Variable PDF storage capacity depending on the format of the linked files, and crashes

[Pyanepsion]

Beta 2.0.3.1670.

That’s 26 Affinity Designer files.

All these files are organized and linked in another Affinity Designer file.

Export the result in PNG format.

Place the PNG or AFDESIGN file or both in Affinity Publisher.

Export as a PDF. CMYK in version 1.7.

The storage capacity of the PDF varies considerably when the appearance is the same:

• PNG linked = 923 703 bytes
• AFDSIGN linked = 3 115 702 bytes
• PNG +AFDESIGN linked = 3 650 200 bytes

Consequence

The more objects there are in any of the Affinity Designer files in the base files, the larger the PDF produced by Affinity Publisher from the Affinity Designer files. When the PDF file produced by Affinity Publisher becomes larger than it should be because of too many Affinity Designer objects, it eventually exceeds the printer's capacity.

For example, I had twice placed the same Affinity Designer file in Affinity Publisher, which itself contained dozens of Affinity Designer files, each containing hundreds to thousands of objects.

1. The PDF export created a 156 MB file that systematically failed the preflight at the printer after about 1.5 hours.
2. I replaced the AFDESIGN file in Affinity Publisher with its own PNG export. The PDF was reduced to 22.3 MB and the calculation time was reduced to a few minutes without crashing.

[Pauls]

depends on what is happening to the PNGs - are they being converted to CMYK are left in RGB ?

if you add a couple of PDF's AFDESIGN vs PNG I can have a quick look

[Pyanepsion]

Hello, @Pauls

All files are 400 dpi, CMYK/8, U.S. Web Coated (SWOP)v2.

I can provide the alphabet files used as an example above if the private data does not appear in Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo, otherwise I will provide the files for the book that caused the problem, but privately.

[Pauls]

Source files and PDF's please. Screenshot of the advanced PDF settings would also help

[Pyanepsion]

The useful set of documents has been sent. 2.47 GB.

The first step is to put the links back into the AFPUB file of the book and into the AFDESIGN file of the old map.

Let’s be clear: it is normal that the PDF file differentiates all AFDESIGN objects. This obviously increases the size of the PDF when these objects are very small. It is, however, perhaps abnormal that this leads to a crash, and when many of these objects are the same.

The main folder E … calls up files located in its folder, but also files located elsewhere on the same hard disk partition or on another partition. I put them here at the same level as the main folder.

The video shows the difference in export time to PDF (and the name of the printing company) with a PNG image created from the Affinity Designer file, and the AFDESIGN file itself.

With the AFDESIGN version, the PDF export takes a long time and then the printing company’s calculations take an enormous amount of time until the end of their software crashes after about 1.5 hours.

The malfunction occurs on pages 8 and 9, which use the same map on the left side (p. 8) and on the right side (p. 9). With the PNG version of the map, the PDF export of the book is still reasonable and then the print company’s preflight calculations are still within a reasonable time.

[Pauls]

Having replaced the Map PNG's with the afdesign files and assuming I've done it all correctly I'm seeing export times of 10-15 minutes.  Overly long export times may be due to the print companies computer struggling for some reason. Typically this can be due to excessive memory paging or some sort of software thread lock delaying things. For ref my PC 12 16GB Ram, SSD harddisc, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz.

The map afdesign file is certainly a large one so converting to png is the way to go. Maybe we could come up with some way of giving a preflight hint that certain linked files would be better converted

[Pyanepsion]

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Edited January 17, 2023 by Pyanepsion
Please remove this duplicate.

[Pyanepsion]

4 hours ago, Pauls said:

Overly long export times may be due to the print companies computer struggling for some reason.

I seriously doubt that the company in question uses limited equipment.

If their server verification software crashes, it is more likely because there is an error in the PDF file generated when using Affinity Designer.

[Patrick Connor]

39 minutes ago, Pyanepsion said:

If their server verification software crashes, it is more likely because there is an error in the PDF file generated when using Affinity Designer.

So when our software crashes it's our fault, but when other companies software crashes, it's (...checks notes...) our fault. Right got it.

[Pyanepsion]

After much procrastination, and a lot of back and forth, I have just received a conclusive answer from the company. It is the company Amazon.

Thank you for your patience.
We have reproduced the problem and found that your file contains problems with the transparencies/layers, which cause the file to fail during the upload process. The transparencies/layers cause conversion errors and manufacturing errors at the time of printing.
In order to fix the file, you will need to pixelate groups of vectors into single images or the entire page into a single image. When editing your inner file, you will need to flatten all transparencies. During processing, the transparencies are flattened and may cause corrupted data or conversion errors in the process.
Once you have revised your file, you will need to create a new PDF, ensuring that all transparencies are fully flattened. This should be a new file, with a new name, and you should not use the automatic setting, but it is also set for the trim size. When creating a new PDF, we recommend that you use the Print to PDF section of the following resource:
To solve this problem, we recommend that you convert your file using the ‘Print to PDF’ option. This will flatten any transparencies or layers in the file. The ideal PDF format is PDF/X.

Here are the PDF settings:

Their answer does not hold water. My tests show that it is rather a surprising mismanagement of the Amazon server software.
It is indeed pages 8 and 9 of the Affinity Publisher file that cause them problems.
I have created an AFDESIGN map with the left part on page 8 and the right part on page 9.

1. ♦️The initial AFPUBLISHER file (PDF 155 MB) was crashing on Amazon when checked even though it was well under 650 MB (Amazon's upload limit), as in this version the map was provided in vector format on both pages.
2. 🟢The AFPUBLISHER file with only page 8 replaced by its PNG raster version (PDF 72 MB) is accepted without problems.
3. 🟢The AFPUBLISHER file with only page 9 replaced by its PNG raster version (PDF 105 MB) is accepted without problems.
4. 🟢The AFPUBLISHER file with both 8 and 9 replaced by their PNG raster version (PDF 22 MB) is accepted without problems.
5. 🔴The original AFPUBLISHER version (the one that crashed with the two pages in vector format) gives in flatten PDF export a file of 668 MB.

It seems to me that the Amazon server software interprets the PDF according to an old version of the PDF. PDF/X is based on PDF versions 1.3 to 1.6, but either the reprocessed file exceeds the 650 MB limit or produces a poor visual result.