visual.af
Filter Gallery effect for Affinity
ASCII for Affinity
Turns any layer into characters based on its luminance. Four styles, original colors or a single ink, bloom and a transparent background, with live preview.
Download Filter Gallery for free Windows · 4.5 MBDownload Filter Gallery for free macOS · 16.6 MBSee all 97 effects
Also for Windows · 4.5 MBAlso for Mac · 16.6 MB
Windows and macOS · Affinity 3 · Up to 3 computers
BeforeAfter
6 presets to start with
Pick one in the Filter Gallery window and adjust it from there. Every control can still be changed.
Default
Classic characters in your image’s own colors.
Terminal
Green phosphor on black, like an old console.
Matrix
Glowing green digits.
Blocks
Blocks that fill up with the light, in the original colors.
Journal
Dark ink on cream paper, with inverted luminance.
Mono
Large light gray characters on black.
What each control does
They have the same names as in the Filter Gallery window.
- Style
- The character set: classic (. : * o & 8 @ #), blocks, digits or symbols.
- Cell size px
- The size of each character, in document pixels.
- Gap
- The breathing room around each character inside its cell.
- Contrast
- Stretches the luminance to use more distinct characters.
- Bloom
- A soft halo behind the brightest characters.
- Original colors
- Each character takes the average color of its area of the image.
- Invert luminance
- For light backgrounds: dark tones get more ink.
- Ink
- The character color when you’re not using the original colors.
- Background
- The background color. With “no color”, it stays transparent.
Tips for ASCII
1
Logos and type
With small cells and high contrast, shapes read far more sharply.
2
Ready to overlay
With the background set to “no color”, the ASCII sits on transparency and blends with any design.
3
Light backgrounds
Turn on “Invert luminance” and pick a dark ink, as in the Journal preset.
Filter Gallery
Take ASCII and 96 more effects to your Affinity
Filter Gallery is a plugin with the 97 Visual.af 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
More effects in Filter Gallery
Starting with the rest of Screens. Hover over a card to see its presets.
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
Still have a question? Write to us at support@visual.af.
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.af 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.af 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.
ASCII is free in Filter Gallery
ASCII comes with Filter Gallery, a plugin with 97 effects in one window inside Affinity. The download is free, needs no account and includes CRT, ASCII, Dithering, Beads, Knit, Bricks, Glitch and Pixelate. A USD $12 license unlocks the other 89.