Exporting and printing¶
Export¶
File ▸ Export… — Cmd+Shift+E.
| Option | Choices |
|---|---|
| Format | PNG Image, PDF Document, SVG Image |
| Area | Automatic, Selection, Artwork, Export Frame |
| Pages | Current Page, All Pages, Page Range |
| Range | e.g. 1-4, 6 |
| Output ground | Transparent or White |
| Include Page Background | On by default |
| Image scale | 1×, 2×, 3× — PNG only, defaults to 2× |
Which format?¶
PNG for Slack, email, docs, anywhere that just needs a picture. Leave the scale at 2× so it stays sharp on a Retina screen.
PDF for printing and for anything that has to stay crisp at any size. Multi-page exports come out as one PDF.
SVG for handing to a designer, or for editing elsewhere.
Area and pages¶
Automatic sizes the output to the artwork, unless you've set an Output Size on the page, in which case it uses that.
Selection is only offered when you've actually selected something and you're exporting the current page.
Export Frame uses the bounds you set with Page ▸ Set Export Frame to Selection.
For PNG and SVG, exporting more than one page creates a folder of numbered files
(001-<page>.png and so on). PDF is always a single file.
Transparent or white¶
Transparent is the default and is usually right for PNG and SVG. Choose White when the thing you're pasting into has a dark background and a transparent PNG would disappear into it.
Untick Include Page Background if you want the shapes without the chalkboard.
Copy as Image¶
Often faster than exporting:
- Edit ▸ Copy as Image — Cmd+Shift+C
- Edit ▸ Copy as Image without Page Background
Copies your selection (or the whole page if nothing's selected) at 2× with a transparent background, ready to paste into whatever's waiting. It goes onto the clipboard as PDF, PNG and TIFF so the receiving app can take its pick.
This is the one to use for "can you send me that diagram" messages.
Printing¶
File ▸ Page Setup… — Cmd+Shift+P File ▸ Print… — Cmd+P
Printing outputs every page of the document.
If a page has an Output Size set, its paper size and orientation seed the print dialog for you, with zero margins — so an A4 page set up in the app arrives as A4 at the printer without you re-picking anything.
If you haven't set an output size, the page prints at whatever the print dialog says. Setting the output size first generally gives a more predictable result.
Print to PDF
macOS's own PDF ▸ Save as PDF in the print dialog works fine, but Export ▸ PDF Document gives you the area and background options above, which is usually what you actually wanted.
What you can do without buying¶
If your trial has ended and you haven't purchased, the app becomes view-only — but opening, viewing, copying, saving, exporting and printing all keep working. You can't create or edit, but you'll never be locked out of your own diagrams.
See Licence and trial.