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

Publisher file size increased unexpectedly


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, MikeTO said:

The issue I've reported can be replicated consistently with the same images. I can create a document with a single image and get the bloated file size every single time. I sent Serif a copy of a test image that will always cause the problem so I assume they'll be able to track this down.

That could be useful. I could replicate my problem at the time, as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, JosephK said:

may be interest?

I am thinking that this problem has been pretty much dealt with for linked images, given the file sizes I am experiencing currently - but will find out how slow it all becomes when I add in all of my finalised pictures.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 11/15/2021 at 5:16 AM, stokerg said:

Hi @MikeTO,

This post explains about how our File Format works, so it possible this is what you are seeing when using Save As.  However, i will run this thread by our QA team and see if they can of anything else that may cause the file size to jump from 10MB to 100MB.

If you could also upload both files, the 10MB and 100MB one to our Dropbox here, i'll then have the files to show the QA team as well :) 

Hi, I provided a good test file with a single image in it (see Nov 17 post) but I've done more testing and determined it's not the image itself that's an issue, it's something that happens to it sometime after it is placed. Placing the linked image works fine, but someday for some reason the space allocated to that linked image expands - presumably, the image becomes embedded even though it's just supposed to be linked. Even if you copy that image from one bloated doc to an empty doc, the space required by that image will remain huge. I took the same test document I gave you and placed a second copy of the same image. If I delete the one that was already there the file becomes trivially small as expected, if I delete the new one it remains huge.

The way to workaround this issue until it's fixed is to open Resource Manager, select all of your images, click Embed and then click Link. My document was up to 600 MB today (after Save As) so once I figured out that I could workaround the bug by embedding and relinking the file size shrunk to 8 MB. So the good news is this is easy to workaround, the bad news is I don't know what triggered the issue to start with.

Download a free manual for Publisher 2.4 from this forum - expanded 300-page PDF

My system: Affinity 2.4.0 for macOS Sonoma 14.4, MacBook Pro 14" (M1 Pro)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, MikeTO said:

Hi, I provided a good test file with a single image in it (see Nov 17 post) but I've done more testing and determined it's not the image itself that's an issue, it's something that happens to it sometime after it is placed. Placing the linked image works fine, but someday for some reason the space allocated to that linked image expands - presumably, the image becomes embedded even though it's just supposed to be linked. Even if you copy that image from one bloated doc to an empty doc, the space required by that image will remain huge. I took the same test document I gave you and placed a second copy of the same image. If I delete the one that was already there the file becomes trivially small as expected, if I delete the new one it remains huge.

The way to workaround this issue until it's fixed is to open Resource Manager, select all of your images, click Embed and then click Link. My document was up to 600 MB today (after Save As) so once I figured out that I could workaround the bug by embedding and relinking the file size shrunk to 8 MB. So the good news is this is easy to workaround, the bad news is I don't know what triggered the issue to start with.

That sounds like a good tip to remember, if the file size suddenly goes stupidly high.
Thanks for sharing the workaround.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately the workaround did not work long for me (MacBook Air M1). So I downgraded to the last Version, which has not this linking problem. You can find Publisher 1.9.3 (Universal) for Mac on Serif website. This version can open and edit Publisher-documents created with 1.10.x. So far I haven't found any problems.

I'll stick with 1.9.3 until Serif fixes this annoying issue in the current version. Btw: You can skip Beta 1.10.5.1282, it still has the linking problem.

Edited by _Seb_
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
On 2/9/2022 at 10:31 PM, _Seb_ said:

Unfortunately the workaround did not work long for me (MacBook Air M1). So I downgraded to the last Version, which has not this linking problem. You can find Publisher 1.9.3 (Universal) for Mac on Serif website. This version can open and edit Publisher-documents created with 1.10.x. So far I haven't found any problems.

I'll stick with 1.9.3 until Serif fixes this annoying issue in the current version. Btw: You can skip Beta 1.10.5.1282, it still has the linking problem.

Thanks for the tip, works fine for me as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

I'm a huge Serif/Affinity fan but it is really disturbing how long this is taking to fix. I changed a few lines of text in my book and the afpub file ballooned from 22MB to 1.6GB. All images are linked, Save History is disabled. I'm also running 1.10.5 on a M1 MacBook Air. Between this bug and the "index" crashes I reported last year, I've stopped recommending Publisher. Please check whatever "escalation" boxes you have.

  • Affinity Publisher 2.0.4
  • Affinity Photo 2.0.4
  • Affinity Designer 2.0.4
  • Affinity Designer for iPad 1.10.16
  • MacBook Air (M1, 2020) running macOS Ventura v13.0.1
  • Nikon D7100 with 18-135mm zoom

http://www.dojopico.org

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
5 hours ago, _Seb_ said:

The document size increases with each edit again. At least that's the case for me. How about you?

The only way I can have this happen is if I have a checkmark against File > Save History with Document.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/22/2022 at 5:51 PM, Old Bruce said:

The only way I can have this happen is if I have a checkmark against File > Save History with Document.

@Old Bruce thanks for the tip, but 'Safe History with Document' has been unchecked already. By the way, document size with embedded pictures is 1,2 GB. Size with linked images is 12,1 MB. But working in the document with linked images rises the size up to 6 GB and keeps growing! In Publisher 1.9.3 there has been no problems with linked images. So it used to work! Unfortunately not anymore. It's so annoying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, _Seb_ said:

But working in the document with linked images rises the size up to 6 GB and keeps growing!

When you save a document using SaveAs, does the size remain?

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, _Seb_ said:

By the way, document size with embedded pictures is 1,2 GB. Size with linked images is 12,1 MB. But working in the document with linked images rises the size up to 6 GB and keeps growing!

This 12 MB –> 6000 MB is really strange. Does such happen to every Affinity document in v 1.10.5 for you (as you mentioned v 1.9.3), or with certain files only?

You did not mention what work was done before the 6 GB size but the reduced file size of embedded vs linked images indicates there are many images and thus many layout preview 'thumbnails' saved with the document. In my experience preview size gets influenced by document resolution. So, if your document doesn't contain pixel layers (rasterized layers) you could try to see if the file size gets reduced if you 1. reduce the document resolution and 2. do a save as with a new file name. If this would reduce the size it would indicate the layout / image previews as the culprit …

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Save As has no impact on the M1 file bloat issue.

In my experience, the file bloat doesn't happen every time. Here's how I think it works:

  • You're working with a document that contains 1 or more linked images - in my case TIFF. You can work with it for a long time and it will be fine, the size will increase a bit with the use of Save until it reaches the point that Publisher optimizes the space and it goes back to the minimum size. The same could be achieved by using Save As.
  • When you trigger the issue, a trigger that none of us have figured out yet, the file size will bloat. You can trigger the issue by doing nothing other than inserting a few paragraphs of text into a story. This is only a hunch but I think Publisher is embedding a copy of one or more linked images even though they are still marked as linked. If your images are all 40MB, your 10MB file might now be 50 or 90GB.
  • You can work with this file for a long time and it will be fine, 50MB is the new baseline and it will increase a bit with each Save until it reaches the threshold and recompresses back to 50MB. It will never drop below 50MB until you use the embed/link workaround.
  • Then you trigger the bloat bug again and the file size increases again. This size is your new baseline and it will never drop below this until you use the workaround.
  • This is just a hunch, but I believe as long as you're working in just one area of the document you will be unlikely to see the file size bloat from 10MB to 1GB at once. But if you make edits across the entire document, say you're using find and replace to clean up terminology, you might trigger the bloat issue for many pictures at once and that's when the size explodes to GB in one go. I've done that a couple of times and when I saw that Save was taking longer than normal I checked the file size and saw what was happening. I quickly did the embed/link workaround, Saved As under a new name, and deleted the bloated file which was still in the process of growing. Tip for iCloud users: don't allow files to grow to GB's, you can plug up iCloud file syncing, which is relatively easy to resolve, but break Safari bookmark/frequently visited/open tabs syncing and that's hard to resolve. Apple hasn't fixed this bug yet.

We can't really avoid the bug for now but if it works the way I think it might, splitting a long document up into multiple stories may decrease the frequency and severity of the issue. If your file keeps growing and you have a long document with a single story, try making each chapter a separate story. It won't solve the problem - I've done that and still encounter the bug regularly - but it might make it less severe. It also improves editing performance so it's a good practice anyway.

Download a free manual for Publisher 2.4 from this forum - expanded 300-page PDF

My system: Affinity 2.4.0 for macOS Sonoma 14.4, MacBook Pro 14" (M1 Pro)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

Save As has no impact on the M1 file bloat issue.

Did you experience any impact by hardware acceleration on or off?
(This feature seems to cause various issues on M1 macs – while it causes fewer on Intel macs.)

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your quick response! @Pšenda indeed I tried Save As, but the problem remained. @thomaso@MikeTO, I don't think you can blame the M1 machine or the operating system for this. I still can use AfPup 1.9.3 in this environment and then I have no problems with linked images. But AfPup 1.10.5 runs much smoother. But hang on, I also followed your other advices.

Quick info to the documents that make my life difficult since AfPup passed 1.9.3. I started making photo books a while ago. For every year from 2011 when we started a family. Glad I finally got started before I can't keep up. (Yes, photo books AND children!) I'm already working on the photo book 2019. 132 pages, about 750 pictures, mostly JPGs, some PNGs. The document is CMYK, 300dpi. Hardly text, just page numbers.

So I tried all your advices and what can I say, for now it's working! Yes @Old Bruce, I checked the box 'Save History with Document', saved and closed the document, reopened it and unchecked 'Save History with Document'. Than I embedded all images, saved, closed, reopened and linked them again and saved as new file. Puh. For now the file size stays under 20 MB and I'm working with it for two hours now. Fingers crossed.

So thanks a lot guys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, _Seb_ said:

I don't think you can blame the M1 machine or the operating system for this.

Seeing a relation between a certain Affinity issue limited to a certain macOS or mac hardware doesn't necessarily mean to blame the mac – though only certain mac items get infected. However, for troubleshooting purposes, it is useful up to required to know in which environment the problem occurs and in which it does not.

Glad you managed to solve it for now! – Do I understand right that only your literally mentioned steps (toggling history & linked/embedded) did fix it?

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, thomaso said:

Do I understand right that only your literally mentioned steps (toggling history & linked/embedded) did fix it?

For now. I'm still working on this document, and the size still is under 20 MB. I did every step before, but not all together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadly everything is back to the new "normal". I opened the file on Saturday and worked in it. No problem. I opened the file right now again to continue working. First saving process took a tick too long. Why you might ask. It's just because the file size is rising again. I will try to repeat the workaround. But come on Serif. Fix this for good!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hi!
I've the same issue. Recently I moved from a windows pc to a mac mini M1, and the file changed from 9 mb to 1.5 gb

The same file, the same project, the same settings - the only difference is the platform.

IF I save the file "as package", the new file is 2mb...

Edited by MatteoS
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, MatteoS said:

Hi!
I've the same issue. Recently I moved from a windows pc to a mac mini M1, and the file changed from 9 mb to 1.5 gb

The same file, the same project, the same settings - the only difference is the platform.

IF I save the file "as package", the new file is 2mb...

Instead of saving as package, try embedding all the images (Resource Manager, select all, Embed) and then linking them (just click Make Linked while they're all still selected). Then save.

Download a free manual for Publisher 2.4 from this forum - expanded 300-page PDF

My system: Affinity 2.4.0 for macOS Sonoma 14.4, MacBook Pro 14" (M1 Pro)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I've come to check if there's any word on this bug being fixed.

For all those struggling with this issue, I suspect it has something to do with the embed / linked file feature.

A way I undo the bloat (for a while, until it happens again) is to:

1. open Resource Manager

2. select all files

3. switch them all to embedded

4. then switch them all to linked

5. save your file.

Your file size is reduced again. The bloat will return, but this manages it for a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Ouch. My file was 3.58 GB, shrank to 6MB using embed/linked step, then up to 158MB, 750MB, 1.35GB. Seriously, how can this be still happening? 

Indesign file idml translated to Publisher.

Should I assume this is reported in Mac OS Publisher forum? This is an argument for global layer control where I just turned photo layer off unless exporting a pdf. I will check if that protects file.

Peter

Monterey, 12.5.1, Publisher 1.10.5, MacBook Pro 14", 2021, 16 GB, Apple M1 Pro

selecting photos and embedding and then linking works to drop file from 1.09 GB to 8.1 MB. I think I can do work in the file if I turn major blocks of photos invisible while I work, then turn visibility back on to export.

Edited by yukonPete
more info added
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.