Accentuated letters spacing in PDF imported file

[JLE67]

Hi,

I post here my observation but the same behaviour exist in Affinity Publisher (same subroutine parts probably). In both programs, it is possible to import PDF files. For me, it's text files in French meaning with special characters (à, é, è, ê…). If I import a PDF file, even for which fonts are installed on the computer and seen by Affinity suite, text spacing is not good as soon as a special character is present. In general, an extra space is present after the special letter (but not always the case - see screenshots). Curiously, if I go further in the editing (erasing and retyping the faulty part of the text) spacing becomes correct… This is quite annoying because the faulty spacing, if not edited, stays definitively in the document (even re-exported to PDF for example).

Hope this can be solved.

Best regards.

[Sean P]

Hi JLE67,

Could you attach the offending PDF you're trying to import please? It makes things much simpler when trying to reproduce reported issues.

Thanks.

[JLE67]

I am a little bit embarrassed as I can't make this file "public" in a forum… And I can't send to you via PM apparently… I have an OwnCloud link but how to send it to you?

I will try to find another one without sensitive writing on it anyway…

[Sean P]

7 minutes ago, JLE67 said:

I am a little bit embarrassed as I can't make this file "public" in a forum… And I can't send to you via PM apparently… I have an OwnCloud link but how to send it to you?

I will try to find another one without sensitive writing on it anyway…

That's not a problem if you don't wish to publicly share the file. I've created a link for you to upload to our internal Dropbox account using the link below
https://www.dropbox.com/request/3ipMjYHSGjhxVl1xtFQw

[JLE67]

OK, I have removed sensitive things on the file and it behaves anormally, so I can provide that one. See below.

TestFile.pdf

Edited November 4, 2020 by JLE67

[JLE67]

Shared the original one also via your link. Please keep for internal purpose only.

To be complete, I have tried on my mac to create a PDF file from a text in Pages, and that one opens normally in Designer… So it's strange

Edited November 4, 2020 by JLE67

[Old Bruce]

You have a 222% Tracking value applied. Not sure where it comes from with the PDF.

Before...

 

After...

[JLE67]

Interesting, but seems to be linked specifically to this (or some) PDF file… I do not see this behaviour yet on Mac generated PDF. The "faulty" file is generated on a server (Windows or unix, I don't know).

[Sean P]

Hi JLE67,

Thanks for the PDF, interestingly I'm not actually seeing this on Windows, however that doesn't have Helvetica on it and instead replaces it with Arial. Unfortunately I don't have a version of Helvetica I can try on my Windows machine.

I will get it passed on to development to investigate.

[JLE67]

Hello Sean,

yes, this is a "strange affair" 

From the original file I edited in a hex editor, it appears to have been created with iText API… Just for the record. The discovery of "old Bruce" is also interesting.

Have a nice day!