Placed PDF Files Causing Publisher to Become Non Responsive

[Hangman]

I'm unsure if this is system related or a possible bug but I'm experiencing a repeatable issue when placing a number of very basic pdf files in a Publisher 2.X document (both 2.1.0.1806 and 2.0.4) regardless of whether Hardware Acceleration is on or off.

This happens both when initially placing the pdf files and when replacing them using Resource Manager. A side effect also appears to be that the placed pdf files are at times displaying their colours incorrectly.

Publisher simply reaches a point where it becomes non-responsive by which I mean, I can still click on menus and view the menu content but I can no longer select layers or save the file using Cmd S (or via the File menu). There is no crash or crash report generated but I do end up having to force quit the app.

I'm not experiencing the issue in Publisher 1.10.6 which leads me to believe this could be a bug but I wonder if anyone would be willing to test on Mac and/or Windows.

There are 18 simple pdf files attached, placing them either each on an individual page or placing six per page eventually leads to the same issue (for me at least), the first sign of problems is usually when placing one of the pdf's results in the pdf being only partially drawn or not drawn at all on the canvas.

Once placed, assuming all is successful, the second test is to then use Resource Manager to replace each placed pdf one by one. To simplify the process I group renamed all the pdf files using Find and Replace in the Finder first to make it obvious which files had been replaced prior to Publisher becoming non-responsive. I found I could replace no more than one or two files at a time, before having to close Resource Manager and Save the Publisher file prior to replacing the next one or two files otherwise Publisher again became non-responsive and wouldn't allow me to save the document.

I'd be very interested to know if this is just an issue at my end or whether anyone see's the same or similar behaviour and likewise, if they do, whether they also see the issue with the placed files occassionally displaying colours incorrectly.

This feels very much like a memory issue... following the process above isn't putting any undue strain on my system so I'm wondering if it could be a v2 memory issue. I'd be keen to understand if anyone else experiences the same problem in v2...

Many thanks...

Placed PDF Files.zip

[MikeTO]

I'm unable to duplicate this issue with 2.1, I placed 10 of them on the same page and it worked fine for me.

This is a long shot, but is it possible a dialog is opening behind the main app window and that's why it appears to be locked up?

If you place a PDF onto the page, it just places it. If you place it onto the background pasteboard, it opens the PDF Options dialog. I wonder if that dialog is being opened but in the wrong stack order for you. Perhaps try dragging the main app window to one side to see if there's anything underneath?

[Hangman]

Hi Mike,

Many thanks for taking the time to try placing the pdf files…

There’s definitely no dialog window opening behind the main app window… in the course of trying to figure out what might be causing the issue I rebooted a few times, tried the same thing in 2.0.4 and 1.10.6…

For me, strangely I see the exact same problem in both 2.0.4 and 2.1.0 but not in 1.10.6 which places and replaces the files without issue.

I tried with brand new Publisher documents after rebooting and the same problem…

I can’t imagine it makes a difference but for reference my document ICC Profile is PSO Uncoated v3 (FOGRA52)… I’ll perhaps repeat using a different profile though I doubt that’s the problem.

If I were seeing the same problem in 1.10.6 I would be concerned it was an issue with my setup but I’m only seeing it in v2.

The only other thing that springs to mind is I’m running 2.0.4 alongside 2.1.0.1806, i.E., both retail versions side by side but not open at the same time so whether there is some sharing of resources involved I’m not sure…

Eveything to date has been placed directly on the canvas rather than the background.

I would perhaps say that you may need to place all 18 rather than just 10 as I started seeing screen redraw issues probably from around 10 onwards and once all 18 were placed trying to replace them via Resource Manager was almost impossible without Publisher going into non-responsive mode…

[MikeTO]

I placed them all at once on one page, split across 3 pages, I scaled them, I toggled linked/embedded, I changed my colour profile to match yours, etc. They just worked fine for me.

Did you try it with linked or embedded?

Don't worry about running 2.0.4 alongside 1806, that won't cause an issue. I often have multiple versions running at the same time. I only have 16GB of memory in my M1 Pro, too.

I doubt this will be of any value, but open the History panel and watch it when it locks up. Try to do things like drag select. Is anything being recorded? What about switching personas?

[Hangman]

Thanks for the update and for testing further, much appreciated… the placed files are embedded.

I’ll test again tomorrow and see if I can replicate in a screen recording.

I’ll see what the history panel is recording as well… it’s very obvious when Publisher becomes non-responsive as the placed pdf either doesn’t draw completely and sometimes not at all so you may just see the transform handles without content.

[Hangman]

Interestingly, when placing all 18 pdf's over three pages the issue isn't as bad, as in, I can replace them all (just about) before Publisher v2 becomes non-responsive (for me), however over 18 pages I get a repeat of the issue when attempting to replace the third pdf out of eighteen and it then continues roughly after every two pages...

By contrast, I don't see the issue in v1 where Publisher replaces the pdf's on all 18 pages without becoming non-responsive.

V2 - Publisher becomes non-responsive when replacing PDF files using Resource Manager

[Pauls]

I can recreate this so I'll get it logged - looks like some sort of thread locking problem

[Hangman]

Hi @Pauls,

Thanks for confirming (glad it wasn't just me) and thanks for logging...

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "App locks when replacing files" (REF: AF-35) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.3.0.2083".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Serif Info Bot to notify us.