I have an issue with the export in the Mac app and can’t find any solution:
I’m in a shared document and want to export an artboard for my colleagues but the menu item “Export > Current Selection” is deactivated (see screenshot). I already tried to restart Sketch, did the update to version 101, but the menu item is still deactivated in this document.
unfortunately, you have to make every layer, every artboard (…) exportable before you can export it. This is an annoying and redundant step in my eyes, but that’s the way it is in Sketch.
I wanted to mention another way to make exporting easier is to do it from the Web app. It used to be the case that you had to mark layers or Artboards as exportable, but not anymore. This was added in the last few days
I can’t see on your screenshot if you have a Workspace document, but if this is a shared doc on a Workspace, you can use this new feature. I hope this helps!
It is really a step forward that you can now export any asset in the web app, but unfortunately this promise does not quite materialise … at least as long as it is still not possible to export images that have been dropped into symbol instances via override. I make the corresponding image layer in the parent symbol exportable, but all the devs can now download from the instance is the placeholder of the parent symbol, not the image override.
Ah, I see, it works. It’s just not displayed in the sidebar, which led me to believe that it’s still not possible. Only after clicking on ‘Export as…’ does it show the image override, which is downloadable.
This is not self-explanatory for the users, but if you know it, it works.
It would be good if the image override was already visible in the sidebar as an indicator that it can be downloaded. As it looks now, users think that they can only download the placeholder and don’t even click on ‘Export as …’ … as I did not suspect (although your marketing says that you can now download everything) and then wrote here in the forum.
Upon further reflection, I actually think what is shown in the current setup is correct. Let me elaborate…
For the Symbol Instance where there is an image Override applied, you had wanted to see the Override displayed in the sidebar as well, rather than the original image, so that it matches up with what will be exported when clicking on the Export button.
But I think it makes more sense to still show the original image there in the sidebar, because that is a true reflection of the Symbol that it is referencing. That is the important factor here. That is to say, the Symbol row in the sidebar is deliberately not showing what is on the Canvas, but it is pointing to the Symbol Source (so that you know what that original Symbol is if you want to reference it in your Library, or to perhaps navigate to it to Inspect it in isolation).
For the export itself, whatever is shown on the Canvas, Overrides included, is what will be exported.
but I see it the other way round from your technically correct argument. But from a user’s point of view, I have problems following this reasoning.
In my opinion, ‘what you see is what you get’ should apply here … and when I click on the image layer in Inspect mode and it is then displayed on the right, I assume that the ‘Export as …’ button exports exactly what I see above it in context … namely, as before, the placeholder image of the parent symbol.
A user interface should always be designed to be self-explanatory and the user should always know what the click will trigger before the click and not only after the click. In my opinion, the way it is implemented now is not user-centred (developers and customers) … and as you have seen with me, I didn’t even discover it when I was told I could download ALL assets. It only dawned on me after a more detailed explanation from you …
Nevertheless, I can always inspect the parent icon to which it refers …
Done!
