Flatten image in Photo 2 with no transparency

[Yaro_pro]

Hello everyone,

How can I flatten an image in Photo?

Here's my case:

1. I open an image at 500x1000 px and want to resize its canvas to 1000x1000
2. Well, I do Document > Resize Canvas, unlink the dimensions, set one side to 1000, and press Resize
3. Of course, Photo adds the transparent 250 px margins left and right 
4. Then I do Document > Flatten to make one 1000x1000 flat image

And nothing happens; the image still has transparent margins, and when I save it to PNG, it saves the transparency as well. In this case, Photoshop makes a flat image with no transparency, which is right.

How can I do it in Photo? Please help me understand the logic of this editor.

Edited February 24 by Yaro_pro

[Hangman]

Hi @Yaro_pro and welcome to the forums,

Uncheck Transparent Background under the Document menu before exporting your file to PNG... There's no need to use Document > Flatten as that simply rasterises your file but still maintains the transparency...

[Yaro_pro]

Thank you Hangman.

I already found another approach. Just uncheck this, doesn't matter before or after cropping/resizing canvas:

It seems like Document > Flatten works exactly like in Photoshop only if it is not selected

[Hangman]

Hi @Yaro_pro,

3 minutes ago, Yaro_pro said:

I already found another approach. Just uncheck this, doesn't matter before or after cropping/resizing canvas:

That's the same approach mentioned above... it doesn't matter whether you uncheck Transparent Background before or after you crop/resize the canvas, either will result in a non-transparent background when exporting to PNG...

[Return]

Don't resize the canvas but simply add a larger rectangle to the document and use either clip or unclip the canvas from the Menu>Document.
Now you can freely adjust the position of the image or pixellayer(unlocked) or recolor the rectangle to fit the image.
Export whole document will also export the rectangle.
 

 

 

[loukash]

2 hours ago, Yaro_pro said:

when I save it to PNG, it saves the transparency as well

1. Export dialog → PNG → Advanced → Matte → pick your background color, i.e. likely white
2. optionally save as an export preset first

2 hours ago, Yaro_pro said:

Photoshop makes a flat image with no transparency

Photoshop is very limited in many regards.  

[Yaro_pro]

18 minutes ago, Return said:

Don't resize the canvas but simply add a larger rectangle to the document and use either clip or unclip the canvas from the Menu>Document.
Now you can freely adjust the position of the image or pixellayer(unlocked) or recolor the rectangle to fit the image.
Export whole document will also export the rectangle

Thank you. But it seems too long. I just drag an image into the window, press C (crop) and change one of the dimensions in the field at the top. Then Enter and it's done. 

[Return]

Then you would use the option @loukash provided.

[Yaro_pro]

2 minutes ago, loukash said:

1. Export dialog → PNG → Advanced → Matte → pick your background color, i.e. likely white
2. optionally save as an export preset first

Photoshop is very limited in many regards.  

Sure, it is. But I like its logic when everything relates to layers located in the menu Layers. Here, I didn't get why the flattening was placed in Document

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, Yaro_pro said:

Here, I didn't get why the flattening was placed in Document

You’re flattening the entire document, not the individual layers contained within it.

[loukash]

2 minutes ago, Yaro_pro said:

But it seems too long.

The Good Thing™ about the Affinity apps is that in many instances they allow you to use different workflows to achieve the same goal.
It's also a Good Thing™ to make oneself familiar with these various workflows, so that you can eventually pick the best one depending on context. 

Because unlike Photoshop where working with vector objects can be a p.i.t.a., in Affinity Photo you may want to use as many vector objects as you want. 

[Return]

And because the non destructive nature of the affinities makes it possible to adjust/edit after the fact of say cropping/resizing.

[Yaro_pro]

8 minutes ago, Return said:

Then you would use the option @loukash provided.

Defenetily it's the fastest one, so I will

[loukash]

5 minutes ago, Yaro_pro said:

I didn't get why […]

And that's all right.  
Hey, it took me four years after the first release of Photo until I finally grasped the "Affinity concept" and was ready to make the switch, after about 25 years of using Photoshop.
Affinity is not a Photoshop clone, but it's not that Serif deliberately wanted to make the switch hard for former PS users. It's quite a different universe from the ground up.