Had this problem forever, only the project I am currently working on, its a critical issue...
I'm currently exporting some vector art as a png file to be printed later. (I've also exported as jpg, same issue).And, this applies to exporting the same art from Draw or Paint.
The entire image is clearly checked to be the required pixel dimensions, and yet the saved file is always 1-2px larger (both axis).I can draw a simple outline box, any colour outline, any thickness outline, even invisible outline...set the pixel dimensions...and export...and the saved image will be 1-2px larger.
I have to pre-think, and reduce the border dimensions by at least 1px (both directions) for the saved image to be the correct pixel dimensions I need.
Why is this?I remember seeing this in previous verions of Corel, and as I said, I can export as png or jpg...I can also copy the art into Paint, and then export as.The end result is the same.
Does your art have an outline assigned?
actually, no.
Im designing a set of playing cards. So the artwork is within a blank card template. But I have to supply a finished image for each card, with white (blank) background, to the correct size (a specified pixel dimension) for printing purposes.
At first, I created the background blank simply as a rectangle object (no colour fill - it will be displayed as white when saved to file) and I made the outline a very light gray so I could still see it.8the edges of the template are beyond the printing and bleed border, so the colour doesn't matter.When I first ran into problems with the saved file being too large, I changed the outline to 'none' assuming that would fix it, but it didn't (now we know why).
-Ive dealt with this many times...a template is provided for all users that eliminates any guesswork. You are limited to only two formats jpg and png. The system you upload files to can only recognize the exact dimension artwork...its not unusual for this type of system.
-I learned Corel 20-25 years ago and never stopped learning...still learning. I honestly wish I had learned Adobe instead, because no matter how much I have enjoyed Corel over the years, I have hated every minute. The bugs, and glitches, and errors, and limitations still frustrate. But what am I to do at this point? I'm 63 yrs old now and learning new software is not in the cards.
-Canada
-They can't...as explained.
-No, but attached is one of the playing cards. I've left the template attached that they provide you. It indicates the artwork area and bleed area, and card edge. The template is much bigger as you can see(blk outline), and your finished png/jpg must go back with the exact same outer dimension or it won't upload.
Files are done and already submitted. I've already ordered a test run.
airdave said:your finished png/jpg must go back with the exact same outer dimension or it won't upload.
Why not create a white object with the exact pixel dimensions (same as the template), make sure it is perfectly aligned to the grid (test export to be sure), and then lock it.Then you can add objects on top of it (any size, any position, with or without outlines, aligned to the grid or not) and the template object should make sure that the exported image will be perfect in size.
I did try white outline, and "no outline" (which I think is just "no colour", not really no outline).Neither made any difference, since Corel still adds the seen or unseen outline using the applied line thickness.
And the colour made no difference to the artwork, since the templates edges are well beyond the printing area.
Locking an object to the pixel grid is exactly what I wanted, but didn't know how to do.I will need to look into that.
Heres how I did it...exporting 54 separate artworks using the same template:
1. I created a new rectangle object in the correct pixel dimensions and reduced it by 1px on both sides (I also set the line thickness to 1px).2. On a new page, I turned on Pixel Grid/View and zoomed in...then positioned the new rectangle 'template', aligned to the pixel grid properly (checking all sides to be sure).3. Then I did a test export to check the new exported pixel dimensions (and it worked).4. Now I copied and pasted each artwork, onto the new page, positioned it roughly center in the rectangle template...then used the horizontal and vertical alignment tool (Align and Distribute Docker) to center the artwork in the rectangle.
*When aligning two objects, the last object placed is what will move to align with the first placed.So, even though the rectangle template is not 'locked' to the work area or pixel grid, it doesn't move when the objects are aligned.
5. So, after copy-pasting-aligning each artwork into the rectangle, I exported each as the png I needed in the correct pixel dimensions.
FYI - When I work, I always have a set of six Docker tabs to the right of my workspace. Things I use regularly and constantly in all my work...Shaping, Align & Distribute, Transformations, Contour, Envelope, Fillet/Scallop
airdave said:Heres how I did it...
Looks like you have found an acceptable way to get it right. Here's how I would set it up, I think:Create a new document.Set the document unit to "pixels" and switch to Pixels view mode (not really necessary at this stage).Change the page size to correspond with the template (number of pixels).Double click the Rectangle tool to create a rectangle with exactly the same size as the page.Give it a white fill (no fill will also work) and NO outline and lock it.This will be your template.A page with the correct size and a white/unfilled rectangle that is perfectly aligned to the page and to the pixel grid.This rectangle will make sure that the exported image will be correct (unless you for some reason put objects outside of it).Now, put your artwork on the page (if you need to center align, simply press "p").As long as everything is inside the template, the exported image should be 100% correct in size, and this no matter what size and position the object has, if it has an outlines or not, or if it is aligned to the grid or not.
Ronny Axelsson said:Create a new document.Set the document unit to "pixels" and switch to Pixels view mode (not really necessary at this stage).Change the page size to correspond with the template (number of pixels).Double click the Rectangle tool to create a rectangle with exactly the same size as the page.Give it a white fill (no fill will also work) and NO outline and lock it.This will be your template.A page with the correct size and a white/unfilled rectangle that is perfectly aligned to the page and to the pixel grid.This rectangle will make sure that the exported image will be correct (unless you for some reason put objects outside of it).
I like that, Ronny. I have often used a "no outline, no fill" rectangle in a document to define the area that is exported to bitmap.
I will add a small detail about alignment to the pixel grid...
In CorelDRAW 2018, the page is centered on the pixel grid, so the approach you describe would require that the page height and width are both an even number of pixels.
In CorelDRAW 2019, the option was added to "Align page with pixel grid" (aligns the bottom left corner of the page to the pixel grid). With that option in effect, the approach you describe would also work with an odd-number-of-pixels for page width or height.
These are both great solutions to that problem.Thanks again Ronny and Eskimo (and Mek) for all your input.
As I mentioned, I discovered that "no outline" is just "no colour" and that there is still an invisible outline...
and, Corel adds the thickness of that outline to the final exported bitmap. This is what my orignal problem was, and why I was having difficulty. (And the original topic of this thread)
*so its important to set a correct line thickness, even though it can't be seen.
airdave said:As I mentioned, I discovered that "no outline" is just "no colour" and that there is still an invisible outline...
airdave said:and, Corel adds the thickness of that outline to the final exported bitmap. This is what my orignal problem was, and why I was having difficulty. (And the original topic of this thread)
In my experience, "no outline" really is "no outline", and CorelDRAW is not adding in some invisible outline width when exporting.
If a "no outline" rectangle is not aligned to the pixel grid, it's that misalignment that results in the "one pixel larger than expected" problem when exporting to a bitmap.
As an aside, when using my Quick Export macro, such a rectangle can be exported to bitmap with the correct dimensions even if it is not aligned to the pixel grid. So, there is something different between exporting to bitmap using the regular CorelDRAW export dialog and performing the same export using the CorelDRAW API through a macro.
ahh understood!
Here's a PNG file created from a poker card template in Draw 2018. I opened the PDF template that was created in Illustrator, all vector, renamed and saved.
I changed all outlines to inside the bounding box, added the image, placed the green to indicate the trimat the orange, grouped all, powercliped to the green removed the green outline and saved. I changed the documents measurements to pixel and saved.
I converted everything to an image and exported to a PNG, I reimported the PNG to another page and placed the black behind all to demonstrate no white lines and exported to a low-res PNG for this forum. Next, I'll create from 2018 directly as a pixel drawing.
Here's a 2018 file created as a pixel-based web document 96 DPI. Same procedure as above. Black rectangle with round corners, green and black back do not print, just there to demonstrate no white lines.