Color Management and Swatches Flashcards

What is a Spot Color in Affinity Designer used for?

Answer: A named ink that prints as a single premixed color rather than a CMYK mix

Spot colors (e.g., Pantone) are single, premixed inks output on their own plate in commercial printing rather than built from process colors.

Which color wheel mode in Affinity Designer's Color panel shows harmonious hues arranged around a circle?

Answer: HSL Wheel

The HSL Wheel displays hue, saturation, and lightness in a circular format, making it easy to pick complementary or analogous colors.

How do you apply a gradient fill to an object in Affinity Designer?

Answer: Select the object, open the Fill panel, and choose Linear or Radial gradient type

The Fill panel or the Fill Tool lets you select gradient types and edit color stops directly on the object.

What does the 'Opacity' slider in the Color panel affect in Affinity Designer?

Answer: The transparency of the currently selected fill or stroke color

The Opacity slider inside the Color panel sets the alpha value of the specific fill or stroke being edited, independent of layer opacity.

In Affinity Designer, what is the 'Overprint' option used for when preparing files for print?

Answer: It tells the printer to print a color on top of underlying colors rather than knocking them out

Overprint prevents the underlying layer from being knocked out, allowing inks to mix physically on press—commonly used for black text over color.

Which Affinity Designer feature allows you to recolor an entire illustration by changing just a few global swatches?

Answer: Global Colors (linked swatches)

Assigning Global Colors to objects means editing the swatch propagates the change to every linked object instantly.