The Canon Magazine 63
GRADIENT MAP TRICKS
STEP BY STEP TURN OFF THE DAYLIGHT
Transform the mood of a photo, master Gradient Maps and learn compositing skills
01 ADD A GRADIENT MAP
Open day_night_before.jpg into Affinity. Make sure
you’re in the Photo Persona (top-left purple icon), then
go to the Layers panel (Go to View>Studio>Layers if
not on-screen). Click the Adjustment Layer icon at the
bottom of the Layers panel and choose Gradient Map.
03 ALTER THE GRADIENT
Add another colour on the gradient map for highlights
- we used a light purple (H 292, S 23, L 57). You can
also double-click on parts of the line to add further
spots of colour to the blend, just like we’ve done with a
few spots in the shadows and highlights of the image.
05 MASK THE STARS
Click the Refine button to better the selection. Increase
Border Width to 30% and hit OK. Next, reveal the other
layers and highlight the top, click the Layer Mask icon
at the bottom of the Layers panel to change the
selection to a Layer Mask. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+D to deselect.
02 DARKEN THE MIDTONES
Click the circle on the left of the line. This lets us
change the colours of shadows. Click the colour box
and choose a dark blue for the shadows – we used H
213, S 100, L 7. Next, click on the middle circle and use
a lighter blue for midtones – we did H 202, S 57, L 8.04 SELECT THE SKY
Open day_night_stars.jpg. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy then
go to the other image and Cmd/Ctrl+V to paste. Click the
ticks next to the top two layers to hide them and select
the bottom layer. Grab the Flood Select tool and click the
sky. Hold Shift and keep clicking to select the sky.06 BLEND AND TONE
Go to the Layers Panel and change the Blend Mode of
the stars layer to Screen, then lower the layer opacity
to around 75%. Finally, click the Adjustment Layer
icon and choose Curves. Drag the top right point on
the line downwards to dull the highlights as shown.NEXT MONTH
CREATE HDRS
WITH AFFINITYWhen making a
selection with the
Flood Select tool
hold Shift to add
to it and Alt to
subtract from the
selectionQUICK TIP!
GRADIENT
MAPSThe Gradient Map
adjustment in Affinity
Photo allows you to
re-map colours onto
different parts of the
tonal range. Here it
allows us to add a
dark blue tone into the
shadows and midtones,
thereby transforming the
bright sunny day into a
scene that looks as if it
was actually shot on an
atmospheric night. By
default the gradient map
allows you to add a blend
of three colours, but you
can double-click the line
to add more if you choose
(and hit Delete to remove
colours, if you need to).