Affinity Designer Export Issues

[LKK]

Hi,

I am working on some stage set panels, stage banners, and other banners for an upcoming large event. I need to have editable files for the printer in case there are any issues with the files. The files are big, although I did design them at 1/4 scale. They range from about 150MB - 250MB in size. I have layer adjustments and effects in use as well. 

I exported .pdf, .svg, and .eps files. The export process was very tedious and time consuming. On one set of panels I was unable to export the .svg file, it just hung up. Mosst of the .pdf files export all the artboards I'm using, not just the artboard selected. This whole process is making me crazy!

When I open the exported files in Affinity Designer (2.1) they don't contain the layer effects and adjustments, nor are they really editable. I'm sure the printer is using Adobe software, so I'm trying to give them compatible files. What am I doing wrong?! Of course I'm on a deadline, so there's that ... Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm working on a MacBook Pro, 2021, Apple M1 chip, 16GB, Ventura 13.2.1 OS

[Hangman]

Hi @LKK and welcome to the forums,

Designer files of that size will certainly take a little bit of time to export.

Without seeing the files in question it's very difficult to know what may be causing the problems you're seeing. I can't think of any immediately obvious reason why the svg export would hang but with regards to all export formats there is an option under the Area dropdown menu in the export dialog window to select individual artboards on export which should help and could easliy be the cause of the problems you are experiencing if you are trying to export all artboards as a single document.

Export Dialog Window - Area Dropdown Menu

Opening your exported svg, eps and pdf files and reopening them in 2.1 they should remain editable however, any layer FX will likely be rasterised and so appear as image layers in the exported files if the export format/version supports the layer FX used and may also rasterise the vector layers the FX are applied to along with any overlapping layers.

Is there a particular pdf preset or set of pdf export settings you are exporting with?

Are you able to upload one of your Designer files (with any external graphics embedded) so we can take a look at what might be causing the problem. If you'd prefer not to upload directly to the forum you can request a private Dropbox link by replying to this post and one of the moderators will provide a link for you to upload your file/s to so they can take a closer look and report back.

[LKK]

th

Spoiler

Thank you for the quick reply! I can upload, I really appreciate the help! Another odd thing, when I'm exporting to PDF, artboard 1 has correct bleed, the other artboards have a wide margin. All the settings are the same. I'm sure it's an operator error, but it makes me feel really inept! The attached file has three artboards and is at 1/4 scale.

 

958477134_OhioTheaterPanels-12x26.afdesign

[Hangman]

Hi @LKK,

Okay, I've managed to export your panels to PDF, EPS and SVG, however a few points to note.

There are two long outstanding bugs in Affinity Designer with regards to Artboards...

• Artboards don't 'display' bleed
• Bleed fails to export if you have Adjustment Layers placed inside artboards, which you do (although I believe there is a possible workaround)

So to successfully export your panels I opened them in Affinity Publisher and converted the Artboards to spreads. Both the SVG and EPS exports essentially rasterise everything, so on opening them in Affinity Apps you will just see a single Image layer. The exported PDF's will open with layers intact however, any added Adjustment Layers and FX will be rasterised.

The panels do take a long time to export on an Intel Mac, though should be quicker for you on Apple Silicon...

SVG Exported Panels

These are going to be a non-starter because they are automatically assigned an sRGB profile and your panels are created in a CMYK colour space meaning the exported colour space conversion results in files that don't look as required. While the SVG specification does support alternate colour specification using an ICC profile, this isn't supported in Affinity Apps.

While you can include bleed in the export, the export dialog doesn't provide an option to include crop marks, so the bleed is included in the exported files minus crop marks.

EPS Exported Panels

Affinity Apps don't support ICC Profile embedding in EPS files so the EPS files are untagged meaning they will be assigned the Working CMYK ICC Profile specified in the Colour Preferences of Affinity Apps when opened.

While you can include bleed in the export, the export dialog doesn't provide an option to include crop marks, so the bleed is included in the exported files minus crop marks.

PDF Exported Panels

These will be your best best and provide for the most flexibility but I would certainly send at least the centre panel to the printer so they can check they are happy with everything. The PDF files have the Photoshop 5 Default CMYK Document Profile embedded and include crop marks, so you need to be sure that is what the printer requires.

I've included the Publisher Document here as well for ease...

I hope this helps a little and provides a solution for you moving forwards...

Ohio Theatre Panels SVG Exports.zip958477134_OhioTheaterPanels-12x26.afpub

Ohio Theatre Panels PDF Exports.zipOhio Theatre Panels EPS Exports.zip

 

[LKK]

 

Sorry for the late response  @Hangman! Your advice was spot on and it worked. I was able to get the files to the printer … no word from them yet, so I’m hoping no news is good news …

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain the limitations and workarounds. You are an excellent human!

[Hangman]

54 minutes ago, LKK said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain the limitations and workarounds.

You are very welcome, I hope everything works out well with the finished panels and banners… 😊