Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
Watch + join BYOL for the full Affinity Essentials Course and 10% off: byol.com/affinx
Download the Exercise Files: byol.com/affinxx
Download the Cheat Sheet: byol.com/affinxx
Learn Affinity's Pixel, Vector & Layout suite with designer Dan Scott, and finally handle photo editing, vector design, and desktop publishing without switching apps. Affinity is a powerful design suite from Canva that puts pixel, vector, and layout tools in one seamless workflow. And yes, it's powerful enough to take on Adobe.
You'll work through real-world projects like social posts, logos, posters, business cards, packaging mockups, and interactive PDFs, building a clear feel for when to reach for Pixel, Vector, or Layout tools. With Affinity now free to use, there's nothing stopping you from jumping in and creating right away.
Along the way, you'll pick up a few fun extras too: using AI to kickstart ideas, turning rough hand-drawn sketches into clean vector art, and building effects and typography tricks you can drop straight into your own portfolio. If you're coming from a Photoshop or Illustrator background and worried Affinity will feel unfamiliar, don't be. You'll quickly see how the workflows line up, and where Affinity actually makes things faster.
No prior Affinity experience needed. We'll start at the very beginning and work through everything step by step, so open up Affinity, get comfortable, and let's go turn you into an Affinity superhero (cape optional).
Requirements:
– Affinity installed (100% free)
– A Canva Pro account (optional)
– No prior Affinity or design experience required
Who this course is for:
– Complete beginners with zero Affinity experience
– Current Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign users looking to make the switch to Affinity
– Designers, hobbyists, freelancers, and small business owners creating photos, illustrations, branding, social media graphics, magazines, and presentations
– Anyone who has opened Affinity, felt overwhelmed, and wants a clear, approachable path forward
What you'll learn:
– Core principles of design, photo editing, and desktop publishing
– Retouching photos and replacing backgrounds in Affinity Pixel
– Enhancing color and contrast for polished social media graphics
– Creating clean geometric icon sets in Affinity Vector
– Building scalable vector logos from hand-drawn sketches
– Combining photography and typography for cinematic poster designs
– Designing professional business cards with print-ready setup
– Creating multi-page layouts in Affinity Layout
– Working with flowing text and linked images across documents
– Designing realistic product packaging mockups
– Creating interactive PDFs with clickable navigation and links
– Combining vector, pixel, and layout tools in a unified workflow
– Creating branded marketing materials for print and digital use
– Preparing files for professional printing and client delivery
– Building polished portfolio presentations and lookbooks
– Setting up files to avoid print mistakes, weird colors, or blurry results
– Developing efficient workflows for real-world creative projects
– And more!
00:00 Introduction
01:56 Getting Started
04:03 Resetting Affinity
07:28 The Affinity Ecosystem
17:30 Affinity vs Adobe and Canva
25:38 Your Course Project
27:37 Vector Studio Overview
30:39 Navigation, Shapes, Strokes and Fills
45:12 Drawing and Editing Vectors
57:25 Scaling Objects
1:00:32 Adding Text
1:04:10 Saving and Exporting
1:07:21 Class Project: Cocktail Graphic
1:11:00 Pixel Studio: Selections and Masks
1:27:07 Class Project: Fruit Collage
1:29:13 Levels and White Balance
1:41:05 Class Project: Photo Editing
1:45:11 Canva AI Tools
2:00:46 Layout Studio Overview
2:06:19 Importing Images and Artwork
2:18:44 Class Project: Drinks Menu
2:22:47 Working with Images and Text
2:34:14 Paragraph Styles
2:41:24 Finishing Your Drinks Menu
2:47:33 Creating Mockups in Canva
Join the Bring Your Own Laptop Facebook Group: byol.com/FB
Follow me on Instagram: byol.com/IG
Follow me on TikTok: byol.com/tiktok
Follow me on Twitter: https://x.com/danlovesadobe
Join the LinkedIn Group: byol.com/LINKEDIN
Watch + join BYOL for the full Affinity Essentials Course and 10% off: byol.com/affinx
Download the Exercise Files: byol.com/affinxx
Download the Cheat Sheet: byol.com/affinxx
Learn Affinity's Pixel, Vector & Layout suite with designer Dan Scott, and finally handle photo editing, vector design, and desktop publishing without switching apps. Affinity is a powerful design suite from Canva that puts pixel, vector, and layout tools in one seamless workflow. And yes, it's powerful enough to take on Adobe.
You'll work through real-world projects like social posts, logos, posters, business cards, packaging mockups, and interactive PDFs, building a clear feel for when to reach for Pixel, Vector, or Layout tools. With Affinity now free to use, there's nothing stopping you from jumping in and creating right away.
Along the way, you'll pick up a few fun extras too: using AI to kickstart ideas, turning rough hand-drawn sketches into clean vector art, and building effects and typography tricks you can drop straight into your own portfolio. If you're coming from a Photoshop or Illustrator background and worried Affinity will feel unfamiliar, don't be. You'll quickly see how the workflows line up, and where Affinity actually makes things faster.
No prior Affinity experience needed. We'll start at the very beginning and work through everything step by step, so open up Affinity, get comfortable, and let's go turn you into an Affinity superhero (cape optional).
Requirements:
– Affinity installed (100% free)
– A Canva Pro account (optional)
– No prior Affinity or design experience required
Who this course is for:
– Complete beginners with zero Affinity experience
– Current Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign users looking to make the switch to Affinity
– Designers, hobbyists, freelancers, and small business owners creating photos, illustrations, branding, social media graphics, magazines, and presentations
– Anyone who has opened Affinity, felt overwhelmed, and wants a clear, approachable path forward
What you'll learn:
– Core principles of design, photo editing, and desktop publishing
– Retouching photos and replacing backgrounds in Affinity Pixel
– Enhancing color and contrast for polished social media graphics
– Creating clean geometric icon sets in Affinity Vector
– Building scalable vector logos from hand-drawn sketches
– Combining photography and typography for cinematic poster designs
– Designing professional business cards with print-ready setup
– Creating multi-page layouts in Affinity Layout
– Working with flowing text and linked images across documents
– Designing realistic product packaging mockups
– Creating interactive PDFs with clickable navigation and links
– Combining vector, pixel, and layout tools in a unified workflow
– Creating branded marketing materials for print and digital use
– Preparing files for professional printing and client delivery
– Building polished portfolio presentations and lookbooks
– Setting up files to avoid print mistakes, weird colors, or blurry results
– Developing efficient workflows for real-world creative projects
– And more!
00:00 Introduction
01:56 Getting Started
04:03 Resetting Affinity
07:28 The Affinity Ecosystem
17:30 Affinity vs Adobe and Canva
25:38 Your Course Project
27:37 Vector Studio Overview
30:39 Navigation, Shapes, Strokes and Fills
45:12 Drawing and Editing Vectors
57:25 Scaling Objects
1:00:32 Adding Text
1:04:10 Saving and Exporting
1:07:21 Class Project: Cocktail Graphic
1:11:00 Pixel Studio: Selections and Masks
1:27:07 Class Project: Fruit Collage
1:29:13 Levels and White Balance
1:41:05 Class Project: Photo Editing
1:45:11 Canva AI Tools
2:00:46 Layout Studio Overview
2:06:19 Importing Images and Artwork
2:18:44 Class Project: Drinks Menu
2:22:47 Working with Images and Text
2:34:14 Paragraph Styles
2:41:24 Finishing Your Drinks Menu
2:47:33 Creating Mockups in Canva
Join the Bring Your Own Laptop Facebook Group: byol.com/FB
Follow me on Instagram: byol.com/IG
Follow me on TikTok: byol.com/tiktok
Follow me on Twitter: https://x.com/danlovesadobe
Join the LinkedIn Group: byol.com/LINKEDIN
