To keep pixel art crisp, export a PNG at its original pixel dimensions or enlarge it by a whole-number multiplier with Nearest Neighbor resampling. Check the export preview before saving; scaling cannot repair edges already softened in the artwork.

This workflow covers one static pixel-art image in the current Affinity desktop app on Mac. The menu paths follow the current Affinity Help Center. The task is to preserve deliberate square pixels when creating a standalone image file.

Export a crisp PNG with the current desktop controls

Start with a finished image whose individual pixels already look correct. Save your editable Affinity document before exporting so you retain a source for future changes.

  1. Choose File > Export > Export.
  2. Select a PNG preset on the left.
  3. Set Area to the content you want. For a simple one-page image, choose Whole document; for one artboard, choose its name.
  4. Set Size to the original pixel dimensions or your calculated enlargement, keeping Lock aspect ratio enabled.
  5. Set Resample to Nearest Neighbor.
  6. Inspect the preview, then choose Ask for Location, click Export, name the file, and click Save. You can enable Show in Finder to locate the result immediately. These controls and the saving sequence are documented in Affinity’s Export dialog and Export Settings.

Affinity recommends Nearest Neighbor for hard-edge images. Its resampling choice applies when export increases or decreases the image dimensions. Keeping the original dimensions avoids an export-size change; enlarging requires choosing how new pixels are generated. Affinity Export Settings

Choose the export area before judging the size. Selection Area includes overlapping, deselected layers; Selection Only excludes them. Selecting the wrong area can change what appears around your artwork, even when the resampling choice is correct. Affinity Export dialog

Choose an enlargement that preserves equal pixel blocks

Use the same positive integer multiplier for both dimensions when your goal is uniform square blocks. This recommendation follows the geometry of enlarging a pixel grid: at 4×, each source pixel has room for a 4-by-4 block of output pixels. A fractional multiplier cannot assign every source pixel an equally wide whole-pixel block.

For an illustrative 32-by-24-pixel tile, calculate the output as width × multiplier and height × multiplier:

Intended result Export dimensions What the calculation means
Original size 32 × 24 px No enlargement
2× enlargement 64 × 48 px Each source pixel becomes a 2 × 2 block
3× enlargement 96 × 72 px Each source pixel becomes a 3 × 3 block
4× enlargement 128 × 96 px Each source pixel becomes a 4 × 4 block
Fractional 2.5× enlargement 80 × 60 px Equal whole-pixel blocks are impossible

These are worked dimensions, not measured export results. For this example, choose 128 by 96 pixels with Nearest Neighbor when you want a larger version with regular blocks. An 80-by-60 export may retain hard boundaries, but some source columns or rows must occupy different numbers of output pixels.

Reducing dimensions introduces a different constraint: fewer output pixels cannot retain every independently colored source pixel. If a small version loses a one-pixel detail, return to the original and simplify that detail for the smaller grid. Repeatedly resizing the reduced copy cannot restore information it no longer contains.

Changing DPI alone will not enlarge the screen image

Affinity distinguishes print scaling from resampling. Changing DPI with Resample switched off changes print-resolution metadata while leaving pixel dimensions unaffected. It therefore does not turn a 32-by-24-pixel image into a larger screen asset. Affinity: Changing image size

If you actually need to enlarge the working document before continuing to draw, use Document > Setup > Resize > Document. Enable Resample, choose pixel units, enter the new dimensions with the proportions linked, select Nearest Neighbor, and click Resize. Affinity specifically identifies this method as suitable for hard-edge images and pixel work. For a larger delivery file alone, changing export dimensions is sufficient. Affinity: Changing image size

Choose a format without changing the intended colors

PNG is a practical default for this task because the format supports lossless raster storage and optional transparency. Lossless compression preserves the image data being encoded; it does not reverse resampling or color changes made before encoding. W3C PNG Specification, Third Edition

Check these documented boundaries before switching formats or reducing file size:

Format or option Relevant boundary
PNG Palette mapping is optional. Disable Palettized when you do not intend to restrict the image to a palette.
GIF Palette mapping cannot be switched off.
PDF, SVG, EPS Rasterize: Nothing omits unsupported elements; it does not preserve them automatically.
TIFF with saved Affinity layers Those layers are readable only in Affinity.

These limitations are listed in Affinity Export Settings. For a single finished pixel image, begin with PNG and leave palette reduction out of the first export.

A vector format is useful for a different delivery requirement, but selecting SVG does not itself establish a fixed pixel grid for your finished image. For this task, a PNG with explicit dimensions makes the intended output grid clear. Keep the editable Affinity document separately rather than treating the exported image as your working master.

Also read any export-size warning. Affinity documents that an image exceeding its chosen format’s maximum dimensions will be scaled to fit. That automatic change can invalidate your carefully calculated multiplier; reduce the requested size deliberately before proceeding. Affinity Export Settings

Understand what Pixel Art Document resizing actually does

Affinity also has a command named Pixel Art Document, but its documented purpose differs from simple block enlargement. Choose Document > Setup > Resize > Pixel Art Document to access HQX or XBR, with multipliers of 2×, 3×, or 4×. Affinity: Pixel art resizing

Affinity describes XBR as producing smoother results and HQX as sharper, with more jaggedness around fine edges. Its example shows XBR refining the enlarged edges. These filters are appropriate when you want that reinterpretation of the outline. For preserving the original staircase pattern as square blocks, use the Nearest Neighbor export path described above. That choice follows from the documented purposes of the filters. Affinity: Pixel art resizing

Diagnose softness before changing more export settings

Use the following sequence to find where the unwanted change enters the image. Compare one setting at a time so the result tells you something useful.

Inspect the export at a known magnification

In the export preview on Mac, press Command–1 for 100%, Command–2 for 200%, Command–3 for 400%, or Command–4 for 800%. Use the larger views to inspect individual edge pixels, then return to 100% to assess the exported image at its native size. Affinity documents these shortcuts specifically for its export preview. Affinity Export dialog

As a diagnostic test, compare an original-size PNG with an integer-enlarged PNG. If the original-size version already contains intermediate edge colors you did not intend, examine the artwork itself. If the unwanted change appears only in the enlargement, recheck the dimensions and resampling method.

Check alignment when the artwork contains vector shapes

For vector-built pixel graphics, Affinity’s Force Pixel Alignment snaps objects, nodes, handles, and pixel selection areas to whole pixels as they are created, moved, or modified. The dedicated help page gives the desktop path as View > Snapping, then Force Pixel Alignment. It also warns that snapping to an off-pixel object or guide can produce an off-pixel result. Affinity: Force Pixel Alignment

Do not assume Move By Whole Pixels corrects an existing fractional position. Affinity explains that it preserves the partial pixels an object occupies while constraining movement to whole-pixel distances. For example, moving from X = 5.5 by 10 pixels ends at X = 15.5. When correcting alignment, disable that option while leaving Force Pixel Alignment enabled, and check competing snapping targets. Affinity: Force Pixel Alignment

Alignment helps establish the intended grid; it does not remove soft colors already painted into a raster layer. Correct those in the source before making the final export.

Save the verified settings for the next export

After checking a successful export, save the settings as a preset. In the Export dialog, adjust your starting preset, click Preferences, choose Create Preset, enter a descriptive name, and click OK. Affinity makes the preset available in the Export dialog, Quick Export, and Slice Studio. Affinity Export dialog

For later exports, open Quick Export using the down arrow at the top right, choose your options, and click Export. Its presets can include formats, sizes, and resampling methods, so check the selected preset against the dimensions needed for each image. Affinity: Quick Export

Finish with a saved PNG whose dimensions match your calculation and whose preview retains the intended pixel pattern. Keep the original Affinity document alongside it, so the next size starts from the same deliberate source grid.

Sources