Save Affinity Photo to Adobe Photoshop and Retain Editable Text

The Problem:
Unfortunately, when exporting Affinity Photo files to Photoshop you lose the ability to edit text because the export process converts text to images. This is frustrating because text is no longer editable. You will need Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator in order to do this but will retain the ability to use Affinity Photo as part of your workflow and creative process.

Here is the original file that was built in Affinity Photo.

The Solution:

Step 1
Export your Affinity Photo file as .SVG

Step 2
Open .SVG file in Adobe Illustrator. Unfortunately, this is what the file looks like. Illustrator reveals the “Artboard” extending beyond the final file dimensions. Everything will have to be cropped back to the final size. Fortunately, this extra step is easy.

Step 3
Crop images and scale Objects to the Artboard dimensions (see below for instructions on how to do this*)

Step 4
Save as Illustrator (.AI) file. You can stop here and share your file as an Illustrator file. This retains editable text and may be sufficient. In some cases this may be an even better solution if the other designer requests an Illustrator file. To continue saving as Photoshop file go to next step.

Step 5
Export the Illustrator file to Photoshop (.PSD) file by selecting Export As > Photoshop (psd). The Photoshop Export Options window appears. Check the box Preserve Text Editablity and click OK.

Step 6
Open file in Photoshop. Open the Layers tab to see the Text Layers are still there.

Now you can edit your text!

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*Cropping images to the Artboard in Adobe Illustrator

Step 1
Open Layers tab. With the white pointer select items on each layer you want to crop. Go to Object (top menu) and select Crop Image. Drag the levers and press Return