Placing content allows you to include images and Affinity (Designer, Photo, etc.), Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand or PDF documents in your current document without the need to open each file in turn.
Content placed in this way can be replaced using the options on the context toolbar.
Once you've added embedded documents onto your page, you can edit each document without leaving your current document.
Once you've opened your image/document, you can place content.
Some useful tips when placing content include:
For further information on placing specific file types, please refer to the following table:
| Content type | Comments |
|---|---|
| Affinity Designer files with multiple artboards | You'll be provided with an Artboard option on the document's context toolbar so you can choose which artboard is displayed. |
| Affinity documents, PDFs and PSD files | The file will be listed in the Layers panel as either an Embedded document or Linked document depending on the Image Placement Policy set during initial Document Setup. |
| PDFs, SVGs, PSD and EPS files | If these are placed as embedded documents, you can edit them within Affinity. If edits are made, these files will be converted to Affinity documents and the original data will not be retained; you will not be able to write the embedded file out to its native file format and make it linked. Other features such as using PDF Passthrough will also then be lost. Please note that the Resource Manager will always display the original file's source filename and location should you need to refer back to it. |
| Affinity documents, PDFs, SVGs, PSD and EPS files | If these are placed as linked documents, you will not be able to edit them directly within Affinity. However, any edits made to the files will be picked up by Affinity and will be reported as Modified in the Resource Manager. You can then use the Resource Manager's Update button to update the files to match the external changes that were made. |
| Multi-page Affinity documents or PDFs | You can choose which page or spread you want to display by using Spread on the context toolbar. For PDF, only one page can ever be displayed, although you can simulate a spread by duplicating the placed object and choosing a different page to view. |
| Placed PDFs | These offer a PDF Passthrough option on the context toolbar, which defaults to Passthrough for exact reproduction within your own PDFs. If that's not possible, the Interpret option is selected. A bitmap preview of the PDF’s contents is displayed while editing your document in Affinity Photo 2. |
| Password-protected PDFs | Placing a password-protected PDF will prompt you to enter the file's password. The password is then requested whenever you open the parent document. When the parent document is exported, the resulting PDF does not have to be password-protected. If you wish to protect the exported PDF, ensure you set the required password(s) and restrictions on Affinity's Export dialog. |
| Placed PDF, DWG or DXF files containing layers | These offer a Layers option on the context toolbar, from which you can choose which of the placed file's layers are visible or hidden in your Affinity document. For example, a layer of a DWG or DXF file might contain notes or more technical information, such as component labelling, that you want to omit for a less technical audience. For PDFs, changing layer visibility will automatically set PDF Passthrough to Interpret. |
Once added to your page, you have the option to replace the content, retaining its position, as well as edit placed content.
Images can be placed by dragging and dropping them from a web browser, either as an embedded or a remote resource.
When an image is placed as a remote resource, its source address (URL) is recorded in your document. Affinity detects when a remote resource has been modified and will either notify you or automatically update the resource, according to the auto-update behaviour setting in the app's General settings.
A document's remote resources can be embedded at any time, e.g. when you are ready to send it to a professional printing service or want to create an archive of a publication. The document will retain its record of a resource's source address, which enables it to be made remote again if needed.
Any image from the Web that is initially placed as an embedded resource does not have its source address recorded and so requires you to perform the same steps again if it needs to be updated.
Do one of the following:
From the Tools panel, select the Place Tool, then navigate to your file.