Export adds 1 pixel to artboard size

[jhdesigns]

When I make multiple artboards in a document, in this case for a set of display ads, and the artboards are sized to a spec like 300x250px, whether I use Export Persona or export individually, a single pixel is often added to the X or Y axis of the artboard and the positioning is off. This results in a 1 px gap on one or both of the axises. This was occurring before and after the 1.9 update.

The fix then involves going into export persona and resizing the artboard slices but then some of them are still out of position by a pixel so I have to move the slice as well by comparing to the first export before re-exporting. 

I thought it might have to do with a single pixel stroke on a transparent rectangle I was making the same size as the artboard to add as a border but hiding this stroke before export does not solve the problem.

 

[walt.farrell]

You need to ensure that your Artboards are located on integer X and Y pixel coordinates. If there are any fractional pixels in either the dimensions or in the positioning you'll get that extra pixel during export.

You can see the positions in the Transform panel if you select an Artboard with the Move Tool. But you may also need to increase the number of decimal places displayed for px units in your application Preferences.

Enabling Snapping will help, as well enabling the Snapping option Force Pixel Alignment, and disabling Move by Whole Pixels. But you can still cause issues if you drag an object or Artboard with the Alt key (Windows) or Opt key (Mac) pressed.

 

[jhdesigns]

Thanks Walt. I'll try that.

[walt.farrell]

You're welcome.

[HolyMoly]

Thx, also ran into this.

I really don't understand why the position of an Artboard has anything to do with its dimensions.

Is this a known (open) bug? If not, should I report it here? https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/128-v2-bugs-found-on-windows/

Many reports about this.. https://www.google.com/search?q=affinity+designer+export+artboard+1px+site:forum.affinity.serif.com&client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=580877352&sxsrf=AM9HkKmgntjGmsk0BFSD6l06KPVgQwAgJQ:1699547530579&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiy29r2q7eCAxXoQ_EDHWVADIEQrQIoBHoECB8QBQ&biw=2560&bih=1287&dpr=1.5

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, HolyMoly said:

Is this a known (open) bug?

It is the way it works. It is not, as far as I know, considered to be a bug by the designers of the application.

[dubbledown]

Looking through the bug forums this is mentioned a few times and it appears as if Affinity sees this as a feature, rather than a bug. Now that I'm aware of it, hopefully I will remember to compensate for the functionality in the future as I move between print and web projects. 🤷🏻‍♂️

This is definitely still a bug in v2.3.1 as of Jan 12, 2024.

While I do enjoy that the artboards are easier to control than AI_CS6 (yeah, I held out on not going with the subscription and the functionality may have improved with CC), not having the artboards aware that they're their own set of measurements is bad app design. 

I find the artboard tool very cumbersome as there's no way to select an artboard with the tool. Even an artboard selection tool for manipulation would be better than only being able to create a new artboard with the tool.

The artboard itself not being able to export its own dimensions because it's not in line with the original document origin is not smart. Thankfully someone else troublehsooted this enough for this forum post to already be answered. Off to report the bug in case it hasn't been yet...

Edited January 13 by dubbledown
found additional input (bold preface content)