Exported PDF text not selectable; no longer accessible for blind folks

[Bradley Morris]

I just updated Publisher from 1.7 to 1.8. Now, no matter which PDF export option I seem to choose, the text is not selectable.

Not only does this mean folks can't copy and paste it, but I'm a disability rights advocate. This renders my writing totally inaccessible to the blind and low-vision consumers of my work who rely on screenreader software. In other words, the program suddenly went from being pretty great to being almost useless for my advocacy.

I linked below to different versions of the same PDF page created in Publisher.

Selectable (from 1.7)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1K50aOtwozUnmLLXZjBmWMhm-K0oo4yOB

Not selectable (from 1.8)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Y6q-f9cGIC_5HaXjeBlfBfnomylkjcgs

Same thing happens when I create a fresh document.

Please, please let this be fixed as soon as possible in 1.8.1 (or tell me what I'm doing wrong). I chose Publisher to create the final report for a years-long project on behalf of fellow disabled people and I've invested way too much time in this new program for it to fail me so close to my deadline.

–Brad 

macOS 10.15.3, MBP 16" 2019

[woefi]

Which export options did you choose?

Especially the setting "rasterise" should not be set to "everything" if you want text to be selectable.

[AdamW]

Hi Brad,

Could you try holding Ctrl while running up and checking 'Reset Export Presets' (you can uncheck anything else that is checked by default if you wish).

[Bradley Morris]

@woefi I exported several versions. To keep it simple, I just now created a Publisher document that only has a text box with filler text. I exported PDFs in these ways:

• for print
• press ready
• digital - high quality
• for export
• x/1a 2003

The text is not selectable in any and the files sizes seem much larger than necessary. I did not have this problem before upgrading to 1.8.

Is no one else having this issue—have you tried exporting PDFs in Publisher 1.8 and had selectable text without running an OCR?

I both attached the exports above here and included them in this Google Drive folder:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DndPtEbXPisaBEs80mFo8SP7rEQCkis8

@Pauls I also put the afpub file in there and attached it here.

@AdamW I just "Reset file export presets", exported a "for export" PDF, and the text is still not selectable. Definitely worth a try!

Thank you for whatever any of you can discern. I also appreciate anyone at least confirming they've exported PDFs in 1.8 and had or not had this issue. I can't imagine I could have done anything special to screw this up, apart from upgrading! I've always more to learn, though. 🤷‍♂️

–Brad 

 

digital high quality test for selectable text.pdf for export test for selectable text.pdf for print test for selectable text.pdf press ready test for selectable text.pdf x1a 2003 test for selectable text.pdf test for selectable text.afpub

[woefi]

I used your document and had no issues:

test for selectable text1.pdf

Sorry, my screenshot is in german. But it reads "only rasterise unsupported features" Do you have a screenshot of your settings? Maybe Your default ones are corrupted...

[Pauls]

@Bradley MorrisCould you also confirm the Embed fonts settings

[Bradley Morris]

@woefi I attached a screenshot of my settings. The only differences I noticed are:

• You have "Bilder per Downsampling neu berechnen" checked. I do not have "Downsample images" checked.
• You have "DPI verwenden" checked. I do not have "Use DPI" checked.
• At the bottom, you have "Erwelterte Features zulassen" checked. I do not have "Allow advanced features" checked.

My settings are not supposed to rasterize the text, but I still can't select the text in my PDF using Preview. I can select text in Preview in other documents—and I can select the text in the PDF you created!

I altered my settings in the three ways I bulleted above (screenshot also attached), but I'm still having the problem. I'm so confused that I'm apparently unusual in having this issue with 1.8. I hope the screenshots help somehow.

–Brad 

[Bradley Morris]

@Pauls Now that I posted screenshots in reply to woefi, I'm assuming there isn't anything to different to confirm. Apparently "All Fonts" should be embedded, but that's not working out for me.

I'm wondering whether I should be trying to delete Publisher and then reinstall it. I have updated to 1.8.1 in the midst of this, hoping it would help, but it hasn't. So I'm not sure deleting it would help—I mean, I did follow @AdamW's advice and reset the file export presets. I'm ignorant about the mechanics of all of this.

I'll appreciatively wait for the guidance of those who know what they're doing, but in the meantime I probably have to get some sleep.

–Brad 

[markw]

Hello Brad,
Looking at your 1.8 PDF export in your first post, all the text in it has been converted to curves which is why it can’t be “read” by a text reader.
The big question is why/how is this happening for you?
I’m wondering if this is a Catalina specific issue?
I, like woefi who posted earlier, am still using macOS Mojave and have no problem exporting readable text to PDF from APub 1.8.1.

[woefi]

Like @markw I can confirm, your Text isnt rasterized as I first thought, it is being converted to curves.

Hmn. Maybe a Font issue – but it happens to different fonts on your side... So maybe indeed an special issue with Catalina...

[Bradley Morris]

Hi @markw. On the theory that there's something about my OS that is not allowing me to export readable text PDFs, I used a different program, Open Office, to print to PDF. That worked fine and the text is selectable.

Like you and @woefi are saying, I suppose there could be some issue involving the interaction of my OS version and Publisher—an issue that Publisher does not have with the earlier macOS versions. But since my OS works with another program and the problem started with a Publisher change, not an OS change, it seems the fault is in Publisher's code.

This is just armchair theorizing, though. So, is this an issue for anyone else running Catalina (10.15)?

[Christian K. Bay]

Hello everyone,

I can confirm that I have this exact same issue, however, it happens in Affinity Designer. I was editing a document last night (before updating), and after opening and editing that exact same file today (after updating), this issue occured.

• MacOS Catalina 10.15.2
• Affinity Designer 1.8.1

Fairly troublesome, as I'd like the hyperlinks in my PDF to be clickable.  Unfortunately, I don't have an export from before updating for reference since I replaced it with a new export.

Best, Christian

[Bradley Morris]

@Christian K. Bay Thanks for the confirmation. It seems the Affinity programs now (in 1.8.0 and 1.8.1) can't properly export text in PDFs using the current/latest MacOS, 10.15.

I really appreciate everyone's help in identifying the apparent OS context of the issue! What happens now? How do I make sure Serif is on this?

Like I indicated in my original post, this unexpected problem is very worrisome for my work and time is of the essence. I need to either know Serif will fix this very soon, or I need to abandon the work I've done in Publisher and find another way to start building my big project.

–Brad 

[Pauls]

we're aware of the Issue - hopefully we'll get this fixed soon

[alexbet]

Plus one!

I am on Mac OS 10.15.3 and Affinity Designer 1.8.1 and I am experiencing the same issue.

I have some PDF reports due in a couple of days that contain a lot of hyperlinks, and I obviously can't do them now because the hyperlinks do not work. Hopefully Affinity fixes this in a couple of days.

[markw]

7 minutes ago, alexbet said:

I am on Mac OS 10.15.3 and Affinity Designer 1.8.1 and I am experiencing the same issue.

Is this still happening in the latest beta 1.8.2? Which is recommended as a stable update to the current retail version. I'm still on Mojave so can't directly test it.

[alexbet]

4 minutes ago, markw said:

Is this still happening in the latest beta 1.8.2? Which is recommended as a stable update to the current retail version. I'm still on Mojave so can't directly test it.

Hey @markw, I bought Affinity Designer on the Apple App Store. How do I download the 1.8.2 beta version?

[markw]

You can find the betas for all three Affinity apps here on the forums. Here is the link to Designer beta 1.8.2.
Note, for any Mac beta to run you need to own the corresponding retail version which must be installed in the  top level of the Applications folder, ie not inside another folder within the Applications folder.

 

[alexbet]

24 minutes ago, markw said:

You can find the betas for all three Affinity apps here on the forums. Here is the link to Designer beta 1.8.2.
Note, for any Mac beta to run you need to own the corresponding retail version which must be installed in the  top level of the Applications folder, ie not inside another folder within the Applications folder.

 

Thank you SO much @markw!!! Yes, the beta version fixes the issue.

[Christian K. Bay]

@markwI can also confirm that downloading the latest AD beta (1.8.2.0) fixed the issue for me. Thanks a bunch.

[Patrick Connor]

We believe this will be fixed in the next MAS releases, which we hope to be released this week.

[Bradley Morris]

Fantastic news, Patrick! That timing would be right at the edge of what would work for me.

[Poussart]

Running Mac OS 10.15.7 with Publisher 1.9.3 and having the same problem. Text in Times italic Helvetica regular not selectable in pdf's. Rext in Times Regular or Helvetica oblique are fine. Any clue! 

[jango_fx]

having the same problem with Designer 1.10.1, Publisher 1.10.1 and macOS Big Sur 11.5.2 (20G95)

Rasterisation is set to "Nothing" or "Unsupported Features"

[jango_fx]

ok, the Gaussian Blur seems to be the culprit. Still, I don't get it. The text sits above the blur and it's even masked. It shouldn't have any effect on the text layer, in my understanding…

Untitled.afdesign Untitled.pdf