Create one square artboard per icon in Vector Studio, then use Slice Studio to export separate files at the required sizes. This Mac workflow covers consistent artboard dimensions, clear naming, and the document-DPI setting that affects slice exports.

These instructions follow the current Affinity desktop Help Center, whose interface uses Vector Studio and Slice Studio. The task is to build a small icon set in one document and export each icon individually. Affinity documents the Artboard Tool in Vector Studio and simultaneous artboard export through Slice Studio. Artboard Tool, Exporting artboards.

Decide which differences need separate artboards

Use one artboard for each distinct icon drawing. For this illustrative project, create three neutral geometric icons—a circle, a square, and a diamond—on separate 64 × 64 px artboards. Each drawing will have a consistent canvas, even when its visible shape occupies less space.

If the same drawing simply needs several output sizes, keep it on one artboard and configure multiple export sizes. Affinity supports multiple formats and sizes within each slice’s export setup. Separate artboards become useful when you want to edit the drawings independently—for example, a simplified small version with different spacing. That is a design choice derived from the export capabilities, rather than a requirement imposed by Affinity. Slices panel.

Your requirement Recommended setup
Three different icons with equal canvas dimensions Three equally sized artboards
One unchanged drawing exported at several sizes One artboard with multiple slice export sizes
A small icon that needs different geometry A separate artboard for the revised drawing
One icon file exported for inspection A named artboard in the Export dialog

For this example, plan for three artboards and two PNG sizes per artboard: 64 × 64 px and 128 × 128 px. The expected result is six files. This simple output count gives you something concrete to check after export.

Create the first icon artboard precisely

Start in Vector Studio and choose File > New. Set Document units to pixels, Page width and Page height to 64 px, and DPI to 72 for this example. Enable Transparent background if you want an unpainted background, and enable the artboard option before creating the document. The new-document help calls this option Artboards; the artboard-specific instructions call it Create artboard. Creating new documents, Adding and removing artboards.

The 72 DPI setting is deliberate. Affinity’s Slice Studio documentation shows a 64 × 64 px document at 72 DPI exporting to 64 × 64 px at 1x and 128 × 128 px at 2x. Other document-DPI settings can change the relationship between the slice multiplier and the exported pixel dimensions. Exporting using the Slice Studio.

If you already have a document, select the Artboard Tool in Vector Studio. For exact custom dimensions, the documented Mac method is to Command-click on the page with that tool active, then enter the dimensions in the Create Artboard dialog. The tool also documents W, H, Size, and Insert Artboard controls on its context toolbar. Adding and removing artboards, Artboard Tool.

Avoid estimating the canvas by dragging if the deliverable requires an exact pixel size. Dragging is a supported way to create an artboard, but numerical entry makes the intended dimensions explicit. Also, select the Artboard Tool directly: the current help documents no default keyboard shortcut for it. Adding and removing artboards, Artboard Tool.

Add matching artboards and organize their contents

For an easy-to-check setup, make the additional artboards before drawing the icons. Select the first empty artboard, then choose Edit > Duplicate > Selection. Move the duplicate into its own space and repeat for the third board. Affinity also documents Command-dragging a selected artboard with the Move Tool or Artboard Tool as a duplication method. Adding and removing artboards.

Arrange the boards in a readable row. The Artboard Tool’s Spacing control governs placement of cloned artboards and helps snapping decisions when moving an artboard near another. Treat that spacing as workspace organization; the intended icon canvas remains 64 × 64 px. Artboard Tool.

Rename the boards circle, square, and diamond. Double-click an artboard’s name above it on the pasteboard, or double-click its name in the Layers panel. These short names make it easier to match each board to its export entry later. Adding and removing artboards.

Draw the corresponding shape inside each board, leaving whatever padding your project requires. As an illustrative starting point, a centered shape with a 40 × 40 px bounding box leaves 12 px on each side of a 64 px square canvas: (64 − 40) ÷ 2 = 12. This is a layout example, not an Affinity preset or a universal icon specification.

Check the Layers panel as you work: each icon’s objects should belong to its intended artboard. Affinity documents that objects created within artboards are clipped inside them by default. Moving content between artboards changes its parent in the layer stack, so the hierarchy helps confirm which board owns each drawing. Moving artboard content.

This ownership matters at export. A slice created from an item through Export Layers includes only that source layer’s content. A slice drawn with the Slice Tool includes content from all visible layers within its area. For consistent icon canvases, use slices based on the complete artboards and keep the artwork inside their respective containers. Exporting using the Slice Studio.

Configure separate icon exports in Slice Studio

Enable Slice Studio through the Studio manager. Affinity’s artboard-export instructions describe artboard slices as already available in the Slices panel. Expand each artboard entry to configure its output. If the panel is hidden, open Window > General > Slices. Exporting artboards, Slices panel.

If an artboard needs a slice, open Window > General > Export Layers, select the artboard, and click Create Slice. Select the whole artboard when you want its full canvas; selecting only the icon object makes that object the slice source. Export Layers panel (Slice Studio).

Configure the first artboard slice as follows:

  1. Expand its entry in the Slices panel and choose PNG as the file format.
  2. Set a 1x export size.
  3. Use the indented + beneath the size entries to add a 2x export size.
  4. Check the filenames so the two sizes have distinct output names, such as circle-64 and circle-128.
  5. Repeat for the remaining artboard slices. Affinity documents additional formats, multiple sizes, and export filename configuration in the slice controls. Exporting slices, Exporting artboards.

For a larger set, configure one slice, then use Copy export setup to clipboard and Replace export setup from clipboard to transfer its format and scaling setup to another selected slice. Check the target filenames afterward. This reduces repeated configuration while preserving a deliberate naming check. Slices panel.

Check the active boxes for the three intended artboard slices. Disable any unwanted Page entry, which represents the entire page or all artboards. Click Export Slices (n), choose a destination folder, and export. The batch button exports checked panel items; highlighting a row alone does not define the batch. Slices panel.

Check dimensions and documented export limitations

Before configuring many more icons, inspect the six example outputs. Confirm that each file contains one complete icon, that the canvas dimensions are 64 × 64 px or 128 × 128 px as intended, and that the names distinguish both the drawing and size. Review the empty space around each drawing as well as the drawing itself.

If dimensions differ, check document DPI and slice scaling together. Affinity’s published example gives the following results for a 64 × 64 px document:

Document DPI 1x output 2x output 3x output
72 64 × 64 px 128 × 128 px 192 × 192 px
144 32 × 32 px 64 × 64 px 96 × 96 px

These values come from Affinity’s documented DPI table. They show why the same 1x label cannot be assumed to mean the same pixel dimensions at every document DPI. Exporting using the Slice Studio.

Affinity also documents absolute slice sizes such as 100w. For a square artboard requiring an explicit width, an absolute-width export setting provides another supported route; verify the resulting height as well. Keep the 72 DPI setup above if you want to follow this example’s 1x and 2x relationship directly. Exporting artboards.

For a single inspection export, choose File > Export > Export and select the named artboard under Area. There is a documentation inconsistency around Whole document: the artboard-export page describes concatenated output, while Export Settings describes separate artboard images or PDF pages depending on format. Use the explicitly documented Slice Studio workflow for this article’s separate-file batch task. Exporting artboards, Export Settings.

If artwork is missing, inspect both its artboard ownership and Make item visible in export in Export Layers. That control is separate from ordinary visibility. If you reopen the document later, confirm the destination again: Affinity documents that the slice export folder is remembered only for the current editing session. Export Layers panel (Slice Studio), Exporting slices.

Once the three-board example produces six correctly named files at the intended dimensions, extend the same setup to the rest of your icon set. Keep one artboard per distinct drawing, reuse the verified export setup, and inspect an output whenever you introduce a different canvas size or export requirement.

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