CRT
Turns any layer into a tube screen: curvature, RGB phosphors, scanlines and bloom.
Gold Foil for Affinity
Turns the image into a sheet of polished metal in relief. The light parts of the image rise and the dark ones sink: a studio light picks out every shape with highlights and shadows, a soft band of light crosses the sheet and fine lines imitate brushed metal. In Stamp mode the foil covers only the dark or the light parts and sits on paper that is pressed in around it, as in hot foil stamping.
Filter Gallery
Get this one and 29 more effects in Filter Gallery
Gold Foil 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 Gold Foil and the rest.
Also for Windows · 2.4 MBAlso for Mac · 2.6 MB
See all 30 effects
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
The whole image in brushed gold, with a shallow relief and the light from the upper left.
Stamp
Gold foil on the light parts of the image, stamped on black cardstock.
Silver
Bright, highly polished silver on the light parts, on midnight-blue paper.
Copper
The whole image in copper, with a deep, rounded relief, a satin finish and more brushing.
Rose
Rose gold on the dark parts of the image, on warm white paper with a visible grain.
Holo
Holographic foil on the dark parts, shifting from magenta to violet and green with the relief, on white paper.
What each control does
They have the same names as in the Filter Gallery window.
- Mode
- Relief turns the whole image into metal. Stamp puts the foil only on part of the image, set by the threshold, and lays it on paper.
- Threshold
- In Stamp, which parts get foil. The higher it is, the more of the image the foil covers.
- Invert
- In Stamp, the foil goes on the light parts instead of the dark ones. In Relief, the dark parts rise instead of the light ones.
- Smoothing
- Rounds off the relief, in thousandths of the longer side of the image: more smoothing, softer shapes and less fine detail. In Stamp it rounds the edge of the foil.
- Depth
- How high the relief is. In Stamp it also sets how far the paper sinks around the foil. At 0 the sheet is flat.
- Metal
- Gold, silver, copper, rose gold, bronze or holographic, which changes color with the angle of the relief.
- Polish
- Low gives a satin metal with broad, soft reflections; high, a mirror finish with small, intense highlights.
- Light angle
- Where the light comes from, in degrees: 0 is from the right and 90 from above. It moves the highlights and shadows of the relief.
- Brushing
- Fine horizontal lines, like brushed metal. At 0 the metal is smooth.
- Paper color
- The color of the paper under the foil, in Stamp. With “no color”, the background is transparent and only the foil remains.
- Paper texture
- The grain of the paper, in Stamp.
Tips
- Logos and letteringChoose Stamp in “Mode”: the foil goes on the dark shapes, or on the light ones with “Invert” on. Transparent areas never get foil, so a logo on a transparent layer gets foil only on its own shapes.
- Satin or mirrorLower “Polish” and raise “Brushing” for a satin metal; raise “Polish” and set “Brushing” to 0 for a mirror finish. “Light angle” moves the highlights wherever you want them.
Filter Gallery
Take Gold Foil 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.
Liquid Dots
Dots that grow in the tones you choose and merge like drops.
Overprint
Your image printed in up to three overprinted inks, with grain and misregistration, like a riso print.
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.