Affinity Photo: Beyond the Basics Course

Lesson 1 • Navigating the Canvas Efficiently

Teaches zoom, pan, rotate, and navigator shortcuts for fast canvas control. Fluent navigation reduces friction during complex editing sessions.

Lesson 2 • Document Setup and Color Management

Defines document profiles, resolution, and color spaces for print and screen. Correct setup here prevents color-shift problems in every later chapter.

Lesson 3 • Workspace Layout and Customization

Covers the Studio panels, toolbar arrangement, and persona switching. Establishes the spatial awareness needed for efficient workflow throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Pixel Masks and Painting Transparency

Teaches creating, refining, and painting pixel masks to hide or reveal layer content. Pixel masks are the primary non-destructive isolation tool used in later chapters.

Lesson 2 • Layer Types and the Layers Panel

Introduces pixel, vector, group, and adjustment layers and their panel controls. Understanding layer types is the foundation for all compositing work ahead.

Lesson 3 • Adjustment Layers and Live Filters

Applies tonal and color corrections through adjustment layers and live filter layers. Both remain fully editable and affect only layers below them in the stack.

Lesson 4 • Blend Modes and Opacity

Explains how blend modes mathematically combine layers and when to use each category. Mastery here enables creative compositing and light-effect techniques.

Lesson 1 • Lens Corrections and Chromatic Aberration

Removes barrel distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration using lens correction tools. Correcting optical flaws at the RAW stage avoids quality loss from pixel manipulation.

Lesson 2 • White Balance and Color Calibration

Sets accurate white balance using the eyedropper and temperature-tint sliders. Correct white balance at the RAW stage preserves maximum color data for grading.

Lesson 3 • Exposure and Tone Controls

Adjusts exposure, highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks to recover dynamic range. Proper RAW tone mapping reduces correction work in the Photo persona.

Lesson 4 • Noise Reduction and Sharpening

Applies luminance and color noise reduction alongside capture sharpening in the Develop persona. RAW-stage noise reduction is more effective than pixel-level filtering.

Lesson 1 • Channel-Based Masking

Builds luminosity and color-channel masks for tonal-range selections. Channel masks provide precision unavailable through brush-based selection tools.

Lesson 2 • Refine Selection for Complex Edges

Applies the Refine Selection dialog to recover hair, fur, and translucent edges. This workflow is essential for professional-quality compositing on difficult subjects.

Lesson 3 • Geometric and Freehand Selection Tools

Covers marquee, lasso, and polygon selection tools with feathering and anti-aliasing. These tools form the baseline before moving to intelligent selection methods.

Lesson 1 • Healing Brush and Inpainting

Uses the Healing Brush and Inpainting Brush to blend repairs seamlessly into surrounding texture. These tools handle blemishes, dust spots, and object removal.

Lesson 2 • Frequency Separation for Skin

Separates texture and tone onto independent layers for non-destructive skin retouching. Frequency separation preserves natural skin texture while evening tone.

Lesson 3 • Liquify Persona for Reshaping

Applies the Liquify persona's warp, push, and freeze tools to reshape facial features and body contours. Mesh saving allows non-destructive re-editing at any time.

Lesson 4 • Dodge, Burn, and Skin Contouring

Uses dodge and burn on a gray overlay layer to sculpt light and shadow non-destructively. This technique adds dimension to portraits and product photography.

Lesson 1 • Reading and Using the Histogram

Interprets luminosity and RGB histograms to diagnose exposure and clipping. Histogram literacy is the analytical foundation for all tonal corrections that follow.

Lesson 2 • Soft Proofing for Print Output

Simulates print output using ICC profiles and gamut-warning overlays before export. Soft proofing prevents color surprises when images move from screen to press.

Lesson 3 • HSL, Color Balance, and Vibrance

Shifts hue, saturation, and luminance per color range for targeted color grading. These tools correct color casts and create stylized looks without affecting tone.

Lesson 4 • Split Toning and Color Lookup

Applies split toning to shadows and highlights independently for cinematic color grades. Color Lookup tables enable one-click style application across multiple images.

Lesson 1 • Color Unification Across Composite Layers

Applies global color grades and gradient maps to unify disparate source images into one cohesive look. Color unification is the final step before output in any composite project.

Lesson 2 • Compositing Workflow Planning

Establishes a structured layer order, naming convention, and reference-image analysis process. Planning prevents rework and keeps complex composites manageable at scale.

Lesson 3 • Shadow and Light Integration

Paints realistic cast shadows and light spill to anchor composited elements in the scene. Convincing light integration is the primary factor in photorealistic compositing.

Lesson 4 • Sky Replacement and Environment Blending

Replaces skies using selection, masking, and color-matching techniques for realistic integration. Environmental blending requires matching ambient light across all composite elements.

Lesson 1 • Exporting for Print and Web

Configures resolution, color profile, and compression for print-ready and web-optimized exports. Correct export settings ensure files meet client and platform specifications.

Lesson 2 • Recording and Running Macros

Records multi-step editing sequences as macros for one-click application to any image. Macros eliminate repetitive manual work and enforce consistent processing standards.

Lesson 3 • Export Persona and File Formats

Uses the Export persona to configure slices, format settings, and metadata for web and print. Understanding format trade-offs prevents quality loss and oversized file delivery.