Catalog / Affinity Designer Cheat Sheet
Affinity Designer Cheat Sheet
A comprehensive cheat sheet for Affinity Designer, covering essential tools, shortcuts, and techniques to enhance your workflow and design capabilities.
Interface & Navigation
Workspace Basics
Studio Panels |
Dockable panels for tools, layers, color, etc. Accessed via |
Toolbar |
Located on the left, contains essential tools for drawing, selecting, and editing. |
Context Toolbar |
Changes based on the selected tool. Offers specific settings and options. |
Document Tabs |
Manage multiple open documents. Drag to rearrange or create new windows. |
Presets |
Save and load presets from a range of settings like export, fonts, styles and more. |
Preferences |
Adjust settings, keyboard shortcuts and more via |
Navigation Shortcuts
Zoom In |
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Zoom Out |
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Zoom to Fit |
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Hand Tool (Pan) |
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Rotate View |
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Undo / Redo |
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Basic Tools & Functions
Selection & Transformation
Move Tool (V) |
Select and move objects. |
Node Tool (A) |
Edit vector paths by manipulating nodes and handles. |
Transform Panel |
Precisely control object size, position, rotation, and shear. Found in Studio panels. |
Snapping |
Enable snapping to precisely align objects. Toggle snapping options in the toolbar. |
Duplicate |
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Vector Drawing
Pen Tool (P) |
Create precise vector paths with bezier curves. |
Pencil Tool (N) |
Draw freehand vector paths. |
Shape Tools |
Rectangle, Ellipse, Triangle, etc. Create basic shapes quickly. Hold shift to constrain to perfect shape. |
Boolean Operations |
Combine shapes using Add, Subtract, Intersect, and Xor operations. Located in the toolbar when multiple shapes are selected. |
Convert to Curves |
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Corner Tool |
Rounds corners of vector shapes. |
Color & Appearance
Color Panel |
Choose colors for fills and strokes. Supports various color models (RGB, CMYK, HSL). |
Gradient Tool (G) |
Apply linear, radial, and other gradient types to objects. |
Effects Panel |
Add effects like shadows, glows, and bevels to objects. Located in Studio panels. |
Swatches Panel |
Save and organize frequently used colors. Create color palettes. |
Transparency Tool (M) |
Apply transparency gradients or solid transparency to objects. |
Layers & Effects
Layer Management
Layers Panel |
Organize and manage objects using layers. Create groups, rename layers, and adjust visibility. |
Grouping Layers |
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Locking Layers |
Prevent accidental modification of layers. |
Clipping Masks |
Use a shape to mask the visibility of another layer. Drag a layer onto another in the layers panel to create a clipping mask. |
Blend Modes |
Change how layers interact with each other (e.g., Multiply, Screen, Overlay). Located in the Layers panel. |
Layer Visibility |
Toggle layers on and off to help isolate content. |
Effects & Adjustments
Live Filters |
Non-destructive filters that can be applied to layers (e.g., Blur, Sharpen, Distort). Accessed via |
Adjustment Layers |
Apply color and tonal adjustments non-destructively (e.g., Brightness/Contrast, HSL, Curves). Accessed via |
Layer Effects |
Add effects like shadows, glows, and outlines directly to layers. Accessed via the |
Gradients |
Gradients can be added as fills or strokes, and they are fully editable via the gradient tool. |
Layer Opacity |
Adjust the overall transparency of a layer via the layers panel. |
Typography & Text
Text Tools
Text Tool (T) |
Create artistic text (for headlines) or frame text (for paragraphs). |
Text Styles |
Save and apply consistent text formatting across your document. Accessed via the |
Character Panel |
Adjust font, size, kerning, tracking, and other character properties. Located in Studio panels. |
Paragraph Panel |
Control paragraph alignment, indentation, and spacing. Located in Studio panels. |
Convert to Curves |
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Glyph Browser |
View and insert special characters and glyphs from your fonts. Accessed via |
Working with Text
Importing Text |
Import text from external files (e.g., .txt, .rtf) into frame text boxes. |
Text on a Path |
Create text that follows a vector path. Draw a path, then use the Text tool near the path until the cursor changes. |
Spell Check |
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Find and Replace |
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Dynamic Fields |
Insert dynamic fields (e.g. Date, Page Number) into text frames via |