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norinam
norinam
Inspiring
August 29, 2018
Answered

Illustrator CC export for screens 1 pixel off in size

  • August 29, 2018
  • 9 replies
  • 42034 views

This is a continuation of the issue that occurs in Illustrator CS6

Illustrator CS6 artboard exports 1 pixel off in size

Settings

  1. The images I'm exporting are using whole numbers for width, height, x-axis position and y-axis position from x:0, y:0
  2. The artboards are the exact size of the image: Object > Artboards > Fit to Selected Art
  3. The Object > Make Pixel Perfect trick did not work for me. I got an Illustrator message stating they were already perfect.

Tested

  1. File > Export > Export for Screens... (adds 1 pixel to height and width)
  2. File > Export > Export As... (does not add any pixels)
  3. File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy) (does not add any pixels)

Thoughts

This seems to only be an issue with the "export for screens" option. I'm guessing this is a bug that just hasn't been solved yet.

If anyone has any insights regarding solutions, feature requests, or bug fixes please add them in the comments.

    Correct answer Ton Frederiks

    @Ton Frederiks don't agree that this is an excuse for the exporter to add pixels. The exact size has been inputted. If the artboard is on a fraction of a pixel, I still see no reason for it to add a pixel. It would make more sense for Illustrator to round to the nearest whole pixel artboard location. If Illustrator has to add a pixel, there should be a warning. All of those apps mentioned above are capable of exporter issue warnings. Illustrator should be no different.


    I am not giving an excuse, I was giving an explanation. If you want it changed (I do too), you can add a vote at Uservoice:

    https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/37694659-extra-pixel-added-to-image-size-when-exported

    9 replies

    N
    Nick27506085y7ha
    Participant
    October 15, 2025

    I had the same issue recently and the rearrange option in the artboard menu (Shift+O) fixed it for me.

    JeffSDS
    JeffSDS
    Participant
    May 2, 2025

    This is still an issue in 2025. Why Adobe??? I have tried these explanations with no success. Please address this. 

     

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 2, 2025

    @JeffSDS can you share an Illustrator file that shows the problem and describe how you want to export it? To attach it to a post, rename .ai to .pdf

     

    C
    ChandniSOS
    Participant
    January 21, 2025

    Solved:

     

    If it is still not doing it after this, I think its a bug in your file so you will have to make a new one and copy things across. It only worked for me then.

     

    View > Pixel Preview

    View > Snap to pixel

    ‘Align art to pixel grid’ Icon, the arrow to the right - check advanced settings 

    Make sure art aligns to pixel grid or it will add another pixel to compensate

     

     Export > Export as... 

     

    Other chats that helped me get there:

    https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/why-does-illustrator-does-not-export-the-right-artboard-size-at-300ppi/td-p/11095060

     

    https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/getting-additional-pixel-when-exporting-for-screens-in-illustrator/m-p/11119426#M176280

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAHkCEp3-Wg&t=117s

     

    https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/align-to-pixel-grid-option-not-showing-in-transform-panel/m-p/8696570#M29981

    R
    Rob217717683hsl
    Inspiring
    September 19, 2024

    Having a 'Snap artboard to pixel' option would fix this entirely. Mind blowing that this hasn't been done.

    S
    Samuel286571930ho3
    Participant
    April 1, 2024

    it's 2024 and this is still an issue. Shame on Adobe for not having fixed this already.

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 9, 2024

    Hello @Samuel286571930ho3,

    Sorry to hear about this experience. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared in this community post (https://adobe.ly/3TQvXMb) and checking if they help?

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

     

    Thanks,

    Anubhav

    R
    Rob217717683hsl
    Inspiring
    April 26, 2023

    100% the problem is that the artboard isn't 'positioned' on an exact pixel.

     

    However, this is a frustrating issue given that artboards don't snap to pixels and that there's no error when this happens.
    The logic behind the export is flawed if AI is adding an extra pixel even though it knows the output dimensions.

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 26, 2023

    Go into artboard editing mode. Select an artboard. Click on the SNap object to pixel grid button to the right side of the control panel. The artboard will then snap to pixels

    R
    Rob217717683hsl
    Inspiring
    May 1, 2023

    This works mostly, however it breaks under some circumstances.

     

    There's a known bug with artboard creation whereby if you constrain proportions, snapping to the pixel grid is ignored, hence causing you to run into the 'extra pixel added' bug.

    zachg4140523
    zachg4140523
    Participating Frequently
    February 9, 2022

    This made me look really bad at my job when I delivered the wrong file sizes. Turned out it's an illustrator bug for years now. Totally unexceptable. This can cost someone their job.

      Met1
      Met1
      Legend
      February 9, 2022

      It's really no different than incorrectly - or not - setting your color settings and on export expecting Illustrator to know what you wanted.

      If you do the same size regularly, or need specific settings different from your usual working practice, set up your document correctly and create a template.

      S
      sudhirvr
      Participant
      June 6, 2022

      Can yo guys stop blaming the user here. It's a problem with the software. There is no reason the artboard should go off the pixel grid. No one needs that. Stop giving Adobe slack. 


      Hello friends. I believe that I have managed to solve this problem. Rearranged the artboards vertically and when exported, the jpg files are exactly the same size as the artboards. Hope this helps.

      M
      mSnus
      Participating Frequently
      August 17, 2020

      This is really an annoying bug that should be fixed. Exported images should not vary its size depending on artboard position! 

        Miroslav B
        Miroslav B
        Participant
        November 12, 2020

        On average I waste 30 minutes of my time per workweek trying to figure out a workaround in a thousand + dollar software (per year) fo these errors that honestly are not justifiable. 


          J
          Jeremy@M
          Inspiring
          February 9, 2022

          I have been testing out the Affinity products for a while and am hoping to make a full transition soon. Have you tried using Affinity Designer?

          C
          Cari Jansen
          Legend
          August 31, 2018

          If I create a New Illustrator document with Web intent and define an artboard size in pixels, exporting for screens gives me an exact artboard size: in other words, I can't replicate the problem in Illustrator CC (2018) and do NOT see an extra pixel in width or height.

          I'm wondering if step 2 in your settings is the culprit – and possibly due to stroke weights and stroke positioning, there is a minuscule bit of 'rounding' occurring that when exported for screens results in a rounding up.

          Are you able to provide some step-by-step screenshot examples of what you are doing?

          • are the document units of measurements set to pixels?
          • does the artboard size display an exact number of pixels?
          • etc.
          norinam
          norinamAuthor
          Inspiring
          August 31, 2018

          Cari Jansen​

          1. There are no strokes on my objects, but if there were I would Object > Path > Outline Stroke before exporting.
          2. I've seen the rounding issue you're talking about before, even posted about it: illustrator CC snap to anchor points off by 0.005 px , but the images below show this is not the case.

          The object

          The Artboard

          Preferences

          Steps to Reproduce

          File > Export > Export for Screens...

          Export for Screens

          (some images and text censored)

          Windows 10 Explorer > [right click newly created PNG] > Properties

          (some images and text censored)

          A
          anthonye43365399
          Participant
          May 14, 2019

          I realize this issue was brought up last year, but I had the same problem and thought it helpful to share a potential solution. Making sure the artboard is aligned to the pixel grid as described at https://www.reddit.com/r/AdobeIllustrator/comments/3dqadd/1_pixel_off_when_exporting_artboards_to_png/ct9qm26?utm_source… fixed the additional pixel problem in my situation. Essentially, while using the Artboard Tool make sure the X and Y position values are whole numbers without decimals. Doing "Rearrange All Artboards" from the Artboards panel flyout menu was an automatic way to align the artboards to the pixel grid that also worked.

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