Slices that export all layers, not a single layer

[Joe S.]

Making slices from layers in Photo 2 is great, because the slices are sized for whatever is in that layer. But when I export the slices, the only thing in each slice is the content from the layer the slice was made from. How can I export slices that show all the layers instead of just one layer? Flattening the image doesn't work because that deletes all the slices.

It's also annoying that there's no snapping when manually creating slices. I read that it's some programming issue but it feels like a really basic feature that Photo should have launched with.

[mikerofoto]

you can go in "layer" and clic merge visible, the using that layer would solve your problem.

[thomaso]

another way to export a certain area only but including several layers is to export via the "Export…" menu (not persona/slices) and choose the Area option "Selection Area". You can use any existing object as selection or you can create a separate rectangle shape without stroke / fill colour.

[Joe S.]

13 hours ago, mikerofoto said:

you can go in "layer" and clic merge visible, the using that layer would solve your problem.

Is this like rasterizing a group into a single layer?

12 hours ago, thomaso said:

another way to export a certain area only but including several layers is to export via the "Export…" menu (not persona/slices) and choose the Area option "Selection Area". You can use any existing object as selection or you can create a separate rectangle shape without stroke / fill colour.

Thanks, this I understand. My objective is for designing merch where I need to export different designs for each part of a product (like the arms of a shirt, etc). For that I want to use slices so I don't have to manually export each piece individually.

[carl123]

15 hours ago, Joe S. said:

How can I export slices that show all the layers instead of just one layer?

Not sure I fully understand what you what to do but if you want to create a slice that contains multiple individual layers, just group the layers and create a slice from that group

[Old Bruce]

15 hours ago, Joe S. said:

Making slices from layers in Photo 2 is great, because the slices are sized for whatever is in that layer. But when I export the slices, the only thing in each slice is the content from the layer the slice was made from. How can I export slices that show all the layers instead of just one layer? Flattening the image doesn't work because that deletes all the slices....

I feel your pain. There are documents that have a background and a couple of bits of text and a little graphic with each bit of text. I want the text, the little graphic, and the background to be separate layers in my export.

16 hours ago, Joe S. said:

It's also annoying that there's no snapping when manually creating slices. I read that it's some programming issue but it feels like a really basic feature that Photo should have launched with.

The only snapping that I can see happening is with snapping to already made slices. So what I wind up doing is draw a slice, drag it ontop of the slice from a layer, then manually snap the edges of my manually drawn slice to the edges of my 'slice from a layer'. That manually made slice will include everything, the text, the little graphic and the background. This is a pain with only a couple of slices but it is worse if I have a dozen or more slices. Plus I have to manually name the new slices.

What I want is the ability to have a Slice from a Layer be turned into a Cookie Cutter slice that will include everything in the layers panel in that Cookie Cutter slice's dimensions. And not include the full size background layer masked out.

[Joe S.]

1 hour ago, carl123 said:

Not sure I fully understand what you what to do but if you want to create a slice that contains multiple individual layers, just group the layers and create a slice from that group

In one use case, I want all layers to be exported and each slice is a different area of the design. The other use case is exporting groups so those slices are easy.

@Old Bruce I'm getting the hang of how it works, my method for manual slicing is to get the dimensions & X/Y coordinates for an element and use that to adjust the size of the slice.

[thomaso]

3 hours ago, Joe S. said:

Thanks, this I understand. My objective is for designing merch where I need to export different designs for each part of a product (like the arms of a shirt, etc). For that I want to use slices so I don't have to manually export each piece individually.

If you have ADesigner then a workaround may help, depending on your required layout details. The main idea is 1.) that AD can export all artboards of a document in one step and 2.) artboards may overlap each other and 3.) layout objects may get placed outside of an artboard layer. – So, if you create artboards (instead of / used as "slices") as empty objects below your actual design you might get what you need. In the linked post are setup screenshots + an example AD + exported PDF.

[Joe S.]

@thomaso thank you, that is an intersting possibility! I hadn't even tried to see if artboards could overlap or not.