Engraved Money Photo Effect in Affinity Photo

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an engraved money photo effect in Affinity Photo.

Before you start, go to the following links to download the image and money bill needed for the tutorial.

Woman

Money bill

Step 1

First, go to File > Open and select the image of the woman you downloaded.

Step 2

Grab the Selection Brush Tool from the Tools Panel. In the Context Toolbar, set the Mode to Add and check the Snap to Edges box. Take the brush and make a selection of the woman. Press CTRL + J to place a duplicate of the selection onto a new layer. Then, press CTRL + D to deselect.

Step 3

Next, go to the Layers Panel and click the Adjustments icon. Select the Black and White adjustment. Increase the Red, Yellow, and Blue. I set the Red to 153%, Yellow to 131%, and Blue to 133%. Then decrease the Cyan. I set the Cyan to 55%.

The next step for creating the engraved money photo effect is to create an engraved pattern.

Step 4

Go to File > New. Set the Page Width and Page Height to 2000 px. You can leave the DPI at 72 or 300.

Step 5

In the Layers Panel, click the Add Pixel Layer to add a new layer.

Step 6

Go to the Swatches Panel and set the fill color to white. Make sure the pixel layer we added is selected. Then, go to the Edit menu. Select Fill with Primary Color to fill the layer with white.

Step 7

After that, go to the View menu and select Show Grid. Then, go to View again. Click Grid and Axis Manager… Make sure you have the Mode set to Automatic.

Step 8

Now, grab the Pen Tool from the Tools Panel. Turn on Snapping in the Toolbar. Click and add a point on the second line on the left side. Press and hold Shift, then, place a point on every other line horizontally until you reach the right side.

Step 9

Once you’ve done that, press CTRL and click off the document. Go to the Swatches Panel and get rid of the fill color. The stroke color should be black. Next, click on the line we just created in the Layers Panel. Then, go to the Stroke Panel and set the stroke Width to .5 pt.

Step 10

Next, grab the Node Tool from the Tools Panel. Select all the nodes between the node on the left and the node on the right. Then, go to the Context Toolbar and go to Convert. Select Convert to Smooth. Take the node tool and place it between the first two nodes. Drag this part of the line slightly up. Next, select the middle area between the next two nodes. Drag this part of the line slightly down. Do this the rest of the way across the line to create a wavy line.

Step 11

Grab the Move Tool from the Tools Panel. Press and hold CTRL + Shift. Then, drag a copy of the line a little below the original. You might need to turn off Snapping to do this. Press CTRL + J multiple times until the duplicated lines reach the bottom of the document. After that, select all the lines and arrange them the way you see them on the screen.

Step 12

Now, take the Move Tool and select a portion of the lines at the top. Then, press and hold CTRL + Shift, and drag a copy of the lines at the top to cover up the space. Go to the View menu and click on Show Grid to remove the grid.

Step 13

After doing that, select all the lines and press CTRL + G to group them together. Label this group . 5 in the Layers Panel. Make sure the white-filled pixel layer isn’t in the group. Remove it from the group if it is.

Step 14

Select the group and press CTRL + J to duplicate it. Go to the Stroke Panel and set the Width of the group to 1 pt. Label the group 1.

Step 15

In the Layers Panel, turn off the white-filled pixel layer. Now, select the two-line groups. Press CTRL + Alt + Shift + E to merge the visible layers together. Or go up to the Layer menu and select Merge Visible.

Step 16

With the merged layer still selected go to the Layer menu and select New Patter Layer from Selection. Make sure the pattern layer is at the top of everything. Press CTRL + J to make a copy of the pattern. Turn this layer off for now.

Now, we can create the complete engraved money photo effect look.

Step 17

Select the pattern layer. Lower the Opacity of the layer to 40%. Feel free to experiment with the different Blend Modes.

Step 18

Go to the Layers Panel and select the pattern layer, the adjustment layer, and the layer of the woman. Press CTRL + SHIFT + E to merge these layers together.

Step 19

Now, go to the link of the 100 dollar bill. Click Download. Another tab will open. Click Download File, and then, go to the file after it downloads. Right-click on the file and click Extract All > Extract. Then, right-click on the file and select Open with Affinity Photo.

Step 20

Grab the Inpainting Brush Tool from the Tools Panel. Take the tool and go over the part of the bottom part of the oval where part of the word Franklin is to remove it.

Step 21

In the Layers Panel, click the Add Pixel Layer to add a new layer. Place the layer beneath the money layer. Go to the Swatches Panel and double click the fill color to bring up the Color Chooser. Enter the following hex code #D6D8C3. Then, select the pixel layer we added. Go to the Edit menu and select Fill with Primary Color to fill the layer with the color we added.

Step 22

Go back to the document with the woman and copy the merged layer of her with the engraved pattern. Copy it onto the money document. Place the layer between the money and the pixel layer we added earlier.

Step 23

Now, go to the Transform Panel and turn on the Lock Aspect Ratio. Take the Move Tool and resize the woman into the oval of the bill the way you see it on the screen.

Step 24

Next, go back to the document of the woman and copy the pattern layer. Paste it onto the document with the money and turn it on. Place the patter layer above the color-filled pixel layer.

Step 25

Click the Adjustments icon in the Layers Panel and select the Curves adjustment. Click the point on the left and drag it to the right some right at the beginning of the graph. Now, click and add a point in the middle of the curve and drag it slightly up and slightly to the left. After that, select the point on the right and drag it down some.

Step 26

Once you’ve done that, go to the Green Channel. Click in the middle of the curve to add a point. Then, drag the point up some.

Congratulations, this tutorial is complete! You now know how to create an engraved money photo effect in Affinity Photo. For more Affinity Photo tutorials, check out this tutorial on how to create a cyanotype effect.