Want to learn how to draw an arrow in Affinity Publisher? In this quick tutorial, we'll walk through creating Affinity Publisher arrow shapes, and how to draw a round arrow in Affinity Publisher too.
How to Draw an Arrow in Affinity Publisher
Step 1
You might be asking yourself, "How do I make an arrow in Affinity Publisher?" Thankfully, Affinity Publisher makes this answer easy: the
Arrow Tool
!
Locate your
Shape Tools
, over in the
Tools
, which is on the left-hand side of the screen (by default). You may see the Rectangle Tool as your default. Otherwise, it might be the last shape tool you used. Click and hold on the
Shape Tools
to expand this list.
From the expanded list, you can select the
Arrow Tool
.
Affinity Publisher template
from Envato Elements
Step 2
With the
Arrow Tool
selected, click and drag on your canvas to draw an arrow.
By default, here's what the Affinity Publisher arrow shape looks like: a double-ended arrow. Now you know how to draw an arrow in Affinity Publisher, but you might not want this standard default arrow.
Step 3
We have some choices here! Let's customize our Affinity Publisher arrow shape. With the Arrow Tool selected, check out the
Context Toolbar
, at the top of the screen.
If you don't see the Context Toolbar, you can go to
View > Context Toolbar
to make it visible.
Here, we get a host of options for our arrow. One of the most important ones to note is the "ends" of your arrow. Click on either end to change how it looks.
For this demonstration, I selected
None
for my arrow's right end. Now, I have a left-facing arrow as a result.
Step 4
However, we can customize our arrows even further! With your newly drawn arrow selected, click and drag on the red nodes. These allow us to customize the shape of our arrow.
For example, if I click on the red note in the middle, highlighted below, I can increase the thickness of the length of my arrow. Experiment with these nodes to customize your arrow's shape.
Step 5
But what if you want to draw a rounded or curved arrow? Learning how to draw a round arrow in Affinity Publisher is a little tricker. These tips, however, will make it a breeze.
This time, let's start with the
Pie Tool
. It's likely nested within your list of Shape Tools. Again, click and hold to expand the
Shape Tools
, and then select the
Pie Tool
.
Step 6
With the Pie Tool selected, click and drag to draw a pie shape. Here is what your pie shape likely looks like, by default. If it doesn't, that's okay. We'll customize it together in the next step.
Step 7
With your newly drawn pie selected, look up at the
Context Toolbar
again. Here we can change the
Hole Radius
. You'll want to turn this number up quite high. For this demonstration, I set the
Hole Radius
to
80%
. You'll notice the result looks like a curved line.
Step 8
Then, use the
Triangle Tool
to put the head on your arrow. Like the other tools, it's nested in your Shape Tools. With the Triangle Tool selected, click and drag to draw your triangle.
You can then reposition and rotate it to fit into place. You can use techniques like this to create arrows with rounded or unusual stems, like this one.
Now You Know How to Draw an Arrow in Affinity Publisher
If you've ever wondered "how do I make an arrow in Affinity Publisher", you should now know a couple of solid ways to go about it. You could use these techniques to create other types of Affinity Publisher arrow shapes too.
Want to learn more about Affinity Publisher? Make sure to check out these additional free tutorials from Envato Tuts+:
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