How to restore corrupted Publisher file

[nicolleen]

Dear Dan,

Oh what a shame... I have parts of it as backup, but the actual document is the only one I have. 

Well thanks a lot for trying, hopefully the file will help for further development.

If you do manage, I would be very happy to hear from you again.

 

[CohProg]

Imho, if you can't fix this problem, you should at least save to a temporary file, check that the save is ok and then replace the old file by the temporary one. (Or rename the old file and then rename the temporary one to take its place. That's trivial to code and that way, if there is a problem opening a file, you could revert to the previous version. That's not a fix but that mitigate the problem).

[nicolleen]

Good morning,

what do you mean by saving it to a temporary file? I can't open it so I can't save it again.

[CohProg]

4 minutes ago, nicolleen said:

Good morning,

what do you mean by saving it to a temporary file? I can't open it so I can't save it again.

No, I don't mean you. I mean they should change how the software is saving files.

When you work on a document in Word and your computer crash, the next time you open the software, it will offer you the possibility to recover a copy of the document with the last automatic save. The original document is still there, unchanged, but the change are saved to a temporary file until it replace the original. Doing something like that with Affinity wont fix the problem of corrution when saving but it will at least let you revert back to a working version of the document.

[nicolleen]

Oh, I see! True, that sounds like an easy option for the future. 

 

[nina_panina]

Hi everyone, I am experiencing the same issue with one of my files for work!

@Dan C Would you be available to have a look to see if it's salvageable? I have no idea where to go from here.

Best, Nina

[Hangman]

Hi @nina_panina and welcome to the forums...

Is your Publisher file one you can upload to the forum? If so, if you could upload it along with any linked files contained in your document by creating a .zip file we can take a look for you.

Could you also confirm which version of Publisher you are using...

[speetepetete]

Hi everyone, I experienced the same issue yesterday, my affinity publisher file does not open any more after saving it. If try to open the file it says the file type is not supported. Can someone help with this? Thank you so much!

 

 

ZERO GRAVITY - Instructor Training Manual - Basic 1_2nd Edition---.afpub

[Dan C]

Hi @speetepetete,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums & sorry to hear you're having trouble with this document.

I have tried using the tools available to me to recover this document, however thus far I'm unable to get past the "File type not supported" error, therefore I will need to log this with our development team. 

I have taken a look at this file in a HEX editor and cannot see any obvious signs of corruption, meaning the file may be recoverable, but unfortunately we can't guarantee this.

In order for me to log this file with our developers, can you please confirm for me:

1. Which Operating System are you using?
2. Which version of Affinity did the file last get saved in?
3. What drive type was the file last saved to?
Local disk
USB disk/Flash disk
Google Drive folder
OneDrive folder
iCloud folder
Dropbox folder
Network location
Other (please specify)

4. Any other information you think would help us try to find the problem?

Many thanks in advance 

[speetepetete]

9 hours ago, Dan C said:

Hi @speetepetete,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums & sorry to hear you're having trouble with this document.

I have tried using the tools available to me to recover this document, however thus far I'm unable to get past the "File type not supported" error, therefore I will need to log this with our development team. 

I have taken a look at this file in a HEX editor and cannot see any obvious signs of corruption, meaning the file may be recoverable, but unfortunately we can't guarantee this.

In order for me to log this file with our developers, can you please confirm for me:

1. Which Operating System are you using?
2. Which version of Affinity did the file last get saved in?
3. What drive type was the file last saved to?
Local disk
USB disk/Flash disk
Google Drive folder
OneDrive folder
iCloud folder
Dropbox folder
Network location
Other (please specify)

4. Any other information you think would help us try to find the problem?

Many thanks in advance 

Thank you so much @Dan C You guys are a very big help!

1. Operating System: macOS Monterey Version 12.6.3

2. Saved under Affinity Publisher 2.0.4

3. Saved on Local Disk

4. The file has A LOT of pictures, maybe that is the issue. Before I closed that document, its behavior was weird, when I scrolled through it, the pictures in the file "vanished" while i scrolled, and only a few remained visible. 

[Dan C]

Many thanks for confirming that for me, that's certainly helpful!

I have logged your file with our developers now - we'll investigate this further but please be aware that this process can take some time so we recommend reverting to any backups of this file, if available.

We’ll be back in contact with our findings, and again, we're sorry this has happened. 

[speetepetete]

Hi everyone, I experienced the same issue yesterday, my affinity publisher file does not open any more after saving it. If try to open the file it says the file type is not supported. Can someone help with this? Thank you so much!

On 3/28/2023 at 6:35 PM, Dan C said:

Many thanks for confirming that for me, that's certainly helpful!

I have logged your file with our developers now - we'll investigate this further but please be aware that this process can take some time so we recommend reverting to any backups of this file, if available.

We’ll be back in contact with our findings, and again, we're sorry this has happened. 

Thank you so much. I am looking forward to your reply and findings! I also remembered that i had trouble saving the file so i saved it under a changed name, and after that the file could not be opened again. The trouble of saving the file again also happened yesterday again as well, luckily saving it under a new name was possible this time and I could open it again. I send the error message below for you to have a look. Thanks again for the help!

ZERO GRAVITY - Instructor Training Manual - Basic 1_2nd Edition---.afpub

[Dan C]

No problem at all

On 3/29/2023 at 12:02 PM, speetepetete said:

The trouble of saving the file again also happened yesterday again as well, luckily saving it under a new name was possible this time and I could open it again.

Thanks for letting me know - this may be happening due to the file contained corrupted elements that are failing to save, overwriting the existing file, but it's hard to be certain without inspecting your file further.

Just to confirm, the document you have attached in the above post, is this a file you are able to open/edit as expected on your mac? If not, can you attach a copy of the file that is working correctly but occasionally failing to save?

Many thanks once again!