This effect adds a two-color gradient to any object or group: click the gradient thumbnail to change the colors. Unlike the Emboss effects, Inner Shadow doesn’t add a highlight but you could do that separately by adding the Inner Glow effect. The Inner Shadow effect adds a uniform shadow on the interior edges of the object. As you’d expect, it’s used to give objects a three-dimensional appearance. The 3D effect is more pronounced than a standard Emboss, and doesn’t have the shadow attached. We’ll see an important use of the Outline effect, later on. You can also apply a gradient to the outline. The Outline effect is similar to adding a Stroke to an object, with the exception that, as seen here, you can apply it to an entire group, rather than just one object at a time.

You can also click and drag on the curve to customize the appearance to your taste. The same controls apply as with Pillow emboss.Ĭlicking the Profile icon will give you a selection of profiles to choose from, which apply a shape to the embossed edge. This produces just an inner rounding, but it’s also accompanied by a drop shadow on the whole object. Both the highlight and shadow colors can be changed, as well as their opacity.

As with all the effects you drag the Radius slider to increase the width, and you can also You can soften the effect with its another slider. The default is Pillow, which produces a highlight/shadow combination both inside and outside the selected object. The Bevel/Emboss effect is actually several different effects, chosen from the Type menu at the top of the dialog box. If your Quick FX panel isn’t visible, choose it from the View menu. Grouped together under the Quick FX panel, they’re actually much more sophisticated than the name gives them credit for. Affinity Designer offers a range of layer effects, similar to those found in Photoshop.

Learn affinity photo