Files not interchangeable between Mac and Windows

[EgB]

When I receive Publisher files from a colleague, prepared on his Windows system, they always present very differently on my iMac (running OS Mojave) - and vice versa. Font sizes, line spacing etc etc. Embedded pictures seem to stay in same positions, rest has a mind of its own. As we are trying to jointly compile a document, this is a real problem. We are both novice users. I understand the files should be interchangeable so what are we doing wrong?

[GarryP]

Welcome to the forums @EgB

My first suggestion is to check that you are both using exactly the same fonts – same fonts (preferably from the same place) and same versions (full version number, not just the major version).
Any differences, even tiny ones, can cause problems.
For example, Windows Arial Regular 12pt may not be exactly the same as Mac Arial Regular 12pt.

[EgB]

Thanks. We are using same fonts. I seem to have traced the problem, but only after purchasing a Windows computer (HP) and a new Windows version of Affinity Publisher! By opening and comparing the same file on both computers, it appears that the View/Studio/Paragraph/Spacing/Leading spacing is not carried through as a part of the file - it was presenting as different on the two computers, e.g. 15pt on Windows computer and 12pt on Mac for the same .afpub file. If I change this on the Mac from 12pt to 15pt it presents exactly the same as on the HP, which is as my magazine editor wants it. I still have to work out how I can produce the files on the Mac (much easier to work on presentation) in the knowledge that they will look the same in Windows, but at least I can transfer them to the HP laptop and view/edit them before sending to my colleague.

[EgB]

Not sure how to raise this as a bug that needs fixing - or even if it is! It's cost me hours and £400 to even identify the problem. And I still need a simple solution!

[User_783649]

It could also be one of those rare cases of 72dpi from/to 96dpi problems I've seen before. 

Try checking and compare Document properties when receiving edited copy of the document from your colleague with Windows machine.

[kenmcd]

2 hours ago, EgB said:

We are using same fonts. I seem to have traced the problem, but only after purchasing a Windows computer (HP) and a new Windows version of Affinity Publisher! By opening and comparing the same file on both computers, it appears that the View/Studio/Paragraph/Spacing/Leading spacing is not carried through as a part of the file - it was presenting as different on the two computers, e.g. 15pt on Windows computer and 12pt on Mac for the same .afpub file. If I change this on the Mac from 12pt to 15pt it presents exactly the same as on the HP,

What fonts are you using?
The "default" leading setting in APub is not a default vertical leading (as you would expect).
It means to use the vertical metrics (leading) intrinsic in the font.
Those vertical metrics settings are often (usually) different for the Mac vs. Windows.
So in the font there are Mac metrics, Windows metrics, and the newer Typo metrics.
If the font sets the "Use Typo Metrics" flag On in the font, APub will use that on both Mac and Windows.
If the font sets the "Use Typo Metrics" flag Off, APub will use the different settings for Mac vs. Windows.
Sooooo, if you see differences in the leading, set a fixed leading (not default).

Note: to avoid this confusion ... Adopey InDesign always uses the Typo metrics regardless of the setting for "Use Typo Metrics" inside the font (and it has an actual default leading). That way both the Mac and Windows will always use the same vertical metrics.

Note: when you see a leading setting displayed with the brackets (e.g. [18]) that means that is a calculated number based on the metrics from the font. So if on the Mac you saw [12] and on Windows you saw [15] - the font has different vertical metrics settings for Mac vs. Windows inside the font.

One more note ... many newer fonts set all the vertical metrics the same.
This is the evolving "best practices" way to do it.

[EgB]

Thanks All, much appreciated.

LondonSquirrel, screenshots below. 

Alex M, I've no idea how to check the dpi issue in the file I receive or to see how/if it changes as I open it in one machine then the next.

LibreTraining, that (seems to) make sense, thank you so much, but it's way beyond my pay grade! All sorts of fonts used but most text is Candara.

I think I'll have to just use the inferior Windows laptop to be aligned with my colleagues. Boohoo!

I think what happens is that various contributors (we are all amateurs, trying to put together a monthly club mag) "stretch" out the text vertically to fill the space they want it to fill by increasing the leading setting. Trouble is, that doesn't carry through with the file to my Mac. Similarly, when I send a few pages, my leading settings don't go through to their Windows machines. I would have expected the file to hold those settings.

Below was created on Windows, showing what it looks like when opened in Windows (correct) and then on Mac (pictures all in right place but text very squashed vertically). (ignore picture pixellation, piccie not embedded)

[kenmcd]

@EgB Candara has the exact situation I described above.
Use Typo Metrics is Off, and there are different vertical metrics for Mac and Windows.
So the "default" leading is going to be different on Mac vs. Windows.
Which is what you are seeing.

Best thing to do is get everyone to use the same paragraph style - which has a fixed leading.

 

[EgB]

Thanks LibreT - I think I understand. Given that I would have little success getting my colleagues to use the same paragraph style ("herding cats" springs to mind), I think I'll accept that theirs will always present wrongly when I view it in Publisher. It doesn't really matter as the editor puts out the final mag as a pdf.

For my text contributions (which I do on the Mac) I note that the leading, presumably the default leading, shows in the box as, eg, "[10 pt]" - that is, the leading is in square brackets. If I change that using the dropdown menu to "10 pt", no brackets, I can then save the file and when I view it on the Windows computer it presents correctly! Whoopee! So I figure that by changing from the default to a specified leading of the same magnitude for all my text, the .afpub file then keeps it as it should be for all users.

That's my best workaround and isn't a great deal of work - I just have to remember to do it. Thanks so much for your help.

Anyone interested in buying a barely used HP Pavilion laptop?

[Old Bruce]

7 hours ago, EgB said:

... I note that the leading, presumably the default leading, shows in the box as, eg, "[10 pt]" - that is, the leading is in square brackets. If I change that using the dropdown menu to "10 pt", no brackets,

This use of square brackets is showing that the [10] points is a calculated value, you have most likely chosen "default" or "xxx% or one of the other ways of calculating the leading. I always use Exactly for my choice, gives me much more control and is far more robust.

[EgB]

Thanks OB and sorry for delay. I haven't deliberately chosen anything for the leading - I wouldn't know how. I guess it's "default" by default. I'll have a look how to do this "Exactly" when I'm next using Publisher. And feeling brave!