Learn to use the Pen Tool in Affinity Designer

You will learn here about vector lines and bezier curves, basic elements on vector drawing and how they are drawn in Affinity Designer.

You will learn about the basic element that forms vector graphics nodes. You will also learn about the different types of nodes.

You are going to go over what each icon that the pen tool displays while drawing means. Easy!

Do not fear: You don't need to know what these all mean in order to draw. They are a visual help for you, but after a while you won't really need to remember what each of them mean. I however put together a list so you can more or less have an idea of what they mean and do.

* UPDATE: There is a resource image attached to this lesson with an update for some of these icons. However, it is important to note that most are a revamp or a new visual cue to help compared to the previous ones.

The pen tool keeps working exactly the same in all regards except for one thing that you can check out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlZUrlfSvIA

You'll find out in this lesson what are and the particularities for each of the different modes of the pen tool: Pen mode, Smart mode, Polygon mode and Line mode.

You'll learn about the node tool, another very important tool that works together with the pen tool while you draw and you'll learn also about the different icons it displays and their meanings.

* UPDATE: There is a resource image attached to this lesson with an update for some of these icons.

You are going to start the work with the pen tool doing a couple of very simple exercises so you'll get to know a bit the some of the pen tool logic.

What are handles and how do they work? You will find out in this lesson.

In this lesson, you are going to draw a circle entirely with the pen tool so you start putting some of the concepts seen before into practice.

A very interesting lesson: the 3 methods you can use to draw with the pen tool. You will learn and practice them through an exercise, that consists in drawing a heart shape. Once you are familiar with them, use the one you feel more comfortable with or even better, combine them!

You know already the pen and node tools. Let's see in this lesson more of their features to enhance their performance while you draw.

You will here practice a more complex exercise in which you will be tracing a letter with the pen tool, trying to follow its edges as accurately as possible.

Let's see what is and how the snapping is used when drawing with the pen tool. You are going to see the difference that it makes using it to help you tracing, drawing the letter exercise in the previous lesson but now, with it activated. You can use the resource provided in lecture 12.

Let's draw the final project! Follow along tracing the first segments and bezier curves and see how easy it is to create this intricate graphic.

This lecture is a time-lapsed video of the completion of the final project. You can slow it down in the video player menu if you need to check the steps I took with more details.

Congrats, you're done! Let me say goodbye before you're gone, and hope to see you soon in the next class.