CRT
Turns any layer into a tube screen: curvature, RGB phosphors, scanlines and bloom.
Hologram for Affinity
Turns any layer into a hologram made of lines. Every line rises with the brightness of the image, the front lines hide the ones behind and everything glows in the color you choose.
Filter Gallery
Get this one and 19 more effects in Filter Gallery
Hologram is part of Filter Gallery, a plugin with 20 effects in one window inside Affinity. It’s a free download with CRT, ASCII, Dithering and Beads, and a USD $9 license unlocks Hologram and the rest.
Also for Windows · 2.1 MBAlso for Mac · 2.4 MB
See all 20 effects
BeforeAfter
4 presets to start with
Pick one in the Filter Gallery window and adjust it from there. Every control can still be changed.
Default
Fifty-five thin lime green lines with a strong glow and some interference.
Cyan
Thin, dense cyan lines with lots of glow.
Glitch
Magenta with high interference: the lines shift and break like an unstable signal.
Ridge
A few tall, thick white lines without glow, like a ridgeline chart.
What each control does
They have the same names as in the Filter Gallery window.
- Number of lines
- How many lines cross the layer from top to bottom.
- Relief height
- How high the lines rise in the bright areas.
- Background cutoff
- Areas darker than this value get no lines, only a few loose dots.
- Thickness
- The line thickness, proportional to the layer width.
- Glow
- The glow around the lines.
- Interference
- Shifts and scrambles the lines, like a signal with interference.
- Line color
- The color of the lines and their glow.
- Brightness, contrast and saturation
- They adjust the image before the lines are drawn: more contrast gives sharper relief.
- Bloom
- A soft glow in the brightest areas. The radius sets how far it spreads and the threshold, the brightness where it starts.
- Background color
- The background color. With “no color”, only the light remains on transparency.
Tips
- On transparencyWith the background set to “no color”, the hologram becomes light on transparency. Set the layer to Screen to add it over any dark background.
- PortraitsOn a photo of a person, raise the background cutoff so the lines stay only on the face and figure.
- Fewer linesWith 30 to 50 lines and a high relief, the image reads like a mountain landscape.
Filter Gallery
Take Hologram and 19 more effects to your Affinity
Filter Gallery is a plugin with the 20 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.
- 20 effects with their presets
- Zoomable preview and comparison slider
- 4 free effects to start with
- One payment of USD $9, 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.
Ink
Lines of ink that bleed into the paper, with 1 to 3 inks, overprint and misregistration.
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.
Topographic
Contour lines over your image, like a topographic map of its brightness.
Flare
Glow, horizontal light streaks and dragged bands over 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.