Affinity Publisher keeps crashing when I turn off Facing Pages in Document Settings

[Jessyca]

I have tried restarting the program, restarting my computer, turning off all other applications to reduce RAM usage, turned off antivirus/malware, saving the file with 1/3 of the pages removed, resaving the file with lower DPI... yet it doesn't stop the crashing. I have attached all the crashes so far today. 

If you need a copy of the file itself to test then it would need to be private because it is a yearbook for a school. 

 

Thank you for your help!

I need to get this to the printers ASAP but I can't export to PDF with facing pages. I need an internal bleed and facing pages makes the bleed from the opposing page save onto the page even if I export as pages instead of spreads. The only way I have figured out how to do this is by turning off facing pages THEN exporting as pages. 

Jessyca

2d351e03-d872-4b2c-b488-8d24e66243da.dmp 6a876d4d-94dc-492e-b469-8b615b439728.dmp 8570f8ce-16d7-4e86-9de2-bef384fed12b.dmp 0a9e24b9-91ad-4608-97f8-9facc894b911.dmp d249d8f9-c622-4705-83dc-9333dfdc7c1f.dmp 7c2982f3-6ab7-4ea3-b88a-5d42f031c012.dmp 36f2908d-4e8e-4ca8-9b20-a217495142d5.dmp f6e7abf2-76ba-4989-ba45-342a765e96c1.dmp

[trichens]

Hi Jessyca, Can you create a simple four page export PDF file - just front and rear page pairs which I'm hoping won't disclose anything sensitive?

Upload that so we can see what the output is with the bleed? This will show what happens when you have facing pages turned on.

[Jessyca]

Here you go

9ff367b7-0d44-4e83-bd42-7041d2a16929.dmp a47b153a-9f3a-4224-8305-f7f8aac021e5.dmp CrashTestFile.afpub

[Jessyca]

That is the test file and the crashes when I tried to turn of facing pages with that file.

 

[trichens]

OK, turn on crop marks when you create the PDF file.

You'll see that these are positioned so that the pages will be cropped correctly. Most printers only require 3mm or 0.125in bleed so the 0.5in inner bledd doesn't have to be that large.

This should allow you to get the file exported for printing OK.

Not sure what's causing the crashing yet though.

[Jessyca]

14 minutes ago, trichens said:

OK, turn on crop marks when you create the PDF file.

You'll see that these are positioned so that the pages will be cropped correctly. Most printers only require 3mm or 0.125in bleed so the 0.5in inner bledd doesn't have to be that large.

This should allow you to get the file exported for printing OK.

Not sure what's causing the crashing yet though.

We are doing a coil binding so the 1/2 inch is actually for the hole punching and coils. We wanted the image to go through to the edge of the page because of the issue the cutting machine at this printer has with cutting completely straight lines. Bleeding through to the edge allows for the small differences in how pages are cut. 

 

10 minutes ago, LondonSquirrel said:

If you delete page 6 in this test file, you can turn off facing pages.

It is of type 'Master Page', whilst the other pages are of type 'A-Master'. Perhaps you had a Master Page in the past which is no longer present?

I'll try your suggestion! Thank you. I thought I deleted all those. Some of the pages are imports from another team members use of templates. 

 

Thank you for your help! I'll respond with the result.

[trichens]

I think you are confusing margins and bleeds, Jessyca.

The bleed is only used to allow for the cropping of the paper not being exact. If the crop was out by 0.050in then without a bleed you'd get a white edge on the page between where the image ends and the paper is cropped. The bleed area allows for this.

For the allowance required for the coil binding you need to set the margins so that you don't use that area for anything.

And as LondonSquirrel says the issue is with page 6.

If you look at this you have a layer named Master Page; just delete this layer and you should be OK

[trichens]

What I can't yet figure out is why the margins on page 6 are wrong.

The inner margin is set to 0.5in and should be on the right, but in your file it's on the left.
On pairs of pages we should have the inner margin in the centre - or on the right for even numbered pages and on the left for odd numbered pages.

[Jessyca]

23 minutes ago, trichens said:

I think you are confusing margins and bleeds, Jessyca.

The bleed is only used to allow for the cropping of the paper not being exact. If the crop was out by 0.050in then without a bleed you'd get a white edge on the page between where the image ends and the paper is cropped. The bleed area allows for this.

For the allowance required for the coil binding you need to set the margins so that you don't use that area for anything.

And as LondonSquirrel says the issue is with page 6.

If you look at this you have a layer named Master Page; just delete this layer and you should be OK

You're correct, I was mixing up margins and bleeds. I have been up since 7am working on finishing proofing this beast of a book and this problem completely threw me. 

I went through and deleted Master Pages from every page just to be safe and it works now! Teaches me not to try to use a tool I don't know how to completely use lol I was using it to make page layout templates last summer to help this year go easier. Didn't work out lol

Thank you for all your help!

Jessyca

[ninam]

How do I find the master on each page? I have the same problem...

 

[ninam]

I have deleted the master page, and still cannot turn off facing pages.

[Dan C]

Hi @ninam,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums

43 minutes ago, ninam said:

still cannot turn off facing pages

Is the application crashing when disabling Facing Pages, or are you seeing other behaviour?

Are you able to provide a copy of the .afpub file in question here?

Many thanks in advance!

[ninam]

Managed it by the time your reply came through. Went through each spread, one by one, to find any masters, and to delete any unrecognised layers. Many thanks.

 

[feebee]

Hello,

I am also experiencing this problem with a specific document, a reduced sample of which is attached and still crashes.

Over a year ago I created a 28 page template file for a monthly newsletter which I simply populate and 'save as' for each issue. I have to design it as facing pages, although the printer needs it as a PDF document in single pages for printing. It always has worked to switch from facing pages to single and export a PDF, however this month the document is continually crashing Publisher when I untick 'facing pages'. 

Recently I noticed the folio on page 3 had disappeared and it seems the master page with folio was somehow switched to an incorrect master without a folio, I therefore reapplied the correct master. After reading this thread I noticed there seemed to be two masters on the spread (which may be correct as the left page is a different master) but deleted one as a test, but the file still crashes when I attempt to switch from facing pages to single. 

I would really appreciate understanding what's happened and if the file is retrievable or if I need to remake it. Thanks in advance.

ChiddinglyParishNews_TEST_2.afpub

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, feebee said:

I have to design it as facing pages, although the printer needs it as a PDF document in single pages for printing. It always has worked to switch from facing pages to single and export a PDF,

You can simply export it with the Area in the Export dialog set to All Pages rather than All Spreads. No need to modify the document itself.

Publisher should allow you to switch, of course, but for your situation it's not necessary, and more work than it's worth.

[feebee]

18 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

You can simply export it with the Area in the Export dialog set to All Pages rather than All Spreads. No need to modify the document itself.

Publisher should allow you to switch, of course, but for your situation it's not necessary, and more work than it's worth.

Thank you so much! I wasn't aware of the distinction between 'all pages' and 'all spreads' when exporting. Will use this from now on 😘

I'm still curious about the reason for crashing though... 🤔

[Dan C]

Hi @feebee,

Thanks for your report & file provided, I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue!

I can confirm I'm able to replicate this crashing here and therefore I am logging this as a bug with our developers now.

Unfortunately I've been unable to 'repair' this file to a state where you can uncheck the Facing Pages option, my apologies - however Walts suggestion should hopefully help for the time being

[feebee]

1 hour ago, Dan C said:

Hi @feebee,

Thanks for your report & file provided, I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue!

I can confirm I'm able to replicate this crashing here and therefore I am logging this as a bug with our developers now.

Unfortunately I've been unable to 'repair' this file to a state where you can uncheck the Facing Pages option, my apologies - however Walts suggestion should hopefully help for the time being

Many thanks for exploring the crashing. No problem about repairing the file, Walt's advice has allowed it to export properly and even better means I don't have to carefully cut images that go across spreads any more! Wondering how much more I don't know...

[CreativeKeys]

I'm having a similar problem. I created my file as a spread to see the facing pages while I'm working on it and most pages will print with full bleed to the edge of the paper. My printer needs the file saved as single pages. When I export it as "all pages" the bleed from the right facing page carries over and shows up on the left facing page. I tried to change the document setup by unchecking the "facing pages" box but the program crashes every time I do that.

Help?!

Christina

[Dan C]

Hi @CreativeKeys,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums

20 hours ago, CreativeKeys said:

My printer needs the file saved as single pages. When I export it as "all pages" the bleed from the right facing page carries over and shows up on the left facing page

I can confirm that this is expected behaviour, usually during the printing process the printers will apply Imposition, which correctly accounts for the inner bleed shown when exporting 'all 'pages'.

20 hours ago, CreativeKeys said:

I tried to change the document setup by unchecking the "facing pages" box but the program crashes every time I do that.

However of course the app should not crash when selecting this option, so I'd like to request a copy of your .afpub document - can you please attach this here for me?

If you'd like a private upload link for this file, please don't hesitate to ask!

[CreativeKeys]

@Dan C Thanks for your response. I found a workaround. It took a whole day but it worked. Created a new file that was all single pages instead of a spread, and then went through all 58 pages individually and copied them over to the new document. Now the extra bleed I was dealing with is not there.