Effect Filters in Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer filter effects can be used with designs as well as text. You can adjust the blur, glow, shadows, colors and even add a 3D look. In today’s tutorial we are going to show you how to make a ghost even more spooky by using these effects. With Affinity Designer effects, you can customize any design to what you require.

We are using this ghost cartoon character, which is a sublimation design but we have more wonderful sublimation designs to choose from.

We have already unzipped our designs so we can begin by opening Affinity Designer.

Step 1 - Open PSD Template

In order to add effects, we need to work with the PSD file. Go to File > Open then locate the PSD file and click on the file or click Open.

The design will be split into layers and groups under the Layers Panel on the right hand side. To open the groups, click on the arrow next to the layer thumbnail.

Step 2 - Locate the Layer Effects Panel

The Layer Effects panel can be accessed two ways. The first way is to access the Effects tab next to the Layers tab on the right. This will open the options, each with a simplified version of editing options.

Some options will have a cogwheel once the box is ticked for that effect. This then opens up the Layer Effects panel.

The second way to locate the panel is to click on the fx icon bottom of the Layers Panel. Click this to open the Layer Effects panel.

Step 3 - Apply Effects to the Design

We are going to use the second method so that we view the layers at the same time.

Add Inner Glow to Body Layer

Under the Layers Panel, click on the body layer to select it. Then just below that click on the fx icon to open the Layer Effects panel. You will notice that the body layer now contains the fx symbol.

If at any time you want to edit the effects, just click once on the fx icon on the specific layer to open the panel.



In the Layer Effects panel, tick the option Inner Glow then click on it to access the editing options. We used the following settings.

Blend Mode: Screen

Opacity: 100%

Radius: 100 px

Intensity: 80%

Click on the Color Picker box and move the Luminosity slider (L) all the way to the right. We left Edge selected below the Color Picker box. Click on the Color Picker box to close out of it.

A white glow has been added to the inner edge of the ghost’s body.

Add an Outer Glow Effect

With the Layer Effects Panel still open and the ghost body layer still selected, tick the box for Outer Glow. Click on Outer Glow to access the options. We used the following settings.

Blend Mode: Screen

Opacity: 100%

Radius: 100 px

Intensity: 50%

Once again click on the Color Picker tool. This time we will sample from the green in the design.

Place your cursor over the eyedropper then click and hold while moving the cursor around. You will get a color picker preview. Place this over an area of the green glow, then release your mouse button.

Now click on the little green dot next to the eyedropper to change the color.

You can then adjust the Intensity slider if needed to get the desired result. We increased the Intensity to 80%.

Apply Effects to Eye and Mouth

Now that you know how to apply the effects, you can continue to edit the design further. Here we added a subtle Inner Glow to the eyes and mouth layer. As we did with the Outer Glow, we sampled the color from a green area. Here are our settings:

Blend Mode: Screen.

Opacity: 100%

Radius: 100 px

Intensity: 40%

You can experiment by changing from Edge to Center to get a different result. We left our effect as Edge.

Add 3D Effect to Chain

The chain looks a little bland so let’s add a 3D effect. Click on the chains layer, then click on the fx icon to open the Layer Effects panel. Tick the box for 3D then click on it to access the options.

Now, there are quite a few options here but we are only going to edit a few. The following settings were changed while the rest was left as is.

Radius: 100 px

Soften: 15%

Shininess: 90%

Ambient: 60%

You can play around with the settings to get another result.

As each element can be edited, you can keep adjusting the settings in the Layer Effects panel. You can also go back and change those settings at any time.

Here is the before and after of our design.

Affinity Designer filter effects can create some very interesting results. Since they are non-destructive they can be edited throughout the project. You can also add more effects or remove those you no longer want. We hope that you enjoyed following this tutorial and gained some useful knowledge on using effects in Affinity Designer.