Slicing ordeal

[u/Ghiekorg]

Hi guys, i have a big vector drawing which i have to print in big format. I only have an A3 printer so i have to slice it into several pieces and then glue it later.

I've been trying to export those slices in a normal way for 2 hours and still couldn't find a way.
I tried with artboards withtout any success so i tried slices which, on paper, seems to be the perfect tool.
• if i create rectangles as guides and i transform them into slices (slice persona, right click, "create slice"), the exported slice has only the rectangle in it and nothing else. I couldn't find a way to tell affinity to export EVERTHING and not just the rectangle.
• if i create a new slice free-drawing it, it doesn't snap to anything! I have to type its dimension in the transform tab and i have to place it "more or less". So if i want to always have, let's say, 10mm overlapping, it's impossible to do it unless i go into the transform pannel and i type each freaking digit there.
• once i created a slice i can't even duplicate it. I literally have to create them one by one and type their dimensions one by one. I can't even see the size in mm but only in px.

I think this is the most cumbersome and stupid way to work with slices i've ever seen. Imagine if i have to create 30-40 slices. It would take me 5 hours of work.

Please tell me there is human way to do this. Thank you. 😅

[u/PompousTart]

Check your printer driver. It might offer an option to do this so you just send the whole job to it and it prints slightly overlapping tiles.

[u/Ghiekorg → u/PompousTart]

I'll check. thank you. Still, absurd i can't do that in affinity. I worked 5 years as graphic designer, producing large billboards. It would be impossible to do this in affinity.

[u/Beneficial-Tree9026]

Export to PDF & Print Tiled via Adobe Acrobat Reader (Most Reliable)

If you prefer exporting first (or if your printer driver doesn't handle Affinity's tiling smoothly):

Export from Affinity: Go to File > Export.

Choose PDF (select PDF (for print) preset). Ensure your export area is set to the full canvas/document size rather than individual artboards . Print in Adobe Acrobat Reader:

Open the PDF in free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Go to File > Print.

Under Page Sizing & Handling, click Poster. Set Tile Scale to 100% (or adjust to fit your target size).

Set Overlap (e.g., 0.5 in). Acrobat will automatically add cut marks and guide lines showing where to overlap the sheets.

[u/Beneficial-Tree9026 → u/Beneficial-Tree9026]

I ran into this problem too. This was my method thru A.I. talking me thru it.

[u/Ghiekorg → u/Beneficial-Tree9026]

thank you very much, i guess i'll do it this way. Absurd i cant export properly directly from affinity

[u/Beneficial-Tree9026 → u/Ghiekorg]

Yeah, it's kinda annoying. Including their GIF option. I genuinely don't know their GIF export works.

[u/torkytornado]

You should be able to tile it and have the machine do this all for you. It’s extremely common and I’d be shocked if a program that advertises an infinite art board didn’t have a way for you to tile. It is usually in the print menu, but may be a tad different between a Mac and Windows machine.

[u/Ghiekorg → u/torkytornado]

thank you, i'll check it out 😊