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How Do I Import Swatches Into Affinity Designer?

Published in Affinity Designer Swatches 3 mins read

Importing swatches, also known as colour palettes, into Affinity Designer is a simple process that allows you to quickly access custom colour schemes for your designs. As mentioned by Tristan in the description of the YouTube video "Importing a Colour Palette in Affinity Designer," importing a palette is "very simple."

Here's how you can typically import swatches into Affinity Designer:

Steps to Import Colour Palettes

To add a custom colour palette to your Swatches panel in Affinity Designer, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Swatches Panel:

    • If the Swatches panel is not already visible, go to the View menu.
    • Navigate to Studio.
    • Select Swatches from the submenu. The panel will appear, usually on the right side of the interface.

  2. Access the Panel Menu:

    • In the top-right corner of the Swatches panel, you will see a small menu icon (often represented by three horizontal lines or a downward arrow depending on the version).
    • Click on this menu icon to reveal the panel options.

  3. Select the Import Option:

    • From the dropdown menu, choose Import Palette.

  4. Choose the Palette Type:

    • A submenu will appear giving you options for where the palette will be available:
      • As Application Palette: This makes the palette available in any Affinity Designer document you open.
      • As Document Palette: This makes the palette available only in the current document you are working on.
      • As System Palette: This option integrates the palette into your operating system's colour picker (availability may vary depending on OS).
    • Select the option that best suits your needs. For general use across multiple projects, As Application Palette is a common choice.

  5. Locate and Select Your Swatch File:

    • A file explorer or finder window will open.
    • Navigate to the location on your computer where your swatch file is saved.
    • Affinity Designer supports various swatch file formats, including:
      • .afpalette (Affinity's native format)
      • .ase (Adobe Swatch Exchange)
      • .aco (Adobe Colour)
      • .qcol (QuarkXPress Colour)
    • Select the desired swatch file and click Open (or the equivalent button on your system).

Confirmation

Once imported, the new colour palette will appear in the list of palettes within the Swatches panel, ready for you to use. You can switch between different palettes using the dropdown menu at the top of the Swatches panel.

Importing swatches is a quick way to maintain consistency and efficiency in your design workflow, allowing easy access to your preferred colour schemes or those provided by clients and resources.

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