In the last Design a Digital Planner in Affinity Suite tutorial, we created the basic shape for a digital planner binder ring in Affinity Designer. Let's continue working on the binder ring by adding color and details. In this tutorial, you will learn the following.

• Work with Stroke and Fill color and gradients in the Context Toolbar and the Color panel
• Draw with the Pen tool
• Work with the Effects panel and layer effects

Add A Gradient

1. Select the shape with the Move tool. From the Context Toolbar, click the Stroke Color Swatch to open the dialog and click the Null icon (see screenshot).


2. Click the Fill Color Swatch and select the Gradient tab in the dialog (see screenshot).

You will see two Color Stops at the ends of the gradient path and one Midpoint Marker in the center.


3. Select the left end Color Stop and then click the Color Swatch below to open the Color dialog.


4. Choose RGB Hex Sliders from the pop-up menu.


5. Change the hex code to a dark gold color (83631E).


6. Repeat the previous steps for the right end Color Stop.


7. Select the Midpoint Marker on the gradient path and click the Insert button, to add a new Color Stop (see screenshot).


8. Click the new Color Stop and the Color Swatch. Set the hex value to a lighter gold (EBDC79) in the Gradient tab (see screenshot).

You now have three Color Stops with a Midpoint Marker between each. Let's add more of the lighter gold color by moving each Midpoint Marker closer to the end Color Stops.


9. With the Gradient tab still selected, drag the left Midpoint Marker further to the left along the gradient path (see screenshot). Move the right Midpoint Marker to the right.

Add A Highlight Layer

1. With the Move tool, click on the empty space outside of the Canvas to deselect the layers.


2. With the Pen tool, draw a thin shape over the center of the ring (see screenshot).


3. Set the Stroke to Null and the Fill to white (FFFFFF) in the Color panel on the right side of the workspace (see screenshot).


4. Rename this layer to Highlight in the Layers panel (see screenshot).


5. From the Menu Bar, click View - Studio - Effects, to open the Effects panel. From the Effects panel on the right, select the Gaussian Blur layer effect (see screenshot).


6. Return to the Layers panel and click the fx icon on the Highlight layer, to open the Layer Effects dialog. For the Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 3 pixels and check the box for Scale with Object at the bottom of the window.

If you need to resize the ring for another design, the Scale with Object option allows the Layer Effect to resize in the same proportions.


7. Close the dialog (see screenshot).

Now we need to resize the ring to the exact dimensions and position for use in the Digi Planner Cover PDF template.


8. In the Transform panel, select the top left corner of the Anchor Point Selector.


9. With the Highlight and Ring layers selected, set the Width to 245, the Height to 64, X to 14 and Y to 7 pixels.

Add the Holes

1. Select the Ellipse tool and draw a circle at the right end of the ring shape on the Canvas. In the Color panel, set the Stroke to 999999 and the Fill to 333333 (see screenshot).


2. Name this new layer Right Hole.


3. In the Context Toolbar - Stroke panel, set the Width to 1 pt and set the Align value to Align Stroke to Inside (middle icon) (see screenshot).


4. Drag the Right Hole layer under the Ring layer (see screenshot). On the Canvas, center the hole under the end of the ring.


5. In the Transform panel, set the Width and Height to 80 pixels, X to 188 pixels and Y to 4 pixels.


6. Right-click the Right Hole layer and choose Duplicate from the menu. Select the bottom duplicate layer. Drag the new circle to the other end of the ring (see screenshot) and name the duplicate layer Left Hole (see screenshot).


7. In the Transform panel, set the Width and Height to 80 pixels, X to 4 pixels and Y to 4 pixels.

At this point, our planner ring looks good but we can enhance the realism by adding some shadows. Finally, we will take a look at variation in color.

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Screenshots used by permission of Serif (Europe) Ltd. This article is not endorsed by Serif Ltd.

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