Bug: blank space at export

[abra100pro]

I made this infographic and wanted to export it right before my day is done. I found that AD is adding some extra blank space on top and below although I chose "Artboard" as exporting area.

I re-resized the artboard and restarted AD and the bug is gone, after searching for a while, first.

I must admit: I'm about to stop using Affinity. While it is easier and faster in many ways there are these quirks and inconsistencies that my brain seems to be to incapable of processing. These quirks cost me more time than making the actual design. I don't want to start numerating – I posted about them many times. I guess Serif/Canva couldn't keep the pace needed for a real professional software.

[Ldina]

@abra100pro Can you upload the original afdesign file so we can take a look? Perhaps something will jump out.

[RM f/g]

The pixel count of the export isn't too high: only 526 pixels. I presume the size of the artwork in vecors does not exactly match the size of pixels.
I think the remedy in this case would be to extend the artwork a bit beyond the borders of the artboard.

[abra100pro]

On 11/11/2024 at 9:18 PM, RM f/g said:

The pixel count of the export isn't too high: only 526 pixels. I presume the size of the artwork in vecors does not exactly match the size of pixels.
I think the remedy in this case would be to extend the artwork a bit beyond the borders of the artboard.

Thank you. But honestly: isn't this exactly the kind of quirk I was talking about? This sounds like a crappy shareware from the 90s.

[abra100pro]

Please find the file attached. (Copyright blabla, you know – don't use it otherwise please.)

grafik_hausanschluss.afdesign

[Ldina]

Thanks for the file, @abra100pro

Designer sees that your artboard has a size with "fractional pixels" (not integers), so when exporting, it rounds the export size UP to whole pixels to avoid cutting off any of your design. If you enter INTEGERS for width and height, and also the X and Y fields in the Transform panel, it exports fine without any transparent space being added. You need whole pixels (I.e., Integers) for those fields. So, whenever you end up with extra borders in your exports, this is the thing to check. Hope this helps. Setting Pixels in User Interface Preferences to 3 decimal places or more, makes it obvious you have fractional pixels in these fields in th Transform Panel. Hope this answers your question. See screenshots below.

[Ldina]

One more related tidbit while we are on the subject....

[abra100pro]

7 minutes ago, Ldina said:

One more related tidbit while we are on the subject....

I agree and I'm allergic to that topic.

 

[Ldina]

@abra100pro You may be allergic to that topic (😵‍💫), but did it explain and solve your issue satisfactorily?

[abra100pro]

2 minutes ago, Ldina said:

@abra100pro You may be allergic to that topic (😵‍💫), but did it explain and solve your issue satisfactorily?

Ah, sorry, I didn't realise it was a check/help. But that's not the issue.

[Ldina]

4 minutes ago, abra100pro said:

Ah, sorry, I didn't realise it was a check/help. But that's not the issue.

I'm not sure what that even means....just trying to help with your request/problem. It worked for me on my system using your Designer file. Best of luck.

[abra100pro]

9 minutes ago, Ldina said:

I'm not sure what that even means....just trying to help with your request/problem. It worked for me on my system using your Designer file. Best of luck.

Sorry, English is not my mother tongue. I appreciate your help. I assume you mean that when I have force pixel set to on and scale an element with proportions fixed, the problem happens. But that's not the case. I don't use force pixel. I also found out that the problem only appears in the preview, not really at export.

[Ldina]

Thanks for the clarification. 

Using your document...

1. Select your Artboard with the Move tool to make it active

2. In Transform Panel, make sure X, Y, W, and H are ALL set to integers and have NO FRACTIONAL portions. If there are any fractional portions, set them to Integers. You will probably need to UNLINK Width and Height in the Transform Panel to insure they both remain Integers.

3. Export to PNG (or JPG, TIFF, etc).

4. The Preview does NOT show any transparency on my Mac, nor does the final Exported PNG. They are both correct on my Mac (Ventura OS).

I leave "Force Pixel Alignment" ON at all times (but I rarely do small pixel art or things like that). This insures that my objects, artboards, etc, are always set to integers when using the mouse to size, scale or move them. This will be visible in the Transform Panel as integer values. 

However, if you resize an object using the Transform Panel, with Width and Height boxes LINKED, Affinity will retain that SAME EXACT Height-Width ratio when resizing. If you resize a rectangle that is originally 100 px High and 299 px wide, and then set the NEW height to 104px, the Transform Panel will show the NEW width as 310.96 px. This results in a REAL number with decimal portions, and is no longer an integer. So, Affinity properly maintain the same EXACT Height-Width Ratio. To insure you have integers, disable the LINK (looks like a chain in the Transform channel between the Height and Width boxes), then adjust ONLY the Width to 311 px. Now you will have a new rectangle size of 104 px by 311 px, both integers. This is especially important for the size of an Artboard. 

I hope that was clear, helpful and understandable. 

[abra100pro]

Thanks, all clear, also your input about that considering Artboards is absolutely correct.

As you can see the transparency on my preview is by far larger than one pixel or even a fraction of it. So I consider this a bug/quirk. The preview itself is a good laugh, imho. It's really good for nothing. Its quality and the lack of zoom in/out makes it unusable, despite of this bug. I understand that no software can export a something being 104 x 316.385984px as PNG without some (micro) gaps. but this seems to me another thing. 

[Ldina]

I agree. Hope that helps anyway. 

[abra100pro]

Just now, Ldina said:

I agree. Hope that helps anyway. 

It surely does, thanks. always great to understand the concept completely.

[Oufti]

1 hour ago, abra100pro said:

The preview itself is a good laugh, imho. It's really good for nothing. Its quality and the lack of zoom in/out makes it unusable, despite of this bug.

I agree with you that this preview is not always very useful, but at least using my MacBookPro trackpad, I can zoom in/out. Perhaps isn't it possible with an ordinary mouse? 

By the way, in your own screenshot we can see in the title bar that the export preview is zoomed to 42%...

[carl123]

1 hour ago, abra100pro said:

. Its quality and the lack of zoom in/out makes it unusable,

On Windows 

Using CTRL and the minus/plus keys on the main keyboard controls the zoom (the ones on the numeric keypad do nothing)

You could try that on a Mac

 

[Ldina]

18 minutes ago, Oufti said:

at least using my MacBookPro trackpad, I can zoom in/out. Perhaps isn't it possible with an ordinary mouse? 

By the way, in your own screenshot we can see in the title bar that the export preview is zoomed to 42%..

Thanks, Oufti...I didn't know you could zoom the Preview!!

I zoomed the Preview to exactly 100% and it still shows a bit of transparency along the top edge, and this was after I set the upper left position of the Artboard to X=0, Y=0, in the Transform Panel, and pixel dimensions to integer values. So, unfortunately, the Preview is not entirely accurate. 

[abra100pro]

I didn't know either – works with trackpad, not with mouse. however, it's everything but professional.

[abra100pro]

Works with option and mouse wheel 🤦🏻‍♂️

[Ldina]

46 minutes ago, carl123 said:

On Windows 

Using CTRL and the minus/plus keys on the main keyboard controls the zoom (the ones on the numeric keypad do nothing)

You could try that on a Mac

Thanks for the good tip, Carl.

On my MacBook Pro, "CMD +" and "CMD -" increase or decrease Preview size in 10% increments. 👍

[Alfred]

4 hours ago, Ldina said:

One more related tidbit while we are on the subject....

When ‘Move By Whole Pixels’ is enabled, it overrides ‘Force Pixel Alignment’. So if you want ‘Force Pixel Alignment’ to work as most of us would expect, you need to make sure that ‘Move By Whole Pixels’ is disabled.

[Oufti]

2 hours ago, Ldina said:

Thanks, Oufti...I didn't know you could zoom the Preview!!

I zoomed the Preview to exactly 100% and it still shows a bit of transparency along the top edge, and this was after I set the upper left position of the Artboard to X=0, Y=0, in the Transform Panel, and pixel dimensions to integer values. So, unfortunately, the Preview is not entirely accurate. 

Not really accurate, I agree. I just don't trust what I see there and don't mind further… 

If I zoom at different rates, here is what I see (and I don't consider the fact that if I try to move the preview outside its limits, it bounces showing a bit more of transparent "background"):

[Meliora spero]

On 11/13/2024 at 10:47 AM, abra100pro said:

Thank you. But honestly: isn't this exactly the kind of quirk I was talking about? This sounds like a crappy shareware from the 90s.

Export preview and the redesigned export dialog in v2 are worse than 90s shareware - just like the new from template dialogs. If you think it stops there, you should experience their counterparts in the iPad versions.

I thought Serif had been "persuaded" by Canva to hire a UX specialist, but the new page flow user interface in the beta shows no sign of that.

I simply cannot understand how someone can dedicate their life to something and consistently deliver mediocrity without paying attention to a field that is in constant forward motion. This is 90s-quality from the shareware era back then. Serif hasn’t moved forward. And now they've been bought by a company that wants to make DIY software for non-creatives. The random people you stand behind in line at the supermarket, not those who develop and sustain the industry.