To preserve a transparent background in an Affinity PDF, enable the document’s Transparent background setting, exclude opaque background artwork, and export with a PDF compatibility level that supports transparency.

This guide follows the current Affinity desktop Help Center and its Mac menu paths. The task is to export artwork that can sit over a colored background without an unwanted rectangular backdrop. Start with the editable Affinity document so you can inspect its contents before exporting.

Set the document background to transparent

For an existing document, choose Document > Setup > Document Setup. Select Whole Document, find Transparent background among the color settings, enable it, and click OK. Affinity documents this setting as making the page background transparent. The options displayed can vary with document structure, including whether it contains artboards. Document setup (Desktop only)

For a new document, choose File > New, select a suitable preset and dimensions, enable Transparent background, then click Create Document. Setting transparency at creation saves a later adjustment, but existing documents can be changed through Document Setup. Creating new documents

Next, inspect the artwork itself. A transparent page background does not remove a white rectangle drawn across the page or white pixels inside an image. Those are part of the content. For example, a blue circle above a full-page white rectangle still has white artwork behind it, even when the page background is transparent.

Decide which white areas belong in the exported design. Preserve intentional white lettering or shapes. Exclude a separate backdrop when it is only there to help you view the artwork. If the white area is baked into an image, changing Document Setup alone cannot separate it from that image.

Export the intended artwork with suitable PDF settings

Use the full Export dialog so you can inspect the settings before saving. Affinity’s current desktop instructions open it through File > Export > Export. Choose a PDF preset from the list on the left; common options appear in File, with additional controls in Advanced. Export dialog

For an ordinary reusable graphic, PDF (for export) is a reasonable starting point. Affinity’s preset comparison lists it as PDF 1.7, with Rasterize: Unsupported properties and image downsampling disabled. This recommendation is based on those documented defaults; it is not a special transparency preset. Compare PDF export presets

Choose the correct export area

Set Area according to what you want to deliver. This choice matters when a design includes a temporary background or other overlapping objects.

Area option What it includes When to use it
Whole document The current page in a one-page document, or all artboards Keep the document’s intended output area
Named artboard Only the chosen artboard Export one artboard from a larger project
Selection Area The selected region, including overlapping layers Include surrounding content within that region
Selection Only Selected content, excluding other overlapping layers Export selected artwork without separate background objects

These are the current documented names. Selection Only can exclude an unselected backdrop, but it cannot remove white pixels contained within a selected image or a background object included in the selection. For page-based documents, Current Page or All Pages may be the appropriate choice instead. Export dialog

Check compatibility and rasterization

Keep Compatibility at PDF 1.7 (Acrobat 8) for this starting workflow unless the destination requires another supported level. Affinity offers PDF 1.4 through 1.7, PDF 2.0, and several PDF/X choices. Adobe’s format guidance confirms that PDF 1.4 and later can preserve live transparency. Affinity Export Settings, PDF/X standards, compatibility, and general options

Leave Rasterize at Unsupported properties for the initial export. Affinity defines this as rasterizing only unsupported design elements. Nothing can omit unsupported elements, while Everything rasterizes all content. Consequently, “Nothing” is a poor troubleshooting shortcut if your artwork uses effects that PDF cannot represent directly. Export Settings

To save, select Ask for Location at the bottom right, optionally enable Show in Finder, and click Export. Give the file a distinct name, choose its destination, and click Save. Keep the editable document available for any corrections. Export dialog

Understand the PDF export limitations

There is no documented Matte control for PDF export in the current Affinity export-settings reference. Matte is listed for several image formats, but PDF is absent from its availability list. Set page transparency in the document and inspect the exported content instead of looking for a PDF Matte switch. Export Settings

Transparency and vector preservation are separate requirements. Allow advanced features affects whether supported features, including non-solid transparencies and gradients, remain vectors. Affinity also warns that another application may rasterize or incorrectly render those advanced features when importing the PDF. Enable it when preserving those features as vectors matters, then check the result in the intended destination. Export Settings

Avoid choosing PDF (flatten) merely because an export looks white. Affinity lists that preset with Rasterize: Everything. It changes the representation of all artwork and is unsuitable when retaining vector content is part of the task. Rasterization by itself also does not identify whether an unwanted white object exists. Compare PDF export presets

If a destination requires PDF/X, check the exact variant. PDF/X-4 supports live transparency; older PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 workflows flatten it. Affinity supplies all three families. If live transparency must survive, use an accepted transparency-capable format rather than expecting an older PDF/X requirement to preserve it. Adobe’s documentation supplies the format distinction here, not Affinity menu instructions. Compare PDF export presets, Adobe PDF presets

Verify transparency over a colored background

Use a placement test to judge the exported file. A white-looking page alone does not establish whether the PDF contains a white object. The useful question is whether the intended empty areas reveal content underneath.

In a separate Affinity test document, put a solid blue rectangle behind the area where the exported graphic will sit. Choose File > Place, select your PDF, click Open, then click or drag on the page to place it above the rectangle. These are Affinity’s documented desktop placement steps. Placing content

This is a proposed diagnostic sequence, not a reported export test. Interpret the result as follows:

  • Blue shows through the intended empty areas: the placed result has the background behavior you need.
  • A white rectangle covers the blue: inspect the source for background artwork and confirm that the export area excluded it.
  • Only one image has a white box: inspect that image’s content before changing the whole document.
  • Gradients or translucent effects change appearance: review advanced-feature handling and compare the result in the destination application.

Affinity normally uses Passthrough for exact reproduction of a placed PDF, switching to Interpret if passthrough is not possible. Keep track of which mode is active during your check. Editing an embedded PDF converts it to an Affinity document and loses its original passthrough behavior, so first assess the placed file without editing its contents. Placing content

Once the exported PDF reveals the colored background correctly, check it in the application where it will actually be used. Keep the successful export settings with the editable source document. That gives you a repeatable way to preserve the intended empty areas while retaining the vector content and effects the destination supports.

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