's not

DOTS Power! centered and scaled to a quarter-inch of the edges, don't fuss
or fret, this page will step you though the process to fix it.
Don't be alarmed at the fact that the top
toolbar may not resemble yours, the
toolbar here has been modified. See
Affinity Designer help under workspace /
Customizing the Persona tool bar for info
on how to add icons to the toolbar (hint:
right-click on the tool bar and choose
Clicking on any of the corner dots wilL Clicking and dragGing on this "customize toolbar". You're welcome).
scale the image proportionalLy. Hold holLow dot wilL rotate the
down the option key to alLow for freE placed image using the
scaling. Holding down the comMand key image's center as the pivot.
wilL scale the image from it's center.

the midDle dots lets us scale the

image horizontalLy or verticalLy.
Holding down the Option key
scales from the center.

Below is the Transform

panel. You can seE where it is
located on the big screEn cap
on the lower right corner.
here we can change the
location, size, rotation and
skew of the selected item(s).

Clicking on this link

butTon wilL lock the width
and height so entering info
on one wilL change the
other proportionalLy.

This status text, gives tips

and info depending on the
action or toOl selected.
Bears watching.

8 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 So far we've just been learning things and getting things set up for our pumpkin drawing. It's not

STARTIng fROm sKETCh! the most exciting or dynamic thing to do, for sure. One thing though, do all of this boring crap
enough times and it'll become second nature. The type of thing to do during one's cup of morning
hot beverage. All this serves as a sound structure for our work to be created within. An extra five
minutes here can save hours later
LAyer for THe fUTuRE!
1 click on the new Vector layer
lock
layer
Here's the Layer Panel. The top row (the butTon and create 4 new layers.
lighter grey color) has Opacity, Blending
Modes and the Lock Layer button.
Everything is on layers. To the
left, at the top is the blob
2
Double click on the
(Curve) layer. The name within layers and rename
the Parentheses tells us what each one so they
specific kind of layer it is. In match the layer
this case, Blob is a curve layer, names on the screEn
which means it contains a vector cap to the right.
object with nodes and possibly
stroked curves and/or a fill. See
Lines of force (Curve) below
Blob. when a curve is a parent of 3 the botTom layer, which
another curve (or other layer)
we just renamed Ref
it's a clipping layer. In this
images, should contain
example, the parts of lines of
the placed image layer
force that are visible are areas
click on the triangle to
that are within the shape that
show what's inside that
Blob describes.
layer. select the image
layer (it'lL have the
name of the image file),
and click on the layer
Going down the list we can see Lock Layer butTon.
Cogs, Rectangles and more. By
double-clicking on a layer we can
give any layer a name. The
parenthetical descriptions
remain, though.
4 Click on the triangle
on the Ref images
layer to close it.
Notice that the sliders in AD
have tic marks and most wilL
These are (left
delete
active
5 The Ref images layer
snap to those marks making it
quick to set the value (in this
to right) Mask, New layer. should be selected. example) at 25% increments. Very
Adjustment & pixel Go to the Opacity % nice User interface feature!
EfFects. Layer. box and use the
slider to set the
the checks on the far opacity betweEn 50%
this wilL alLow any
right of alL layers to 25%, depending on
object in any layer
New when checked -- your tastes..
to be selected.
vector layers are visible,
Layer. when unchecked --
layers are hidDen.
9 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.
 I09.com has a semi-regular series where the columnist asks readers to submit 6 word super-short stories

ConSTRuCTIve THinKIng based on Hemingway's "For sale: baby shoes. Never worn." It's always fun to read and is the idea behind this
kind of approach to creating vector drawings: Keeping things as simple as possible at the beginning, while
still making a clear statement. In our case, the statement is a visual one. Simplicity comes from looking at
our sketch and seeing shapes that we can use to create it.

BREaKIng down THe image The sketch we use for our reference should be as complete as possible. Lines should be clear,
not scratchy or vague. In comics we could call these pencils "tight." Don't leave areas of the
sketch rough, thinking "I'll fix that later, when I trace it in vectors." Most times, when this is
done, the "later" translates into much time lost. The raw truth is that it's easier to resolve
problems of drawing in pencil (either analog or pixel- based media) than it is to fix them in
Vectors. Our sketch is our map of where we're going and it needs to be as clear as possible.

1 LoOk at the

3
sketch & seE the
big areas first. 2 Now let's break down the big
The stalk may have to be
simplified or drawn in the
There's 4 main areas: areas & seE how they may play out. Pixel persona. However --
• Stem/stalk that may draw undue
• Pumpkin shape atTention to it.
• Features
(eyes, nose, mouth)
• Background
the shape of the pumpkin
contains segments, so an
oval & 4 crescent shapes
wilL do welL after a bit
These main areas are
of tweaking.
what formed the basis
for the layers on the
previous page. The order
of the layers is also The features could be
important as the top done by creating a
layers obscure what's triangle for the eyes &
below it. Therefore the with tweaking & adDing
background is on the nodes, work welL. Same
bottom layer, features on
for the nose, only the
the top and the stalk
below the pumpkin shape.
base shape would be a
rectangle. The mouth
would be best served by
using the Pen toOl. The
The line that describes the cut for depth of the features &
the "Lid" of the jack o'lantern, the holes they form can
wilL be done as a line and may be The background can be 2 be done using closed
on its own layer. We'lL decide how closed and filLed curves curves created by the pen
to do it as the drawing evolves. with gradients adDed. toOl & some clipPing
(which we'lL learn how to
do in a jifFy)

While alL this pre-work stufF seEms to be way toO mental, KeEp in
mind that the time we toOk reading this is longer than it takes when
doing this "in our heads." Most of this is visual thinking. PutTing
words to it makes it seEm more complicated than it actualLy is.

10 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 Shape TOoLS Finally! Here we'll be creating some objects to form our pumpkin from some shapes. First we'll create the raw
shapes and then learn how to convert to curves. During this process, there will be a few detours as we learn some
info on how to select objects, set up strokes and fill colors.

Fun wITH pRE-fab forms The area below the persona selectors
is the Context toOlbar. since we have
the elLipse toOl selected, the Context As the name implies, the
1 toOlbar shows us FilL and Stroke
color, stroke width and a butTon to
Context ToOlbar
changes its contents
select the Pumpkin layer convert the selected element to curves depending on what toOl
in the Layer panel. (which wilL do nothing now, 'cuz there is curRently in use.
ain't no objects made or selected). The
2 redDish and Purple rectangles after
FilL and Stroke are the color chips we
ChoOse the ElLipse toOl can click on to seE the color panel.
on the ToOl Panel

3 At this point don't worRy

about stroke or filL color
and Stroke width, we'lL
adjust those in a moment.
Now begin our oval for the
midDle of the pumpkin at
the top of the center
section...

4
...Drag right a bit and then
it's important, in this case, to make go downward so we get a
sure we have the specific layer talL narRow elLipse...
selected, as any new objects we
create wilL then be created within
that layer. if we didn't select a
layer, then the object wilL either
be on its own (not within a layer)
or inside another layer. Either one
of those cases mean we have to
drag the object into the layer we
5
...and when we're at the
want & waste a bit of time & efFort. botTom, release the cursor
it's always a goOd idea to know & gaze upon the glory that
where we are before doing stufF. is our first object we
created for this document!

11 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 FYI: We're not going into the color or
stroke panels in depth here, but when we
6 7 set up the final look of our pumpkin, we'll
focus on all those settings. Right now
Aside from the filL and on the context toOlbar, click on the we're just setting things up so we can
stroke, this is basicalLy color chip right after filL (seE previous quickly get the shapes right. I've found
what we should end up page). that things go quicker when I can focus on
with. one aspect of Vector Illustration Creation
at a time, get that right and then move on.
To quote the move Contact: Little steps.

8 Click on the
None tab...
9 ... Which wilL change
the apPearance of the
drop-down panel.

10 Click on the color

paletTe drop-down
menu butTon &
choOse Crayons from
the menu (shown on
the right)

Although we didn't
need to change the
color palette at this
time, we did it to show
one aspect of AD's
interface -- Once a
color palette is chosen,
Now that we're working it'll be the "default"
on a vector object, the palette until it's
selection handles work changed.
a bit difFerently. The
corner dots alLow for
freE (i.e.unconstrained)
resizing unlesS the
shift key is presSed.

12 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 11
clicking on either one
of these color chips
wilL drop down the
Color context panel.
Click on the Stroke's
color chip.

12 13 Now
click on This is the
the Stroke convert to
when the color context context curves butTon
panel apPears, click on butTon we'lL use on
the Swatches tab. We page 15.
want to choOse a color
for the stroke that isn't
going to be used for the 14
ilLustration. in the the context panel (below) apPears. Don't be
Crayons color paletTe confused by the blue outline in the Style area
there's a color named -- stroke has color and is active. Compare the
"BubBleGum" that we'lL line icon to the one on its right. The line icon
use. Click on that color has a darker background. That blue outline
chip and the stroke color shows us where the focus of the tab is. Hit the
should change. tab key a few times and you'lL seE the blue
outline move to the next item in the panel. Tab
until the value in the Width area is hi lighted
(it's 13 pt here, may be difFerent for you). Type
in .5 and presS return to comMit the change.
The other setTings are just the way we want
them: Cap= round, Join = round and Align = Align
Stroke to Center (These are alL the first item
after the name).
15 This capture
should be what
our elLipse should
loOk like now.

13 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 Here's where we adjust the ellipse shape to

form-fITTIng get close to what we want. Then we'll convert

this shape into curves and move the Nodes (in
other apps they're called points or control
points) around and adjust them until we get
Since this is a simple shape, we'll take our time
& examine just what we can do with nodes, the
difference between corner & smooth nodes. This
exercise will be the foundation of what we'll be

gETTIng THe shape RIgHT something that's precisely what we want. doing, as we work our way through this tutorial.

1 3
Let's make sure we're alL
working the same way... Select the Move toOl [v] 5 Holding the comMand key down while
dragGing on a selection dot wilL resize
the object from its center. if you can't
2 get something close to what's below,
just forgo using the comMand key and
4
on the layers paletTe -- we Notice that the elLipse is
should have our elLipse hapPy centered over the midDle drag out a midDle dot on each side until
& snug in the Pumpkin layer. section in the sketch. To you get the outline of the shape to match
adjust the width, hold down the sketch as closely as posSible.
the ComMand key and drag one
of the midDle dots on the
vertical sides outwards..

6
To the right is
notice that any new elements that are
pretTy much what
created uses the currently active layer to
determine where to create the new object. If
we want at this
the layer is a (Layer) then it'll be created point. We'lL tweak it
within the layer, if the layer is an element, so it'lL be a perfect
like (curve), then the new object will be match next.
created on top of the active layer.

14 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 The oval should still be selected. If it's not, select it. What we're doing now is to convert the ellipse shape

form-fITTIng into curves. Once that's done, we'll look at nodes and how to move them around and change them. A few
esoteric aspects of vectors will be looked at along with some "better practices" for node management.

WoRKin' in a curve mine...

6 The Move [v] toOl is probably stilL active. The
1 ON Page 13 is the location of
image to the left shows us what it may loOk
like. No big change, right? That's because the
the Convert to Curves Move toOl selects things on the layer like
butTon on the Context toOl they are a single object.
bar. The same comMand is on
the layer Menu.
7 The Node [a] toOl is what we neEd to use to
2 Don't click or use that
work with the nodes and adjust the curves
just so. PresS the single-key shortcut, a, to
menu comMand just yet. make it the active toOl. Click once on the
take a loOk at the layers curve (or click on the Curve layer) and we can
panel. Pay atTention to the seE the individual nodes. Round "holLow" dots
elLipse layer. are for curves, square ones are for corner
or Sharp nodes. One thing that sticks out is
the red outlined node. what's up with that?
3
Now click the convert to
curves butTon or choOse
the menu comMand.
8 Simply put, that's the "origin" of the curve.
Although we, as users, seE the curve as
closed with no dangling nodes, the ApP neEds
to know where the curve begins and ends for
4 Take a loOk at the layers
such things like filL and such.

panel again. The (elLipse)

layer changed to (Curve).

5 it's goOd practice to give

each layer a meaningful
Here's a quick
name. Since this layer is in
example of how it
the Pumpkin Layer "group",
comes in handy, if
let's name it Center
we would use the
Section. Double-click on
presSure panel to
the layer name and then
give a variable
type in the name we want.
thicknesS to the
Hit Return to comMit to the
curve's stroke,
new name.
we can seE where
Notice that the (curve) stilL
the line starts
apPends the name.
(it's thin) & ends
(it's thick).

15 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.


form-fITTIng
Flying oFf THe handLEs
1 We should stilL have the Node toOl
active and the center section (curve)
selected. be careful and click on the
botTomMost node and drag it down
to the sketch lines as shown below.
3 When there's tic marks on the 4 we just can't do welL without adDing more
lines of the handles, both sides
are the same length. Hold down
the shift key and drag the
handle dot toward or away
from the selected node to get
the curve close to the
sketch's line. remember that
the sketch was done freEhand,
so what we're doing is refining
the line, so don't aim for 100%
acCuracy. Focus on getTing the
line loOking goOd to you.
16
Here's were we really start creating our pumpkin. Yeah, it's been slow Part of how this tutorial will
with lots of boring stuff about looking at the shape and learning about
the tools. This is the beginning of the pay-off, pal! We'll learn about node
Handles and how to make them smooth or sharp with ease. But wait!
work from here on, is to show
how something works and
then it'll be up to you to
Creating new nodes is as easy as a click on a stroke. Let's get to it! repeat it on the other areas
that need to be worked on.
2
those things on each
side of the node we
clicked on are
handles.
5
it's probably evident that the areas around the
eyes and mouth have curves on the section that
nodes. Now we don't want to adD dozens of nodes
Repeat this for the other
when a few would do. First ofF, let's figure out
side of the Node and then where a node would do the most goOd. Since the
for the top node (the red
eyes and mouth are features, they wilL be drawn
outlined one) and both of on a layer above, so anything we do inside of
the sides. Don't forget to
them on the Pumpkin layer wilL not be seEn. We
hold down the shift key to can make that work for us. So we want to
keEp the angle of the
create the node inside the features, so that if
curve unchanged, or not the curve is toO sharp, it won't be noticed. at
depending on how things
alL. The circled area above is where I think wilL
are working out for you. be a goOd place for the node to be adDed.
©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.
 Please note that for some reason or other my screEn
6 One of the best features of
capture apP doesn't seEm to want to capture the special
cursor icons for AD. HopefulLy my texural descriptions of
the node toOl is that when we
them are goOd enough so you don't get lost!
click on a stroke a new node
is made! No fidDling with a "adD
Point" toOl that more times
than not telLs us a point Either click on the sharp
can't be adDed. node icon in the context

9 10
toOl bar or hold down
the option key and
7 the node cursor is a holLow Click on the new
adjust the upPer handle.

11
arRow-head, when it's over a node & place it on
node it gets filLed in. Move the the intersection, as below is what our
cursor over a line and below shown below. handles on the new node
the arRowhead a tilde (~) could loOk like. Since we
apPears. that indicates that if can seE the whole curve
you click there, a new node wilL on our screEns, it may
be created at that location. make more sense.

8
On the left eye of the sketch,
click on the stroke when the
section line (brown) crosSes
the eye outline (Cyan). We
should have something like
the image below.

What we've done in the past 2 pages is

esSentialLy what we'lL be doing for
the rest of this (and most other)
vector drawing : create the basic
shape and then refine it by adDing
nodes and adjusting the handles of
nodes. sounds simple, but the
execution of it takes a bit of time.

17 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 12 13
We want to repeat
this on the other
eye and then for
the left & right of
the mouth.
14
Take your time, do one side and this is
what we should
then the other, especialLy
for the mouth. Note that end up with
after alL that
the nodes we'lL adD for the
mouth is inside the mouth node-pushing!
opening, so the actual
sharp node won't be seEn
once we create and place
the mouth.

Just to repeat: the steps we toOk in this section forms the basis for every vector
object we'lL create and/or modify. The concept is simple, we create the rough shape
(either by using a shape like an elLipse or by creating a curve -- which wilL come up
in due time) and then modify it at much as we can before adDing new nodes. Every new
node must be neEded. Although we could adD many more nodes than what we did, be
mindful that the more nodes we adD, the harder it is to reshape if something comes
up later on, either a modified sketch to work from or a new idea we come up with.

When the arRowhead icon of the node toOl gets that Tilde on its botTom right,
not only wilL a click on the line create a new node -- but if we click and drag,
we can alter the curve that we're over. And make a straight line curved! Be
careful as this can bite us if we aren't exactly on a handle dot. if you mesS
around enough, you'lL get what I'm saying here.
Holding down the option key while moving a handle dot wilL change the node
from a sharp node to a smoOth one. Another way is to move the handle so it is
in line with the opPosite one. For instance, if the top handle is at 10 o'clock and
the botTom one is at 6 o'clock, when I move the top handle to be at noOn, the
node changes from a sharp node (square shape) to a smoOth node (dot shape).

When we change a node like the above method,

the node outline changes to red. We'lL neEd to SmoOth nodes, ones
release the mouse or cursor and then click on created when we
the handle dot to make use of it being a smoOth converted the elLipse
node, otherwise if we keEp moving the handle, into curves.
it'lL remain a sharp node.

if a node is acCidentalLy created, then an undo New nodes we created by

can get rid of it. clicking on the stroke
and making them a sharp
Another way to get rid of a node is to select node via/menu or option-
it and hit the delete key. it'lL just delete the dragGing the handles.
note and not the entire shape. Nor wilL it
"break" our shape.

18 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 Wrapping up the pumpkin's shape, we'll use the crescent tool to make the inner and outer sections. For each one we'll

GouRD shape begin by getting the crescent close to what we want it to be, convert the shape to curves and move/add nodes to fit
the sketch as best we can.
Once we're done with the shapes, we'll name the layers and then use the flip horizontal tool to make the section for

Finishing THe PumpKIn! the other side. Good times.

Since we've done a lot of this in the center section exercise, this exercise will move at a faster pace, not every single
step will be illustrated.

1 Select the center section

layer. This way when we
create the other 2 sections, ! if the stroke has a difFerent filL than BubBlegum or thicknesS other than .5,
change it in the context toOlbar before making the crescent. if not, change it
they'lL be created above the afterwards. this is so that alL the sections of the pumpkin has the same loOk.
center section, but stilL
within the pumpkin layer.

2 5 With the crescent toOl

stilL active, click on the 6 Adjust the top,
ChoOse the Crescent toOl
red dot and drag it botTom and side
and draw out a cresent for
towards the center of the dots as neEded.
the left side of the pumpkin
pumpkin.
like in the image below.

3 Start
here...

4
... finish
here.

19 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 6 9
click on the Convert Tweak the nodes until the
to curves butTon in line matches the sketch.
the Context toOlbar..

10 it's okay to "go outside the

7 8 Create a node to fit
lines" a bit, especialLy if
adD the necesSary that results in a smoOther
with the curve
nodes to fit the line line. We want to draw the
around where the eye
to the sketch. line we saw in our minds as
hole wilL be. we sketched. The sketch is
just reference.

20 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 11
Now for the final, outside
section. Just repeat steps
2-10 again only fit the
shape to the outermost
section of the pumpkin.
12
After we finish tweaking
the nodes that are there
and adDing new ones, the
outer section should loOk
like this:
13 Taking care, rename the Curve
layers to have names of the
part of the pumpkin they are
for. Remember that when a
layer is selected, what it
contains becomes selected on
the canvas.

14
We've named these with
the sufFix RT, because
it's the pumpkin's right
side (our visual left).

15 Now we just have to

arRange these layers so
the center is on top,
midsection is next and
outer section is on the
botTom...

21 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

16 ... by dragGing the selected layer (outer section
RT) down below the Midsection RT layer. A blue
bar highlights where the dragGed layer wilL end
up. If it's a horizontal bar betweEn The thumbnail
square and the name of the layer, the dragGed
layer wilL be masked by that layer. if the blue
bar highlight is "indented" below the layer, then
the dragGed layer wilL be clipPed by the layer
above. We want the blue bar to highlight from
the left edge of the thumbnail to the rest of
the layer.
17
Once alL the layers are in
Here's a quick guide place, we can make copies of
to decoding the the Mid and Outer section
bar's highliting: layers for the other side.

Masked

clipPed

below

19
Just drag the
18 outersectino RT
and Midsection RT Now just rename the copies as
layers to the new shown above and we can flip them
layer butTon as as demonstrated on the next page...
shown.

22 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

19 in the toOlbar, there's a set of
butTons calLed "Transforms" -- the
first butTon on the right is flip
Horizontal. Select the Midsection LF
layer and click this butTon.
One could also just go to
Layer --> Transform --> Flip Horizontal
and do the same thing.

20 After flipPing the layer,

use the Move [v] toOl to
place the section where it
belongs on the opPosite
side of the pumpkin.

21
Since the sketch was drawn using
symMetry, the flipPed layers
should match up very welL.

Congratulations! We've just made

the outlines of our pumpkin &
learned some stufF about AD in
the procesS.

Next up, we'lL be working on the

features of the face. But first a
bit of info about how to deal
with nodes and such.

23 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 VeCToROLOgy 101 Pt 1 There's some things about vectors & how they work in AfFinity Designer that
we should adDresS now, before we create our own shapes with the pen toOl.

Full disclosure Dept: we've already been

There's a great book about Using vectors to create art: doing some of the One of the most important decisions we make in fine-
Vector Basic Training by Von Glitschka. (Published by techniques from tuning our vector drawings is where, precisely, to adD
Peachpit press, ISBN 978-0-321-74959-8) Although it's that book: the thin new nodes. This is a Both a science and an art.
focused on Illustrator and a few specific plugins, about and brightly colored Let's do a smalL exercise on it now.
90% applies to all vector art. I've modified some of the strokes with no fills.
instructions from that book to work with the way I do
things. So if some things that I mention or do are
familiar, well you know the source now.

Here's a character
2
of mine: CudDles. Now, it'lL be perfectly
reasonable to start
by placing nodes,
pulLing out handles
and getTing the
curves going right
from the start.
3
There's another (maybe betTer)
way, from my experience (and
from the VBT boOk) and that's
to just make a sharp node
where we neEd nodes. And when
the shape's closed, we can fine-
tune by making some points
smoOth and pulLing out curves.

4
First select the pen
toOl, set the stroke
color [bubBlegum] and
stroke width [.5 pt] and
click where the curves
are making a direction
change or where it loOks
like I'lL neEd a node to
maintain the outline.

To make sure the curve

1 is closed, hold the pen
tool over the first point
Let's draw the we created. Below the
shape of its Pen icon of the cursor, a
belLy area. hollow circle will appear.
Click when you see that
icon and the curve will
be closed.

24 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 5
and here's what the 6
curve loOks like when Not only does North point to where
below is the compasS placed the Node is, but east and West
the pulLing out of on a few nodes, so we can seE
curves is pretTy much gives a rough idea where the next
how the procesS works. points are/could be. two compasSes
finished.
have dotTed lines to ilLustrate
this. it's not perfect, but that's
where the art part comes in.

By placing a node at the apex, or "center" of a

curved part of the line, making that part North of
our compasS, we can use East and West to susS
out the next/prevous nodes posSible locations.
We can calL this adDing NecesSary Nodes.

N
But how does one figure out where

N
the %#$@&! to place the nodes?!?

visualize a compasS. North N

points to where the point is.
East & west are the
direction of the line. South
is used when the line curves
in an almost closed elLipse.

N
The Vector Basic Training
book uses a clock N
metaphor, but it was hard
for me to visualize until I
realized that a compass
worked better in my mind.

25 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 this area wilL be
hidDen by CudDle's
This is the (PretTy much) head, so the parts
final closed curve shape. that are hidDen aren't
curved, but the ends
of the straight line
are curved, so that
the line leading into
it flows with what
wilL be seEn.

This part deviated from the

sketch in order to fit
betTer with the overalL
curve of the belLy meEting
the top of the body.
Because I was working
from a pretTy detailed
sketch, this was an easy
calL to make.

Creating shapes/curves is a balancing

act, toO many nodes and it's a
nightmare to work on, not to mention
that the line itself can begin to loOk
wonky -- goOd if that's the efFect
you want, bad if it's not.

if there's not enough nodes, the

curves can begin to loOk flat and
that's caused by the handles being
pulLed out toO far from it's node.
if vectors are new to
you this concept of
necesSary nodes
may take a while to
make sense to you.
Once it does, you'lL be
able to loOk at a
shape and just know
where to adD nodes.

26 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 We're getting more comfortable with the AD interface and how it does things. Good,

SETup STuFf because now we'll be creating shapes, performing operations on them and tweaking them
to be the shapes we want. The importance of "big forms first, details later" becomes
clearer as we wind our way though making features for our pumpkin.

befoRE we START veCToRIng... Like with the pumpkin sections, we'll be creating one side and then copying the layer,
flipping it and moving it into place. Before we get to that, let's do a bit of housekeeping.

We'lL be
working in WE want to
the Features Click on keEp the stroke
layer. the layer to the same width,
make it but change the
active color to Sea
foam.

Now any new

elements we create
wilL be within the
Features layer!

To prevent any
accidental selection to
our pumpkin sections,
select the Pumpkin
layer and then click on
the Lock icon in the
upper right corner of
the Layers panel.

At this stage, we're only really concerned

about the outlines of the shapes, so having a
different contrasting color for each part of
the pumpkin (sections, features, etc) helps
us to know which objects are which.

Now we're ready to begin

Making the Edit alL Layers
creating the features of
butTon active saves us from having to
our Jack O'Lantern.
select the layer before being editing
the darn thing.
27 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.
 This is going to be the longest exercise in this book so far. We'll be creating the

Node IT ALl shapes that'll become the eyes, the nose and use the pen tool to create the Mouth.
We'll also be looking at the Operations that we can do on shapes and the
importance of knowing which elements are above others.

SHape-UP! 3
1
Click on the Convert
Create a triangle over the Pumpkin's to curves butTon.
right eye with the Triangle shape
toOl. Click on the rotate dot and
rotate it clockwise as shown.

4
2 choOse the Node toOl
and make changes to
Adjust the size, getTing the eye shape. Don't
it as close as posSible. worRy about the
Don't worRy about "dents" that the
precision, that's for segments make at this
when we convert this time, we'lL fetTle that
shape to curves. out later.

28 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 5 6 ChoOse the Triangle shape toOl and do
ChoOse the elLipse shape toOl & draw out
an oval. Move it, rotate it and resize it to the move/rotate/resize thing and place
fit closely to the eye of the Pumpkin. it like shown in the image below.

7 8
if we folLowed the instructions
closely and didn't veEr ofF on
tangents, our Layers panel
should loOk like this:
if not, then drag the layers to be in
the sequence shown. We'lL be Using
operations in the next part, so the
arRangement of layers are very
important, as we'lL learn.

In case anybody's
wondering why we're
not naming layers, it's
not that important at
this stage, as we're
working with 3 layers We'll name the final
and the default names layer when we won't be
work well for doing any more
identifying them boolean operations.

29 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 George Boole did a number of things in his lifetime. His work in

BOoLEan isn't a diET fOod for ghoSTs mathematics advanced computer science and gave computer graphics
artists Boolean Operations. It's almost enough to forgive him for creating
the basis of Algebra. Ya gotta take the good with the bad, I guess.

Remember the in the example

ElLipse and triangle below, the Triangle
from the previous is filLed with a red
We'lL start by
page? KeEp in mind color and the oval The layer panel shows us
loOking at the
that the triangle is is filLed with blue what the objects loOk like
original 2
on top and the and the stroke is after the specific operations
objects
elLipse is directly now an orange have beEn done to copies of
below it. color. the originals (on the botTom
of the list).

Divide is the only

operation that
creates more than
one layer.

Ignore the Text layers,

that's the labels we
see on the screen
capture on the left
side of this page.

There's 5 operations One way to loOk at

we can perform: how these operations
•AdD afFect the objects, is
•Subtract to think of the
•Intersect botTom object as
•Divide being changed by the
•Combine upPer object. That
could be why the filL
and stroke color is
the same as the
botTom object in alL On the next page we'lL
operations, except seE how to use these
for Divide. operations within
AfFinity Designer.

30 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 Since operations isn't part of
the default set, we'lL have to Right-Click on an empty part Many of these may be
adD 'em to our toOlbar. of the toOl bar. ChoOse Once you've dragGed the ones that'lL be used
Customize toOlbar from the often in our
Operations group to the toOl
contextual menu. workflow. EspecialLy
bar, take a moment and loOk at
if we use a graphics
alL the options for toOlbar
tablet and going to
Like with most Mac OS apPs, the toOlbar has butTons before clicking Done.
the menus is just toO
groups of butTons and individual ones. Drag onerous to deal with.
the Operations group to where you want
them in your toOlbar.

Below is the operations toOls

with calLouts to which ones
are which. AlL of these can be
gotTen from the menu:
Layer --> Geometry item.

subtract Divide

AdD

intersect combine

! Holding down the

Option key wilL
perform this
operation, but in an
non-destructive
manNer. SeE Creating
compounds in the
Help files for more
info on this.

I've found it helpful There we have it. alL we realLy neEd to know
to set Show to Icon about BoOlean operations. Next we'lL use 'em
and Name until I get for the Pumpkin's eye (which sounds like a
used to the app. great name for a Goth-rock group)...
31 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.
 With all this buildup, you'd expect a lot of steps and such in this part. Nope.

Node IT ALl Because since we built things methodically, it's just select a pair of layers and
click a button and move on.

VeCTor operATOr
1 2
Here's our layer panel as it is now.
Click on the Subtract
4 And now we have just one
Click on the (Curve) layer and
shift-click on the elLipse layer. butTon in the toOlbar. (curve) layer in the Features
layer. Name this layer Eye RT.

3
Now select the
New curve layer 5 Do a bit of refining to the curve,
adDing nodes for the curves of the
and shift-click on pumpkin sections and we should have
the Triangle layer. something like the image below.
Click on the
Subtract butTon
one more time.

Although we could select all three layers and do the Subtract

once, doing it this way has some benefits: If anything goes wrong,
we can just perform an Undo (cmd-Z) and try again. If any step
along the way goes all full-tilt-bozo, we can isolate just where the
oddness came from and see about correcting it and finally, we
6 Now we just make a copy of the eye RT layer,
can review each step along the way and delete extraneous nodes change the RT to LF, flip it and move Eye LF into
as we get them, instead of all at once at the end. place. We're done for the eye... for now.
32 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.
 Node IT ALl In theory, we should have this whole process down. This final section on features will go by pretty
quickly, page-wise. We'll touch on the highlights and the in-between stuff should be relatively easy.

THe sniFfer and candLE-hoLE

1 The pumpkin's nose has two
nostrils, we'lL work on the
pumpkin's right one first.

3 convert the rectangle to curves

2 andChoOse the rectangle toOl
draw out a talL rectangle
over where the pumpkin's left
and use the node toOl to move
and adjust the curve so it 4 Once that's done, name the
loOks like the image below.
nostril is. layer Nose RT, copy it like we've
beEn doing (drag the layer
down to the New layer icon in
the layer panel) and rename
the new copy Nose LF.

5 With Nose LF selected,

click the Flip Horizontal
butTon. Move the Nose
LF shape into place.

6 PretTy quick, eh? Get

ready to mouth-ofF on
the next page.

33 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 7 Let's take a moment to loOk
We could use a bunch of
triangles and boOlean 'em
together, but why not just
at the Bat-symbol, I mean use the pen toOl? One step and
the pumpkin's mouth.
there's the shape we neEd.
8 Like previous times with the pen toOl,
just click on the main points, with nary a
care about where the pumpkin sections
bent the mouth's shape. We can do them
after we get our basic shape down.

9 Bend the curves, adjust the

node handles when
necesSary. And Shazam! we
10 When the basic shape meEts with
our apProval, alL we neEd to do now
got our mouth shape!
is adD the nodes for where the
pumpkin sections ben the mouth
shapes. We do this to maintain the
ilLusion of the mouth (and other
features) being on a 3-d surface.

11
When that's alL finished, name the
layer Mouth. While in the layer
panel, turn ofF visibility for the
background image and turn it on for
the Pumpkin layer.

34 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 12
And here's what the
pumpkin could loOk
like with the
background image's
visibility turned ofF.

Notice how nice the

sea foam stroke
color of the eyes
loOk against the
bubBlegum pink of
the pumpkin
sections.

Next up: building the

stem of the pumpkin
and the boOlean
bugaboO 2!

35 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 ••• end of part one ••• Part 2 wiLl aRrive in a wEek or so! •••
Sometimes a simple project takes on a
life of its own. Such is the story behind
this pumpkin tutorial. I knew I wanted to
create a tutorial that would not only
show How to do something but give a bit
of the mental thinking about Why
now this pumpkin
something was done that way. tutorial has
become a monster!

So here's the deal:

Right now it's Nov 2nd and I have to work on some comics, so I won't have
Any
a lot of time to finish this right away, but it's not abandoned. If you have corrections or
any issues with this tutorial, found any problems or wanna give me a tip suggestions will be
of the hat or a wag of the finger, leave a comment in the forum thread added to the
where you got this tutorial from. Or Message me via the Affinity Design existing tutorial,
forum -- my user name is CartoonMike. Or go new-old-school and e-mail BTW.
me: mike@bratcat.com and put AD tutorial in the subject line.

I hope to have the second part

finished in a weEk or by
Thanksgiving (US) at the latest.

Keep in mind that this tutorial is a labor of affection for Affinity

Designer and a gift to the community. So feedback is my only
reward, so let me know what you think of this so far. Good, bad
or meh, any feedback is better than the roar of silence.

Thanks,

Michael Rhodes

36 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.

 coLOphon & STuFf LIKE THAT!

ScreEn caps was done via

SnapNdrag by yelLow mug
(wWw.yelLowmug.com). It's the
best darn mac-only screEn cap
apP in this or most any other
AfFinity Designer beta 1.0.1.9988 universe!
was used for this tutorial. the
exercises should work with the Mac This boOklet was laid out, writTen in and
ApP Store version (more or lesS). exported using COmicLife 3. the only
real afFordable choice to letTer comics
in (and leaves Manga studio's letTering
BulLets and in the dust! AdmitTedly not a high bar).
The font used For ComiCraft's Yadda Yadda
the Body text is Page numbers
Yadda & Soliloquous are in Get a 30 day demo of Comiclife from
comicraft's Fonts are used for some wWw.plasq.com.
Wildwords Comicraft's
upPer & lower case text.
KilLjoy
font.
Comicraft fonts can be
obtained from
www.comicbookfonts.com Janet Rhodes, my wife, a superb
check out Comicraft's Annual New year's sale and yearly subscriptions! giver of feEdback & she who must
be obeyed.

Mark & Erica And the rest of the

Comic Life crew at Plasq.
Titles and such use
blambot's wonderful The AfFinity Design Forum for
opentype font -- just being an amazing place for
information and striaght talk from
the developers. Thanks to every
member!

Blambot Casual Blambot has dozens of high quality fonts, freE for indy Tony B, Andy Somerfield, MatT P
is used for most comic artists. Check it out & stop using comic sans today! & alL the developers & goOd
of the upper & people at AfFinity!
lower case text.
Get these Fonts at wWw.blambot.com Peter, AD forum member who
inadvertently began this whole idea
of a tutorial. Don't blame me, it's
alL his fault!
AlL trademarked names or copyrighted materials are ™ or ® or ©2014 by the respective owners.
No infringement was intended nor should it be inferRed. c'mon, let's alL get along now, okay?
37 ©2014 by Michael Rhodes, alL rights reserved.