Unable to export bitmap

[Sarah Hood]

Completely unable to export a bitmap - have been using Inkscape for a year and a half and no problems, but suddenly when I try to export a bitmap nothing happens. Neither File> Export Bitmap, Shift + Ctrl + E, or the little button on the right hand side of the screen works.

No error message, no dialogue box, just nothing happens. I've restarted the computer, and uninstalled and reinstalled inkscape but no change.

Working on Windows 7 with Inkscape 0.48.2

Many thanks in advance!

[su_v (suv-lp)]

Does it happen with certain file(s) only, or also for new / arbitrary files which have never been exported to bitmap before?

a) If it happens for all files (including new ones), does the main windows get unfocused when you try to open 'Export Bitmap'? This could indicate that the dialog opens off-screen and is not visible (maybe you switched between a dual-screen setup and the built-in screen?).

b) If it happens with certain files only, could you attach one of them here to the bug report?

[Sarah Hood (sarahlouisehood)]

Heya, cheers for the help!

It happens with all file types new & old - and the screen does unfocus when I open 'Export Bitmap'.

I work with two monitors, so I shut down the second monitor and minimised the Inkscape window to see if the bitmap dialogue box would appear somewhere on the built-in screen, but no luck. Normally if something is going off screen then there will at least be a sliver of the window on the side of the screen somewhere but nothing anywhere!

Any ideas how to sort?

[su_v (suv-lp)]

> Any ideas how to sort?

AFAIK you can move such off-screen dialogs using Windows' built-in tools (open / focus the off-screen dialog, then use ALT+SPACE to pop up window menu, choose 'Move' and use the arrow keys to reposition the dialog).

You could also try if resetting Inkscape's preferences to default values helps (the window position and size is stored in the preferences for each dialog), or to edit the preferences file and reset the window position of the export dialog manually.

1) quit Inkscape
2) browse to '%APPDATA%\inkscape' [1]

To reset Inkscape's preferences to default values:
3) rename the file 'preferences.xml' (keep the old version as backup)
4) restart Inkscape (it will create a new 'preferences.xml' file with default values)
5) try again to export a bitmap

To only reset the stored settings for the 'Export bitmap' dialog:
3) open the file 'preferences.xml' in a plain-text editor e.g. Notepad or Notepad++ (make a backup copy first)
4) search for 'id="export"'
5) reset x and y to '0' (or delete the two lines)
6) save the edits, restart Inkscape and test if the dialog now opens on the main screen

AFAICT this report is related to or a duplicate of
- Bug #379463 “offscreen dialogs”
  <https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/379463>

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[1] On Windows 7, %APPDATA% is 'C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming'

[Sarah Hood (sarahlouisehood)]

All sorted!! First solution worked so many thanks for all your help! :)

[su_v (suv-lp)]

> All sorted!! First solution worked so many thanks for all your help! :)

Good to hear, and thanks for reporting back.

It's still a bug in Inkscape (Windows port) or in the win32 backend of the GTK+ toolkit -> linking as duplicate to Bug #379463 “offscreen dialogs”. Please add a comment here and revert the duplicate status if you don't agree and think these are different issues.