Issue with Export

[Cranberry]

My artboard size is 40 by 4 feet, and am having issues with exporting into any file type. I did try rasterizing the layers, it took me a while to understand that the vector brushes end up creating multiple layers. However, when I try to rasterize, the app crashes. When I try to export, it keeps creating the export for hours together with no result. Do help, what am I missing here? 

[Cranberry]

The project deadline is looming over my head, so any help would be welcome! 

[Dan C]

Hi Cranberry,

Welcome to the forums

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble. Could you please save your .afdesign file and upload it to the following link for me?

https://www.dropbox.com/request/diYKOeG80ZdLXmAJE4gN

Could you also please confirm your iPad specs & iOS version for me? I note you''re unable to export to any format - what format is your preferred export method please?

Many thanks in advance!

[Cranberry]

Thank you for the quick response!  

I have uploaded the files on the link. 

Ipad specs are - iPad 6th Gen, version 12.4.1 

 

Normally I export in PSD and PNG format. Currently am unable to export any format, and the app keeps crashing when I try to move the elements or when I try to rasterize the layers. 

[Dan C]

Thanks for that, I've got a couple of questions regarding this file.

1. As the file is wholly vector, may I ask why you have created it at 40ft wide? As this design can be scaled without losing quality, it's usually recommended to create the design at a smaller size, then upscale for the final production.
2. I see you have used 400 DPI. Usually designs this size use a DPI of 72, as a higher DPI won't be visually noticeable on such a large design from the recommended viewing distance.
   I ask this because 40ft @ 400 DPI = 192,000 px - which way exceeds the PNG limit of 32,767px!
3. Do you require a PSD? This is a limited format, in both physical size and supported properties and we recommend exporting to PDF for compatibility between other apps.

In regards to exporting your design on an iPad, I've loaded your design on our iPad 6th gen, as well as my Mac.

On the iPad I selected PNG at export - and used the 'PNG' preset at the largest possible file size for your design, 32,768px x 19,200px. I waited about 1:00 - 1:30 minutes for the file size to generate (which is to be expected due to the file size) and once completed this reported it would generate a 9.71MB file. I then pressed OK and saved the file directly to our Dropbox, then returned to the export screen, repeated the process and saved the image to the iPads camera roll also.

On both my Mac and iPad the PSD export option was estimating file size for over 10 minutes - my Mac reported using close to 4GB of RAM whilst performing this process and due to the iPad's limit being 2GB I suspect the iPad may struggle to export such a large PSD.

I selected the PDF export option in the iPad, and using the PDF (for export) preset I left the iPad to generate the export. Unfortunately during this process the iPad crashed - again I suspect this is due to a RAM limitation, however it certainly isn't correct that the app crashes so I'll be logging this with our developers.

Could you please try saving your document, restarting your iPad (to clear the RAM/cache) and then open your file in Designer and try exporting as PNG using the above method. Does this work successfully for you?

[Cranberry]

Thank you for the elaborate suggestion!

I figured I should have not done that. When I use the vector brushes to fill in the colours, and try to scale the image, it breaks. Hence I decided to go ahead with the actual print size of canvas. Will rasterizing each element, then importing it into a file of a smaller size help in maintaining its quality?

Like you said the RAM is probably too low to handle this! 

[Cranberry]

Rasterizing and saving doesn't seem to help. However, I tried one thing now, I resized the canvas to a smaller size (1 feet by 0.1 feet) without rasterzing, and there is no crashing issue now. However, will this solve the problem of the quality in print? Do help! 

I use vector brush to draw the outline, created a vector layer below and used the vector brush to fill in (all in the designer persona). I understand that vector should scale unlimited, however when I try to increase the size, I am having this issue. 

 

What am I missing here

Edited September 11, 2019 by Cranberry

[Dan C]

The best thing to do is to work on how large the print will be, and the recommend viewing distance and work from their.

You can see more info about this here - https://fstoppers.com/originals/how-many-megapixels-do-you-need-print-billboard-220239

Rather than resizing the physical document, changing the DPI of the document should help the most when it comes to required resources when rasterising. 

I firstly reduced your canvas from 40ft to 30ft wide without resampling the document, to minimise the 'wasted space' at each size of your design.

Then I changed the DPI from 300 to 72 and the physical size from 30ft x 4ft to 15ft x 2ft and resampled the document.

This document can now be exported to PDF, provided Use Document Resolution is ticked, else it will generate a PDF at 300DPI - not 72DPI.

I've uploaded a copy of this resized document and shared it directly to the email address linked to this forum account

2 hours ago, Cranberry said:

I use vector brush to draw the outline, created a vector layer below and used the vector brush to fill in (all in the designer persona). I understand that vector should scale unlimited, however when I try to increase the size, I am having this issue. 

Increasing the physical size of the vector stroke is a little different to scaling the whole document. You'd need to make sure each stroke has Scale with Object is ticked before manually resizing the stroke - 

It's a little late in the design phase for this document, so I'd recommend only using the Resize Document commands for this. I hope this helps!

[Cranberry]

This was very useful! Especially the small trick on "Scale with object"! Thanks for the prompt responses and the timely support, much appreciated!