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Tristan Ward
Tristan Ward
Participating Frequently
November 7, 2019
Answered

Animate 2020 Export Image includes hidden layers

  • November 7, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 15615 views

Hello everyone,

 

I updated to Animate 2020 a few days ago. I have a file that I use for generating consistant circle icons. I have a lot of layers in the document that I hide and unhide to generate different images (different border/background colors an so on).

When I look at the image in the edit environment I see this:

 

 

And when I go to File > Export > Export Image I get this preview. I see the same in the exported file.

So the preview shows ALL my layers regardless of whether they have been hidden or not. Is there a preference for turning this off for Animate 2020?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer n. tilcheff

    Hi Nick,

    Good catch. The answer is No and Yes.

    Firstly, 'No' because the document was originally of a HTML Canvas type because the majority of my work is for Canvas. There is an Include hidden layers option in the publish settings for canvas, but its setting does not impact the image export.

    However, the answer is also 'yes' because when I convert the document to an Actionscript 3 version the Include hidden layers option does toggle the effect on and off. There's no reason why this particular document has to be a canvas document. So I am happy to report this does fix my issue. However, I am curious whether or not the behaviour in the canvas document is considered a bug.


    I'm not sure if it can be qualified as a bug, but definitely it is now a UX mess.

     

    As are many of the changes. It's always one step forward and two steps back with Animate; it's painful to watch and even more painful if you have to use it for work.

     

    2 replies

    C
    cedfripi
    Participant
    November 12, 2019

    Got the same problem since the update, as I use animate to produce online ads (banners) I used that option to export the backup image, hidden layers where excluded from the jpg but included in the canvas for the animation, that was easy and usefull

    n. tilcheff
    n. tilcheff
    Legend
    November 7, 2019

    Hi mate,

     

    Just right-click on a layer and choose 'Guide'

     

     

    Nick - Character Designer and Animator, Flash user since 1998 | Member of the Flanimate Power Tools team - extensions for character animation
      Tristan Ward
      Tristan WardAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      November 7, 2019

      Thanks Nick. I am aware that is a solution. However, this has not been needed before the 2020 update.

      It's a lot quicker to hide a layer than set it to a guide. When the export images option considers the hidden layers you will get an accurate preview of what the image will look like from the Animate main timeline.

      And especially when you're working with a lot of little layers, switching guide on and off can become really frustrating because on the main timeline you will have visible layers which are NOT exported (guide layers) and invisible layers which WILL be exported (hidden layers).

        n. tilcheff
        n. tilcheff
        Legend
        November 7, 2019

        I understand, mate!

         

        Would you try this: In Publish settings uncheck "Include hidden layers" and see if it affects image export.

         

         

        Nick - Character Designer and Animator, Flash user since 1998 | Member of the Flanimate Power Tools team - extensions for character animation
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