Stokestack Posted February 11, 2022 Posted February 11, 2022 Such a simple task: I just want to export an icon with no extra pixels around it. The document has space around the icon. At first I could find no succinct and exact way to either get rid of the surrounding canvas, or select all the objects and create a slice, artboard, or any other discrete entity that can then be selected in the Export persona. But, if you select the "artboard" tool, there is an option on the toolbar to "insert artboard," and next to it you can change the size to "selection." Again, this is a fairly obscure rigmarole in place of, say, a context menu on the canvas or in the layer list that would allow you to "create artboard from selection." Also, there doesn't appear to be a way to resize an artboard by dragging and snapping its edges to objects, even with the "artboard tool." True? And then there's the fact that the creation of artboards itself is (in this case) a workaround to a crippled "slicing tool." I would have expected the slicing tool in the Export persona to be able to do the same thing with slices. But nope; it doesn't appear that you can even make it snap to objects. Is there some better way that I'm missing? Thanks! Quote
Stokestack Posted February 12, 2022 Author Posted February 12, 2022 Aaaand we're back to the ol' problem of not being able to set the canvas color AND you can't set objects as non-printing/non-exporting, so in a case like this without the black square you wouldn't be able to see the shapes you were working with or exporting. Quote
Old Bruce Posted February 12, 2022 Posted February 12, 2022 1 hour ago, Stokestack said: Aaaand we're back to the ol' problem of not being able to set the canvas color AND you can't set objects as non-printing/non-exporting, so in a case like this without the black square you wouldn't be able to see the shapes you were working with or exporting. Work with a transparent background. 2 hours ago, Stokestack said: Is there some better way that I'm missing? Thanks! Why don't you just group the two items that you want to export and group them. Or is it the three items you want to have exported, just select the three items and group them. Quote Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.6 Affinity Designer 2.5.7 | Affinity Photo 2.5.7 | Affinity Publisher 2.5.7 | Beta versions as they appear. I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.
Stokestack Posted February 13, 2022 Author Posted February 13, 2022 Thanks for the suggestions. The transparent background is a pretty lame workaround if you're working with white or light-grey objects. There's no excuse for not letting us set the canvas color, but people have already complained about this and nothing has been done. The grouping suggestion turned out to be unnecessary. I started a new drawing similar to the example above, and discovered in the Export persona that there's a "create slice" option in the context menu... but only when you're NOT using the Slice tool! 🙄 Azure Sea 1 Quote
Pšenda Posted February 13, 2022 Posted February 13, 2022 28 minutes ago, Stokestack said: set the canvas color Use artboards whose color can be set as for other objects. Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail) Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.
Stokestack Posted February 13, 2022 Author Posted February 13, 2022 1 hour ago, Pšenda said: Use artboards whose color can be set as for other objects. I did, but it showed up in the export. Quote
Pšenda Posted February 13, 2022 Posted February 13, 2022 26 minutes ago, Stokestack said: I did, but it showed up in the export. Yes, that goes without saying. If you do not want the background color to be exported, you can turn it off before exporting, or create a Slice only from the exported object / group of objects in the Layers panel of the Export Person. Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail) Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.
Stokestack Posted February 13, 2022 Author Posted February 13, 2022 Which is why people have been requesting (and other similar software has) a way to set the color of the canvas, and even more importantly a way to set objects as non-printing. Azure Sea 1 Quote
thomaso Posted February 13, 2022 Posted February 13, 2022 On 2/12/2022 at 12:44 AM, Stokestack said: At first I could find no succinct and exact way to either get rid of the surrounding canvas, or select all the objects and create a slice, artboard, or any other discrete entity that can then be selected in the Export persona. How about exporting the area "Selection Only" … …or using the icon button to exclude certain layers from appearing in an export? Quote macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1
Pšenda Posted February 13, 2022 Posted February 13, 2022 6 hours ago, Stokestack said: and even more importantly a way to set objects as non-printing. Just use the settings in the Layers panel of the Export Persona. Stokestack and Azure Sea 2 Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail) Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.
Stokestack Posted February 14, 2022 Author Posted February 14, 2022 Thanks.I expect that this will affect child objects too, though, won't it? If so, you can't do this to an artboard. So this means creating a rectangle that's the same size as the canvas, setting its color, moving it to the back of your composition, and then setting it to non-exporting in the Export persona.... right? Quote
Old Bruce Posted February 14, 2022 Posted February 14, 2022 12 hours ago, Stokestack said: Thanks.I expect that this will affect child objects too, though, won't it? If so, you can't do this to an artboard. So this means creating a rectangle that's the same size as the canvas, setting its color, moving it to the back of your composition, and then setting it to non-exporting in the Export persona.... right? Or... Before switching to the Export Persona just set the Artboard's colour to transparent or None. Quote Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.6 Affinity Designer 2.5.7 | Affinity Photo 2.5.7 | Affinity Publisher 2.5.7 | Beta versions as they appear. I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.
R C-R Posted February 14, 2022 Posted February 14, 2022 56 minutes ago, Old Bruce said: Or... Before switching to the Export Persona just set the Artboard's colour to transparent or None. If you set the Tools panel in the Export Persona to show 2 or more columns, you get this color selector in it, including the set-to-transparent button: So you can select an artboard in that persona & set its fill to transparent there. Quote All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.7 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7 All 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7
Pšenda Posted February 15, 2022 Posted February 15, 2022 5 hours ago, Old Bruce said: Or... Before switching to the Export Persona just set the Artboard's colour to transparent or None. ... which was meant by this sentence: On 2/13/2022 at 11:29 AM, Pšenda said: If you do not want the background color to be exported, you can turn it off before exporting, 18 hours ago, Stokestack said: So this means creating a rectangle that's the same size as the canvas, setting its color, moving it to the back of your composition, and then setting it to non-exporting in the Export persona.... right? Not necessarily. If you select an object / group of objects in the Layers panel of the Export Persona, and create a Slice from them, only the selected objects will be included in the export. Stokestack 1 Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail) Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.
R C-R Posted February 15, 2022 Posted February 15, 2022 9 minutes ago, Pšenda said: ... which was meant by this sentence: On 2/13/2022 at 4:29 AM, Pšenda said: If you do not want the background color to be exported, you can turn it off before exporting, I think like me some of us thought you were talking about the Make Item Visible in Export button in the Export Persona's Layers panel, which is not the same thing as setting an artboard's fill color to none or transparent. Using that button is probably the better choice in most workflows since it is non-destructive, whereas changing the artboard's fill color is. Quote All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.7 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7 All 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7
Stokestack Posted February 15, 2022 Author Posted February 15, 2022 5 hours ago, Pšenda said: Not necessarily. If you select an object / group of objects in the Layers panel of the Export Persona, and create a Slice from them, only the selected objects will be included in the export. This appears to be the least painful method of doing what I want. Thanks. It still means having a colored object behind everything else, which you have to remember to turn off if you want to print without it (see the lengthy threads requesting a "do not print" option on layers). But for exporting it's not too bad. Quote
Pšenda Posted February 15, 2022 Posted February 15, 2022 8 hours ago, R C-R said: you were talking about the Make Item Visible in Export button No, one must understand the context of the information. First we talk about setting the color, On 2/13/2022 at 9:15 AM, Pšenda said: Use artboards whose color can be set as for other objects. and then turning it off, On 2/13/2022 at 11:29 AM, Pšenda said: you can turn it off before exporting that is, settings the transparency. The possibility of disabling / removing objects from the export is discussed only subsequently. Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail) Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.
Pšenda Posted February 15, 2022 Posted February 15, 2022 4 hours ago, Stokestack said: Thanks. It still means having a colored object behind everything else, which you have to remember to turn off if you want to print without it No. I may not know what you really want to achieve, but I have the color Artboards set ("The transparent background is a pretty lame workaround if you're working with white or light-grey objects"), what I want to export ("trim the Designer canvas to the objects, how do we export without border regions") I have encapsulated in a group, and then in the Export persona I create a Slice from this group. The export then looks like this - it's without a colored background (I didn't have to remember or turn anything off), and it's borderless. Old Bruce 1 Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail) Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.
Stokestack Posted February 16, 2022 Author Posted February 16, 2022 So if you print, the colored background doesn't show up? Quote
thomaso Posted February 16, 2022 Posted February 16, 2022 1 hour ago, Stokestack said: So if you print, the colored background doesn't show up? The screenshot of @Pšenda's export (PNG, PDF?) doesn't show the blue artboard/background but the white colored rectangle. Compare this example about slices, not exporting / showing content, though within their layout areas: Quote macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1
Stokestack Posted February 16, 2022 Author Posted February 16, 2022 15 hours ago, thomaso said: The screenshot of @Pšenda's export (PNG, PDF?) doesn't show the blue artboard/background but the white colored rectangle. Thanks for the reply, and the link to that other topic. But that's a screen shot, not a printout. There's another long thread of people requesting a "non-printing" button on layers, so we can do simple things like making templates and working around the inability to set the canvas color. It's only related to exporting (in this thread, anyway) because any change you make to your composition to work around Designer's export limitations may mess up your workarounds for its printing limitations, and vice versa. Quote
thomaso Posted February 16, 2022 Posted February 16, 2022 55 minutes ago, Stokestack said: But that's a screen shot, not a printout. There's another long thread of people requesting a "non-printing" button on layers, so we can do simple things like making templates and working around the inability to set the canvas color. It's only related to exporting (in this thread, anyway) I guess I misunderstand your point. While this topic is literally about export (not print) the discussed or recommended workflow using slices (and accordingly slice settings) affects export only, not print. So, setting up slices does not influence your print options. Quote macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1
Stokestack Posted February 16, 2022 Author Posted February 16, 2022 It does when one of the suggestions to be able to see the white objects you're trying to export is to put a colored object behind them. This changes the document and will affect printing. Quote
Stokestack Posted March 3, 2022 Author Posted March 3, 2022 Well, the selecting of objects and then "create slice" turns out not to be a good workaround. I selected three layers in the Export persona and did "create slice," and nope: It created THREE slices. Incredible. Quote
Pšenda Posted March 3, 2022 Posted March 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Stokestack said: I selected three layers Why should it be incredible when working with layers? Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail) Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.
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