Affinity Designer handles brushes differently from most painting apps, and that difference is the source of most confusion. It has two kinds of brushes living in two separate workspaces: vector brushes, which draw editable curves dressed in a texture, and pixel brushes, which paint raster pixels like a traditional paint program. Pick the wrong one and your stroke either refuses to blend or turns into a curve you cannot smudge. This guide explains how to use brushes in Affinity Designer, when to choose vector or pixel, and how to set them up for clean, pressure-sensitive strokes.
Quick answer: In Affinity Designer, use the Vector Brush Tool (B) in the Designer Persona to paint editable, scalable strokes, or switch to the Pixel Persona and use the Paint Brush Tool (B) for raster painting. Pick a brush from the Brushes panel, set Width, Opacity, Flow and Hardness in the context toolbar, turn on pressure and the Stabilizer for smoother lines, and paint on a new layer. Import extra brushes from the Brushes panel menu with Import Brushes.
Vector Brushes vs Pixel Brushes
Before you paint anything, decide which kind of stroke you need. The choice affects how you edit, scale and export your work.
| Feature | Vector brush (Designer Persona) | Pixel brush (Pixel Persona) |
|---|---|---|
| What it creates | A curve with a textured stroke applied | Raster pixels on a pixel layer |
| Editing after drawing | Move nodes, change width, swap brush | Erase, smudge, paint over |
| Scaling | Curve scales cleanly; texture stretches with it | Loses quality when enlarged |
| Blending colors | Limited; strokes sit as separate objects | Natural buildup and blending |
| Best for | Line art, lettering, inked illustration, textured outlines | Shading, painterly textures, soft gradients, details |
Many illustrators combine both: vector brushes for linework they may need to resize, pixel brushes on separate layers for shading and texture. Both work best with a pressure-sensitive pen, and our stylus guide for digital painting explains what to look for in pressure and tilt support.
A note on versions: Affinity’s apps have gone through several releases, including Affinity Designer 1 and 2 and, more recently, a combined Affinity application where the Designer and Pixel workspaces appear under different names. The brush concepts below apply across versions, but menu labels may differ slightly in yours.
How to Use Brushes in Affinity Designer: Vector Brush Tool
- Make sure you are in the Designer Persona. It is the first persona icon at the top left of the window.
- Select the Vector Brush Tool. Press B or click the brush icon in the Tools panel.
- Open the Brushes panel. Choose Window > Brushes if it is not visible. Select a brush category from the dropdown, then click a brush.
- Set the stroke color. In the Color panel, the stroke color (the ring) controls vector brush strokes.
- Adjust settings in the context toolbar: Width, Opacity, Flow (where available), Stabilizer, and whether pressure is used.
- Paint. Drag on the canvas. Each stroke becomes a curve object in the Layers panel.
- Edit the stroke. Use the Node Tool (A) to adjust curve points, or select the stroke and change its width or brush afterward in the Stroke panel or context toolbar.
Controlling pressure on vector strokes
Vector brush strokes store pressure as a profile along the curve. Open the Stroke panel and look for the Pressure graph. You can drag points on that graph to make a stroke thinner at the ends or thicker in the middle, even after drawing. This is one of the big advantages of vector brushes: you can fix a wobbly taper without redrawing.
Smoothing your lines with the Stabilizer
The Stabilizer appears in the context toolbar when a brush tool is active. Affinity offers two modes:
- Rope mode: the stroke trails behind your cursor on an invisible string. Longer rope lengths give smoother, more controlled curves.
- Window mode: averages your movement over a set number of samples. Higher values smooth more but add lag.
For lettering and clean line art, start with Rope mode at a moderate length and adjust from there.
How to Use Brushes in Affinity: Pixel Persona
- Switch to the Pixel Persona. Click the second persona icon at the top left.
- Add a pixel layer. In the Layers panel, click Add Pixel Layer, or choose Layer > New Pixel Layer. Painting on its own layer keeps work editable.
- Select the Paint Brush Tool. Press B or choose it from the Tools panel.
- Choose a brush from the Brushes panel. Pixel Persona shows raster brush categories.
- Set the fill color. In Pixel Persona, the brush uses the primary color.
- Adjust Width, Opacity, Flow and Hardness in the context toolbar.
- Paint. Your strokes become pixels on the active pixel layer.
Other pixel tools that pair with the brush
- Erase Brush Tool: removes pixels using the same brush settings.
- Pixel Tool: a hard, aliased brush for pixel art.
- Selection brushes and masks: limit painting to specific areas.
- Smudge and blur style tools (depending on your version): help blend colors already painted.
Understanding the Context Toolbar Settings
| Setting | What it controls | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Width | Brush size in pixels or points | Use [ and ] to change quickly |
| Opacity | Maximum transparency of a stroke | Lower for glazes and soft layering |
| Flow | How fast paint builds up | Lower for gradual shading |
| Hardness | Edge softness | High for crisp edges, low for airbrush-like softness |
| Stabilizer | Line smoothing | Rope mode for controlled curves |
| Wet Edges | Darker edges like watercolor | Useful for watercolor-style pixel brushes |
| Protect Alpha | Paint only where pixels already exist | Great for shading inside a shape |
| Blend mode | How the stroke combines with pixels below | Multiply for shadows, Screen for highlights |
Editing and Creating Custom Brushes
Double-click any brush in the Brushes panel to open the Brush Editor. You will see several tabs:
- General: width, spacing, hardness, flow, accumulation and blend mode. For raster brushes, low spacing gives smooth strokes; higher spacing creates dotted or scattered effects.
- Dynamics: controls how size, opacity, flow, rotation and color change with pressure, tilt, speed or randomness. Each property has a Controller dropdown (for example, Pressure) and a curve you can shape.
- Texture: adds a paper or canvas texture inside strokes.
To create a new brush, choose New Intensity Brush or New Image Brush from the Brushes panel menu. Intensity brushes use a grayscale image as the brush tip. Image brushes in the Designer Persona stretch a texture along the vector stroke, with settings for how the head and tail of the stroke behave so ends are not distorted.
Setting up pressure-sensitive dynamics
- Open the Brush Editor and go to Dynamics.
- Find Size, set the Controller to Pressure, and adjust the curve so light pressure gives a thin line.
- Do the same for Opacity or Flow if you want pressure to affect darkness.
- Test on a scratch layer and adjust the curve until the response feels natural.
If pressure seems ignored, confirm that your tablet driver is installed and that the context toolbar’s pressure option is enabled. On Windows, Affinity’s Preferences include tablet input settings that can affect pressure detection.
Importing Brushes Into Affinity Designer
- Download brush files. Affinity’s native format is .afbrushes.
- Open the Brushes panel and click the panel menu (the icon with lines at the top right).
- Choose Import Brushes and select the file. Many versions also let you double-click an .afbrushes file to install it.
- New brushes appear as a new category in the Brushes panel dropdown.
Raster brushes in Photoshop’s .abr format can often be imported into the Pixel Persona as well, though some Photoshop dynamics and features may not translate exactly. Vector brushes must be made for Affinity’s Designer Persona.
Useful Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Brush tool | B |
| Decrease / increase width | [ / ] |
| Change size and hardness on canvas | Ctrl+Alt drag (Windows), Ctrl+Option drag (Mac), in most versions |
| Sample color while painting | Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) and click, in Pixel Persona |
| Straight line | Click, then Shift+click (Pixel Persona) |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z |
| Node Tool for editing vector strokes | A |
Shortcuts can be customized in Preferences, and some vary between versions, so check yours if one does not respond.
A Practical Workflow: Inked Illustration With Pixel Shading
- Sketch on a pixel layer in the Pixel Persona with a pencil-style brush at low opacity.
- Lower the sketch layer’s opacity to about 20 to 30 percent.
- Switch to the Designer Persona and ink over the sketch with the Vector Brush Tool, using a pressure-sensitive inking brush and Rope stabilizer.
- Refine line weights with the Pressure graph in the Stroke panel.
- Add flat colors using shapes or the Fill tool underneath the line layer.
- Return to the Pixel Persona and paint shading on new pixel layers clipped to the color shapes. Drag a pixel layer onto a shape’s thumbnail to clip it.
- Add texture with a textured pixel brush at low opacity.
- Hide or delete the sketch and export.
Which Brush to Use for Common Tasks
| Task | Persona and tool | Suggested settings |
|---|---|---|
| Clean comic or cartoon inks | Designer, Vector Brush | Hard inking brush, pressure on, Rope stabilizer |
| Hand lettering | Designer, Vector Brush | Tapered brush, higher stabilizer, edit pressure graph after |
| Soft shadows and glows | Pixel, Paint Brush | Low hardness, flow 10 to 30 percent, Multiply or Screen layer |
| Textured fills | Pixel, Paint Brush | Grainy or dry-media brush, Protect Alpha or clipped layer |
| Watercolor-style washes | Pixel, Paint Brush | Watercolor category brush, Wet Edges on, low opacity |
| Pixel art | Pixel, Pixel Tool | Width 1 to a few pixels, no anti-aliasing |
Exporting Work That Uses Vector Brushes
Vector brush strokes are curves carrying a bitmap texture. That has a practical consequence when you export. In raster formats such as PNG or JPEG, everything is flattened into pixels and looks exactly as it does on screen. In vector formats such as SVG, PDF or EPS, the curves stay editable, but the brush texture is embedded as an image. Very large exports may show the texture becoming soft if it was scaled far beyond its original size.
If your work is headed for print at a large size, test an export at full size and zoom in before sending it off. For pure vector output, such as a logo destined for cutting or embroidery, a plain solid stroke is often safer than a textured vector brush. You can convert a brush stroke to a filled shape with Layer > Expand Stroke in many versions, which turns the stroke outline into a solid curve.
Troubleshooting Brush Problems
- Brush does not paint in Pixel Persona. Check that a pixel layer, not a vector or group layer, is selected, and that it is not locked or hidden.
- Vector brush strokes look stretched. The texture is being stretched along a long curve. Adjust the image brush’s head and tail settings, or use a different brush designed for long strokes.
- No pressure response. Enable pressure in the context toolbar, set Dynamics Controller to Pressure, and check tablet drivers.
- Strokes are laggy. Lower Stabilizer settings, reduce brush size, or reduce document resolution.
- Painting outside the shape. Turn on Protect Alpha, or clip the pixel layer to a shape.
FAQs
How to use brush in Affinity Designer for beginners?
Start in the Pixel Persona: add a pixel layer, press B, pick a brush from the Brushes panel, and paint. Once comfortable, try the Vector Brush Tool in the Designer Persona for line art you can edit later.
How to use brushes in Affinity Photo?
Affinity Photo uses the same raster brush system as Designer’s Pixel Persona. Select the Paint Brush Tool, choose a brush from the Brushes panel, set width, opacity, flow and hardness, and paint on a pixel layer.
Can I use vector brushes in the Pixel Persona?
No. Vector brushes work in the Designer Persona and create curves. Pixel brushes work in the Pixel Persona and create raster pixels.
Why can’t I see my imported brushes?
They appear as a new category in the Brushes panel dropdown. Also check you are in the correct persona: vector brushes show in the Designer Persona and raster brushes in the Pixel Persona.
Does Affinity Designer support pen pressure?
Yes, with a compatible pen tablet or stylus. Enable pressure in the context toolbar and set up Dynamics in the Brush Editor.
Can I import Photoshop brushes into Affinity Designer?
Raster .abr brushes can often be imported into the Pixel Persona, though some settings may not carry over exactly. Vector brushes need to be made for Affinity.
Final Thoughts
Using brushes in Affinity Designer comes down to choosing the right persona: vector brushes for editable, scalable linework, pixel brushes for painting and shading. Learn the context toolbar, set up pressure in the Brush Editor, and use the Stabilizer for clean curves. Pressure-based features shine with the right input device, so see our BuTouch stylus review and digital brush buying advice before upgrading your setup.
