Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Affinity Publisher: bad PDF of fonts


Recommended Posts

Hello,

I would like to create a PDF file intended for the printing press and using the AngsanaUPC font supplied free by Microsoft.

  • Everything look fine on screen in Affinity Publisher and when printed on my laser printer.
  • It is a disaster when I export the document to PDF. Only the Regular style is included. The Italic, Bold and Bold Italic styles are exported in Regular.

How do I get the correct export file? Thank you for your explanations.

angsanaupc.jpg

AngsanaUPC.afpub

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What were your export settings? No problem from my side.

angsana.jpg

Maybe a different font version? I have this installed.

angsana2.jpg

------
Windows 10 | i5-8500 CPU | Intel UHD 630 Graphics | 32 GB RAM | Latest Retail and Beta versions of complete Affinity range installed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried Publisher's default settings. I also tried the same thing on the Beta version of Publisher.

Note that Word correctly exports and saves the font in its different syles.

Maybe I should reset Publisher to factory settings? How to proceed ?

export-pdf-01.png

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if a Factory Reset would help. Strangely with the same export settings the estimated file size would be 411,25 kb. So I would check first the font version before you do a Factory Reset, maybe there we have a difference.

------
Windows 10 | i5-8500 CPU | Intel UHD 630 Graphics | 32 GB RAM | Latest Retail and Beta versions of complete Affinity range installed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New test:

  • Note that the PDF (flatten) mode produces a page with a correct appearance on the styles. There is of course no font management in preflighting.
  • Note that the Adobe preflight of the other PDF files (with the fonts) only knows the regular font (image here).
  • Note that the AngsanaUPC font is actually an OpenType collection file (formerly called TrueType collection), i.e. 'It is actually several OpenType fonts combined into a single file.
  • Note that Word correctly exports all 4 styles of the font.
  • Also note that QuarkXPress exports all 4 styles of the font in any choice of PDF.

So I just did the same export test on a blank computer. I installed the free Microsoft Thai fonts and then installed Publisher 1.3.8.641. The file size varies slightly to 413.13. The problem of not printing styles remains.

Therefore, I think this is a Affinity publisher blocking bug on PDF export.

export-pdf-02.png

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. Strange. Have you a Microsoft or an Apple computer?

  1. I saw the bug on two different Windows 10 computers.
  2. Both computers have Adobe Acrobat Pro XI.
  3. I installed the brand new version of Thai fonts provided by Microsoft. AngsanaUPC is an OpenType collection file with 8 fonts.
  4. I installed Affinity Publisher on the test computer in its new public version, but the bug also exists in the beta version. Note that Publisher first appeared in French, and putting it in English (obviously) does not change this blocking bug.

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It wasworking fine on Win7, with the font that is installed by default.

But there's a problem on Win10, I installed and tested with both AngsanaUPC (Win10 can't even display more than regular when the bold, italic and bold italic are also installed), and if it can display correctly AngsanaNew (clicking on the font), the PDF from APub only show regular.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Pyanepsion said:

I installed the brand new version of Thai fonts provided by Microsoft. AngsanaUPC is an OpenType collection file with 8 fonts

AngsanaUPC is only four fonts (R/I/B/BI).
Angsana New is also only four fonts (R/I/B/BI).
Maybe that is the eight you have.
Or are there other fonts in that family?

This may be the same issue that some users have when the font(s) have a shortened PostScript Name.
Why this affects some users and not others is a mystery.
To test this theory :
- un-install AngsanaUPC Regular (angsau.ttf)
- and install this modified/fixed font
https://workupload.com/file/zJBww5K88yF

The only change in the above font is to change the PostScript Name
- from: AngsanaUPC
- to:      AngsanaUPC-Regular
The PostScript Name is used by various PDF libraries to identify the fonts.
When this name does not have the recommended format, it can cause problems.

Three other times now in this forum this fix has worked.
Please let us know if this works for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi LibreTraining,

11 hours ago, LibreTraining said:

AngsanaUPC is only four fonts (R/I/B/BI).

  Absolutely, but AngsanaUP is delivered in a single OpenType collection file called angsana.ttc containing 8 fonts version 5.05:

  1. Angsana New
  2. Angsana New Italic
  3. Angsana New Bold
  4. Angsana New Bold Italic
  5. AngsanaUPC
  6. AngsanaUPC Italic
  7. AngsanaUPC Bold
  8. AngsanaUPC Bold Italic

 

11 hours ago, LibreTraining said:

and install this modified/fixed font […]

It has, alas, nothing to do with the bug of Publisher. Here, your file is a single file containing only the AngsanaUPC-Regular.ttf font, supplied in version 5.010 (strange! and let's not forget that a font is a software, a script, and therefore likely to carry a virus), and it is especially illegal to extract and print this new file from a collection if you follow the instructions of the owner, Microsoft.

To be continued in: Publisher Bugs found on Windows.

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Time goes by and True Type collections are still not exportable or printable in PDF format.

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alas, yes.

There may be viruses in fonts. ZDNet (In French).

This was reported by various antivirus manufacturers a few years ago.

Quote

Their vector: a font.

The problem lies in the way "the Windows font library handles specially designed embedded fonts". A malicious individual could then exploit this flaw to inject code remotely and "install programs; view, modify or delete data or create new accounts with full user rights. In both scenarios developed by the publisher, all that is needed is a specially programmed cast* to inject the malicious code.

It will be executed by the Windows font library either when consulting a compromised site, or by means of a "document file specially designed to exploit this vulnerability" that the victim, for whatever reason, would open.

 

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/18/2020 at 9:32 AM, Pyanepsion said:

Alas, yes.

There may be viruses in fonts. ZDNet (In French).

This was reported by various antivirus manufacturers a few years ago.

 

Required a font embedded in a document.
So is actually a document issue.
And vulnerability was patched years ago.
Does not apply to simply installing a font.
Still nonsense in this situation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/27/2020 at 3:50 AM, LibreTraining said:

– un-install AngsanaUPC Regular (angsau.ttf)
- and install this modified/fixed font
[lien vers un site non officiel]

This is not really conceivable.

  1. By proposing this, you are encouraging the use of a pirate version of a font, which exposes the thief to ruin if the owner files a complaint. Microsoft regularly lodges complaints against thieves. It is also questionable whether the theft is relevant in this case, since the font is also offered free of charge.
  2. You are also then mistaken when you believe that you cannot catch a virus with a font.

A pirated font can contain unusual glyphs that can be used to store the code of a virus. The font reader will only see a glyph with astonishing shapes. Just as a grimoire is not the spell itself, the font is of course not the virus itself. However, just as a grimoire read by a magician allows a spell to be executed, the infected font read by an external programme allows a virus to be launched.

The external programme may, for example, be located at the site of the pirated police... or elsewhere in places that thieves usually frequent.

The bottom line, however, is that it would be nice if Affinity finally realised the functionality for reading font collections.

 

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/1/2020 at 1:20 AM, Pyanepsion said:

You are also then mistaken when you believe that you cannot catch a virus with a font.

A pirated font can contain unusual glyphs that can be used to store the code of a virus. The font reader will only see a glyph with astonishing shapes. Just as a grimoire is not the spell itself, the font is of course not the virus itself. However, just as a grimoire read by a magician allows a spell to be executed, the infected font read by an external programme allows a virus to be launched.

The external programme may, for example, be located at the site of the pirated police... or elsewhere in places that thieves usually frequent.

Please provide an actual example of code hiding in glyphs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/27/2020 at 3:50 AM, LibreTraining said:

To test this theory :
- un-install AngsanaUPC Regular (angsau.ttf)
- and install this modified/fixed font
https://workupload.com/file/zJBww5K88yF

 

On 11/4/2020 at 5:00 PM, LibreTraining said:

Please provide an actual example of code hiding in glyphs.

Hey, you've already received a link showing that Microsoft's specialists have taken care of the problem of such a potential virus, which is no small feat. You will find further discussions on the sites specialising in antivirus detection. I have no doubt that you will retort again that such an infection is impossible.

Here's also a link to why it's shameful [and dangerous] to publicly offer an illegal version of a font like you did.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/fonts/font-faq

6 cœurs, 12 processus - Windows 11 pro - 4K - DirectX 12 - Suite universelle Affinity (Affinity  Publisher, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo).

Mais je vous le demande, peut-on imaginer une police sans sérifs ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/4/2020 at 11:00 AM, LibreTraining said:

Please provide an actual example of code hiding in glyphs.

Funny thing... Apple just released a security update for several versions of macOS which contains a fix for a vulnerability in the font parser which can lead to "arbitrary code execution" when "processing a maliciously crafted font" - they indicated that there were reports of an exploit "in the wild" for this issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, fde101 said:

Funny thing... Apple just released a security update for several versions of macOS which contains a fix for a vulnerability in the font parser which can lead to "arbitrary code execution" when "processing a maliciously crafted font" - they indicated that there were reports of an exploit "in the wild" for this issue.

Yes, I also found a Python font tool which was created to clean an OpenType font by just extracting the tables and nothing else (i.e. some script). So that would indicate there was a bad font to fix.

Still have not actually seen one though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/6/2020 at 11:55 PM, Pyanepsion said:

Here's also a link to why it's shameful [and dangerous] to publicly offer an illegal version of a font like you did.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/fonts/font-faq

Yes, I have now been dutifully shamed by the font police. Perhaps you can inform MS that while trying to solve an issue in a popular graphics application I posted some fonts. I am sure they will get their legal department right on it. Soon I will be disgorging my illegal profits to compensate them for the financial harm caused. Right.

And the idea that posting some Microsoft created fonts is somehow dangerous is just stupid.

And the putting forth idea that I cannot be trusted and could be posting viruses is offensive. You have zero evidence of that. What next, you going to call me racist? Get off your holier than thou high-horse and just go away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, LibreTraining said:

Yes, I have now been dutifully shamed by the font police.

Perhaps not the best phrase to use when discussing fonts with a French speaker, since it could lead to confusion! ;)

On 11/1/2020 at 8:20 AM, Pyanepsion said:

the site of the pirated police

In the above context, « police » is the French word for font

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.