Export PNG doesn't work - Xara Designer Pro X

[Purple Edge]

Been using Xara for years but still have problem with this.

I am editing a photo and want to export a section of the photo as a png.

I add guides layer, specify a guide rectangle, select it and try to export JPG, I get the selected part of the image exported.

Do the same but Export PNG, my specified rectangle is exported as a black image, not the specified section of the photo!

Anybody know why?

[handrawn]

that is probably because you are exporting your guide rectangle as a png with transparency enabled [true colour+alpha], you could try exporting as a png without transparency enabled [true colour], that should work - jpg's do not support transparency at all

not sure why you would need transparency enabled, but if you did because your guide rectangle was part on and part off your image and you did not want a white background, then you would need to use a different method I think - say intersecting/cropping a copy of the image

[Purple Edge]

Thanks Handrawn, you might be right! I turned off transparency and the export worked.

However, I have other Xara pages where I have used the same technique, with transparency enabled, and it has worked. The difference with these pages is that I was exporting a guide region that completely enclosed the object I was exporting, and I needed transparency enabled. This is a useful technique where I want a transparent margin around the object being exported.

So I'm not 100% sure why there is a difference. But you have helped me achieve what I wanted!

[handrawn]

a bit of theory:

where a normal rectangle is used for this, then a true colour export will pick up anything beneath within the boundary of the export, a true colour plus alpha export will not transparency will be preserved - on that basis I would have expected your guide rectangle exported true colour plus alpha to have been totally transparent - but guide layer objects are not normal objects, I don't think you can rely on them giving consistent results - you may be better off cropping [on a duplicate layer for example]