1. Abstract
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  3. Troubleshooting

Previews and asset generation

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Previews are not generating

If your previews aren’t generating, you may see an error message on your artboards.

Preview message:

  • The preview for this item doesn’t exist

To regenerate previews:

Versions_Dev-Regenerate-Assets.png

  1. Select Help > Enable Development Menu.

  2. Locate the last commit where an update to the artboard was made.

  3. Right-click the commit and select Development > Regenerate previews.

  4. Select Help > Disable Development Menu.

To generate new previews:

  1. Confirm that no sync jobs are in progress and that the sync menu reads "You're up to date."
    Versions_Sync-UptoDate.png

  2. Make a minor change to the design.

  3. Commit the changes and allow Abstract to sync.

Assets are not generating

If assets are not properly generating you may see an error in the sync menu.

Syncing menu message:

  • Error generating assets

To disable asset generation:

Versions_Project-Settings_Assets-Off.png

Only an admin contributor can edit asset generation settings.

  1. Locate the project in question in the left navigation panel or in the projects home and click ... [three dots icon] to view more options.

  2. Select Project Settings.

  3. Select Off from the drop-down menu titled Automatically generate assets.

  4. Save the changes.

On the affected desktop app:

  1. In the top menu, click Help > Enable Development Menu.

  2. In the top menu, click Development > Clear Sync Queue...

  3. Select Help > Disable Development Menu.

Learn more about assets and how to manually generate assets from Sketch files.

I’m not seeing my assets anywhere

Make sure that you made the items exportable in Sketch before committing.

Alternatively, you may need to select a different layer in the Inspect left sidebar. 

Finally, if the assets are still missing, you may need to manually generate the assets. Assets do not automatically generate for files just imported or for layers that haven’t recently changed, and they won't be visible automatically in projects that have asset generation turned off.

The asset download buttons are missing

If the Download selected or Download all buttons are missing in the Inspect tab, the project may not be not fully synced or assets could still be uploading. 

My project is out of sync because "Generating assets for commit" is failing

When your assets fail to generate, you can clear your activity and try manually generating the assets again.

To clear your activity, click Out of Sync, right-click the failed job(s), then select Clear Activity. Your project should now be in sync.

Follow the instructions above to manually generate your assets.