Problems with Placed PDFs and buggy PDF Export

[mojoclub]

I also have a massive problem in V2 with placing PDF files. I'm working on a latest generation MacBook Air. The file has 100 pages. Placed PDFs come once over master pages and combined on the pages themselves with "transfer". Affinity has program breaks, freezes and then crashes. Working is not possible. And the PDF export PDFX/3 is not usable. Placed PDFs sometimes render as images and sometimes not. PDFs must be placed with me as a transfer. Various export settings were tested. Unfortunately, the behavior is not understandable. I just wanted to let you know that placed PDFs have massive problems in the current version.

[Hangman]

Hi @mojoclub,

There appear to be all sorts of issues with placed PDF files in Publisher V2 which have now been logged as bugs...

Are you using v2.1.0 or v2.1.1 and which version of macOS are you running?

With regards to exporting to PDF/X-3, do you know which PDF version is used by your placed PDF files, is it a mixture or are they all also PDF/X-3 files. Are you exporting to PDF/X-3 for a particular reason?

Could you also elaborate on what you mean by "PDFs must be placed with me as a transfer"...

[mojoclub]

I'm using: Publisher V 2.1.1
MacOS: MacBook Air M2, 2022, Ventura Version 13.4.1 (22F82)

The placed PDFs are all PDF/X3 files. The PDFs were created by myself in Acrobat as PDF/X3 files. PDF X3 is currently the best version for us to work with our printers. That's why we use PDF-X3 files.

There are two modes in Publisher: Transfer and Interpret. When interpreting, Publisher tries to "read" the PDF. And this often results in a lot of nonsense (fonts are not available and are then displayed incorrectly; vectors are displayed distorted, etc.). When interpreting, you cannot be sure that the PDF is 100% identical to the original. That's why I'm using the Transfer-Mode.

And by the way: I can't believe nobody has reported this bug yet: I can't move selected elements (text elements, graphic elements) in Publisher on Mac using the cursor keys on the keyboard. If I use the cursor keys (left, right, up and down arrows) on the keyboard, nothing happens. The item does not move. That was already in the very first V2.x version. In V1 this bug is not.

Actually, I am currently no longer working in the V2 version. I'm back to the V1 again. With the documents that I still had as a V1 version. For me, the V2 is so useless that I even briefly thought about InDesign again. Also the screen design is worse for me than in V1. Many functions are so nested and implemented in small parts that it is very difficult to use them (mouse-clicks). Example: Document Settings -> Dimensions -> The icon for concatenating width and height is a disaster for me. You have to click on it exactly. And it's so small...

Sorry for everything. But I had to get rid of my V2 disappointment.

[Hangman]

47 minutes ago, mojoclub said:

There are two modes in Publisher: Transfer and Interpret.

That makes sense, in the English version they're referred to as Passthrough and Interpret (so just the way it translates)...

 

49 minutes ago, mojoclub said:

There are two modes in Publisher: Transfer and Interpret. When interpreting, Publisher tries to "read" the PDF. And this often results in a lot of nonsense (fonts are not available and are then displayed incorrectly; vectors are displayed distorted, etc.). When interpreting, you cannot be sure that the PDF is 100% identical to the original. That's why I'm using the Transfer-Mode.

Interpret mode relies on you having the fonts installed on your system, which, if you created the files yourself on the same Mac you should have so Interpret mode shouldn't be an issue. If you created the PDFs on a different Mac and you are placing them in Publisher without the fonts installed then yes, you will see font substitutions and issues with non-embedded graphics which is the reason Transfer (Passthrough) exists, so you can place PDFs from different sources while maintaining the look of the original file...

 

On 6/30/2023 at 11:15 AM, mojoclub said:

And the PDF export PDFX/3 is not usable.

What specifically about the PDF/X-3 export isn't working, Placed PDF/X-3 files using Transfer (Passthrough) mode should export correctly so long as they meet the PDF/X-3 specification.

 

54 minutes ago, mojoclub said:

And by the way: I can't believe nobody has reported this bug yet: I can't move selected elements (text elements, graphic elements) in Publisher on Mac using the cursor keys on the keyboard. If I use the cursor keys (left, right, up and down arrows) on the keyboard, nothing happens. The item does not move. That was already in the very first V2.x version. In V1 this bug is not.

The keyboard cursor keys will only work here on individual elements within the PDF if you are editing the PDF using Edit Document in the toolbar but in doing so you are then back to Interpret Mode, so if you don't have the relevant fonts installed this will be an issue but the cursor keys will work in that instance, assuming you have Nudge distances set under the Tools Preferences (Settings)...

 

1 hour ago, mojoclub said:

Document Settings -> Dimensions -> The icon for concatenating width and height is a disaster for me. You have to click on it exactly. And it's so small...

I think this is all related to your screen resolution. There have been a number of people requesting that the UI scale based on screen size and screen resolution because when viewing the UI on a 4K screen, everything can appear very small...