ColorPop Halftones - Affinity Tutorial
10 Halftone Styles — Any Angle & Scale
40 Preset Color Options
Main Instructions
Step 1. Open Your Layers Panel
Open the main COLORPOP HALFTONES file. Go to Window > General > Layers to open your Layers Panel.
In the Layers Panel, click the Layer Group dropdown arrow to view the contents.
Step 2. Open the Embedded Document to Add Your Image
Double click the Embedded Document thumbnail to open it.
Paste, scale, and position your image in the Embedded Document file. Hide the existing Example Art. Save and close the Embedded Document file.
Navigate back to the main ColorPop Halftones file. Your art should now be visible with halftones applied.
Step 3. Choose a Halftone Style
Turn on visibility of ONE of the halftone sublayers. Turn off visibility of all other halftone options.
Step 4. Scale and Rotate a Halftone Style
Highlight your chosen halftone layer in the Layers Panel.
Select the Fill Tool and a scale/rotation handle will appear. Drag the handle to your desired halftone scale and angle.
Step 5. Choose (and Edit) a Color Preset
The Color Preset layers are all marked with a RED layer label. Turn on the visibility of any ONE of the Color Presets layers.
(Otherwise, turning off all Color Preset layers will result in a standard Process Color palette, similar to how a CMYK image is generated).
The Color Presets use Affinity’s Gradient Map feature. You can also double click on any of the Color Preset layer thumbnails to open your Gradient Map editor.
Change these colors to your own preference, as well as move the sliders around to optimize the appearance of your graphic.
Step 6. Knockout Your Darkest Ink Color (Optional)
If you are printing on dark fabric, such as Black, Navy, or Dark Brown, you may choose to knockout your darkest ink color. This will result in less ink and a much softer print.
To accomplish this, highlight the top “COLORPOP HALFTONES” layer group. Click on the gear icon at the top right of the Layers Panel to bring up the Blend Options.
Under the “Source Layer Ranges” section, click to add a new point as shown here. Drag the top leftmost point to the bottom, aligned vertically underneath your newly created point. (Make sure your bottom background layer visibility is turned off so you can see the dark ink color drop away.)
Step 7. Knockout Your Lightest Ink Color (Optional)
If you are printing on light fabric, such as white, yellow, or light blue, you may choose to knockout your lightest ink color.
To accomplish this, use the same method as described in Step 6, except you will want to position the points at the opposite end of the Source Layer Ranges graph.
Step 8. Export Your Image as a Transparent PNG
Make sure the “Background” layer visibility is turned off.
Go to File > Export > Export and use similar settings shown here for best results.
