How to use the Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer stands out as a strong tool that combines vector and raster design features, which makes it popular among designers at all skill levels.

Previously, we covered how to add a mask in Affinity Designer. This tutorial will look at the Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer and show you how to use its features to improve your creative workflow. We’ll also check out powerful tools like the brush tool and see how it works with pixel layers, helping you make beautiful pixel art and detailed designs.

If you’re a visual learner, visit the Tuts+ YouTube channel for our comprehensive Affinity Designer 2 course or the Affinity Designer for Beginners course page for more engaging tutorials.

Watch the lesson: Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer

What is the Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer?

The Pixel Persona is a special feature in Affinity Designer. It helps you work with raster graphics down to the pixel level.

While Affinity Designer focuses on vector editing, the Pixel Persona offers tools just for pixel art and raster image work. Raster graphics are different from vector graphics because they are made of individual pixels in a grid. Each pixel has its own color, and when looked at together, these make a full image.

If you’ve used other pixel art or raster editing software, the interface in the Pixel Persona will look familiar. It comes with pixel brushes, selection tools, color palettes, and many other features designed to help you work easily with pixel-based images.

Lines, curves, shapes, and text can be rasterized to create pixel layers. You can rasterize if the appearance of complex vector gradients or effects needs to be honored, particularly for print artwork.

Step-by-step guide to using the Pixel Persona

Now that you know the basics of Pixel Persona and what it can do, let’s go through a simple guide showing how to use this handy tool.

Step 1: Switch to the Pixel Persona

To use the Pixel Persona, find the Persona icons in the top left corner of the Affinity Designer. Click on the Pixel Persona icon, and your workspace will change—you’ll see new tools and panels made for pixel editing. These tools include:

Move Tool
Rectangle and Elliptical Marquee Tools
Freehand Selection Tool
Selection Brush Tool
Flood Select Tool
Pixel Tool
Paintbrush Tool
Erase Brush Tool
Flood Fill Tool
Dodge Brush Tool
Burn Brush Tool
Smudge Brush Tool
Sharpen Brush Tool
Color Picker Tool
View Tool

Don’t worry about losing your vector documents or edits. You can easily go back and forth between vector and pixel spaces without changing your original artwork.

Step 2: Select and use pixel brushes

Doing digital painting in the Pixel Persona starts with picking the right tool. The Brush Tool is the best choice here. You can find it by clicking its icon in the toolbar or by pressing the B key on your keyboard.

The real strength of the Brush Tool is its many customization options. You can change several settings to give your brush strokes the look you want.

Here are some important points to remember when using the Brush Tool in the Pixel Persona:

Brush size: Select the right brush size for the detail you need.
Brush hardness: Use hard brushes for sharp edges and soft brushes for smooth blending.
Brush opacity and flow: Play around with the opacity and flow to manage how transparent the color is and how it builds up.

Step 3: Create textures

Try different brush settings, colors, and shapes to find your own style. Practice making basic shapes and see how to mix them for more complex designs.

Getting the hang of the Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer gives you many creative options. If you learn its features and tools, you can make great art and textures really easily. You can improve your designs by adding effects and styles, and improve your workflow for better efficiency.

Watch the lesson: Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer

What is the Pixel Persona in Affinity Designer?

The Pixel Persona is a special feature in Affinity Designer. It helps you work with raster graphics down to the pixel level.

If you've used other pixel art or raster editing software, the interface in the Pixel Persona will look familiar. It comes with pixel brushes, selection tools, color palettes, and many other features designed to help you work easily with pixel-based images.