PDF export ignores certain layers and effects, outputs wrong colors.

[GehrigBOTJ]

Hi there!

In my documents, I'm having an issue where publisher can output PNG, TGA, EXR etc all perfectly fine, but PDF is having issues.

I've tried literally every combination of settings I can think of in the export settings, and no matter what, certain layer effects are being ignored, as well as certain colors look like they're in the completely wrong color space. It shows up wrong even in the export preview window. 

I'm uploading the file. The problem is most prominent in the LOGLINE page, where a normal export to PNG looks fine, but when exporting to PDF (even choosing to raster all images) it looks orange. 

My guess is that something internally is rasterizing certain live filters incorrectly when exporting to PDF. 

Please advise! Thank you!

MarieDeck_General_v001.afpub

[SrPx]

For some reason, the 469 mb file arrives here corrupted in my side. Maybe it's too big for the forum. Or you were compressing it and only uploaded one part? Many pages are empty, but I could open the corrupted file. You might want to try in a server of yours, or a public Google drive link or something. Wetransfer  is free and pretty good  https://wetransfer.com   (the free version has no password protect, but you neither protected it here, so I guess it's fine).

On opening the file, it says "The file was truncated, but we could open an old version of the file. It is recommend to save as a new file".

Did you hit "open preflight" to check? It catches a bunch of errors (btw, a lot of grammar and typing errors, check that carefully, that's dangerous, commercially speaking ), among them, color profile errors. I'm not experienced in Publisher (AT ALL), but in  general in graphic design, and raster I try to flatten all effects as much as I can before exporting to PDF. Indeed, anything graphic only as one layer, rasterized, no fx, all "baked". I try to leave no graphic work for the person making the pub file. I work with a graphic profile for the document (I believe yours is in sRGB, linear(32bits)), and try all images to have been worked out in same color profile, or carefully converted previously to import (surely fine not to do so, always that your color profiles for the app, document and export are fine). And then I ensure the color profile to export is the right one in the PDF. In PDF/X, I typically use PDF/X-4 (but sometimes the company  tells you which is the only version they admit, and there are often surprises. PDF/X-1a, non PDF/X, even older...) and often export even in RGB (their RIP does the conversion). Other times in CMYK, and in the specific profile requested by the print company. It depends on the case and what is required. Check that you have color calibrated your monitor, that Publisher has the right color profiles in the preferences, the document color profiles, and check what icc profiles are you setting in the PDF export window. That's all I can think of. I don't see a difference between the pages and the export preview for the PDF, or hitting preview, so , might be the configuration of your publisher preferences in  matter of color, the document profile, and even your actual system color calibration for the monitor.

Or maybe I'm wrong and the file is perfect, and it's just due to arriving corrupted.

 

[SrPx]

I was able to do a fix to the logline page, and export only that. I somehow rasterized the text and that's not what I wanted, but it kept crashing and I don't know if its the several problems of the file, or that it downloaded corrupt, or actually the app's issues. So, I'm attaching here a tiny pdf export (edit, finally exported 2 files) in which I simply rasterized everything on that page except the text layers. ideally, the text to be kept as text (fonts embedded or provided), or as some ask for, even converted to outlines (ouch), which you can force in the export window (having  the fonts installed on that PC). As if it is all rasterized, text is going to pixelate horribly. I left the text layers out and all those live filters and fx layers, grouped and rasterized then the group, it exported without the orange issue, and I think looking as you pretended. So, might need to go doing such in all the pages, I don't know. Again, am no expert in publishing stuff neither Publisher. This tho is a super dirty export to test that the color could be fixed.

Edit, surely for not finding the fonts or whatever issue, it does rasterize the font layers when set rasterize only non compatible. So, setting rasterize nothing surely makes it a PDF/X-4 non compliant, but keeps the vectorial font edges (Acrobat Reader shows it).  You should look at it in depth (your large source file), so to provide all well, this is just a test with the orange problem. Logline2.pdf has the rasterize nothing thing. 

Edit: When eliminating all pages except the logline page, deleting then also the corrupted ones by the download, it does not crash anymore and lets me export.

Edit2: Yup, in the second fille the fx on the text are lost, and also the "Marie" layer. This has been a some seconds job, you will do it in detail.

logline.pdf logline2.pdf

[GehrigBOTJ]

Very much appreciate your doing all this to see if you can fix the issue.

I already have a workaround, I just export as a PNG, and then compile the PNG sequence into a PDF separately. Publisher only has the issue when exporting to pdf, and based on your trial and error, you found that to be the case as well. I'm not sure about the issues opening it, it's possible it uploaded corrupt. 

I know that rasterizing everything before export manually would work, but I'd like to avoid that step and just rasterize everything automatically as Publisher is supposed to be able to do. Thanks!

[SrPx]

Hey, if it works, it works!  

I was all the time thinking the PDF was for printing, but then I realized a lot of times PDFs are for screen only, the web, or download.  In that case, a pdf/x (which is more strict)  is not needed. Anyway, glad that you got it solved. 

[GehrigBOTJ]

Wouldn't say it's solved, I still think it's a bug worth looking into for Affinity, but thank you nonetheless  have a happy holidays!!