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Poor quality text upon printing from Designer file exported to PDF


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I have seen some similar questions on the forum but have not come across precisely the same issue.

I am creating files in Designer on iPad. They are text files. There are no images, but the text is (in some cases) heavily formatted.

I need to send the files by email, to be printed out and viewed at the other end.

When I print directly from Designer, everything looks great.

Presumably, my colleagues will not want to deal with opening Designer files, so I am trying to export as PDF.

On screen, the exported PDF file looks fine.

However, when I print the exported PDF file, the text is “muddy”. Not sure how to describe it, but it looks like the text has been converted to outlines or the resolution is reduced, or both, or something else (see attached).

I’m not sure WHERE in the process the kink exists, and would appreciate some help figuring it out.

Any suggestions would be gladly appreciated!

87EAE73E-7AEE-4A02-8DFD-06B4AF3E50EF.jpeg

41C4C9F0-99EF-4A12-AA03-F6854DB8A322.jpeg

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Random idea: Have you checked through the "more" button in the PDF export tab, that all options are set to rasterize nothing, so that it does not, well, rasterize anything, and so it'd keep being vectors?

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On 1/6/2020 at 12:13 AM, SrPx said:

Random idea: Have you checked through the "more" button in the PDF export tab, that all options are set to rasterize nothing, so that it does not, well, rasterize anything, and so it'd keep being vectors?

Thanks for this suggestion. I don’t see a “more” button (I am on iPad), but in the Export dialogue page, there is an option to rasterise nothing, which does not seem to have any effect.

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On 1/5/2020 at 3:24 PM, snowback said:

However, when I print the exported PDF file, the text is “muddy”. 

If you want to upload a sample .afdesign file I'd be happy to try it on my iPad and see if I have same issue.

 

M1 IPad Air 10.9/256GB   lpadOS 17.1.1 Apple Pencil (2nd gen).
Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Affinity Design 1.10.5 
Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2 and betas.

Official Online iPad Help documents (multi-lingual) here: https://affinity.https://affinity.help/ 

 

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26 minutes ago, DM1 said:

If you want to upload a sample .afdesign file I'd be happy to try it on my iPad and see if I have same issue.

 

Thanks. In attempting to attach the test file, I notice that it is being referred to as a .afphoto file. That may be part of the problem. I am most certainly working in Affinity Designer, but am I doing something stupid that causes the file to be a Photo file?

Affinity Photo Document.afphoto

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Not sure what’s going on. When I drag and drop from the Designer file window (not sure of the nomenclature, but the place where I can see all my files), it shows up as an .afphoto format file. When I choose “save” from that same window, it saves a file to my iPad, which is an .afdesign file (I will attempt to attach it here). Is this a bug?

test for forum.afdesign

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Mods view all posts and reply fairly quickly in most cases. They'll be along eventually. :)

.afphoto and .afdesign doesn't really matter as the file formats are exactly the same. 

I'll let you know how I go with the file.:)

 

M1 IPad Air 10.9/256GB   lpadOS 17.1.1 Apple Pencil (2nd gen).
Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Affinity Design 1.10.5 
Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2 and betas.

Official Online iPad Help documents (multi-lingual) here: https://affinity.https://affinity.help/ 

 

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On 1/5/2020 at 3:24 PM, snowback said:

On screen, the exported PDF file looks fine.

 However, when I print the exported PDF file, the text is “muddy”. Not sure how to describe it, but it looks like the text has been converted to outlines or the resolution is reduced, or both, or something else (see attached).

Designers text studio showed the font as Kinesis Std. It was shown in red, meaning it was not available on my iPad. I'm not sure whether Designer substitutes an available font or not?   
I exported the file (Designer app) as PDF for Print. Looked fine on screen. Opened PDF file in IOS Files app and shared to Printer (Epson XP-850). Print was sharp and clear (though with my eyes I found the 9.7pt text difficult to read. I've attached the PDF export and a photo of printed output.

 

84F89CF4-0887-400E-B3AA-709352CA47C8.jpeg

7EF7D58C-183B-4EEB-8296-3BFF052FA10D.jpeg

test for forum.pdf

M1 IPad Air 10.9/256GB   lpadOS 17.1.1 Apple Pencil (2nd gen).
Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Affinity Design 1.10.5 
Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2 and betas.

Official Online iPad Help documents (multi-lingual) here: https://affinity.https://affinity.help/ 

 

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44 minutes ago, DM1 said:

Designers text studio showed the font as Kinesis Std. It was shown in red, meaning it was not available on my iPad. I'm not sure whether Designer substitutes an available font or not?   
I exported the file (Designer app) as PDF for Print. Looked fine on screen. Opened PDF file in IOS Files app and shared to Printer (Epson XP-850). Print was sharp and clear (though with my eyes I found the 9.7pt text difficult to read. I've attached the PDF export and a photo of printed output.

 

84F89CF4-0887-400E-B3AA-709352CA47C8.jpeg

7EF7D58C-183B-4EEB-8296-3BFF052FA10D.jpeg

test for forum.pdf

Thanks very much for your efforts! I have the Kinesis font installed, and my print is definitely Kinesis (yours is substituting something). I thought the whole point of PDF was that it made it such that anybody could print the doc without having the font installed.

i will keep futzing, but thanks again for your time and energy!

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3 hours ago, snowback said:

I thought the whole point of PDF was that it made it such that anybody could print the doc without having the font installed.

That’s true for printing and in PDF readers. If you 'open' the PDF in an editor and fonts are embedded in the PDF file, you should  'see' the same as the authored original. If the fonts are not embedded in the PDF and not available on the 'editing' app/software, then the OS/iOS will substitute for the missing fonts. This often results in different look/format. In addition I was reading your .afdesign version (hence missing your font). Try testing with exported PDF using embedded fonts option.

M1 IPad Air 10.9/256GB   lpadOS 17.1.1 Apple Pencil (2nd gen).
Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Affinity Design 1.10.5 
Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2 and betas.

Official Online iPad Help documents (multi-lingual) here: https://affinity.https://affinity.help/ 

 

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11 hours ago, DM1 said:

That’s true for printing and in PDF readers. If you 'open' the PDF in an editor and fonts are embedded in the PDF file, you should  'see' the same as the authored original. If the fonts are not embedded in the PDF and not available on the 'editing' app/software, then the OS/iOS will substitute for the missing fonts. This often results in different look/format. In addition I was reading your .afdesign version (hence missing your font). Try testing with exported PDF using embedded fonts option.

Thanks. I do have Embed Fonts set to All Fonts, so I’m not sure what else I can do there...

here is the exported PDF file...

test for forum.pdf

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1 hour ago, snowback said:

I need to submit this document by the 14th, so some response from Affinity/Serif  would be very much appreciated. If I have to ultimately use a different software, I will need some time to execute that. Thanks.

So is this being professionally printed? If so, there's nothing wrong with the printing of your pdf here. I would say, though, there is (usually) no reason for the conversion of the type to curves. Doing so removes all font hinting. It will also increase the print time.

Seeing how you have a bit of time, why not get a real, one page proof from whomever is going to do the printing.

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@snowback I have now downloaded your PDF and printed it off the iPad using its default PDF reader. The printed output is clear and sharp (not muddy at all).

M1 IPad Air 10.9/256GB   lpadOS 17.1.1 Apple Pencil (2nd gen).
Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Affinity Design 1.10.5 
Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2 and betas.

Official Online iPad Help documents (multi-lingual) here: https://affinity.https://affinity.help/ 

 

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5 hours ago, MikeW said:

So is this being professionally printed? If so, there's nothing wrong with the printing of your pdf here. I would say, though, there is (usually) no reason for the conversion of the type to curves. Doing so removes all font hinting. It will also increase the print time.

Seeing how you have a bit of time, why not get a real, one page proof from whomever is going to do the printing.

I’m applying for a job, sending the documents which will presumably be printed there on an office printer. The job is (tangentially) related to design and typography; the committee will notice muddy text. Normally, I would have converted to PDF and sent it off without a second thought, but during the editing process, I happened to print the PDF file instead of the .affesign file, and noticed the drastic degradation.

I’m not sure what you’re ?implying? about converting to curves. Is that referring to the Postscript-ing process (export to PDF)? To clarify, I am perfectly happy to NOT convert to curves/outlines, if that is possible. I’m just trying to get a clear, serviceable document to the committee without having to ask them to use Affinity software.

 Thanks 

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2 hours ago, DM1 said:

@snowback I have now downloaded your PDF and printed it off the iPad using its default PDF reader. The printed output is clear and sharp (not muddy at all).

Thanks. What is the iPad’s “default PDF reader”? iBooks? I have been using PDF Expert (Readdle). Maybe therein lies the problem. Will try some tests this evening when I get home. Thanks again.

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6 hours ago, snowback said:

I’m applying for a job, sending the documents which will presumably be printed there on an office printer. The job is (tangentially) related to design and typography; the committee will notice muddy text. Normally, I would have converted to PDF and sent it off without a second thought, but during the editing process, I happened to print the PDF file instead of the .affesign file, and noticed the drastic degradation. ...

I don't know what's up with your printer and or process. If you have a desktop/laptop, try printing the pdf from there. You can also throw the pdf on a usb stick and take it to an Office center type of printing establishment and have them print a page. It'll be inexpensive.

6 hours ago, snowback said:

... I’m not sure what you’re ?implying? about converting to curves. Is that referring to the Postscript-ing process (export to PDF)? To clarify, I am perfectly happy to NOT convert to curves/outlines, if that is possible. I’m just trying to get a clear, serviceable document to the committee without having to ask them to use Affinity software.

The test for forum.pdf that is attached to one of your last posts has the text converted to curves. You may have done that during export. There is no need to do so normally and can degrade the printing, especially to non-professional quality inkjet printers.

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14 hours ago, snowback said:

What is the iPad’s “default PDF reader?

I just accessed and opened the PDF in iOS Files apps built in reader.

As Mike asked, is there a requirement to convert to curves prior to exporting? It’s no longer text and makes for lots of layers.

Have you tried another printer?

M1 IPad Air 10.9/256GB   lpadOS 17.1.1 Apple Pencil (2nd gen).
Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Affinity Design 1.10.5 
Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2 and betas.

Official Online iPad Help documents (multi-lingual) here: https://affinity.https://affinity.help/ 

 

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1 hour ago, DM1 said:

I just accessed and opened the PDF in iOS Files apps built in reader.

As Mike asked, is there a requirement to convert to curves prior to exporting? It’s no longer text and makes for lots of layers.

Have you tried another printer?

There is no requirement to convert to curves and I would prefer not to convert to curves and I never intended to convert to curves. How do I NOT convert to curves?

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On 1/9/2020 at 11:52 PM, MikeW said:

I don't know what's up with your printer and or process. If you have a desktop/laptop, try printing the pdf from there. You can also throw the pdf on a usb stick and take it to an Office center type of printing establishment and have them print a page. It'll be inexpensive.

The test for forum.pdf that is attached to one of your last posts has the text converted to curves. You may have done that during export. There is no need to do so normally and can degrade the printing, especially to non-professional quality inkjet printers.

 

On 1/10/2020 at 9:16 AM, snowback said:

There is no requirement to convert to curves and I would prefer not to convert to curves and I never intended to convert to curves. How do I NOT convert to curves?

Still not sure about how NOT to convert to curves. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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