visualclub.af

Woodcut for Affinity

Turns the image into a print carved in wood. The shadows go in solid ink, the midtones in parallel strokes that get thicker and cross where it’s darker, and the light stays on the paper. Strokes and edges tremble like a hand cut.

Filter Gallery

Get this one and 96 more effects in Filter Gallery

Woodcut is part of Filter Gallery, a plugin with 97 effects in one window inside Affinity. It’s a free download with CRT, ASCII, Dithering, Beads, Knit, Bricks, Glitch and Pixelate, and a USD $12 license unlocks Woodcut and the rest.

Also for Windows · 4.5 MBAlso for Mac · 16.6 MB

  • Windows and macOS
  • Affinity 3
  • Up to 3 computers
See all 97 effects
Before After: Woodcut for Affinity BeforeAfter
Sample illustration by Visual Club, processed with Filter Gallery.

4 presets to start with

Pick one in the Filter Gallery window and adjust it from there. Every control can still be changed.

  • Woodcut for Affinity: Default

    Default

    Dark brown ink on amber paper.

  • Woodcut for Affinity: Classic

    Classic

    A dark engraving on cream paper, with fine strokes.

  • Woodcut for Affinity: Red

    Red

    Red ink on warm white, with long diagonal strokes.

  • Woodcut for Affinity: Poster

    Poster

    Coarse carving in black on lime green, like a poster.

What each control does

They have the same names as in the Filter Gallery window.

Spacing
The distance between strokes, in thousandths of the longer side of the image.
Angle
The direction of the strokes.
Cross-hatching
How far into the dark tones a second layer of strokes crosses the first.
Roughness
How much the strokes and edges tremble, like a cut made by hand.
Solid ink and paper
Anything darker than the first value is solid ink, and anything lighter than the second stays on the paper.
Contrast
Separates light and dark before carving.
Simplify
Simplifies the image so it is carved in larger shapes.
Ink and paper colors
The ink color and the paper color. With “no color”, the paper is transparent.

Tips

  • PortraitsPhotos with a clean background work best: the figure is carved and the background stays on the paper.
  • Two colorsApply it twice with different inks and angles, and put one layer over the other in Multiply mode.

Filter Gallery

Take Woodcut and 96 more effects to your Affinity

Filter Gallery is a plugin with the 97 Visual Club effects in a single window. You choose by looking at thumbnails of your layer, adjust with a live preview and compare before and after, then apply.

  • 97 effects with their presets
  • Zoomable preview and comparison slider
  • 8 free effects to start with
  • One payment of USD $12, up to 3 computers
The Filter Gallery window inside Affinity

Installation

It installs in a minute

The installer copies the plugin into the Affinity plugins folder and turns on the setting Affinity needs to load it.

  1. Download the installer

    Download FilterGallery-Setup.exe. It doesn’t need administrator permissions.

  2. Open it

    Click “Install”: it copies Filter Gallery into Affinity and turns on “Allow "Unknown" plugins to be used”, which Affinity needs.

  3. Restart Affinity

    Choose Filters › Plugins › Visual.af › Filter Gallery with a pixel layer selected. The effect is applied to that layer, so duplicate it first with Ctrl+J if you want to keep it.

  1. Download the installer

    Download FilterGallery-Setup.pkg. It doesn’t need administrator permissions.

  2. Open it

    Click “Continue” and then “Install”. It copies Filter Gallery into Affinity and turns on “Allow "Unknown" plugins to be used”, which Affinity on Mac needs.

  3. Restart Affinity

    Select a pixel layer and choose Pixel › Filters › Plugins › Visual.af › Filter Gallery. The effect is applied to that layer, so duplicate it first with ⌘J if you want to keep it.

Frequently asked questions

Does Affinity have a Filter Gallery like Photoshop?

Not built in. Affinity has filters and live filters, but no window where you browse effects as thumbnails of your own layer, like Photoshop’s Filter Gallery. Filter Gallery by Visual Club adds one: you open it from Filters › Plugins, see each of the 97 effects on your layer (including the 47 from Photoshop’s Filter Gallery), adjust it with a live preview and apply it.

Are these the same filters as in Photoshop’s Filter Gallery?

Yes. Filter Gallery includes all 47 filters from Photoshop’s Filter Gallery, in their six folders, with the same names, controls and default values, so you can follow a Photoshop tutorial in Affinity with the same steps and values. You don’t need Photoshop: the filters are made by Visual Club and run inside Affinity.

Does it work on a Mac?

Yes. Download the Mac installer (FilterGallery-Setup.pkg): it works with Affinity 3 on Macs with Apple Silicon or Intel. The installer is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without warnings.

What if Filter Gallery doesn’t show up in Affinity?

Go to Settings › Photoshop Plugins, turn on “Allow "Unknown" plugins to be used” and restart Affinity. Also select a pixel layer before you open the Plugins menu: the filter only works on a selected pixel layer.

Which version of Affinity do I need?

Affinity 3, on Windows 10 or 11 or on a Mac.

Does it work with text, vectors or groups?

Like every filter in Affinity, it works on pixel layers. To apply an effect to text, vectors or a group, duplicate it and turn the copy into pixels first (rasterize it).

Does it create a new layer?

No. Like every filter in Affinity, the effect is applied to the selected layer. Duplicate it first with Ctrl+J (⌘J on a Mac) if you want to keep the original, or undo with Ctrl+Z (⌘Z).

On how many computers can I use the license?

On three. If you change computers, you can free one up from the window itself with your purchase email.

Does it need the internet?

Only to activate the license and check for updates. The effects are calculated on your computer and your images never leave it. Offline, the license keeps working for 14 days.

How do updates work?

When there’s a new version, the window shows a notice with an “Update” button. Affinity uses the new version the next time it starts.

More effects in Filter Gallery

CRT

Turns any layer into a tube screen: curvature, RGB phosphors, scanlines and bloom.

ASCII

Turns your images into art made of characters, in their original colors or a single ink, with a transparent background.

Dithering

Dithers your images with Bayer matrices or random noise, in the original colors or your own palette.

Beads

Build hama bead designs from your images: beads with volume, an adjustable hole and a colored pegboard.

Knit

Turns your images into knitted fabric, with V-shaped stitches, relief and a palette of a few colors.

Bricks

Turns your images into a mosaic of building bricks, with flat or studded pieces.

Glitch

Your image broken like a corrupted signal: shifted bands, RGB split and color bars.

Pixelate

Your image in big pixels: squares, LED dots or small tiles.

Shape Grid

Your image as a grid of dots, crosses, rings and squares picked by its tone.

Overprint

Your image printed in up to three overprinted inks, with grain and misregistration, like a riso print.

Gold Foil

Your image embossed in gold, silver or copper, or stamped in foil on paper.

Sunprint

Your image as a cyanotype: Prussian blue on watercolor paper, with a brushed border.

Thermal

Your image as a thermal camera would see it, in six heat palettes.

Blob Tracking

Boxes, numbers, coordinates and lines over the spots in your image, like a tracking system.

Aberration

Your image stretched out from a sharp center, with rainbow fringes toward the edges.

Bloom

A deep glow around the highlights of your image, intense up close and soft in the distance.

Ink

Lines of ink that bleed into the paper, with 1 to 3 inks, overprint and misregistration.

Hologram

Turns your images into a hologram of lines that rise with brightness, with glow and interference.

Topographic

Contour lines over your image, like a topographic map of its brightness.

Flare

Glow, a streak that drags the lights and fine stars on the brightest parts of your image.

Digitalism

A phosphor screen of vertical lines that thicken with brightness, with glow.

Stipple

Your image drawn with loose ink dots, closer together in the shadows.

Wireframe

A glowing wire mesh that bends with the brightness of your image.

Halftone CMYK

Your image printed in four inks, with dots of cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

Water

Your image under water, with waves and caustic light.

Engraving

Your image redrawn in engraved lines, like the portrait on a banknote.

VHS

Your image as a frame from a worn VHS tape.

Film Stock

The colors of analog film on your image, with a warm glow around the lights.

Bokeh

Your image out of focus, with highlights that open into shapes.

Waves

Your image bent by waves: ripples, zigzags or shifted strips.

Liquid

Your image flowing in swirls, like paint on water.

Mirror

One half of your image reflected onto the other.

Diffuse

The pixels of your image scattered, like frosted glass or spray paint.

And the 47 filters from Photoshop’s Filter GallerySee the Photoshop filters