How to Face Swap in Affinity Photo

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to face swap in Affinity Photo. Before you begin, download the images needed for this face swap tutorial.

Man 1

Man in front of Temple

Step 1

First, go to File > Open. Select the image of the man standing in front of the temple and click Open. Then, go to File > Open again. This time, select the other image you downloaded and click Open.

Step 2

Next, go to the Tools Panel and select the Freehand Selection Tool. In the Context Toolbar, make sure the Feather is 0. Set the Type to Polygonal. Take the tool and make a selection of the man’s face. Left-click and drag the cursor around the area of the face you want to use to trace the face for the selection. Alternatively, you can also click and add points around the face to make the selection.

Step 3

Once you’ve made the selection, press CTRL + C to copy the selection. Then, go to the first image we opened. Press CTRL + V to paste the selection of the face onto the image.

Step 4

Grab the Move Tool from the Tools Panel. Then, go to the Transform Panel and turn on the Lock Aspect Ratio. With the face layer selected, press 5 (on the keyboard) to set the Opacity of the face layer to 50%. Or go to the Layers Panel and set the Opacity to 50% from there.

Step 5

Now, take the Move Tool and resize the face image, making it smaller, and place it over the man’s face. Line up the eyes of the face to the eyes of the man.

Step 6

After that, press 0 to set the Opacity of the face layer back to 100%. Or go to the Layers Panel and set the Opacity to 100% from there.

Step 7

With the face layer still selected, go to the Layers Panel and click the Mask Layer icon to add a mask to the face.

Step 8

Once you’ve done that, grab the Paint Brush Tool from the Tools Panel. In the Color Panel, make sure the black color is selected. If not, press Shift + X to switch between the white and black colors. Or set the color to black. Next, go to the Brushes Panel. Select the Basic brushes and choose a Round Soft Brush. In the Context Toolbar, set the Width to 75px.

Step 9

Now, go to the Context Toolbar. Set the Hardness to 0%, Opacity to 30%, and lower the Flow to 80%.

Step 10

In the Layers Panel, make sure the mask layer is selected. Next, take the brush and start masking away the face around the edges.

Step 11

After that, right-click on the face layer and select Rasterize to combine the face layer and its mask layer.

Step 12

Next, select the original picture. Press CTRL + J to duplicate the image. With the duplicated image selected, press CTRL and click the thumbnail of the face.

Step 13

Now, turn off the visibility of the face layer and the original image. With the duplicated layer selected, hit the Backspace key on the keyboard.

Step 14

Once you’ve done that, turn the visibility of the face layer and the original image back on. Press CTRL + D to deselect the face.

Step 15

Select the face layer. Now, click the Adjustments icon and select the Curves adjustment. Make sure this layer is inside the face layer. Go to the Master Channel. Then, click and add a point in the middle and drag it up some.

Step 16

After that, go to the Red Channel. Click and add a point in the middle and drag it up.

Step 17

In the Layers Panel, click the Adjustments icon. Select the Shadows/Highlight adjustment. Place this adjustment inside the face layer. Set the Shadows to 37% and the Highlights to -15%.

Step 18

Now, go to the Layers Panel and click the Adjustments icon. Select the HSL adjustment. Set the Saturation Shift to -9 and the Luminosity Shift to -4%.15.

Step 19

Go to the Layers Panel and click Add Pixel Layer to add a new pixel layer. Make sure this layer is on top of everything.

Step 20

In the Tools Panel, grab the Clone Brush Tool. Go to the Context Toolbar and set the Source to Current Layer & Below. Also, set the Hardness to 0%, Flow to about 50% – 60%, and the Opacity to 75%. Then, make the brush size smaller too. You can press the [ key to do that.

Step 21

Press the Alt key. Then, click and drag on the face near the cheek area. After that, take the brush and paint in some of this onto the area beside the cheek to blend it in. Follow these steps to blend in the other side of the cheek area and the area on the upper right temple of the face. If you accidentally paint outside the area, grab the Erase Brush Tool from the Tools Panel and go over the area to erase it.

Step 22

In the Layers Panel, click the Adjustments icon and click the Curves adjustments.

Step 23

Click and add a point in the middle and drag it down. Make sure this layer is on top of everything. With the layer selected, press CTRL + I to invert this layer.

Step 24

Now, grab the Paintbrush Tool from the Tools Panel. In the Color Panel, make sure the white color is selected. Go to the Context Toolbar and decrease the Opacity and Flow some. Next, take the brush and paint along the right side of the face on the forehead and cheek area.

Step 25

Once you’ve done that, click the Adjustment icon in the Layers Panel. Select the Shadows/Highlights adjustment. Set the Shadows to -15% and the Highlights to 23%. Place the layer at the top to add shadows and highlights to the whole image.

Congratulations, this tutorial is complete! You now know how to face swap in Affinity Photo. For more tutorials such as this, check out this article on how to create an old western wanted poster.