Affinity Photo Displace Filter (And Affinity 3) Tutorial | How to Use Displacement Maps in Affinity Photo 2 and Affinity 3

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Learn how to use the Displace filter in Affinity Photo and Affinity 3 to create realistic distortions, glass effects, texture warping, text effects, and creative image manipulations using displacement maps.

What Is the Displace Filter in Affinity Photo?

The Displace filter in Affinity Photo is a powerful distortion tool that moves pixels based on the brightness values of a displacement map image. It can be used to create realistic surface distortions, glass effects, water ripples, textured text, fabric effects, and many other creative image manipulations.

The filter uses a displacement map file together with a strength setting to determine how far pixels are moved. Displacement maps are typically grayscale PNG images, although maps can also be created from photographs, gradients, textures, patterns, and artwork created directly in Affinity Photo.

You can apply the Displace filter once or multiple times to build increasingly complex distortion effects. Affinity Photo also includes a non-destructive Live Displace Filter that can be edited at any time.

How to Use the Displace Filter

  1. Go to Filters.
  2. Select Distort.
  3. Choose Displace.
  4. Adjust the Strength setting.
  5. Enable or disable Scale to Fit.
  6. Select Load Map From File or Load Map From Layers Beneath.
  7. Choose a PNG displacement map.
  8. Click Apply.

The displacement map controls how the image is distorted. Different maps produce completely different results, making the filter extremely versatile for creative projects.

Using Displacement Maps

Affinity Photo uses displacement maps to determine pixel movement. While PSD files cannot be used directly as displacement maps, you can save PSD artwork as PNG files and use them without issue.

Useful displacement map sources include:

  • Photographs
  • Textures
  • Gradients
  • Patterns and seamless tiles
  • Shapes and vector artwork
  • Text converted into artwork
  • Previously generated displacement effects

Creating custom displacement maps allows you to generate unique distortion effects tailored to your design projects.

Using the Live Displace Filter Layer

For non-destructive editing, Affinity Photo includes a Live Displace Filter Layer that can be modified at any time.

  1. Select a layer.
  2. Go to Layer > New Live Filter Layer.
  3. Choose Displace.
  4. Load a displacement map.
  5. Adjust the strength and other settings.
  6. Modify the filter layer's blending mode and opacity if required.

Unlike the standard filter, the live filter remains editable and can affect either a single layer or all layers beneath it. Since it is a layer, it also supports opacity adjustments and blend modes for greater creative control.

Using Layers Beneath as a Displacement Source

One of the most useful options is Load Map From Layers Beneath. This feature allows you to use artwork already in your document as the displacement source.

You can use:

  • Images
  • Text
  • Shapes
  • Gradients
  • Patterns
  • Multiple combined layers

Different colour channels can create unique displacement effects, and the process can be recorded as a macro for repeated use. Macros can also be saved to a library for future projects.

Affinity Photo Displace Filter Video Tutorial

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Where is the Displace filter in Affinity Photo?

The Displace filter can be found under Filters > Distort > Displace.

Can I use PSD files as displacement maps?

No. Affinity Photo does not currently support PSD files directly as displacement maps. Save the file as a PNG image before loading it into the Displace filter.

What image formats work as displacement maps?

PNG files are commonly used, although other standard image formats may also work depending on the source image.

What does "Load Map From Layers Beneath" do?

This option uses artwork already contained within the current document as the displacement source instead of loading an external file.

What is the difference between the Displace filter and the Live Displace Filter?

The standard Displace filter permanently applies the effect, while the Live Displace Filter remains editable and non-destructive.

Can I use text as a displacement map in Affinity Photo?

Yes. Text, shapes, gradients, textures, and multiple layers can all be used as displacement sources when using the Layers Beneath option. This makes it easy to create custom distortions and creative text effects.