Lighting effects

The Lighting feature simulates lighting from one or more light sources.

About lighting

Lighting effects simulate ambient, point, directional, and spot lighting in your design. You can supplement the single light source with additional light sources for more advanced lighting control; different light source types can be used in combination, each being independently configured and positioned using on-screen handles.

Affinity Photo 2 also lets you create lighting effects from 3D bump maps made from texture inherent in any image.

Source types

Different source types give dramatically different results. The types are best imagined with a few examples.

Lighting effects can also be applied as a non-destructive, live filter.

Settings

The following settings can be adjusted on the context toolbar:

For 3D Bump Maps:

To apply a spot light:
  1. From the Filters panel, select Lighting.
  2. Navigate the context toolbar, and choose a Light Type of 'Spot'.
  3. Drag the on-screen handle at the apex of the 'fan' shape to adjust the distance and direction of the light.
  4. (Optional) Drag the Elevation handle situated along the centre line to set the height of the spot light above the page.
  5. (Optional) Drag the outer and inner handles at the end of the fan to set the outer and inner cone, respectively.
To apply a point light:
  1. From the Filters panel, select Lighting.
  2. Navigate the context toolbar, and choose a Light Type of 'Point'.
  3. Reposition the default point light by dragging the centre handle over a subject of interest.
  4. Drag the circle's edge inwards or outwards to set the light's distance from the light position.
To apply a directional light:
  1. From the Filters panel, select Lighting.
  2. Navigate the context toolbar, and choose a Light Type of 'Directional'.
  3. On the context toolbar, drag the cross-hair within the Direction dial.
To load a 3D bump map:
  1. On the context toolbar, tap Load Texture, navigate to, then select your image.
  2. Adjust Texture to set the amount of texture displayed.

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