PSD and EPS files mysteriously vanish!

[Ldina]

Publisher v2.0.0. I imported an IDML file originally created in InDesign CS6. I had to do a lot of rework on gradients, cleaning up and reorganizing. I understand and I'm OK with that. OSX 12.6 Monterrey on MacBook Pro.

File has a lot of PSD files originally created in Photoshop, a few EPS files, JPGs, Adobe Illustrator files, etc. Most of the files showed up fine initially, but they just vanish from the document sporadically. Resource Manager says files are OK and still linked, but shows original and placed sizes are "0 x 0 pixels". Page thumbnails show the images, but not the main document. I tried embedding, then relinking, closing and reopening the publisher document, closing and reopening Publisher, etc. Even rebooted my computer. I even deleted the files from the document, then placed them again. They showed up for a while, but eventually vanished again. 

Exporting to PDF worked initially, but after a few more PDF exports (after a few more edits), export hung up while trying to display Preview and calculate the final PDF file size and I got an error msg when trying to export. Screenshot or error message is attached. Maybe that's due to the vanished files or the "0x0 px" file sizes? The screenshot attached has two valves on the cover of the 8-page brochure, which are PSD files and now no longer show up in the document. After the failed Export, images started vanishing. 

Also noticed that some placed vector images created in Adobe Illustrator (AI format) show up pixelated.

I've read that sometimes there are problems with files saved to desktop (which uses iCloud on my Mac)? So, I tried moving the folder and all linked files to my portable, external 2 TB hard drive. Didn't solve the problem. HDD is Mac OS Extended Journaled and my Data Partition has 500GB available space. 

Lou Dina

 

[Ldina]

More info on "disappearing placed images"...

I deleted images placed inside of picture frames, then replaced them. I noticed that I have problems with PSD files in particular, but some other formats. I've used a lot of PSD files in documents in the past because they can have transparent backgrounds without any loss of quality. This file has placed PSD, TIFF, EPS and some Native Affinity formats. Some are CMYK, some RGB and others are grayscale (Publisher document is set up as sRGB for web display). After re-placing PSD files (after deleting the lost images, which show up in Resource Mgr as 0x0 px, but still linked and OK), the files showed up again. Publisher v2 file saved fine at this point. 

I'm not sure of this, but the problem seems to arise after trying to Export the above document to PDF format, digital-small size. I use this setting to share various revisions with the client for comments. I often get an error msg similar to the attached image. This time, I used the supplied PDF Small Digital preset, without making any changes, but I still got the error message (attached). Again I'm not sure, but after attempting repeated exports, placed images begin disappearing from my document, so this behavior may be related to the failed PDF export?? Even after images disappear, Resource Mgr says they are still linked and OK, but have 0x0 dimensions. 

I hope this added information is helpful.

[NJC]

Same here…

A lot of problems with linked transparent .psd and EPS with paths.

Missing images and export crashes, I can't work with any document until this is resolved.

[CLM]

Hello,

I also have the same problems.

I am new to publisher and started directly with V2 (so I have no comparison with V1). I find it very intuitive and I am finding my way.

I have created a document so far and 3 versions of it. I have had also problems with PSDs. In the first version, the document opened and I got a message that it had broken objects or links (I can't recall the exact name), the file appeared as linked, but it was not visible in the document.  Since last night, I couldn't open the latest version and it kept crashing the programme in every attempt.

I also have been exporting PDFs as HQ digital.

In both cases I found that if I went back to Photoshop and saved again, I could see the image in Publisher and in the latest case, the document staid open (for this latest attempt, I rasterised the image). I had to update (as the programme detected a change in the linked file). Mac Monterey. 

I only have one image so far (and a couple of shapes), used as background through two masters, the document is only about 10 pages (but is likely to be in the 300 pages side).

It is the combination of rasterised and non rasterised that doesn't work? As I say, I am new and I am finding my way, so any help will be appreciated.

Thank you!

[Gabe]

@Ldina

Can you package your file up and use this link to upload it please? https://www.dropbox.com/request/p6qh204bHekDHm404k3y

@NJC and @CLM please create a new thread as we like to keep file specific issues separate. 

[Ldina]

Gabe, 

I uploaded a Zip file to the Dropbox link you provided. I did NOT package this using Designer v2. I created the initial package using the InDesign CS6 package feature and added an IDML file, (which I used initially to start working in Publisher v2), all fonts and images, a PDF export from InDesign, etc. I wanted to include all of that extra info for you, so I just compressed that folder on my MacBook Pro. 

Also, in an attempt to fix the problem with disappearing PSD files (and at least one EPS file), I did some more work, which is included inside of that folder. Some of these files are linked to the Publisher document, and others are alternative formats, which I tried. I wanted to provide those. For example, I opened the PSD files in Affinity Photo and exported some PNG versions, which I used to replace some of the PSD files. The PNG files seemed to survive better, but then again, they were exported from Affinity Photo. I've rarely used PNG with InDesign in the past, and always used PSD files when I needed a stripped image with a transparent background. So, PSD has always been my default format when I need a transparent background. 

Another thing I tried along the way was to delete the placed PSD files and the frames that came over from the IDML file import into Publisher. I created new picture frames in Publisher and re-placed the PSD files. Sometimes, the images stick around, but at other times they mysteriously disappear, and the Resource Manager shows a 0x0 px size, but says the file link is still OK. That happened to me this morning right before I packaged up the file and zipped it.

I'm on a MacBook Pro, specs uploaded as a screenshot. I'm also using an external portable drive for most of my image files, and I usually keep my design files there too. It's a 2 TB USB drive with a thunderbolt adapter. Since I was having problems, I tried copying the folder I sent you to my Desktop, just to see if that made a difference. It didn't solve the problem, so it doesn't appear to be a problem with the external drive.

Hopefully, I have provided you with adequate information to troubleshoot this issue. If you need more feedback, let me know. Thanks for looking into this for me.

Regards, Lou

[Ldina]

oops...I said "Designer" in my previous post. That should have been "Publisher". 

[Ldina]

Gabe,

Regarding the disappearing PSD and EPS files, I assume you received the Publisher package I uploaded to the Dropbox link you provided. Any progress on this issue?

I have a design project coming up shortly and would like to use Publisher v2 for it, but if this issue isn't resolved I will have to use InDesign or Publisher v1.10.5. I spent a fair amount of time importing the IDML file from InDesign and getting it set up in Publisher v2. Since I cannot open the file in v1.10.5, that leaves InDesign. 

Thank you,

Lou

[Gabe]

Sorry I was on holiday last week. I logged the issue when you uploaded the files, but I don't have an update or a workaround yet. Sorry. 

[SDJ63]

Same here on eps and ai files. Very tricky this bug!

[FrankN]

Hi there:

Same thing here with linked PSD files. Fixing the problem using the Resource Manager does not work. Once the links are broken, the whole Publisher (.afpub) file become useless.

I experienced this bug when duplicating a folder with a complete project in it, afpub file plus psd files in it, in order to reuse it for a new project. Never had any problems with this procedure using InDesign as well as QuarkXpress. To me it seems like a problem with the file paths of the placed / linked psd files. Very annoying that at the Resource Manager is unable to fix and relink the paths.

Edited December 6, 2022 by FrankN

[Hangman]

I can confirm that this issue has nothing to do with InDesign or Photoshop files, I'm experiencing the exact same issue with native Affinity Designer Files exported to EPS and placed in a Publisher Document...

Often on reopening the Publisher document the EPS files are visibly missing from the page but as others have mentioned are listed in Resource Manager... the common issue appears to be the negative dpi shown for both the placed PSD and EPS files, -2147483648 dpi.

I think there could be an issue moving Publisher files to a different folder, I've done that a couple of time in the finder with the Publisher file closed and it's resulted in a corrupted Publisher file, telling me the file contains features from a more recent version of Publisher which clearly isn't possible since there isn't currently a more recent version.

[Ldina]

Thanks, Hangman.

I didn't move any pSD or EPS files between folders and it still happened to me. They just disappeared. Interesting that you got a "negative dpi". Resource manager always shows my missing files as still linked and "OK" with a 0x0 px file size...at least so far.

[Hangman]

@Ldina, it was more moving or duplicating the Publisher file rather than moving the PSD or EPS files…

If you look at the Resource Manager screen grab in your original post you can see the negative dpi with your BWV with handwheel.psd file…

[Ldina]

Hangman, 

Thank you for the clarification. I didn't move the Publisher file or the linked PSD/EPS files. I started with a Package, including an IDML file, exported from InDesign. The package folder had subfolders for Links and Fonts. All my files stayed inside their respective folders. Perhaps there is also an issues with moving assets to different folders, but I don't think that's my case. 

Ha...you're right...I didn't notice the negative dpi listed in the Resource manager. I was mostly clicking on the missing files to see the readout. Interesting.

 

[FrankN]

Hi folks:

Today I spent some time testing to find out when the errors / corruption of the afpub-files happen. I used a simple template I made for my  photo collages, a one page document of 50 x 70 cms, with very few layers and I placed 2 images in it. 

Tests with:

• JPG images, in RGB 8-Bit document
• TIF images 8-bit, in RGB 8-Bit document
• TIF images 16-bit, in RGB 16-Bit document
• PSD images 8-bit, in RGB 8-Bit document
• PSD images 16-bit, in RGB 8-Bit document

Result:

No problems with the JPG and TIF images.

Huge problems with PSD images both 8 and 16-Bit. After placing the images, saving the file it was enough to just klick the "Toggle Preview Mode" button to screw up the afpub-files! Of course an export to PDF ended with an error message (see posting above).

So, to use JPG and TIF seems to be safe, but the problem with PSD and EPS (did not try that) really needs to be fixed as soon as possible.

I add a ZIP file with all 5 test projects. 

Cheers,

Frank

Tableaus.zip

[Ldina]

Thanks FrankN.

If TIFF and JPG formats work fine without mysteriously vanishing, I can substitute TIFF for PSD files when I need a transparent background or suitable format for press work that doesn't use lossy compression. That's fine for a simple document, but some of my projects have dozens or hundreds of linked files, most of which are PSD files. No way I'm converting a hundred files just so I can use Publisher. I'm still not sure what to do when I need EPS, AI or other formats.

I may have to stick with InDesign until they get this fixed. Work must go on.

 

[FrankN]

@Ldina

If you use that many PSD file, it is better to stay away from Affinity Publisher until they fix the problem. I'll do the same and use QuarkXpress again... 😞

[flexscan]

Unfortunately I have the same problem. Since it's a converted idml file, I can't say for sure if it's really just the EPS and PSD files that were placed.
I even saved the PSD as an afphoto file. However, the link has disappeared.
Apparently the links disappear after exporting the file as a PDF.
This is really very creepy. Fortunately, the customer checked the print data again - I didn't even notice it myself. I didn't have this problem with V1.

[Gabe]

We have just released a beta that is meant to fix all these issues. https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/4-news-and-information/

[boombatze]

Thanks, do you know, when the stable version will be released?

[Ldina]

Gabe, thank you for the notification on the Beta release. I downloaded it and will try it out over the weekend. 

 

[FrankN]

Thanks Gabe. I am looking forward to the next update.