Pdf export options - page layout, numbering and properties

[Patoshlenain]

I am looking for some options when exporting to pdf from Affinity Publisher.
First there is the layout issue where I have a cover I want to display alone and the following pages to be in doubles. I can do that manually by selecting it in my pdf viewer but there does not seem to be a defaut option to open this way in the export options.

Secondly, I would love for my cover to not be listed as page 1 but rather as page A or something similar. My table of content is otherwise referring to the written pages i created but the pdf itself is not showing the same number which is confusing to people reading the book.

 

Lastly, Is there a way to edit the pdf properties beforehand? Namely the name, subject, keywords and description. It seems to only write whichever is the first line of text in the subject section which is odd to me.

Thanks for your help!~

[Dan C]

Hi @Patoshlenain,

14 hours ago, Patoshlenain said:

First there is the layout issue where I have a cover I want to display alone and the following pages to be in doubles. I can do that manually by selecting it in my pdf viewer but there does not seem to be a defaut option to open this way in the export options.

When creating a document with 'Facing Pages' in Publisher, which starts on the right hand side, then exporting to PDF with 'All Spreads' selected under the Area dropdown - the PDF is opened with the first page separate from other pages.

What are your document settings and PDF export settings from Publisher please?

14 hours ago, Patoshlenain said:

Secondly, I would love for my cover to not be listed as page 1 but rather as page A or something similar. My table of content is otherwise referring to the written pages i created but the pdf itself is not showing the same number which is confusing to people reading the book.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what you mean by this - as I understand it a PDF reader will always 'count' the first page as 'page 1'. Can you please expand on this for me?

14 hours ago, Patoshlenain said:

Lastly, Is there a way to edit the pdf properties beforehand? Namely the name, subject, keywords and description. It seems to only write whichever is the first line of text in the subject section which is odd to me.

This can be set under View > Studio > Fields within Publisher before exporting. I hope this helps

[Patoshlenain]

Quote

When creating a document with 'Facing Pages' in Publisher, which starts on the right hand side, then exporting to PDF with 'All Spreads' selected under the Area dropdown - the PDF is opened with the first page separate from other pages.

It does show the layout i would be looking for but it bakes the pages together as one which is very bad for the page numbering. I'm looking for an option that would export every page but when you open up a pdf viewer, the defaut for this particular document would be "two page view". Right now, I simply have to do it manually which I don't necessarily mind but the users will have to do it themselves which is not ideal.
 

Quote

Unfortunately I'm not sure what you mean by this - as I understand it a PDF reader will always 'count' the first page as 'page 1'. Can you please expand on this for me?

It is possible, here is a few examples:

 

Quote

This can be set under View > Studio > Fields within Publisher before exporting. I hope this helps

Yes! Exactly what I was looking for, thanks a lot.

[Dan C]

21 hours ago, Patoshlenain said:

It does show the layout i would be looking for but it bakes the pages together as one which is very bad for the page numbering. I'm looking for an option that would export every page but when you open up a pdf viewer, the defaut for this particular document would be "two page view".

Thanks for verifying that for me! Selecting 'All Pages' rather than 'All Spreads' in the Area dropdown when exporting to PDF should allow for this.

21 hours ago, Patoshlenain said:

It is possible, here is a few examples:

Many thanks for these screenshots provided - unfortunately this isn't possible in Affinity currently, though I will be sure to log this as an improvement with our developers now

[Patoshlenain]

Quote

Thanks for verifying that for me! Selecting 'All Pages' rather than 'All Spreads' in the Area dropdown when exporting to PDF should allow for this.

Yes, this is what i was doing previously but what I would like to know is if it is possible to establish a default on opening the pdf to show in a "spread-like" view.
It is possible to display as two page view, like in the picture below but I've noticed that this document for example, always open in this type of view.

That said, is there a way to set this default view in a pdf export from publisher?

[Dan C]

1 hour ago, Patoshlenain said:

Yes, this is what i was doing previously but what I would like to know is if it is possible to establish a default on opening the pdf to show in a "spread-like" view.
It is possible to display as two page view, like in the picture below but I've noticed that this document for example, always open in this type of view.

I understand, thanks for that - as far as I'm aware this would only be a setting you can set in the PDF viewer itself, to default the view type and isn't something that can be set when exporting the PDF file.

For instance, in Acrobat you can find the following settings -

I hope this clears things up!