Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Layout Studio

Professional Publishing Made Simple

What is it?

Affinity Layout (formerly Publisher) is a professional-grade page design tool used to create everything from newsletters and club flyers to full-length books and digital magazines. It is the direct competitor to Adobe InDesign but without the monthly subscription fee.

Core Features for the "Layout Studio"

• Master Pages: Create a "template" for your headers, footers, and page numbers once, and they automatically appear on every page of your project.
• Dynamic Text Wrapping: Easily place photos into your text and have the words flow naturally around the image (as we discussed with the "Tight" and "Square" settings).
• Professional Typography: Full control over font styles, spacing (kerning/leading), and decorative "Drop Caps" for a classic book look.
• CMYK & Bleed Support: Built-in tools to ensure your projects look perfect when sent to a professional print shop.

The "StudioLink" Advantage

The standout feature of Affinity 3 is the ability to edit photos or draw vector icons without leaving the layout.

• Click the Photo icon at the top left, and your layout tools instantly change to photo-editing tools.
• Once you're done retouching a picture, click back to Layout to continue your design.

Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Layout Studio

• New Document
• Interface Overview
• How to Add Text
• Large Bodies of Text
• Place a Word Document
• Text Styles
• Pages Panel
• Add Images
• Master Pages
• Save & Export

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Topics that we will cover tonight

Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Interface Overview�

• Affinity Layout Studio has three main areas: Tools, Context Toolbar, and Studio Panels
• The Context Toolbar changes based on the tool you have selected
• To tidy your workspace, you can remove some of the Panels
• Assets, Stock, Transform, Navigator, History
• You can restore Panels from the Window Menu
• Window > Studio > Reset Studio
• The hamburger menu at top right of a panel allows you to customize it
• Color Panel = Color Wheel

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Creating a New Document�

• File Menu > "New"
• Layout Tab
• Document Units: Pixels, inches, millimeters, etc.
• Image Placement: “Prefer Embedded” is easier for beginners
• Pages Tab
• Facing Pages: 2 pages will be placed side-by-side
• Total number of pages in the document
• Color Tab
• RBG: For computer screens & home printers
• CMYK: For commercial prin�ng shops
• When in doubt, use RGB
• Margins Tab
• Margins help you to precisely place elements of your design, but will not be shown when you export your file
• Bleed Tab
• Beginners do not need to worry about Bleed, so set the values to zero

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 – Adding Text

• Select the Artistic Text Tool (the tool looks like the letter “A”)
• Click & drag to make a text box
• Formatng text:
• Select the Move Tool (the tool looks like a black arrow)
• Select the text box you want to format
• Change the size, font, color, etc.
• With the Move Tool, you can positon each element of your design
• Press on the Red Magnet to turn on “Snapping”

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Large Bodies of Text�

• Select the Frame Text Tool (the tool looks like the letter “T”)

• Click & drag to make a text frame

• If there is a Red Eye by your text frame, then the frame is not big enough to hold all of the text

• Resizing a text frame will not resize the text

• You can make a “connected text frame” by clicking on the output arrow, and clicking & dragging to make a new frame

• To format text, you first need to click & drag to select the

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Place a Word Document�

• Place a Word Document
• Make a text frame with the Frame Text Tool
• File Menu > “Place”
• To use Auto Flow, hold Shift and click on the output arrow
• This will duplicate the text frame over & over un�l there are enough text frames to hold all of the text
• Formattng all of the text:
• Click inside any of the text frames
• Press Command A (Mac) / Ctrl A(PC)
• Use the Context Toolbar

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Text Styles�

• Applying Text Styles:
• Click in the paragraph you want to stylize, or select multiple paragraphs
• Use the Text Style dropdown menu in the Context Toolbar
• Updating Text Styles:
• Select a paragraph that has the Text Style applied to it
• Stylize the paragraph however you want
• Press the update button in the Context Toolbar (the button is directly to the right of the Text Style dropdown menu)

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Pages Panel�

• Double click on a page to zoom into it
• To view both facing pages:
• Press Command 0 (Mac) / Ctrl 0 (PC)
• Or double click in between the facing pages in the Pages Panel
• Adding more pages
• Click on the page from where you want to add more pages
• Press the Add Pages button in the Pages Panel (it looks like a piece of paper with a “+” on it)
• Rearranging pages
• Click on the page in the Pages Panel
• Click & drag to move it
• Deleting pages
• Click on the pages you want to delete. You can hold Shift to select mul�ple pages.
• Press the trashcan button in the Pages Panel

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Add Images�

• Use the Place Tool (the tool looks like a picture)
• Select 1 or more photos from your computer
• Click & drag to place each photo
• After placing the photos, Affinity will automatically select the Move
• Tool, so you can refine the size & position of each image

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Master Pages�

• Open the Master Pages section of the Pages Panel, and then double click on the Master Page
• Adding page numbers
• Use the Frame Text Tool to make a text frame
• Right click in the frame > Insert Field > Page Number
• Select the Move Tool to stylize the text frame/page number
• Duplicate the text frame to add page numbers to the other Master Page (Command J (Mac) / Ctrl J (PC))
• To remove the Master Page from a page in your document
• Double click on the page in the Pages Panel
• Turn off the “Master A” layer in the Layers Panel
• Changing where Page Numbers begin
• Click on the page you want to be “page 1”
• Open the Section Manager (the button in the Pages Panel that looks like a stack of paper with a bookmark in it)
• Make a new section (the button that looks like a piece of paper with a “+” on it)
• Select “restart page numbering at”

Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Save & Export�

• File Menu > "Save As"
• This saves an Affinity file, which you can open later to continue working on your document
• File Menu > "Export"
• This exports your document in a standard format that people without Affinity Publisher can open �(PDF is the most common)
• You can change the Export Area between your current page, or the entire document

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Photo/Video Editing - Affinity 3 - Layout Studio