Export Persona - Size Options

[Matthew Dickerson]

It would be great to have Width/Height Pixel Size Entry options in the Export Persona

[GarryP]

You already can.
In the Slices Panel, ‘open’ the slice and type a value into the field I point to in my attached image.
You can use things like 100w (width of 100), or 500h (height of 500), or 2x (double the size).

[Matthew Dickerson]

Thats great, although it would be nice to see the entry value change similar to the transform window - If I resized the width I'd be able to see what the height is going to be.

[GarryP]

The exported item will always* have the same aspect ratio as the thing being exported so if height is the most important size then specify the height and the width will change accordingly.

There seems to be a bit of extra space over/under the slice name so I can’t see a problem with having a little bit of extra text there stating what the resultant width and height will be, maybe as an extra ‘manual check’ that it is correct before exporting.

* This may not be correct for every export type in every case, I haven’t thoroughly checked.

[Matthew Dickerson]

2 minutes ago, GarryP said:

There seems to be a bit of extra space over/under the slice name so I can’t see a problem with having a little bit of extra text there stating what the resultant width and height will be, maybe as an extra ‘manual check’ that it is correct before exporting.

I agree, It would be nice to have the dimensions listed somewhere, or perhaps a hover-over text to view the dimensions..

[Old Bruce]

4 hours ago, Matthew Dickerson said:

Thats great, although it would be nice to see the entry value change similar to the transform window - If I resized the width I'd be able to see what the height is going to be.

I use the Export Persona to output several variations of one slice so the Transform panel would not be able to show me three different sizes for example.

[damdam]

Hello, I cannot figure out how to export the size of the artboard (or slice) inside the name of the file. 

/// RED ARROWS
I'm creating label for printing and would like to add the size dynamically to my exported file names.

With the following settings -> SDA L62 coconut oil [slice name] [width]x[height]

I expect to get this -> SDA L62 coconut oil front out 30mmx70mm.png

But the width and height does not show up. The result is -> SDA L62 coconut oil front outx.png

Note: the description of the variables are cut...

 

/// BLUE ARROWS

Also, a side note. Whatever unit I choose in my document settings, Export Persona always shows the sizes in px.
Is there any way to make Export Persona follow the unit I set up in my document?

Thank you :-)

[GarryP]

7 hours ago, damdam said:

But the width and height does not show up. The result is -> SDA L62 coconut oil front outx.png

Check the description of the Width and Height variables in the pop-up; they are only available if you specify those values in the Slice settings.

I don’t know if it’s possible to use the actual Slice width and/or height values in the Slice name.

7 hours ago, damdam said:

Whatever unit I choose in my document settings, Export Persona always shows the sizes in px.

Exporting to a raster-based file type is always in pixels as that’s the unit of measure for those file formats; things like mm and cm wouldn’t make sense as they are unlikely to convert to a whole number of pixels.

[damdam]

Thanks Garry, I understand how that works now but still, I wish I could export automatically my file's dimensions into its name.

For instance, my Designer file contains 10 artboards with various dimensions (in cm). I will export each artboard in PDF for a printing company. Once my designs are ready I go to Persona and the Transform panel shows px (instead of cm). If I want to add manually the dimensions in cm at the end of each file using the path component field I have to go back to designer to double check, maybe even take script notes and then back to Persona again. For sure, it is not the end of the world but I feel that could be way more efficient.

Hence, after adding manually the dimensions, later on, I resize most artboards (maybe I'm a bad designer ;-), now I need to edit each export file again.

An extra token "document size" -> ###x###unit (or "document width" and "document height") following the unit in the settings would be great in my case. Printing company always ask for dimensions as it impacts the price of the printing. Having it dynamically baked within the title of any export would be a time saver, again, in my case :-)

[GarryP]

I can see where you are coming from.

Maybe one of the Export Persona experts has a good idea.

[LionelD]

@Matthew Dickerson, @GarryP @damdam There are lots of things you can do with the Export Persona that can save you a lot of work.

Almost everything I export comes from pure vector documents.  I do not do raster/pixel work in AD2.

Here is a summary of my experiences (AD2 2.5.6):

1. Slices must have whole-pixel (X, Y) coordinates and whole-pixel dimensions.  If you don’t satisfy both conditions, the dimensions of exported files will not be what you asked for.  With Export Persona Transform tool selected, inspect each Slice to see what you have.  If you find problems, you may be able to fix them by arranging multi-Artboards to whole-pixel coordinated (Alignment Tool).
2. You can export any one slice in multiple formats and at multiple sizes at the same time.  I’ve attached screenshots of an Export Preset that shows an example.
3. You can define filenames for exported Slices.  In my case, I incorporated width in the filenames- see attached screenshot.

I recommend viewing Elaine Giles YouTube video “Mastering the Export Persona” at 

 

 

Even though this is an old video, it has a lot of information that is still applicable for the latest published AD2.

Elaine Giles’ YouTube channel is free, does not require registration, and is very informative.

@damdam As far as I know Slices in Export Persona always have Pixel dimensions because ALL image formats contain a whole number of pixels.  As my screenshots show, you can include dimensions in filenames, but there is no way to convert to another unit of measure in Export Persona.  I’ve never needed to create output with exact metric dimensions, but you may have to adjust your DPI setting to get the closest match possible.  Perhaps choose DPI value that gives you an integral number of pixels per CM?

Let me know if you need more information; I’ll help to the extent I can, but I’m sure there are others who are more knowledgeable.

Regards

Lionel

[damdam]

Thank you @LionelD for your detailed answer. 

I gave up on trying to have the dynamic name within my PDF export.
Instead, I added text above each artboard and created extra slice around the artboard + text.
It is not dynamic but it does the job. 

[LionelD]

@damdam You’re welcome.  In my opinion the Export Persona is poorly documented, and not well understood, so I understand your frustration.  I still encourage you to watch that video, because Export Persona is very powerful.

Regards

[damdam]

@LionelD I just watched that video and unfortunately, did not learn much more (I'm not bragging, it is just a fact :-) 

Hence, Elaine, without even noticing, went through the same "issue" I have haha. At 54:00 (https://www.youtube.com/live/kvjWIaP7aws?si=Ab8xNiJOzNBj6s1w&t=3240) she has 3 artboards with the same name and design. The only thing that distinguish one from another is the size, hence the "_0000x0000" she adds manually at the end of the file name. In her case, it is kinda okay because her Designer file is a template so it is a one time setup.

In my case, I work on dozen of stickers (for print) with various dimensions. If I want to add that 0000x0000cm at the end of each file name, it is going to take me days. And then if the dimensions are updated (this happens regularly), I have to go thought it all over again.

Having that new token "dimensions" baked in Affinity Persona would be such a time saving, even for Elaine. Just drag and drop the "dimensions" token at the end of the name once and any future update will have the new dimension written at the end of that file. That way, I'm sure the printing guys get the right info.

I'm not a developer, but I feel that would not be so hard to implement as well, just one more token picking up the dimensions of whatever selected slide.

Overall I feel that Affinity Persona fits more the digital world rather than the print world (I work on both).

A feature request could be my last hope :-) (Not sure how to do that though).

Anyway, Affinity is hands down way better that boggy Illustrator and I'm glad I've shifted 3 computers at my company from Adobe to Affinity. 

 

[LionelD]

@damdam That video is old, sorry.  These days Elaine would not need to add those zeroes to filenames as you can get Export Persona to do that for you regardless of how you name the .afdesign file, they will just be px rather than cm.  And given that you can change DPI long after a file has been created, there may be no realistic way to relate px with cm.

So, I just discovered that

1. When you tell Export Persona the size you want a slice to be, you can enter values like “7cm” or “110mm” which it appears to understand because it automatically converted those specs to the correct (rounded) pixel values.
2. It forces the values you enter to conform to the aspect ratio of the object you’re exporting.  It seems to assume that the first value entered is correct, forces second one to conform.

Well, have a good day!

Regards

[damdam]

@LionelD I totally agree that sometimes I would think a certain way, while the software can achieve that a different way. But in that particular case, I cannot bend Affinity to do what I want :-) 

 

On 12/11/2024 at 11:47 PM, LionelD said:

regardless of how you name the .afdesign file, they will just be px rather than cm.  And given that you can change DPI long after a file has been created, there may be no realistic way to relate px with cm.

I'm not talking about the name of the .afdesign file but the exported PDF file ready for print. I'm specifically referring to the "printing world" why you keep thinking in pixels. I understand that we create those artworks on a computer which use pixels but the output is a file that will be printed in mm, cm, m, inch, not pixels. If I talk pixels to a printing company they will not know what is the size. The price we pay for printing is mostly due to the surface for a banner and surface * quantity for posters, flyers, etc... 

I don't need to show px in the name. I set up my file in cm 300dpi and want these measurements to be shown in my exported pdf for the printing company so they can tell me the price. My mockup might clarify what I'm trying to explain. 

On 12/11/2024 at 11:47 PM, LionelD said:

When you tell Export Persona the size you want a slice to be, you can enter values like “7cm” or “110mm” which it appears to understand because it automatically converted those specs to the correct (rounded) pixel values.

That's cool, thanks for the tip :-) but that's not what I'm looking for. In my case, I work in cm because the printing company understands cm.
Why Affinity offers me 6 type of "workflows" if the Export Persona considers every output in px? If I set cm, I expect cm to be shown everywhere otherwise it's difficult to figure out sizes along the way. 

Also, the token [width] does not exist in PDF export. And even if it did, that token impacts the size of the export file which is not what I am looking for. I just want the width AND height to be shown in the file name like, exactly the same functionality as the 3 actual tokens available for pdf export (see mockup).

On 12/11/2024 at 11:47 PM, LionelD said:

It forces the values you enter to conform to the aspect ratio of the object you’re exporting.  It seems to assume that the first value entered is correct, forces second one to conform.

You are right but this is web stuff again, which I don't need here. I am not exporting the same banner in different size following the same aspect ratio (like we do on the web with responsive design.