“Fake” vector-raster art is possible! (client project insights)
Overcoming texture challenges in Affinity Designer
Hello Creatives!
I can’t show you the entire spread because it’s an unpublished client project, but I wanted to share a little bit of inspiration today: you can imitate raster textures with vector art! Why would you do that? To preserve the vector super-editability and scalability.
The client that I’m working for right now got very excited that I’ll be using vectors. I had a choice between submitting .psd files or .ai files and I went for .ai and vectors. I got very encouraging feedback that their designer is excited he will be receiving vector files from me. Turns out, they mainly receive raster files but they really appreciate the flexibility of vector! That was so encouraging ^^
Anyways, I have this spread where I want to keep it all 100% vector but I also want it look like a traditional “waxy crayon” texture:
So is the pink drawing above vector or raster?
Yes, it’s all vector based!
Step 1: draw your crayon drawing in the Pixel persona or in Procreate, or scan/photograph your analog drawing. Step 2: import it to Affinity and trace every shape and imperfection using the Pencil tool, no stabilization, just Fill, auto-close. Draw as many shapes as you need and then group the, all into one “crayon drawing” group. Done! :) No need to merge the shapes but make sure that you group them.
PS: I am absolutely loving this client project! The books are coming out in April 2025 🥳 Give vectors a chance, you could stand out in front of your competition ^^
As always, let me know if you have any questions!