To export only certain artboards in Affinity on Mac, open Slice Studio and enable only their slices in the Slices panel. Then click Export Slices (n). The batch follows checked slices, so highlighting artboards alone does not define the export.

This guide covers exporting a subset of artboards as separate files in the current Affinity desktop interface. The official documentation identifies Export Slices (n) as the command that exports all checked panel items. That distinction is the key to controlling the batch. Slices panel

What determines which artboards export?

Three choices serve different purposes: choosing an artboard as the source of a slice, choosing a slice to adjust its settings, and enabling a slice for export. For the final batch, check the slice’s Active/Inactive control. A highlighted row is not a substitute for that control: the documented batch command acts on checked items. Slices panel

Also inspect what each slice represents. Affinity distinguishes a Page export area, which covers the entire page or all artboards, from a slice created from an individual artboard, layer, group, or object. If your aim is to export two artboards separately, an enabled whole-page entry adds a different output to that batch. Disable it along with every unwanted slice. Slices panel

Think of the Slices panel as your output checklist. First confirm the source area, then its enabled state, then the formats and sizes underneath it. This order makes an unexpected file easier to trace than repeatedly changing the selection on the canvas.

Prepare an individual slice for each wanted artboard

Open Slice Studio and its panels

Open the Studio Manager, turn on Slice Studio, and switch to that workspace. Affinity’s current help says Slice Studio is hidden by default; you may need to scroll within the manager to find it. This workspace supports exporting multiple assets in different formats and sizes. Slice Studio

On your Mac, use Window > General > Slices to show the output list. If you need to create an artboard slice, also open Window > General > Export Layers. These are the documented desktop menu paths. Slices panel, Export Layers panel (Slice Studio)

Use existing artboard slices or create missing ones

Look in the Slices panel first. The official artboard workflow describes adjusting artboard slices already ready for export there. Expand the relevant entries to inspect their settings before creating anything else. Exporting artboards

If a wanted artboard has no corresponding slice, select the entire artboard in Export Layers and click Create Slice. Repeat for another wanted artboard as necessary. The panel explicitly supports creating slices from entire artboards as well as layers, groups, and individual objects. Choose the artboard entry when the intended output is the whole board. Export Layers panel (Slice Studio)

For this task, an artboard-derived slice is a more direct choice than drawing a rectangle around the board. Affinity documents different content rules: a slice made through Export Layers includes content from its source layer, while a slice drawn with the Slice Tool includes content from all visible layers within its area. Choosing the source deliberately helps keep the output tied to the intended artboard. Exporting using the Slice Studio

Export only the checked artboard slices

Once the wanted artboard slices exist, complete the batch in this order:

  1. In Slices, enable the entries for the artboards you want.
  2. Disable every unwanted entry, including any whole-page slice.
  3. Expand each enabled artboard slice and check its filename, file format, and size settings.
  4. Click Export Slices (n) at the bottom of the panel.
  5. Choose the destination folder and click Export.

These steps combine the panel’s checked-item rule with the documented artboard export procedure. Affinity allows each artboard slice to have additional formats and sizes, so selecting the correct boards is only part of defining the output. Slices panel, Exporting artboards

For a simple first export, configure one format and one size per wanted board—for example, PNG at 1x. Give the outputs distinct names. Additional formats and scales can be useful later, but inspect any preset you apply so its output matches your immediate task.

The batch command exports all configured formats and sizes for the checked slices. Affinity also documents separate controls for exporting all formats for one item, one format with its sizes, or one specific size. Use those narrower controls when you need just one variant rather than the full checked batch. Exporting slices

Worked example: two artboards, three output files

Suppose a document contains three artboards named Blue-Square, Amber-Circle, and Gray-Line. You want the first two, with two PNG sizes for the square and one for the circle. The following is an illustrative export plan, not a measured application result:

Slice Enabled for batch? Configured outputs Expected files
Blue-Square Yes PNG at 1x and 2x 2
Amber-Circle Yes PNG at 1x 1
Gray-Line No Any existing setup 0
Whole-page entry, if present No Any existing setup 0

Under those conditions, expect three output files from two enabled artboard slices. The count follows from Affinity’s documented rule that a batch exports every configured format and size for each checked slice. Two chosen boards therefore do not necessarily mean two files. Exporting slices

For an easy verification, choose a new, empty destination folder and compare the results against your plan. Check the filenames, open each output, and inspect its dimensions. This also prevents files from an earlier export from confusing your assessment of the current batch.

Documented limits and how to diagnose unexpected output

More artboards exported than intended

Return to the enabled states in Slices. Check unwanted artboard entries and any page-level entry before changing canvas selections. The documented batch contract is checked panel items; the page-level export area can encompass all artboards. Slices panel

The right artboard exported at an unexpected size

Inspect both the slice’s scale settings and the document DPI. Affinity documents that slice export scaling depends on DPI: its example shows a 64 × 64 px document exporting at 64 × 64 at 1x with 72 DPI, but 32 × 32 at 1x with 144 DPI. Do not assume that 1x always reproduces the document’s stated pixel dimensions. Exporting using the Slice Studio

Also check whether someone manually resized an item-derived slice. The documented recovery is to select the resized export area with the Slice Tool and choose Revert to auto sized on the context toolbar. Use this when the intended boundary is the source item’s extent. Exporting slices

Content is missing from an otherwise correct slice

Inspect the source artboard and the Export Layers visibility controls. Make item visible in export determines whether an item is available in the export. The separate Make item visible control governs its displayed visibility; the help says an item can export in either state of that second control. Parent settings can also affect child controls. These settings serve a different purpose from enabling an entire slice in the batch. Export Layers panel (Slice Studio)

The destination or files change between exports

Affinity remembers the slice export folder only for the current editing session. Confirm the destination when exporting in a later session. For a one-time batch, leave Continuous off: when enabled after a batch export, it can re-export checked slices following content, slice-transform, or option changes. Exporting slices

When should you use the regular Export dialog instead?

If you need just one artboard once, the documented alternative is File > Export > Export, followed by choosing its name from the Area menu. Choosing Whole document instead exports concatenated artboards. The regular dialog is a useful single-artboard route; it should not be treated as the same selection mechanism as the checked-slice batch. Exporting artboards

For this article’s task, the result is separate outputs for the enabled artboard slices. The documented slice workflow does not describe assembling an arbitrary artboard subset into one multipage PDF. If that is your requirement, do not assume that checking several slices performs that assembly.

For a dependable subset export, finish by matching three things: the artboards you intend to deliver, the enabled slices representing them, and the formats and sizes configured beneath those slices. Once they agree, export to your chosen folder and inspect the resulting files.

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