Transparency

Transparency can be applied in lots of ways in Affinity Designer.

Transparency examples
(From left to right) Solid, Elliptical, Radial, Linear and Conical transparency types applied to a basic shape.

Here are the typical methods for its use.

Opacity is a term you'll see in Affinity Designer—this is the opposite of transparency. An object with 0% transparency is fully opaque (100% opacity), while 100% transparency means the object is invisible (0% opacity).

Opacity quick keys

You can use the numerical keys to set the layer opacity of a selected layer(s) or object(s).

This quick access to opacity settings also applies to brush tools in Pixel Persona.

To change the solid opacity of an object:
  1. From the Color panel, choose stroke or fill from the Stroke/Fill color selector.
  2. Drag the Opacity slider.
Transparency Tool To apply a transparency gradient to an object:
  1. From the Tools panel, select the Transparency Tool.
  2. Drag across your object to apply a transparency gradient.
To apply layer opacity:
  1. From the Layers panel, select a layer.
  2. Click the panel's Opacity down arrow and drag the slider to adjust.
To use opacity quick keys:
  1. Do one of the following:
    • Select a single layer or object, or multiple layers or objects.
    • Select a brush tool in Pixel Persona.
  2. Press a numerical key, or two numerical keys in quick succession, to set the opacity. For example:
    • Press 4 for 40% opacity.
    • Press 0 for 100% opacity.
    • Press 4 and 5 for 45% opacity.
    • Press 0 and 7 for 7% opacity.
Layer Effects To apply layer effect opacity:
  1. From the Layers panel, click Layer Effects.
  2. From the dialog, adjust the Opacity slider if available. Not all layer effects have the Opacity setting.

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