Fahneflycht

Hi everybody,
since the last update ligatures in Affinity Publisher (Version 1.8.0.584, Windows 10) only work properly if text is not justified. If I set text as left-, center- or right-aligned, ligatures like ff or fi are set correctly, but if I then set that same text as justified (last line left, centered, or right) the previously correctly set ligatures disintegrate into individual letters. The problem seems to exist independently of my choice of typeface.
Also relevant to this are the following points:
A couple of days ago, my Windows 10 was updated to version 1909 (Build 18363.693), which  also included an update of Microsoft.NET. I have many German blackletter (fraktur) fonts developed by Gerhard Helzel that set the frequently used long s automatically, where this is appropriate. In addition, I have many (free) blackletter/fraktur and antiqua fonts from Ligafaktur (www.ligafaktur.de), all in the LOV-version, that set the long s and other ligatures automatically where appropriate. All fonts (ordinary antiqua, Helzel, and Ligafaktur) use the correct ligatures in Microsoft Word 2016, regardless of the paragraph alignment is left-aligned or justified.    Similarly, all fonts worked flawlessly in Affinity Publisher until the latest update (to Version 1.8.0.584). All fonts (ordinary antiqua, Helzel, and Ligafaktur) work flawlessly in Affinity Publisher if texts are simply set as left-, center- or right-aligned. If texts are justified (last line left, center, or right), however, all ligatures are dissolved into their individual components. The Helzel fonts still set the long s, where this is appropriate, but all other ligatures are dissolved. With the Ligafaktur fonts, all ligatures are dissolved and a round s is erroneously substituted for the long s.  
From this I conclude that the ligature problem lies with the newest update to Affinity Publisher (to Version 1.8.0.584). I'm not qualified to speculate as to whether or not the contemporaneous update of Microsoft.NET is likely to have something to do with it. If I set kerning to "manual" or optical alignment to "none", there is no change.
Does anyone else have this issue? Does anyone know of a quick and simple fix to it?
Many thanks in advance.
Faneflycht

Hi again,
I've prepared a sample document which I've uploaded both as an Affinity Publisher as well as a *.pdf-document which hopefully shows what I meant with ligatures becoming decomposed when paragraph alignment is justified last line left. This is in my world at least a new problem which I didn't have with the old AP Version 1.7.3.
Grateful for any tips or corrective steps, if possible. If you need the Mars-Fraktur for any reason, the OpenType-version of it can be downloaded here for free: http://www.fraktur.biz/MarsFrakturOT-Normal.zip
Sample of Incorrect Ligatures.pdf
Sample of Incorrect Ligatures.afpub

Hi again,
I've prepared a sample document which I've uploaded both as an Affinity Publisher as well as a *.pdf-document which hopefully shows what I meant with ligatures becoming decomposed when paragraph alignment is justified last line left. This is in my world at least a new problem which I didn't have with the old AP Version 1.7.3.
Grateful for any tips or corrective steps, if possible. If you need the Mars-Fraktur for any reason, the OpenType-version of it can be downloaded here for free: http://www.fraktur.biz/MarsFrakturOT-Normal.zip
Sample of Incorrect Ligatures.pdf
Sample of Incorrect Ligatures.afpub

Hi everybody,
since the last update ligatures in Affinity Publisher (Version 1.8.0.584, Windows 10) only work properly if text is not justified. If I set text as left-, center- or right-aligned, ligatures like ff or fi are set correctly, but if I then set that same text as justified (last line left, centered, or right) the previously correctly set ligatures disintegrate into individual letters. The problem seems to exist independently of my choice of typeface.
Also relevant to this are the following points:
A couple of days ago, my Windows 10 was updated to version 1909 (Build 18363.693), which  also included an update of Microsoft.NET. I have many German blackletter (fraktur) fonts developed by Gerhard Helzel that set the frequently used long s automatically, where this is appropriate. In addition, I have many (free) blackletter/fraktur and antiqua fonts from Ligafaktur (www.ligafaktur.de), all in the LOV-version, that set the long s and other ligatures automatically where appropriate. All fonts (ordinary antiqua, Helzel, and Ligafaktur) use the correct ligatures in Microsoft Word 2016, regardless of the paragraph alignment is left-aligned or justified.    Similarly, all fonts worked flawlessly in Affinity Publisher until the latest update (to Version 1.8.0.584). All fonts (ordinary antiqua, Helzel, and Ligafaktur) work flawlessly in Affinity Publisher if texts are simply set as left-, center- or right-aligned. If texts are justified (last line left, center, or right), however, all ligatures are dissolved into their individual components. The Helzel fonts still set the long s, where this is appropriate, but all other ligatures are dissolved. With the Ligafaktur fonts, all ligatures are dissolved and a round s is erroneously substituted for the long s.  
From this I conclude that the ligature problem lies with the newest update to Affinity Publisher (to Version 1.8.0.584). I'm not qualified to speculate as to whether or not the contemporaneous update of Microsoft.NET is likely to have something to do with it. If I set kerning to "manual" or optical alignment to "none", there is no change.
Does anyone else have this issue? Does anyone know of a quick and simple fix to it?
Many thanks in advance.
Faneflycht

I frequently create documents set in the traditional German Fraktur alphabet, which requires certain ligatures that are not used in texts set with ordinary Roman letters. The most important one of these is the use of the so-called long s (Unicode U+0073), which may not be used interchangeably with the normal so-called round s but is used according to certain rules. The best Fraktur fonts out there are those that have been digitized by Gerhard Helzel (see http://www.fraktur.biz/). His OpenType fonts have been programmed to employ all required ligatures including the long vs. round s. These fonts work perfectly with Word for Windows 2010 and later and with InDesign as well as with XeLaTeX and certain other freeware programs. Most of them (not all) also work with QuarkXPress 2015. With the beta version of Affinity Publisher, the automatic setting of long vs. round s doesn't work, although conventional ligatures do seem to work.
On my wish list would be that the above-mentioned OpenType ligature automatic would work also with Affinity Publisher.