Filters can be applied to layers within your document for corrective or creative purposes.
In Affinity Photo, filters are available in both non-destructive and destructive forms. A variety of filters are available as Live Filters which are non-destructive.
As well as to pixel layers, you can apply destructive filters to mask layers, adjustment layers, live filter layers and masked fill layers; spare channels can also take destructive filters too.
For destructive filters, it's a great idea to make a duplicate layer of the layer you planned to work on. By applying a filter to the duplicated layer, you preserve the original layer's contents, with the option to hide the 'filter' layer as needed.
Filters are organised into the following categories. Tap a category to explore its contents.
Filter name | Regular filter (destructive) |
Live filter (non‑destructive) |
Average | ![]() |
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Bilateral Blur | ![]() |
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Box Blur | ![]() |
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Depth Of Field Blur | ![]() |
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Diffuse Glow | ![]() |
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Field Blur | ![]() |
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Gaussian Blur | ![]() |
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Lens Blur | ![]() |
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Maximum Blur | ![]() |
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Median Blur | ![]() |
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Minimum Blur | ![]() |
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Motion Blur | ![]() |
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Radial Blur | ![]() |
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Zoom Blur | ![]() |
Filter name | Regular filter (destructive) |
Live filter (non‑destructive) |
Affine | ![]() |
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Apply Image | ![]() |
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Deform | ![]() |
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Displace | ![]() |
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Equations | ![]() |
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Lens Correction | ![]() |
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Lens Distortion | ![]() |
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Mesh Warp | ![]() |
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Mirror | ![]() |
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Perspective | ![]() |
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Pinch / Punch | ![]() |
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Pixelate | ![]() |
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Polar to Rectangular | ![]() |
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Rectangular to Polar | ![]() |
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Ripple | ![]() |
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Shear | ![]() |
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Sphere | ![]() |
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Twirl | ![]() |
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Filter name | Regular filter (destructive) |
Live filter (non‑destructive) |
Clarity | ![]() |
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Frequency Separation | ![]() |
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High Pass | ![]() |
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Unsharp Mask | ![]() |
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Filter name | Regular filter (destructive) |
Live filter (non‑destructive) |
Add Noise | ![]() |
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Deinterlace (Even) | ![]() |
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Deinterlace (Odd) | ![]() |
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Diffuse | ![]() |
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Dust & Scratches | ![]() |
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Noise Reduction | ![]() |
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Perlin Noise | ![]() |
Filter name | Regular filter (destructive) |
Live filter (non‑destructive) |
Auto Colour | ![]() |
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Auto Contrast | ![]() |
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Auto Levels | ![]() |
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Auto White Balance | ![]() |
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Defringe | ![]() |
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Detect Edges | ![]() |
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Detect Horizontal Edges | ![]() |
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Detect Vertical Edges | ![]() |
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Divide by Alpha | ![]() |
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Emboss | ![]() |
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Erase White Paper | ![]() |
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Fill | ![]() |
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Halftone | ![]() |
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Haze Removal | ![]() |
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Lighting | ![]() |
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Matte | ![]() |
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Multiply by Alpha | ![]() |
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Procedural Texture | ![]() |
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Remove Black Matte | ![]() |
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Remove White Matte | ![]() |
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Shadows / Highlights | ![]() |
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Solarise | ![]() |
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Vignette | ![]() |
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Voronoi | ![]() |
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The following general settings are available from the filter's context toolbar:
Live filters have these additional settings: