In this Affinity® Designer tutorial, we will continue to work on our DIY wedding invitation suite. We have already created the pattern background for the suite, which is the first design element for the template.

In this tutorial, we will create two versions of a second design element. We will start with a solid colored shape. This shape will be the text container for the text on the card. We will create two text containers. You can use either one in your design.

Octagon Shaped Text Container

1. Start a new 4 x 6 inches at 300 dpi document.


2. From the top menubar, click View - Show Grid.


3. With the Pen tool, draw an eight sided octagon shape within the canvas.

You will want the octagon to be longer along the sides of the shape (see screenshot).


4. With the octagon still selected, set the Fill color to off white #FBFAFB and the Stroke color to gold #D4B921 in the Context toolbar. Set the Stroke Width to 3 pt and Stroke Alignment to Inside.


5. In the Layers panel, name the layer Octagon (see screenshot).


6. Click File - Save as to save the octagon shape as a separate .afdesign document named OctagonShape. Save the file in the same location as the patterned background.

Arch Shaped Text Container - This solid colored shape will be an alternative container, used in place of the octagon shape, behind the text.

1. Start a new document that is 4 inches x 6 inches at 300 dpi.


2. From the top menubar, click View - Show Grid.

We will start by drawing a circle and a square. Then we will add them together to form the arch.


3. Starting at the top of the canvas, draw a 4 inches circle with the Ellipse tool (see screenshot).


4. In the Transform panel, the Width and Height of the circle should be 4 inches. The X and Y value should be zero (see screenshot).


5. Starting 2 inches down from the top of the canvas, draw a 4 inches square with the Rectangle tool (see screenshot).


6. In the Transform panel, the Width and Height of the square should be 4 inches, the X value should be 0 inches and the Y value should be 2 inches (see screenshot).


7. Select both the circle and the square. From the Toolbar, click the Add icon to combine the two shapes in to the arch shape (see screenshot).


8. In the Layers panel, name this layer Arch.


9. With the arch still selected, set the Fill color to off white #FBFAFB and the Stroke color to gold #D4B921 in the Context toolbar. Set the Stroke Width to 3 pt and Stroke Alignment to Inside (see screenshot).

Let's save the arch shape as a separate .afdesign document.


10. Click File - Save as and name this document ArchShape. Save the file in the same location as the patterned background.

Index - DIY Wedding Invitation Suite Template in Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer screenshots used by permission of Serif (Europe) Ltd. This article is not endorsed by Serif Ltd.