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Affinity Designer logoaffinity designer · HeyBraza shows you

how to switch between personas in affinity designer

HeyBraza points at the right studio button so you land in vector, pixel or slice mode instead of guessing.

affinity designer splits its tools across separate workspaces - vector for drawing, pixel for raster brushes, and a slice/export one for output. these used to be called 'personas', and the new affinity (by canva) renamed them 'studios', so tutorials and your screen may not match. here's how to switch, whatever version you're on.

or do it yourself

  1. 1look at the studio (persona) switcher - in older versions it's the row of icons at the top-left; in the new affinity it's the studio bar down the left side.
  2. 2click the vector studio (formerly designer persona) for pen, shape and curve work.
  3. 3click the pixel studio (formerly pixel persona) to switch to raster brushes and pixel selections.
  4. 4for output, turn on the slice studio (formerly export persona) - it's hidden by default, so open the studio manager (the '…' / three-dots button) and toggle it on.
  5. 5use the function shortcut keys to flip between studios fast once you know which is which.

let HeyBraza do this with you

HeyBraza is a tiny on-screen guide that points at the right buttons and talks you through it, on windows and mac.

download

common questions

where did the personas go in the new affinity?

they're now called 'studios'. designer = vector studio, pixel = pixel studio, and export = slice studio, switched from the studio bar instead of the old top-right persona buttons.

why can't i see the export persona?

the slice studio (its replacement) is off by default - open the studio manager and turn it on, then it appears in your studio list.

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