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Check your cards with Export QA

Export QA runs the same six checks as Designer QA on every piece Studio will generate from one design and its attached dataset. Run it after using real data: a layout that works for one row can fail on a longer title, a missing image, or an Enum variant.

To check and repair the row currently open in Designer, use Designer QA view. Export QA is the final collection-wide check.

The Export workspace showing generated cards and QA filters

Review the generated collection​

  1. Open Export and choose a design.
  2. Wait until the scan count is complete. Studio checks the face and printable back of every generated row and Enum variant.
  3. Choose Failed to find pieces with errors.
  4. Select a piece's preview to open its QA preview, switch between Face and Back, and read the QA notes beside the preview. Pinch, or use +, −, and 0, to zoom into small details.
  5. Use Open in Designer to repair layout or bindings, or Open dataset next to the design picker to repair row data. Let the change save, then return to Export.
  6. Review Advisory pieces and decide whether each warning is intentional.
  7. Check Passed pieces too. Automated QA cannot verify spelling, rules, image choice, or whether a crop hides the important part of an image.

The filters are not exclusive: a piece with both an error and a warning appears under both Failed and Advisory.

On a phone or narrow tablet, Export shows one pane at a time. Switch between Export settings and Generated designs below the design picker; the export button appears under the designs as well as under the settings.

What the checks mean​

Errors by default​

  • Unresolved bindings: a referenced dataset field, variable, colour, number, boolean, or image source is missing or invalid. Check the named layer, the row, and the binding spelling.
  • Text overflow: resolved text extends outside its text box at print size. Test the affected row; then enlarge the box, shorten the content, or revise the typography.

Advisories by default​

  • Low-resolution images: the image would print below the configured minimum DPI, or Studio could not load the source to inspect it. Confirm that the original image is available and replace it with a larger source when needed.
  • Layers outside canvas: a visible layer extends beyond the card canvas or sits outside the printable area. This can be correct for bleed artwork, but not for accidentally misplaced content.
  • Content outside export zone: a visible layer crosses the design's bleed boundary and may be clipped in generated output.

Off by default​

  • Hidden layers: a visible layer appears fully covered by opaque shape layers above it. Deliberately covered layers are common, so turn this on in QA settings only when you need it.

For a product with available non-rectangular geometry, printable-area checks follow its compound contour, including holes and separate islands. A format marked Estimated guides does not gain a trusted physical contour from its dimensions; compare those pieces with the provider template yourself. See manufacturer presets and print guides.

Open QA settings to set a rule to Error, Warn, or Off. You can also set unresolved-binding severity by value type and change the low-resolution DPI threshold. These settings belong to the design, so changing them changes its future QA results.

QA checks the rendered geometry and resolved values for each generated piece. It does not rewrite the design, choose a crop for you, or prove that rules text is correct. When a result names a layer, open that exact row and side in the Designer before changing a global setting.

Meeple inspectors checking an oversized card's edges, image detail, and alignment before export

Choose what will be exported​

QA status does not automatically choose the batch. Use the separate Select controls:

  • All, Passed, Failed, or Advisory replaces the current selection with matching pieces.
  • None clears it.
  • The checkbox on a preview adds or removes one piece and creates a mixed selection.

ZIP and PDF need at least one selected piece. Hosted Tabletop Simulator and Screentop builds ignore the preview selection and use every saved dataset row; the selection controls apply only to the downloadable ZIP/PDF batch.

Treat errors as blockers even when an export button remains available. For a final review, select a small representative proof first: the shortest text, longest text, most complex artwork, every Enum variant, and both back types in use.

PDF warnings are separate​

PDF settings can report page-fit and print-layout warnings in addition to design QA. A blocking PDF warning prevents that PDF from being built. If ZIP or a tabletop format is also enabled, Studio can still build the valid formats and skip the PDF. Choose Settings on the PDF card to fix the page size, margins, crop, spacing, or sizing choice before making the print file.