CRT
Turns any layer into a tube screen: curvature, RGB phosphors, scanlines and bloom.
Liquid Dots for Affinity
Lays a grid of dots over your image: they grow in the tonal range you choose and merge like drops of liquid where they touch, and outside that range they shrink or disappear. Behind them you can keep the image, a dimmed version of it, a solid color or nothing. The range adapts to each image, so a preset works the same on a dark photo and on a light one.
Filter Gallery
Get this one and 29 more effects in Filter Gallery
Liquid Dots is part of Filter Gallery, a plugin with 30 effects in one window inside Affinity. It’s a free download with CRT, ASCII, Dithering, Beads, Knit and Bricks, and a USD $12 license unlocks Liquid Dots and the rest.
Also for Windows · 2.4 MBAlso for Mac · 2.6 MB
See all 30 effects
BeforeAfter
5 presets to start with
Pick one in the Filter Gallery window and adjust it from there. Every control can still be changed.
Default
White blobs over the image, large and merged in the highlights and small in the midtones. The shadows have no dots.
Shadows
Pink blobs on a hexagonal grid, gathered in the darkest areas, over the image dimmed toward a deep indigo.
Ink
A liquid halftone in black ink on cream paper: fine dots on a hexagonal grid that grow gradually from the highlights and fuse into solid black in the shadows.
Mercury
Almost white blobs on black, like mercury, on a square grid. They merge into large patches in the highlights, and tiny dots remain in the shadows.
Image
Fine dots on a hexagonal grid, each with the color of the image under it, on almost black. The colors are lightened so they stand out, and the dots get smaller in the darkest areas.
What each control does
They have the same names as in the Filter Gallery window.
- Spacing
- The distance between dots, in thousandths of the longer side of the image. The grid is centered on the image.
- Grid
- Square, or hexagonal, with every other row shifted half a step, like a honeycomb.
- Size
- The diameter of the dots inside the range, relative to the spacing. The bigger they are, the more they merge with their neighbors.
- Minimum size
- The diameter of the dots outside the range. At 0 there are no dots there.
- Fusion
- How strongly neighboring blobs pull together. With little fusion, the dots stay round and separate; with a lot, they join with soft bridges, like drops of liquid. A lone dot keeps its size.
- From
- The start of the range where the blobs grow: 0 is the darkest part of the image.
- To
- The end of the range: 1 is the lightest part of the image.
- Softness
- How gradual the change in size is at the edges of the range. With little softness, the dots jump from one size to the other; with a lot, they grow gradually, like a halftone.
- Outside the range
- Makes the blobs grow outside the range instead of inside it.
- Blob color
- All the blobs in one color, or each one with the color of the image at its spot; where they merge, the colors mix. Over the dimmed image or a solid color, the image colors are lightened on dark backgrounds and darkened on light ones, so the blobs stand out.
- Color
- The color of all the blobs when “Blob color” is set to “Color”.
- Background
- What goes behind the blobs: the image, the dimmed image (half desaturated and pulled toward the background color), a solid color or nothing, to keep only the blobs over transparency.
- Background color
- The background for “Color”, and the color the image is pulled toward with “Dimmed image”.
Tips
- Shadows or highlights“From” at 0 and a low “To” put the blobs in the shadows, as in Shadows; a high “From” and “To” at 1 put them in the highlights, as in Default. With “Outside the range”, they grow everywhere else.
- Dots or dropsWith “Fusion” at its minimum, the dots stay round and separate, like a classic halftone. Raise it and neighbors join with soft bridges into liquid shapes.
Filter Gallery
Take Liquid Dots and 29 more effects to your Affinity
Filter Gallery is a plugin with the 30 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.
- 30 effects with their presets
- Zoomable preview and comparison slider
- 6 free effects to start with
- One payment of USD $12, up to 3 computers
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.
Download the installer
Download FilterGallery-Setup.exe. It doesn’t need administrator permissions.
Open it
Click “OK”: it copies Filter Gallery into Affinity and turns on “Allow "Unknown" plugins to be used”, which Affinity needs. If Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, click “More info” and then “Run anyway”.
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.
Download the installer
Download FilterGallery-Setup.pkg. It doesn’t need administrator permissions.
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.
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 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.
Does Windows warn that it isn’t safe?
It can happen. Because Filter Gallery is new, Windows SmartScreen doesn’t know the installer yet and may show “Windows protected your PC”. It is 100% safe: click “More info” and then “Run anyway”.
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
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.
Shape Grid
Your image as a grid of dots, crosses, rings and squares picked by its tone.
Pixel Melt
The colors of your image run in streaks like melted paint.
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.
Woodcut
Your image carved in wood: solid ink, parallel strokes and cross-hatching.
Wireframe
A glowing wire mesh that bends with the brightness of your image.
Paper Texture
Fibers, crumples and folds of paper over your image.
Fluted Glass
Your image seen through ribbed glass.
Halftone Dots
A grid of dots that grow with the shadows, like a printed photo.
Halftone CMYK
Your image printed in four inks, with dots of cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
Lens Distortion
Your image through a lens that bends it, with the colors split at the edges.
Water
Your image under water, with waves and caustic light.