Exporting images with transparancy

[Phacient]

I've tried to choose exporting with a transparent background (PNG) for this Designer 2 file. The matte is set to nothing but I still get a white background. I've made a quick video to detail all of this: https://d.pr/v/48SVS7

Hope it's a bug and that I don't have to switch the document background every time I want to export a transparent png or gif. 

Also, exporting to the size of the canvas/artboard is the only option. Being able to simply export selected and/or the entire piece (not the artboard) would be a great way to get exactly what you want and none of what you don't. 

[Hangman]

Hi @Phacient and welcome to the forums...

The way shown in your video clip is the way this has always worked in the Affinity apps but agree that selecting no fill for the matte in the export window 'should' export the file with transparency without the need to select Transparent Background in the Document Setup window first in the same way clicking Transparent Background in the export window in Illustrator and Photoshop does... Whether this is by design or a bug I'm unsure...

If you select the physical layers in the layers panel first and then choose Selection Only the file will correctly export with a transparent background without the need to select Transparent Background in Document Setup... so if you need a bigger area exported that is e.g., the size of your document you need to add a rectangle to your document and give it no fill and then include that in your selection and choose Selection Only on Export which doesn't feel like correct behaviour but this may be by design for some reason...

[Phacient]

You're a smart dude. That's about as good an answer as I can hope for shy of a bug fix. Thank you so much. This is what I'm going to do moving forward until they fix this (I hope).

[Hangman]

No problem, hopefully this at least gives you a work around... it would be helpful to know whether the current behaviour is by design or a bug however...

[stokerg]

5 hours ago, Hangman said:

it would be helpful to know whether the current behaviour is by design or a bug however

Just checked this with QA and is by design since V1.  We use the Matt option to set a background colour, with no colour selected, you get the background of your document, in this case white.  For a transparent background, you'd have to enable that in the Document.  So it's not a bug and would be a Feature Request.

Which version of PS are you @Hangman and @Phacientusing?  As trying to do this in the latest version, doesn't seem possible (unless I'm missing something on the Export As or Save As Legacy window).

[Phacient]

I'm using both. 

I'd love this to become a feature request. It doesn't make a lot of sense to have this matte indicator there with the red line through it. If you can't select no color for the background then why is it there? 

IMO, having that option there not not dropping that background when to the "no color" option is chosen creates needless confusion.

 

 

[LML]

I'm having this exact same problem (where clicking the transparency option in "Matte" under "Advanced" during export should but simply does not work). I've done everything else properly. The workaround (selecting the layer and choosing to export "Selection only") does not work. Anything else I could try?

[Phacient]

IMO, this is a bug, not a feature decision. I see no reason why this shouldn't be this way.

[thomaso]

On 3/3/2023 at 2:34 PM, stokerg said:

with no colour selected, you get the background of your document, in this case white.  For a transparent background, you'd have to enable that in the Document. 

If this icon in the 'Matte' option is meant on purpose / "by design" to result in 'white' then at least this icon for "no colour" is kind of a misleading bug since the same "no colour" setting exports as transparency with container file formats (PDF, SVG, …) without a separate need to activate the transparency pattern displayed for the document, … while an object with a white fill colour does export as non-transparent white as any file type. This same "no colour" icon in the Affinity UI indicates transparency if applied as fill or stroke colour for objects for instance, – regardless of any export file type.