Creating a Comment Card from Scratch in Affinity

Hi eager to learn

I understand your frustration. Learning a new application like Affinity can be challenging, and this forum is certainly a good place to ask questions.

That said, I get the impression that you may be putting the cart before the horse. Some of your questions concern basic principles of graphic design and document setup. AI is not always a reliable way to learn these fundamentals, especially when it does not know the exact requirements of the finished product.

I would recommend taking some time to work through a few good beginner tutorials. This will help you develop a solid understanding of Affinity’s basic tools and workflows—knowledge that you will need again and again in future projects.

When starting a project such as a comment card, it is best to work backward from the final product. First, determine how the finished card will be used. Is it intended for digital use or for print? What size does it need to be, and how will it be printed? For a printed product, you may also need to consider margins, bleed, colour mode, image resolution, and the requirements of the printer or print shop. Once those details are clear, you can set up the document correctly from the beginning.

AI cannot make those decisions for you unless it has been given the exact production requirements.

Regarding paper sizes:

Since you are in the United States, the most relevant starting point is US Letter. It measures 8.5 × 11 inches and is the standard size used by most home and office printers. It is also readily available anywhere printer paper is sold. We commonly use Letter-size paper here in Canada as well.

Other common North American paper sizes include:

Letter — 8.5 × 11 inches / 216 × 279 mm
Legal — 8.5 × 14 inches / 216 × 356 mm
Ledger or Tabloid — 11 × 17 inches / 279 × 432 mm

For your project, let’s assume that the finished comment card should be half the size of a Letter sheet. Each card would then measure 5.5 × 8.5 inches, allowing you to print two cards on one 8.5 × 11-inch sheet.

In Affinity, you would create a Letter-size document measuring 8.5 × 11 inches and divide the page into two equal sections. Rulers, guides, and snapping will help you position everything accurately. Design the comment card on one half of the page, then duplicate it and place the copy on the other half. This arrangement is commonly called a two-up layout. After printing, the sheet can be cut in half.

You may also come across paper sizes such as A4 or A6 in tutorials and online discussions. These belong to the ISO A-series, an international paper-size standard expressed in millimetres and commonly used in countries that follow the metric system.

Common ISO A-series sizes are:

A0 — 841 × 1189 mm / 33.11 × 46.81 inches
A1 — 594 × 841 mm / 23.39 × 33.11 inches
A2 — 420 × 594 mm / 16.54 × 23.39 inches
A3 — 297 × 420 mm / 11.69 × 16.54 inches
A4 — 210 × 297 mm / 8.27 × 11.69 inches
A5 — 148 × 210 mm / 5.83 × 8.27 inches

Unlike North American paper sizes, the proportions of the A-series remain the same when a sheet is cut in half. For example, cutting an A4 sheet in half produces two A5 sheets.

However, unless your printer, print shop, or project specifications specifically require an A-series size, US Letter is the more practical and familiar choice for your project.

But as I mentioned earlier, it would be a good idea to first spend some time learning Affinity’s basic tools and document-setup features. Once you understand those fundamentals, this project will be much easier to complete.


Videos YouTube
The ULTIMATE Guide to All 68 Tools in Affmity 3

How to Create a New Document in Affinity

Affinity Revolution 

Quote from eager to learn

AI directs me to create an A6 card by opening a New Document > choose the Print option (I don’t readily see that)

Once again, AI probably gives you advices based on the previous V2 version where the presets for new documents were divided in Printer (for home/small business printers) which require RGB documents and Press-Ready (for professional large scale printing) which require CMYK files.

Thus, chose or define any appropriate size for your paper (A6 is 148 mm × 105 mm, it's not anymore in the predefined formats) and chose RGB/8 colour format. Check also the appropriate icon for Portrait or Paysage orientation.

For tracing shapes, once you have selected the appropriate tool (like rectangle round corners), you have to click on the document and then drag, from one corner of the desired shape to the opposite corner. If you want to have a square and not a rectangle, keep the Shift-key down.

Quote from eager to learn

Windows functions don't seem to work well in Affinity. Ctrl + C then Ctrl + V doesn’t seem to work

When you copy-paste an existing object, the same object is pasted on the exact same place, so you don't see there's a new object — unless you look at the Layers panel I already recommended you to leave open and check regularly.

So you only need to copy, paste and move the selected object (called a layer). It will move the newly pasted object and leave the original in place.

If you want to repeat that multiple times, select the original, press ctrl-j and move it (= duplicate and move). Repeat ctrl-j as much you want.

Enregistrement de l’écran 2026-07-13 à 07.38.33.mp4