Publisher V2: unexpected file size, export to pdf extremely slow

[Simon M]

Hi,

I have experienced some difficulties with my 60-pages-document.  Despite all the resources are linked, the file size fluctuates between 250 - 500 MB. All (mostly CAD) pdfs saved as .afpub files, "save history with document" option disabled. 

Document Setup: Facing A4, 300 dpi, RGB/8

Any ideas what could be changed to reduce the file size, please? As a result (I guess), I also cannot export to a pdf properly as the process takes ages to finish and the programme also freezes time to time.

Thanks for any tips in advance!
Best, Simon 

[MikeTO]

Hi Simon and welcome to the forum. Are you using Mac or Windows? Affinity 1.10 or 2.0?

There was a file size issue with 1.10 but regardless of which version you have please try this workaround to see if it will fix it.

1. Open the document
2. Open the Resource Manager (in v1 it's under Document and in v2 it's under Window)
3. Select all the linked resources
4. Make them embedded by clicking the button
5. Wait until it's done and then make them all linked again by clicking the button
6. Close the Resource Manager and then save the document under a new name - does that help make it smaller?

If this fixes it for you note that it's a temporary fix and the file size could creep up again. But you could do it again when required.

Cheers

[Simon M]

Hi and thanks for the tips! 
I am running Publisher 2.0.3 on Windows.

However, I have already tried the trick with the Resource manager before as I have found it here on Affinity forums, but it reduced the size just about 50 % and really temporarily (just for a few minutes of editing the file). I would expect reducing the size by at least 80-90 %, as there is no other content in the document but the linked one except a few pen lines and text.

Moreover I learned the pdfs and svgs might cause the increased Publisher size, could it be helpful then to save them in the affinity format and place in the Publisher document again?

Thanks, S. 

[MikeTO]

8 hours ago, Simon M said:

Moreover I learned the pdfs and svgs might cause the increased Publisher size, could it be helpful then to save them in the affinity format and place in the Publisher document again?

I don't know but it's worth a try to use another format although I suspect all document formats (pdf, svg, designer) should produce similar results. But I'd give it a go.

[Dan C]

Hi @Simon M,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums & our sincerest apologies for the delayed response here. We are exceptionally busy following the release of V2 and we thank you for your continued patience and understanding here.

I can confirm that our team identified a few issues with file sizes increasing with Linked documents and these have been improved in version 2.0.4, with possible further improvements in our latest beta version, 2.1.

If you haven't already, I'd recommend updating to 2.0.4 and using File > Save As with your Publisher document in this version to save a copy of your file with all superfluous data trimmed.

Equally, you may wish to try our 2.1 beta with a copy of your Publisher document, to see if this provides even further improvements. You can find out how to join the beta program here - 

I hope this helps

[Simon M]

Hi @Dan C,
thank you for your reply and useful tips. The transfer to the beta version 2.1.0. really helps, however, the file size is still quite high (it has dropped from about 380 to 300 MB only). I am still not sure if this is a standard for a 53-page-long document (about 26 spreads, 300 dpi, A4).
Anyway, I really appreciate the beta version is a progress in this issue.

Best,
Simon

[Riko]

Hey to all,

so i have a similar problem but a little bit different.

 

(Working on Publisher V2 with a MacBookPro, latest MacOs)

 

I want to publish a book and i put everything in a publisher document. I am working on that document since december, everything worked fine. Four weeks ago i exported the whole document as an PDF, also this worked without Problems.

Now i changed a few things for the editor (like the distance between the Figures and the text), and i wanted to send an example of my work (50 pages) to the editor as an PDF for control.

 

But....

 

....Publisher is not exporting.

I waited for about 1,5 hours and there is no progress.

 

but the File is growing and growing:

 

 

as you can see in the screenshot, my publisher file went up to about 80 GB, though the file is small:

 

 

What i am supposed to do? Buy an Adobe licence and do everything with InDesign?

I mean, if the Problem would have grown slowly i could have make the document smaller, or i could have changed to adobe ealier, but now, at the end of the work the programm is not exporting is really annoying. I thought i need just 5 more minutes to export my document, but since hours i am trying and it is not working.

I also tried to embed all the figures, but this did not help. Is there any solution for my Problem? I hope there is another way than switching to adobe and do all the work again.

Best regards,

Riko

PS: I got the latest version of Affinity Publisher:

 

 

[MikeTO]

@Riko You should definitely force quit Publisher if you haven't already. Is the problem repeatable after restarting macOS?

What settings are you using in the Export window?

A problem might be with a linked resource. If the problem still occurs, restart macOS, open the file, go to the Resource Manager, select all the resources, choose Embed, wait for it to finish, and then click Make Linked (the same button). Save the file under a new name and then try to export again. I don't know that this will fix it but it's worth a try until somebody suggests a better idea.

Good luck.

[Riko]

@MikeTO thanks for your help! i tried several times, always i had to force quit publisher, the problem is repeatabe after restarting macOS.

 

I tried with several settings in the export window, but the problem was always the same. 

I did the workflow with the resource manager but this did not help neither. 

I think the problem is inside Publisher, because something is preventing the export. Also the Checklist is not working on my file, probably the error lies somewhere there.

With time machine i opened an older version of my file, and with this it is working, it has the same size, but of course i worked on the document, so i changed something but i do not know which change causes my problem. ( i used for exporting the new file the same settings as for the old file but it did not work).

So with one older version it works, with another one it is not working but at least publisher is telling me there is a problem, i do not have to force quit it:

 

[Riko]

@MikeTO here is a screenshot of my settings: 

[MikeTO]

I don't think we'll be able to figure this out without seeing the file, so please wait for Serif to reply. They may provide you with a private Dropbox link to upload the file. It would be interesting to compare the "before" and "after" files to see exactly what is causing the issue.

If it were me, I'd make a backup copy of the working file and then experiment - slowly re-making the changes I'd previously made (if you can remember them all) and seeing which one caused the problem.

Good luck!

[Riko]

@MikeTO Thank you for your suggestions. i hope Serif will reply and help. I hope that i can finish this book with publisher somehow, saving a lot and trying to export every few hours. But for my next project either i will not do this by myself, or i will use another program.

[Dan C]

Sorry to hear you're having trouble and my apologies for the delayed response here @Riko!

I'd like to request a PDFlog file is generated on your machine, as this should hopefully provide further information as to why this PDF export is failing.

Please find our FAQ below on how to enable this log file -

Once generated, please attach the PDFlib.log to your reply here. Many thanks in advance  

[Kiandra]

Now I have the same  problem but a much smaller doc- earlier version of the doc were fine but now it's kind of the spining wheel of death generating preview  Mac os 14 with latest AFF Pub ver 2

[tomek]

Latest version of publisher (2.5.5), single page document takes many minutes to export to PDF (digital high quality). Not good.

[walt.farrell]

Can you share your .afpub document, @tomek? And a screenshot of your Export Settings?

What OS are you using?

[Kiandra]

I'd send my own report but I'm on a working holiday and away from my desktop- hopefully you guys find a solution

[tomek]

@walt.farrell Sure thing Walt. It's my CV. Perhaps you want to hire me

It's a single page document. You can download it from here: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0ecOSfLyVwjL6AoZO0ymzAujw#Tomek_Piatek_-_resume_2024_-_Tradify_2

It took about 7m minutes to export using standard PDF export preset (see attached screenshot). I've also attached the PDFLib log for anyone interested.

System stats:

Model Name:    Mac Studio
Memory: 64 GB
System Version:    macOS 15.0 (24A335)

Affinity version: 2.5.5

cheers,
-tomek

PDFLib.log

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, tomek said:

It's my CV. Perhaps you want to hire me

I'm just a user; sorry. And I've no needs to hire anyone

Thanks for sharing the document. I see you're using SF Pro. You shouldn't do that, as it is intended only for use in application interfaces and will cause issues exporting. For more info I would start with this topic:

Try replacing SF Pro with a font intended for use in a document, and see if that fixes your problem.

[tomek]

I can confirm that using SF Symbols in its font form kills Affinity. I can also confirm that converting SF Symbol glyphs to curves works just fine and restores fast exports.

Thanks to everyone involved in helping me trace this down. SF Symbols a great and I will continue to use them in my documents but clearly only in curve form.

[walt.farrell]

You're welcome.

[Kiandra]

Stillnon success even though I'm not using SF font or hyperlinks - any help would be appreciated

Breaking news - I exported my book as a jpeg then troe donce more with exporting as a pdf and voila success!

From breaking news to shattering- tried ti repeat export but have returned to "failed to export". If it helps even with pdf small size slected the preview takes forever to be generated. Plus I can't find a pdflogging option in my Performance tab under Settings on my Mac

 

OK did some detetive work and deleted pages until I found the culprit. An inmage that hadn't been rasterised. Did that and everything went smoothly.

[Godlessape]

Hi all, new to publisher2 and having this issue. First save of the doc was fine. Second was slow and now it's just ridiculous. Takes 30 min to export a 60odd page graphic novel and the resultant file is over 500Megs. Are you saying it's the font thats causing it? Im using an anime comic font. I tried the 'switching to embed linked files back to link linked files and resaving'. not working. Currently waiting for the file to count down backwards from 500megs at .2 megs per second. The thought that I have to go thru this if I just add an apostrophe somewhere is too much to bear. Please say there is a fix. (otherwise the app is wonderful)