Affinity Designer Basic 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the 'Boolean operation' Subtract do in Affinity Designer?
- Removes the bottom shape from the top shape
- Removes the top shape's area from the bottom shape (Correct answer)
- Deletes both overlapping shapes
- Combines both shapes into one outline
Correct answer: Removes the top shape's area from the bottom shape
Subtract carves out the area of the top object from the bottom object, leaving the remainder of the bottom shape.
Question 2: How can you constrain an object to move only horizontally or vertically while dragging in Affinity Designer?
- Hold Cmd while dragging
- Hold Shift while dragging (Correct answer)
- Hold Alt while dragging
- Hold Ctrl while dragging
Correct answer: Hold Shift while dragging
Holding Shift while dragging constrains the movement to 45-degree increments, including perfectly horizontal or vertical.
Question 3: In the Transform panel, what does the lock icon between the Width and Height fields do?
- Locks the object so it cannot be selected
- Constrains proportions so width and height scale together (Correct answer)
- Locks the layer position
- Prevents the object from being exported
Correct answer: Constrains proportions so width and height scale together
The lock icon links width and height so changing one value automatically scales the other to maintain the original aspect ratio.
Question 4: What is the function of the Gradient Tool in Affinity Designer?
- Applies a predefined color palette to all objects
- Creates and edits smooth color transitions applied to a fill or stroke (Correct answer)
- Samples colors from a gradient image
- Converts a solid fill to a transparency mask
Correct answer: Creates and edits smooth color transitions applied to a fill or stroke
The Gradient Tool lets you apply, adjust, and reposition linear, radial, or conical gradient fills directly on an object.
Question 5: Which menu option lets you align selected objects relative to the page rather than to each other in Affinity Designer?
- Arrange > Align to Selection
- Arrange > Align to Page (Correct answer)
- Edit > Align > Page
- Layer > Align to Canvas
Correct answer: Arrange > Align to Page
Setting the alignment reference to 'Page' in the Align panel or Arrange menu aligns objects relative to the document page boundaries.
Question 6: What is the purpose of the 'Clip to Canvas' option when exporting from Affinity Designer?
- Exports only objects that are fully within the artboard/page boundary (Correct answer)
- Clips all images to circular masks
- Compresses the export file to canvas size
- Removes the background layer on export
Correct answer: Exports only objects that are fully within the artboard/page boundary
Clip to Canvas ensures that any artwork extending beyond the artboard or page edges is cropped and not included in the exported file.
Question 7: What does 'Rasterize' do to a vector object in Affinity Designer?
- Converts it to a bitmap/pixel-based image (Correct answer)
- Converts it to an SVG path
- Applies a pixel filter without changing the format
- Locks the object to a pixel grid
Correct answer: Converts it to a bitmap/pixel-based image
Rasterizing a vector object converts it into a pixel-based bitmap image, which cannot be scaled without quality loss.
Affinity Designer Basic 4
What does the 'Boolean operation' Subtract do in Affinity Designer?