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Molkit

PNG Export

PNG export turns the current canvas (or just the selected atoms and annotations) into a raster image. Molkit builds the image by rendering an SVG of your drawing and rasterizing it in the browser, so the output matches what you see on screen. PNG is the format to reach for when you need a fixed-pixel image to drop into a document, slide, or chat. For artwork you may want to resize or recolor later, export SVG instead.

Open the dialog

From the menu bar, choose File > Export PNG.... This opens the Export PNG dialog where you set the filename, scope, dimensions, background, and padding before exporting.

Dialog options

  • Filename: the base name for the downloaded file. The .png extension is added for you.
  • Scope: All Content exports the whole canvas. Selection Only exports just the current selection and is available only when something is selected.
  • Scale: a multiplier for the output resolution, with presets from 1x up to 10x. The dialog shows the resulting pixel size next to the scale control. Higher scales produce larger, sharper files. The default is 2x.
  • Background: a checkbox to include a background, plus a color picker and hex field for the background color. With the box unchecked, the PNG is exported with a transparent background. The default for PNG is unchecked (transparent).
  • Padding: the margin in pixels around the drawing, from 0 to 200. The default is 20.
  • Preview: a live thumbnail and pixel dimensions that update as you change options.

Fonts used in your drawing are embedded into the image automatically during export, so text renders correctly even on a machine that lacks those fonts.

Copy as image

To put an image on the clipboard instead of saving a file, press Ctrl+Shift+C. If you have a selection, only the selected content is copied; otherwise the whole canvas is copied. The copied image always has a white background and uses a high pixel scale for sharpness. A toast confirms the copy.

This is useful for pasting a structure directly into another app without a download step. Note that copy as image does not honor the transparent-background option from the export dialog; it always fills white.

Transparency caveats

When you export with the background turned off, the PNG keeps a transparent background. That works well on dark slides or colored pages, but it means anti-aliased edges blend against whatever sits behind the image. If you place a transparent PNG on a background that differs sharply from the canvas, edges may look slightly fringed. For a clean edge over a known background, turn the background on and set the color to match.

When to prefer SVG

PNG is fixed-resolution. If you scale the image up past its export size it will look soft or blocky. When you need an image that stays crisp at any size, or that you may want to edit or recolor later, export SVG instead.

See also