preflight error "Placed PDF version (PDF 1.4) is not compatible with the PDF export version Use Fix...

[CarolM97]

Hi -- I've read only a bit about this error online. I want to make sure I do the right thing so that PDF graphics (illustrations) placed in my document will be handled properly on export.

From what I've read, I gather that maybe I need to change the PDF Passthrough profile. My compatibility is currently set to PDF/X-1a:2003. Do I simply need to change that to PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5)? 

What does the FIX option do? Does it make this change for me? I've read about the undesirability of PDFs being rasterized if the passthrough is not set properly.  I'm honestly not sure what the implications of that are but it sounds like I want to avoid it!

There are transparencies involved, FWIW.

 

Thanks,

Carol

[Benjito]

Hi Carol,
I have the same problem here. I work on an magazine and have to place adverts on some pages. The adverts are all PDF and in different versions. But none of them seems to be compatible with Publisher. I tried different types of PDF from 1.3 to 1.7. But it's strange: in the menu "export" I can choose PDF 1.7 for my final PDF. 

When I use the FIX option, the PDF will be transformed to a different format (but I'm not sure what it is). But during this case the fonts in the PDF change to different styles. 

Best,

Ben

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Benjito

[Hangman]

@CarolM97 and @Benjito without seeing some sample pdf files where you are experiencing these issues it is difficult to give you a definitive answer. Are you able to upload any sample files?

3 hours ago, CarolM97 said:

Do I simply need to change that to PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5)?

PDF/X-1a:2003 – such a file has to be a PDF 1.4 file but it should not contain any transparency and JBIG2 compression should not be used to compress images.

For reference... "PDF/X-1a forces all transparency in your document to be “flattened” into opaque objects and all color to be converted into Device CMYK. The flattening process often results in quality degradation with flattening artifacts including stitching lines."

[CarolM97]

Hi Hangman -- I'll show my complete ignorance here: do you need only the PDF of the illustration / graphic that I'm placing in Publisher, or is there any value in providing you w/ a PDF, generated from Publisher, that uses the graphic?

And another question: can this issue w/ PDF compatibility and concerns w/ flattening transparencies be avoided if I DON'T place any PDFs in my Publisher doc, but rather use only psds or tifs for illustrations? In other words, if my graphic designer (who is color-adjusting/correcting the scanned watercolors) provides me with the images (many with transparency) as psd or or tif, does this problem go away?

Thank you!

Carol

 

[Benjito]

1 hour ago, Hangman said:

@CarolM97 and @Benjito without seeing some sample pdf files where you are experiencing these issues it is difficult to give you a definitive answer. Are you able to upload any sample files?

Thanks for your help, Hangman. Attached you can see one of the PDF files. It is version 1.7 and causes the error on page 23 (referring to my screenshot above). 

Anzeige Anglerfachmarkt Kempten DIN A5.pdf

[Hangman]

Hi Carol,

If you can provide both that would be great... How were the original illustrations created prior to being converted to PDFs?

30 minutes ago, CarolM97 said:

And another question: can this issue w/ PDF compatibility and concerns w/ flattening transparencies be avoided if I DON'T place any PDFs in my Publisher doc, but rather use only psds or tifs for illustrations? In other words, if my graphic designer (who is color-adjusting/correcting the scanned watercolors) provides me with the images (many with transparency) as psd or or tif, does this problem go away?

Can you provide a little more information about what it is you are trying to achieve with your project and what the final product will be, e.g., are you producing a book of illustrations or one containing your illustrations that will eventually be litho printed or will this be an e-book or something else entirely?

Is the reason you currently have compatibility set to PDF/X-1a:2003 because this is what the printer company is requesting?

This will all help with regards being able to suggest the best way to approach the project.

Absolutely, if your graphic designer has the scanned and adjusted the watercolours, most definitely provide these as tiff files or as a PSD. Is there any particular reason why they are being provided currently in PDF format, that makes no sense to me unless the illustrations are already part of an existing page layout, say created using InDesign or similar.

If this is not the case and you are effectively creating say a book from scratch incorporating both text, graphics and your illustrations then you'd be so much better off with the source files, i.e., create your text and graphics directly with Publisher/Photo/Designer and embed or link to the tiff illustrations.

Even though tiff's support transparency, depending on the design of your project, there's rarely a need for it when using it for CMYK printing. Everything that is white in a CMYK image is non-printing, because white ink is not used in that printing process.

Anyway, the more info you can provide the better and there are plenty of oters on the forum who will have insight as well.

[CarolM97]

HI Hangman -- Great questions! Here are the answers:

This is a children's book; I wrote the text, I have an illustrator who is doing watercolors and scanning those and providing them to the graphic designer for the color correction, background processing, etc. I'm doing the design/layout in Publisher (because I had a vision for it and enjoy this sort of visual creativity) and will produce the PDF to send to the printer, but of course have zero knowledge of all of the intricacies... hence my post! So yes, I'm creating a book from scratch with my text and the watercolor illustrations.

The designer said she usually provides files to her clients as PDFs but that she's able to produce any format. I believe she is doing all of her work in Photoshop. I do not know the format (pdf, psd, etc) of the files that my illustrator is providing to the designer. GIven what you say, it sounds like I should ask for PSD or TIF. (Would YOU choose one over the other for any reason, such as quality of final product?) 

The printer has not yet communicated to me what PDF compatibility they require; going to try to get that question answered today. The compatibility is set as it is because I initially thought I'd use IngramSpark, and that's what they require. (Or did when I was looking.)

I do actually need transparencies as I have several pages with multiple illustrations which, if the backgrounds are not transparent, will overlap/wipe out part of the adjacent illustrations. BUT -- I very much appreciate that tidbit about how it's typically not needed for CMYK printing. Many of the illustrations will use a simple white background where overlap is not an issue.

Regarding CMYK vs RGB, I know CMYK is the standard for material to be printed, but I've read that some printers can support a broader color range and it may be advantageous to not limit myself to CMYK.  I suppose that's a question for the printer. Eventually I'll have a digital version of the book and could get RGB images from the designer, but that's not the primary concern right now.

I hope this makes things clearer. It may eliminate the need for me to provide PDFs to you; let's see and then I'll get them to you later if need be.

Thank you SO much,

Carol

[CarolM97]

So I've just spoken w/ the print company.

The printer (the machine) they'll use supports CMYK, so that's that question answered.

They do NOT have any particular PDF compatibility requirements. If you have suggestions, given that my illustrations will be tif or psd, I'm all ears!

Regarding the PDF preset, because they don't have any experience with Affinity they don't know what to recommend; they just say to ensure that it won't downsize the file. Do you have suggestions? I'm assuming it will be either PDF (for print) or PDF (press ready) but have not yet had time to look into how those differ.

 

Thanks!

Carol

[Hangman]

@Benjito There are no serious issues with your PDF file. It is however unprofiled, as in the pdf itself doesn't have an ICC Profile associated with it. The four rectangular images on the left of the artwork all use an sRGB Colour profile, the image at the top of the page (the wide shot of the store) and the social media icon images don't have any colour profile associated with them.

I don't know what you have your preflight profile set to check for but anything in yellow indicates that preflight is active and the issues highlighted will not affect export so it is really just making you aware of things that 'could' impact the PDF.

My setup is running UK English so by default it is 'warning' me about spelling errors because the artwork is in German so you may potentially not encounter any spelling warnings if your set up is checking in German, but these are the warnings indcated in your file...

I'll disable the spelling mistake errors from the preflight profile by editing the profile but if you see any, that may suggest typos, though I'm sure you've likely already proofed the artwork.

That just leaves these warnings...

The non-proportional scaling is neither here nor there. I don't know if this is just how APub is interpretting the file but it seems highly unlikely that the images would have been transformed/scaled between 99.0% and 99.9% in a particular dimension but even if they have been to fit a specific size picture box it's not an issue that is going to cause any concerns with the PDF file so you can ignore those or again disable the Proportional Scaling warning in the preflight profile

This just leaves the three Bleed Hazard warnings, again nothing to worry about here, without the source file it is difficult to know if the warnings are simply down to APub's interpretation of the PDF file which I very much believe they are. APub interprets the file to be 147.9998mm x 210.0002mm instead of exactly A5 (148mm x 210mm). Clearly the document would have been set up as an A5 document so this is an Affinity rounding error and no big deal.

Likewise APub is interpreting the bleed on the file like this... clearly the source file wouldn't have been setup using 2.9997mm for the top bleed so another slightly inaccurate interpretation of the PDF by APub...

The first Bleed Harard warning is for the store image at the top of the artwork. APub shows this sitting slightly outside the bleed area on the top and left edges and inside the bleed area on the right edge...

Simply adjusting the image so it snaps to the bleed guides will remove the first Bleed Hazard warning but it's absolutely not necessary in this case.

The other two Bleed Hazard warnings are caused by the light and dark grey diamond shapes which appear over the top image. Changing the preflight Bleed Hazard profile from Mirror Bleed to Trim Box will remove the warnings.

NB: There is actually no need to make these adjustments, the preflight is just warning of possible issues but common sense dictates that none of the Bleed Hazard warnings are going to cause an actual issue with the PDF file, e.g., the image extending outside the bleed box shouldn't be an issue.

[Hangman]

@CarolM97 Thanks for the additional info, that is extremely helpful...

4 hours ago, CarolM97 said:

The designer said she usually provides files to her clients as PDFs but that she's able to produce any format. I believe she is doing all of her work in Photoshop. I do not know the format (pdf, psd, etc) of the files that my illustrator is providing to the designer. GIven what you say, it sounds like I should ask for PSD or TIF. (Would YOU choose one over the other for any reason, such as quality of final product?) 

I would imagine the illustrator is providing Tiff files to the designer if they are being professionally scanned. It makes sense that the designer is then colour correcting in Photoshop. I personally would request both a PSD file (which depending on how the designer is working may contain all the illustrations or she may be creating one file per illustration) and Tiff files with transparency as they will give you the best quality images. If the Tiff files are sized correctly you can then simply place them into your publisher document.

4 hours ago, CarolM97 said:

Regarding CMYK vs RGB, I know CMYK is the standard for material to be printed, but I've read that some printers can support a broader color range and it may be advantageous to not limit myself to CMYK.  I suppose that's a question for the printer. Eventually I'll have a digital version of the book and could get RGB images from the designer, but that's not the primary concern right now.

I would 'guess' that your designer is working on colour correcting the scanned illustrations in RGB so considering you may produce a digital version of the book at some point it probably makes sense to request RGB Tiff files with transparency and then (if your book is being litho printed) let the printer's RIP convert them to the proper CMYK profile for their RIP and printer rather than converting them to CMYK yourself. That also means you have RGB versions of the illustrations when it comes to producing the digital version.

3 hours ago, CarolM97 said:

The printer (the machine) they'll use supports CMYK

Is the book being traditionally litho printed or is it being digitally printed? Based on their comment it sounds as though it's being digitally printed?

3 hours ago, CarolM97 said:

They do NOT have any particular PDF compatibility requirements. If you have suggestions, given that my illustrations will be tif or psd

I would ask the printer for their print specs which should have all the information needed to create the artwork and should include things such as image dpi, colour format, bleed, whether images should be embedded or linked and which ICC Profile to use.

Traditionally you would use 300dpi images if the book is being litho printed, though if it is being digitally printed on something like an HP Indigo Digital Press or similar the dpi requirement may be different, either way you want to make sure that the placed tiff files in your Publisher document maintain at least the required dpi and avoid scaling them up.

Personally I always try to export images to the exact dimensions they will appear at in the final artwork at 300dpi so no scaling is required in Publisher but if you are designing and changing the layout as you go along to get things looking the way you want that may not be practical but the main thing is to ensure that your images in the finished layout don't drop below the printer's recommended dpi, something you can check using the Resource Manager in Publisher. Above the recommended dpi isn't so much of an issue as you can downsample images above the document dpi when exporting to PDF.

3 hours ago, CarolM97 said:

Regarding the PDF preset, because they don't have any experience with Affinity they don't know what to recommend; they just say to ensure that it won't downsize the file. Do you have suggestions? I'm assuming it will be either PDF (for print) or PDF (press ready) but have not yet had time to look into how those differ.

In practice it shouldn't make any difference that the PDF is coming from Affinity as they should be standard PDF files, the same as produced by any other publishing software. Since they sound as though they are not being specific about PDF versions then either PDF (for print) or PDF (press ready) should be absolutely fine, though depending on the specs they have for printing, you may need to adjust some of the settings under 'More' to suit.

Once the artwork is complete you can send the PDF file to the printer and ask them to check it meets all their requirements and if not adjust accordingly. I assume the printer will be providing you with proofs of the printed artwork prior to proceeding with the print run so you can make sure you are happy with the colour reproduction of your illustrations?

The key is to liaise with the printing company and ask questions if you're unsure and as mentioned above, ask them for their printing specs, most printing companies should provide these.

I'm sure others will have additional input which will be helpful with your project as well...

Out of interest, what is your Children's book about and when's the book signing... 🙂

[CarolM97]

@Hangman Thanks! I'll try to respond to all the stuff you brought up

The designer has provided me with several files (and file types) at this point. The psd's are individual illustrations. Why would I want both psd's and tiff's? I assume I'd want to stick with one type within the publisher document. And it sounds like tiff might be preferred re: image quality?

Interesting thought about letting the printer do the conversion from RGB to CMYK.  (What is the "RIP"?) I like that idea for multiple reasons. The first printing will be digital, so I can do a shorter run somewhat economically and see if a larger, offset run will make sense. (I hope it will!) Plus less money up front. Conversion to digital / ebook whenever I get to it!

The printer's specs do include info about bleed, DPI and embedding vs linking, but they do NOT include anything about color format (they very clearly said "it doesn't matter") or ICC profile. I will take a look at the "More" settings -- thanks for that tip.

The layout was largely done before the color was started so the designer is (so far) providing images at the size they'll be used. But I'm definitely keeping an eye on the placed DPI; thanks for the reminder!

This print company has a great reputation for pre-press checking and they actually provide hard proofs at no cost, so that's all good! 

The book is about a Golden Retriever who wants her wings so she can fly and be friends with the geese! (And it's definitely for adults too.) No plans yet for a book signing (ha!) but if I can get my A. Publisher act together, the artwork keeps coming in from Italy, and the paper supply chain doesn't collapse,  I hope to have something in hand by March or April. It's been QUITE the learning process!

Can't thank you enough for all the help.

Carol

[Hangman]

1 hour ago, CarolM97 said:

Why would I want both psd's and tiff's? I assume I'd want to stick with one type within the publisher document. And it sounds like tiff might be preferred re: image quality?

Absolutely, the Tiffs will be the perfect option for your Publisher artwork in terms of image quality. I don't know the relationship you have with your designer but the reason for requesting the PSD files in addition is simply that it gives you ultimate flexibility should you need to produce variations of your illustrations for the book in different sizes or resolutions or files in other formats for promotion or marketing purposes or for a website for example should there be one to promote the book. Having the source files gives you that extra flexibility. Yes, you could use the Tiff files to create alternative versions and formats but the PSD is perhaps a better starting point and in my experience every time you have a need to go back to your designer to request additional files, sizes or formats, there is usually as cost associated in providing them, so it is simply to give you the maximum flexibility to produce alternative files should you need them without incurring additional costs...

1 hour ago, CarolM97 said:

Interesting thought about letting the printer do the conversion from RGB to CMYK.  (What is the "RIP"?) I like that idea for multiple reasons.

Quoting... "A RIP is a Raster Image Processor and is basically software that translates (rasterizes) computer vector files (InDesign, Publisher, Illustrator, Photoshop, PDF, JPG, etc.) to a raster image or bitmap that is composed out of a matrix of dots that the printer can understand and print. The RIP software processes multiple content types for a specific print environment and communicates that processed data to the printer for final output. A RIP is generally used to compute only with a CMYK workflow"

1 hour ago, CarolM97 said:

The first printing will be digital, so I can do a shorter run somewhat economically and see if a larger, offset run will make sense.

That makes perfect sense and it is likely the pdf specs will be less strigent for a digital workflow and my assumption is that you can probably use an RGB workflow assuming the digital press is Inkjet based (again something to confirm with the company producing the first run, though they seem to have confirmed they are flexible with either RGB or CMYK files).

1 hour ago, CarolM97 said:

The printer's specs do include info about bleed, DPI and embedding vs linking, but they do NOT include anything about color format (they very clearly said "it doesn't matter") or ICC profile.

That suggests they can accept both RGB and CMYK formatted files and that the software they use to process the PDF to print to their digital printer will convert as necessary to produce the finished printed book which is good and gives you a good degree of flexibility.

1 hour ago, CarolM97 said:

This print company has a great reputation for pre-press checking and they actually provide hard proofs at no cost, so that's all good!

Perfect, that is exactly what I would expect from a decent print company...

1 hour ago, CarolM97 said:

The book is about a Golden Retriever who wants her wings so she can fly and be friends with the geese! (And it's definitely for adults too.) No plans yet for a book signing (ha!) but if I can get my A. Publisher act together, the artwork keeps coming in from Italy, and the paper supply chain doesn't collapse,  I hope to have something in hand by March or April. It's been QUITE the learning process!

That is really interesting and it sounds like an amazing project to be working on, the reason I'm interested is that I have a had a similar idea in the works for some time now for a children's book but it features a cat who goes on lots of interesting adventures. The book would feature lots of illustrations and there is the possibility to produce several stories, I'm just perhaps unsure where to start with the whole process, I understand the graphic design and technical side and have someone who could produce the illustrations but that's about as far as I am so far... Maybe, if you would be interested, we could have a brief PM offline sometime as it sounds as though your experience of the process has been really interesting?

1 hour ago, CarolM97 said:

I hope to have something in hand by March or April. It's been QUITE the learning process!

I'd really love to see the finished book, maybe I can put in an early order? Where are you planning on selling the book once complete? I think the best way to learn is to jump in at the deep end and actually produce so I applaud you for your determination in producing your book, I know you will feel so proud once you have the first printed copy in your hands... 🙂

[Old Bruce]

56 minutes ago, CarolM97 said:

  (What is the "RIP"?)

Raster Image Processor 

All your information makes me figure that @Hangman's advice about RGB makes sense. I would go with TIFFs because of a simpler file format compared to PSD (potentially).

[CarolM97]

Thanks @Hangman, thanks @Old Bruce 

FWIW, I did get confirmation that the printer is an inkjet.

One more question about the RGB/CMYK issue: Will those same RGB files serve me well when I want to do an offset run? I know nothing about how colors or color conversion might be handled differently for digital vs offset.  Also, as an aside, what would "happen" if I placed RGB tiff files into Publisher but then used CMYK format on export? (My understanding is that it wouldn't be good!) Or maybe I should just play with it to find out  

@Hangman, Great that you're considering your own book(s)! I'm happy to chat more about the project offline!

Thanks,

Carol

 

[lacerto]

[Obsolete]

[Hangman]

20 hours ago, CarolM97 said:

One more question about the RGB/CMYK issue: Will those same RGB files serve me well when I want to do an offset run? I know nothing about how colors or color conversion might be handled differently for digital vs offset. Also, as an aside, what would "happen" if I placed RGB tiff files into Publisher but then used CMYK format on export? (My understanding is that it wouldn't be good!) Or maybe I should just play with it to find out  

I could try to answer your question to the best of my knowledge but I feel this article answers your questions far more eloquently than I could and although it's specifically referencing InDesign and Photoshop, the same applies to Publisher and Photo. This to me is one of the best articles I've read on the subject, others here may have differing opinions but I think the article 'highlights' the difference between 20th and 21st century thinking... 😊

https://creativepro.com/import-rgb-images-indesign-convert-cmyk-export/

Because your initial print run will use digital but you potentially plan to follow that up with an offset print run then the key takeaways are 'yes', an RGB workflow gives you the most flexibility (as discussed in the previous posts).

and...

"Of course, you should always consult the printer to determine how your job should be submitted - never assume!"

[CarolM97]

@Hangman -- As always, GREAT information. I am now thoroughly convinced.

PM me when you want to discuss the long and rewarding road of publishing your own children's book

Thanks,

Carol

 

[Hangman]

29 minutes ago, CarolM97 said:

PM me when you want to discuss the long and rewarding road of publishing your own children's book

Will do, thank you, I really appreciate you taking the time to discuss your ‘long, yet rewarding journey’, I’ll PM you when I have a spare moment.

In the meantime, I wish you every success with your book and I hope I get to hold it in my hands once published… 😊

[CarolM97]

Look forward to chatting with you... and yes, you're on the "pre-sale" list

[RoyMcCoy]

I'm posting in this old thread because I'm having the same problem now in June 2023 (Ventura 13.4.1 on M2 MacBook Air, all Publisher versions 2), namely the "Placed PDF version (PDF 1.4) is not compatible with the PDF export version" alert. I'm certain I didn't change anything that should have caused this; it just started happening. There have been certain oddities besides this basic one. For one, I'm not seeing the "Placed PDF version" alert anymore, but rather just a list of six allegedly missing fonts. For another, last night I wasn't seeing the list of missing fonts either, but the Publisher file with the imported PDF still printed out with bad letterspacing, which is the bad result of this, the letters themselves looking okay. When I see the list of missing fonts, select one of them and click on Fix, I don't see the name of the font or anything else in the Font Manager window, so apparently there's no way to substitute and I wouldn't want to have to do that with six fonts in every similar doc anyway.

I'm retired so this isn't a work thing. The PDFs are saved/downloaded from https://chall.us/hex/hex_all_wsj.html. I open a copy of the previous crossword, select its PDF, click on Replace Document and select the new one. Sample files attached. For me it's showing the missing fonts as DJ5EExchange-Semibolditalic, DJ5RetinaCd-Bold, DJ5RetinaCD-Light, DJ5RetinaNr-Bold, DJ5RetinaNr-Medium and DJ5ZapfDingbats-Regular. It's not so bad that this has happened since I now realize I can just print the PDF out with Fit selected and without importing (I think the printout was clipped at the bottom before and that's why I started placing the PDF in Publisher), but I'd like to get the problem resolved for the future. Thanks.

rising and falling.pdf rising and falling.afpub

[walt.farrell]

21 minutes ago, RoyMcCoy said:

For me it's showing the missing fonts as DJ5EExchange-Semibolditalic, DJ5RetinaCd-Bold, DJ%RetinaCD-Light, DJ5RetinaNr-Bold, DJ5RetinaNr-Medium and DJ5ZapfDingbats-Regular.

The fonts are present in the embedded PDF document within your .afpub file. If you click on Edit Document in the Context Toolbar while in your main document, you'll be able to use the Font Manager to see what is missing from your system, and what substitutions have been made. Or you can choose different substitutions.

If you want to use the original fonts, you either need to find them and install them on your system, or switch the document to Passthrough mode, rather than Interpret.

However, if you switch to Passthrough, you may also need to edit your Preflight profile and specify a different PDF level for Passthrough checking, and you may need to make some color-setting adjustments depending on other factors I can't really explain.

[RoyMcCoy]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

The fonts are present in the embedded PDF document within your .afpub file. If you click on Edit Document in the Context Toolbar while in your main document, you'll be able to use the Font Manager to see what is missing from your system, and what substitutions have been made. Or you can choose different substitutions.

If you want to use the original fonts, you either need to find them and install them on your system, or switch the document to Passthrough mode, rather than Interpret.

However, if you switch to Passthrough, you may also need to edit your Preflight profile and specify a different PDF level for Passthrough checking, and you may need to make some color-setting adjustments depending on other factors I can't really explain.

Thanks Walt, but I'm still confused about this.

(1) My understanding is that fonts are usually if not always included in PDF files, and if so why should I have to find and install "missing" fonts now when I never had to before?

(2) Publisher was working fine without this problem before. Do you or anyone have an idea as to why the change occurred?

(3) Edit Document does show the "missing" fonts (missing in my system but not in the PDF), and after clicking on it (but not before) these fonts also show in the Font Manager window when I select a font in the Preflight panel and click on Fix. Furthermore, Edit Document only shows the Document Contains Missing Fonts alert once, the Assigned Profile alert is transient, and sometimes the Document Contains Missing Fonts alert is transient also. This all seems rather strange and could possibly use some improvement, but if all the missing fonts are being substuted by Helvetica as the Font Manager window indicates, why am I getting the bad letterspacing? Is the font substitution not really working, or what?

I don't see why I should have to switch to Passthrough, edit my Preflight profile to specify a different PDF level, or make any color-setting adjustments when all this was working fine before. Is restoring the previous correct behavior impossible? Or maybe I was already set for Passthrough and had the right PDF level and color settings before, they got messed up somehow and now I have to figure out how to restore them?

Apparently the Publisher files are already set for Passthrough, and they switch to Interpret only when I click on Fix in response to the "Placed PDF version (PDF 1.4) is not compatible with the PDF export version" alert. The Profile is set to Default as it presumably always was, so there's still the question of what changed and why. When I change the PDF Passthrough Compatibility setting to PDF 1.4, I lose the "Placed PDF version" alert but get another one, "Placed PDF has objects of a color different to the document colorspace. The PDF will still pass through." Colors are not very important in these docs and I don't know how to appropriately readjust the document colorspace anyway, so I unselected "Check color space matches document" under Image Color in the Edit Preflight Profile window. This doesn't get rid of the unwanted color alert, however, also when I click on Check Now.

I did another one of these and got a good printout with proper letterspacing. Moreover I lost the unwanted Preflight color alert when printing, though I get it back if I click on Check Now even with the modified profile (why is the same thing apparently called a preset?). I guess this will get me by (especially since I'm going to be printing out these PDFs without Publisher), so thanks indeed. There are still some mysteries and apparently sketchy behavior, however. I'd still like to know what may have gone wrong, and I still think printing should continue to work normally with the Default profile.

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, RoyMcCoy said:

 (1) My understanding is that fonts are usually if not always included in PDF files, and if so why should I have to find and install "missing" fonts now when I never had to before?

Perhaps, before, you used Passthrough mode rather than Interpret. Interpret says you're planning to edit the PDF content, and in that case you need to have the fonts installed because Affinity apps can't use the fonts embedded in the PDF.

2 hours ago, RoyMcCoy said:

(2) Publisher was working fine without this problem before. Do you or anyone have an idea as to why the change occurred?

Most likely, you changed something in the way you're preparing your document. But we would need to see one that worked in order to determine what is different.

2 hours ago, RoyMcCoy said:

but if all the missing fonts are being substuted by Helvetica as the Font Manager window indicates, why am I getting the bad letterspacing? Is the font substitution not really working, or what?

Sorry, no idea. 

2 hours ago, RoyMcCoy said:

Apparently the Publisher files are already set for Passthrough, and they switch to Interpret only when I click on Fix in response to the "Placed PDF version (PDF 1.4) is not compatible with the PDF export version" alert.

Yes. The Fix for that problem is to switch to Interpret, as Passthrough can't work with the Passthrough options in your Preflight profile. 

I'll stop there, as this is all getting beyond my knowledge. And I suggest you start your own Question topic for more detailed discussion if you need it.

[Oufti]

5 hours ago, RoyMcCoy said:

[…] if all the missing fonts are being subs[ti]tuted by Helvetica as the Font Manager window indicates, why am I getting the bad letterspacing? Is the font substitution not really working, or what?

Font substitution is there to help you, but it's not automatic: when a font is missing, the application signals it and defaults to Helvetica or Arial as replacement font – whatever the missing font is. No effort is made to find a roughly similar font; it's up to you to find and choose an appropriate one [Edit: which is possible on an original document, but not on an embedded PDF as in your .afpub file].

The application works by replacing glyphs (the design of individual letters) but respects the original letter spacing, so that the design of the page as a whole will be respected (so that each word fits in the same place, at the price of the inter-letter spacing).

Edited June 24, 2023 by Oufti

[RoyMcCoy]

Thanks, Walt and Oufti.

Walt:

Yes, it was always on Passthrough before, though I was completely unaware of Passthrough vs. Interpret and never set one or the other. It was still on Passthrough when the "Placed PDF version (PDF 1.4) is not compatible with the PDF export version" alert started appearing for some as yet unknown reason, the "fix" of which switched to Interpret and messed up the fonts.

Again, I'm sure I didn't change anything, particularly not a profile as I'd also never touched those. It might imaginably be that a program update triggered the change, though the problem occurred before I updated to v. 2.1.1. I notice that the PDF Passthrough compatibility check can't be turned off in the Custom profile, so I can't stop the alert by doing that. None of the files that worked with no problem earlier are doing so now; they all give the Placed PDF Version alert, though they didn't before.

Switching to Interpret is no fix, unless I want to go looking for fonts like DJ5RetinaCD-Light and succeed in finding them.

Oufti:

This is a helpful explanation of font substitution and of why I got the bad letterspacing, thanks. I don't think I'll ever have to pick fonts I have to replace ones I don't have, though, since Passthrough will give me the PDF fonts and I can deal with the PDF version compatibility although it's an annoyance.