CRT
Turns any layer into a tube screen: curvature, RGB phosphors, scanlines and bloom.
Blob Tracking for Affinity
Finds spots in the image (highlights, shadows, detail or color) and marks each one as a tracking system would: a box, corners or a reticle, a cross in the center, a number with its coordinates and lines that join the targets. It marks where the image stands out, not what it shows: it does not recognize objects or people.
Filter Gallery
Get this one and 29 more effects in Filter Gallery
Blob Tracking 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 Blob Tracking 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
Thin white boxes with a center cross, number and coordinates on the areas with the most detail, all joined to all, inside a viewfinder frame.
Terminal
Green corners with a light veil on the highlights, over the image darkened and tinted green, each target joined to its nearest ones.
Target
A few large yellow reticles on the highlights, with a center cross and just the number, without links or frame.
Color
Many small cyan boxes on the most saturated colors, over the image in grays with a touch of cyan.
Overlay
Default’s marks without the image: just the lines over transparency, to place over any layer.
What each control does
They have the same names as in the Filter Gallery window.
- Look for
- What counts as a target: “Highlights” are light spots, “Shadows” dark spots, “Detail” the areas with edges and texture, and “Color” the most saturated areas.
- Size
- The size of the spots it looks for, and so of the marks. Higher values find larger areas and skip the small details.
- Sensitivity
- How faint a spot can be and still be marked. Higher, more targets that stand out less; lower, only the strongest ones.
- Targets
- The maximum number of targets, spread across sizes, with more small ones than large ones. With low sensitivity there may be fewer.
- Mark
- How each target is marked: a full box, only its corners or a round reticle with four ticks.
- Center cross
- A cross in the center of each target.
- Readouts
- What goes next to each target: nothing, its number, or its number with its X and Y coordinates, in a small pixel font. Targets are numbered from top to bottom, and the coordinates count as if the longer side were 1920 pixels.
- Links
- Lines between the targets: none, each one to its two nearest, or all to all. They are thinner and fainter than the marks; with many targets, “All to all” becomes a dense web.
- Viewfinder frame
- Corners at the edges of the image and a small cross in the center, like a camera viewfinder.
- Line width
- The width of all the lines, in thousandths of the longer side of the image.
- Readout size
- The size of the numbers and coordinates.
- Veil
- Fills each target with a translucent layer of the mark color.
- Color
- The color of every mark: boxes, crosses, readouts, links and frame. It is also the color that “Tint” adds to the image in grays.
- Background
- What stays under the marks: the image as it is, in grays, in darker grays, or nothing, for just the marks over transparency.
- Tint
- How much the mark color tints the image in grays. It only works with “Grayscale” and “Darkened”.
Tips
- Choose what to look forIf the marks land in the wrong places, change “Look for”: “Highlights” for lamps and bright areas, “Shadows” for silhouettes on a light background, “Color” for colorful subjects on neutral backgrounds.
- Marks on their own layerSet “Background” to “Transparent” to get only the marks, on a new layer above the original. You can then change their blend mode or move them over another image.
Filter Gallery
Take Blob Tracking 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.
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.
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.