When i save project as a png file, it is saving it as white

[adpuf]

Okay a little background on this project...  (Maybe its just too big?)

I am trying to make a print design for fabric...

My document size is: 29" x 35"
There are a total of 136 objects.
I cropped each object from a jpeg file
The cropped boxes overlap each other

I am assuming maybe these need to be flattened?

Any help is appreciated

[adpuf]

Okay, so I have learned that I should have selected export as PNG file instead of save as?   I am not sure if this will be that easy?

Unfortunately, my inkscape crashed but i was able to save it as a svg before that happened.  I pull up that file and try to export png and nothing happens. Is that because it was saved as an svg file?

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

You are correct about using Export PNG instead of Save As. 

You said you tried to export png but nothing happened.  Could you give us more details?  Do you mean the Export PNG dialog did not open?  Or it opened but you clicked Export and nothing happened?  Or you mean you found the exported PNG but it was blank?

Once you give more details, we can tell you what to do from there.  But I'd just be wasting time to try to explain every possible problem.

By the way, here's a tutorial on making a screenshot.  A photo of your screen is just too hard to see.  https://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=12

[TMadisson]

Hi adpuf,
Don't forget to press 'export' once you've set the export options and where you want it saved to 

I only mention this because its something i'm always having to remind myself to do 

Let us know you get on.

[adpuf]

Thank you!!!!

Okay, so at this point...the only saved version of the above file, is an svg file.  When I pull up that file and try to export as png. It does nothing. No pop up, nothing.

***My ultimate goal is to make a transparent print file for fabric. I am trying to come up with a design but I only want the pictures to print, not the background.

I downloaded some jpeg files from shutterstock. These are the images that I am using for the design.  Unfortuntely, I have to crop each image which is leaving a white background around the image. I will post a picture of what I am talking about...

Also, the company that I will be going through to print the fabric has a maximum of 40mb for the file. So this would have been way too big anyway.

So I think I might have to start over from scratch????

Anyone willing to help?

Let me start with an example of one of the images.

[TMadisson]

I think I'm getting it, so you want only the flower illustration printed and not the white as well. If thats correct then i would say you will have to mask out the white area (inkscape) OR delete the white areas in GIMP.

[adpuf]

Yes, that is correct.   

Okay, I found a tutorial on how to remove the background from a logo.  You had to click on the object, then select trace bitmap, scan, etc.   Is this the correct way to do this?

The reason I ask is: when I tried it...in the live action window, it was showing the entire jpeg and not just the cropped portion.

[TMadisson]

It sounds like you've stumbled on the correct tutorial 'in principle' as to what you need to do with each of your flower motifs. You can then compile them together into the final document in Inkscape ready for the printers.

Just remember though that the live trace in Inkscape (and Adobe Illustrator for that matter) will only give a rough vectorised version of the pixel image. Therefore, you will still have to go into the trace and delete out the white background.

Unfortunately, there's no other way of being able to do although the latest release of Photoshop CC can intelligently separate the foreground from background objects. This, however, is a very expensive outlay for one feature + doing it by hand imho will always yield far better and more accurate results.

[adpuf]

I got first paragraph. Unfortunately, paragraphs two and three somehow is reading in Greek and I cannot decipher.

I think I may have gotten in over my head.

[TMadisson]

Don't worry the guys on here will look after you and guide you through. Just keep us posted we'll be interested in the final result 

[adpuf]

Okay so here is the Jpeg that I purchased...

I will be using three of these images.   Do I bring the whole image in and do the trace bitmap first?  If so, how do I know how many colors/scans?

[TMadisson]

If it was me I would crop each floral motif so i have five jpeg floral motifs in total.

Then bring one into inkscape 》 do a live trace 》 save as an svg.

Do this with all five jpeg floral motifs.

Once all thats done i will provide the next steps as it will get complicated.

[adpuf]

Okay, I started with just one cropped floral image...  Did like 100 colors and 25 scans. It brought the whole image (before I cropped - all six images) back into the screen...  I don't know what I am doing wrong?

[adpuf]

UGH,

okay I changed it to 50 colors and 10 scans ( I have no idea what this even means)  and it keeps bringing the entire jpeg into the live preview screen.

[adpuf]

better picture...

[TMadisson]

Looking much better! I've just uploaded a private video of the of the Trace Bitmap feature for you. It may help you to understand what the next step is, but from what I can gather after you have done the Trace Bitmap and adjusted the levels of threshold and other parameters you have to exit the Trace Bitmap dialogue box and your vectorised image is placed on top of the original pixel image. Your vector image can be moved and points edited accordingly.

Live Trace Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0usxmUaiKk&feature=youtu.be

[adpuf]

when I click on the video, it says unavailable.

[adpuf]

When I try to do the trace bitmap on the cropped image...it converts it back to the original six images jpeg

If you look at the last screen shot (in the live preview screen)  Instead of just the one cropped floral image, it is the original image with all five floral

[adpuf]

Thank you so much for helping me!!!

I am stuck at 1:03 of the video. (just before you select the flower) What tool are you using?  and once you had it like you wanted it, what did you click to get it to crop?

I downloaded Gimp but it looks different than yours.  See attachment

[TMadisson]

Nope yours is just fine, mine is a development version of the next release so the UI is a bit sleeker.

So what I did is as you've done - brought your image in > I then cropped it (which is what you were asking at 1.03  into the video) > Saved it > imported it to inkscape > trace bitmapped it and the separated the two.

[adpuf]

What I couldn't figure out is how you cropped it in gimp

[adpuf]

Okay, I used the circle tool... Then clicked on: Image, Crop to selection and this is what I get...


I was trying to use the middle floral image and get rid of that arrow at the bottom right.  But even though i used a circle tool, it saved it as a square

[TMadisson]

Excellent, now save that in GIMP and import it into inkscape

[adpuf]

Okay, when I click on Save AS...this is what I get

[TMadisson]

This is where I find Open Source software differs slightly from paid programs... To save as a jpeg, as we need it, you will want to go to file > export - it's at 1.28 in the video