Printing crashes Affinity Designer/Photo on Mac

[zimmt]

I cannot print directly from Affinity Designer/Photo anymore. This is using the latest versions.

Some older files still work but any new files and many other files crash immediately when trying to open the print dialog.

[Callum]

Hi Zimmt,

If you export the files to PDF and then print the resulting PDF does it work ok? Please could you try uninstalling and reinstalling your printer drivers?

Thanks

C

[zimmt]

I pinpointed the issue. Saving printing presets with a particular artboard selected will cause Affinity to crash for all documents where that artboard is missing.

One can easily work around it by not selecting any particular artboard when saving printing presets.

But it certainly would be nice if it didn't crash and just reverted to the entire document if the artboard in the preset does not exist.

Furthermore, when using a Mac which defaults to the last printer and printing preset used, this can result in an immediate crash of Affinity when trying to print any document that does not have the artboard contained in the preset. And as it crashes as soon as CMD+P is pressed, it is impossible to circumvent unless a different program is opened first and another printer and/or preset is used.

[missmaryjane]

Hello, I am having the same issue as Zimmt. The thing is that I can't figure out how to change the print preset ... as soon as I try to open the print dialog, Designer crashes. Am using Catalina 10.15.3 and Affinity Designer 1.8.2. 
Yes, exporting to PDF then printing the PDF is possible, but not very practical ...

Edit : I just un-installed and re-installed the printer, which seems to have helped.

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by missmaryjane
Additional info

[zimmt]

You can get around it by opening another app such as Text Editor or Pages and printing something using a different preset or the default settings. When you then go back to Affinity it no longer defaults to the problematic preset.

Alternatively you can change the default printer to another in Mac preferences (if you have a second printer).

Or you can reinstall as you have found out.

[missmaryjane]

Ahh ... of course ! Go to another programme ! Thanks ...

[zimmt]

Just another shoutout to the devs.

Particularly with the current App Store version without the auto save working this is a hassle as it is easy to get into a scenario where one prints a particular artboard from one file and then opens up another file (without that artboard present) presses print and Affinity crashes. 

[zimmt]

Is this being looked at?

[American in Paris]

I am having the same problem with a new file. I am on 1.8.3. The first time I am having this issue.

[zimmt]

Still also an issue for me. Any update on this?

[American in Paris]

I had the same issue. I installed the current update to mac OS Catalina, still crashing. Then I deleted the print driver, downloaded a new one from the Epson site, and now it works.

[rickdrawsthings]

I'm having the same issue. Happens with Designer and with Photo. Attached is the crash report from Apple, if it can help at all. 

AD_crash_report.rtf

[zimmt]

On my end it seems to be resolved for some reason. Tried to get it to crash doing the usual but it just works now. Not sure what changed. Maybe corruption settings somewhere. Will monitor and report back if the issue returns.

[rkanedy]

I am having the same issue, the only workaround I have is to change the preset every time I go to print, I have two presets that are the same. otherwise it will crash if I used the previous settings.

[zimmt]

I spoke to soon... it still also is an issue for me ☹️😑

[zimmt]

Any word from the developers? It's really becoming more than just a nuisance. It's like playing Russian roulette... you never now when it might crash unless you remember what preset you last used.

[zimmt]

To further troubleshoot I successfully replicated the issue on 2 Macs, using 3 printers with AirPrint, OEM, and 3rd party drivers. I tried this with old and new Affinity Designer files and the issue is without fail reproducable every time. If an artboard (used in the previous print job) is not present in the currently open file, then the pulling up the print dialog will immediately crash the app. And it will continue to crash it unless one opens the previous file (containing the previously printed artboard) and does a dummy print to overwrite the default print settings with something else (not using the artboard).

For those with this issue there is a temporary fix by activating "Reset Presets Menu to Default Settings After Printing" as shown in the screenshot (found under "Show presets.." in the Presets dropdown menu). It still crashes from time to time even with this setting, but at least when reopening Affinity Designer the print dialog is reset and one does not have to go fishing for the file used for the last print job to get out of the crashing loop.

[zimmt]

Would like to know if this is a bug or only affects my computers.

[zimmt]

Another little bug is when saving (Command + S) and quickly hitting print (Command + P) is causing Affinity to crash in most cases if the saving process did not end quickly enough.

[zimmt]

Still happening daily, multiple times.

[zimmt]

Still constantly an issue with latest release.

More than willing to help further troubleshoot if devs are interested.

[SPaceBar]

Hi @zimmt Thanks for pointing me over to your thread. I am sorry you haven't had any response as yet. 

I'd like to add your information to the issue I logged on Monday as your fix is mentioned on it following your comments / assistance on the thread. Can I ask what printer you are using when you re having these crashes?

[zimmt]

Thank you.

I am using multiple printers, 2 HPs, 2 Canons, 1 Epson, 1 Zebra.

This occurs with all printers regardless of driver i.e. OEM, AirPrint, or Third Party.

It seems to be an issue with Artboards from what I can tell.

[SPaceBar]

Hi @zimmt Thanks for the information, that is a big help. We've looked into this further and it appears this issues been logged. I will add your information on to the logged issue and pass it on to the developers to give it a nudge.

Thanks 👍

[zimmt]

Thank you @SPaceBar.

Let me know if you need anything else from me to help reproduce the issue.