How to Create and Save a Color Palette in Affinity Designer 2 on iPad, by Liz Kohler Brown on YouTube. 8 min 39 s.
- Video length
- 8 min 39 s
- Time to do it
- 15 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Open your reference artwork in Affinity Designer 2 on iPad, open the Swatches panel, and use the palette menu to create a new Application palette.
Pick the Color Picker tool, tap a color in the reference, then tap Add to save that color as a swatch in your new palette.
Sample the rest of your colors one by one, and tap any saved swatch to adjust its hue, saturation or lightness if it looks slightly off.
Trim the palette down to six colors: one light, one dark, and four mid tones that work together.
Duplicate the palette document from the Document menu so the original stays untouched while you keep working.
Create a new document sized 3000 x 3000 pixels for your Pixel + Vector play page.
Turn on the grid and guides, then switch to Preview Mode to check how the page looks without the interface.
Split the canvas into two halves with a dividing line or shape, one for pixel work and one for vector work.
Use the Artistic Text tool to add a Pixel label and a Vector label, one on each half, and resize them to fit.
Tips and common mistakes
Application palettes appear in every new document, so name yours clearly before you build more.
Swatches hold exact saved colors, while the Color Wheel is for mixing on the fly, so save the colors you want to reuse.
Keep the palette to six colors or fewer, since a tight set is easier to reuse in repeat patterns.
Zoom in before sampling so you pick the color you actually want, not an edge pixel.
Questions
Will my new palette show up in other documents?
Yes. An Application palette is available across your documents in the app, so you can reuse the same colors again and again.
Can I change a color after saving it?
Yes. Tap the saved swatch, adjust it in the color settings, and the palette updates with the new value.
Why six colors?
A small, balanced set of light, dark and mid tones is easier to reuse and keeps a pattern collection looking consistent.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
