PDF export doesn't work and Affinity Publisher is buggy after I try

[Hansalord]

Hello there,

I am using a test version of Publisher 2 and want to export a pdf from a .idml file. It is type only, no pictures.

When I push the "Export" button the export window disappears but no pdf is created. If I try again the export window doesn't open.

In one instance it opened again but the mac "Beachball of death" showed and Publisher didn't respond at all anymore.

Any ideas? Is the test version a "full" version or are there export limitations?

Thank you in advance.

[Hangman]

Hi @Hansalord and welcome to the forums,

The trial version is a full version so you shouldn’t experience any issues exporting your file to a pdf.

Are you happy to upload your IDML file so we can take a look to see if there is anything obvious causing the problem you’re experiencing?

[Hansalord]

1 minute ago, Hangman said:

Hi @Hansalord and welcome to the forums,

The trial version is a full version so you shouldn’t experience any issues exporting your file to a pdf.

Are you happy to upload your IDML file so we can take a look to see if there is anything obvious causing the problem you’re experiencing?

Sure thing, the file is attached...

 

Empty 4_4 Tab.idml

[Hangman]

Hi @Hansalord,

Thanks for the file... a couple of things, there are two linked PDF files which I obviously don't have but would ideally need to test properly...

And can I confirm whether the font you're using, Overpass Mono, is the variable font version from Google Fonts? If yes, then one thing not currently supported in Affinity apps is variable fonts so that is a possible issue, though shouldn't prevent you from exporting the file to pdf... If not can also you confirm the source for the font?

As the file stands, minus the linked pdf's and font the file exports without issue to pdf so potentially the file is okay but without the other elements to test it's difficult to know what may be causing the issue you're seeing.

[Hansalord]

Hi @Hangman,

first and foremost thank you for taking the time for my issue. 
The pdf files aren't in my belongings anymore, I will take them out of the file and see if that changes anything. That normally shouldn't be an issue though.
The font is indeed from google fonts, whether it is variable or not I can't tell you. 

One last question: What also doesn't work is saving this file as an affinity document. I go to "Save as" give in the file name and click "Save".

The window disappears but no file is saved. Is this a known issue?

[Hangman]

Hi @Hansalord,

It may be worth trying a Publisher factory reset by holding the Ctrl key while launching the app and clicking the Clear button when the Clear User Data window appears leaving the default options checked.

Initially it sounds more like an app related issue if you can’t export or save the file.

I’d give that a go and see if it makes any difference and let us know how you get on.

[Oufti]

4 hours ago, Hansalord said:

What also doesn't work is saving this file as an affinity document. I go to "Save as" give in the file name and click "Save".

The window disappears but no file is saved. Is this a known issue?

Could it be related to some network/cloud storage issue?

[Hansalord]

No, I store everything on the internal drive...

[Hansalord]

10 hours ago, Hangman said:

Hi @Hansalord,

It may be worth trying a Publisher factory reset by holding the Ctrl key while launching the app and clicking the Clear button when the Clear User Data window appears leaving the default options checked.

Initially it sounds more like an app related issue if you can’t export or save the file.

I’d give that a go and see if it makes any difference and let us know how you get on.

So, I just did the reset but it didn't seem to help.

I just did the following:

- Opened up a new document

- Copied one page of type into the new document

- Tried to export that single page as a pdf

- pdf was not created

- after that I could not mark the type in the document anymore

- straight after that Affinity hung up and has to be force closed

 

This has happened a few times. I would love to figure out what is going wrong as I really want to use Affinity over InDesign.

[Hangman]

Hi @Hansalord,

This is all very strange... Which version of macOS are you using?

A couple of other things to try...

1. Disable both the Overprint Mono and Overprint (TT) fonts and relaunch the file and try to export again.
2. Delete the mru.dat file while Publisher is closed, located here... /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Affinity Publisher 2 Beta/mru.dat and then try and export.

You may have to hold down the Option key and open the Go menu in the Finder to access the Library and then navigate to Application Support from there.

Other than that I'm hoping someone in the moderation team may have some ideas as I'm not having any issues with your file, I likewise copied and pasted one page into a new document and it exports without issue.

Out of interest, do you see the same issue when exporting to other file formats, e.g., png or jpeg?

[Hansalord]

Hi @Hangman,

 

I disabled the font and deleted the mru.dat file. Nothing changed.

I am running a MacBook Air with Big Sur 11.7.4.

 

[Hangman]

Hi @Hansalord,

Thanks for the update...

Are you able to make a quick screen recording showing the whole UI so we can see what is happening when you attempt to export to pdf?

[Hansalord]

Hi @Hangman,

 

here is a video of the process including the program hanging up at the end 😅

The alarms before exporting the pdf were only type errors and the type window being too big.

[Hangman]

Hi @Hansalord,

Thanks for the video, I can't see anything out of the ordinary here...

Does the same thing happen with a brand new empty document where you add a text frame, type a couple of words and then export it, i.e., a document not related to the one you're having issues with?

[Hansalord]

Hey @Hangman,

 

nope, didn't work. I also created a new file and tried to save it, but it wouldn't save a file and crashed again. 

Very strange and obviously unusable in this state. Would be nice if anybody else has any suggestions!

Thank you for sticking by and trying to resolve these issues!

[Hangman]

Hey @Hansalord,

At this stage I can only assume it is a system-related issue otherwise I think there would be loads of people reporting a similar problem but I'm really unsure what might be causing it.

Hopefully, some other people in the forum may have ideas of other things to try...

[Dan C]

Hi @Hansalord,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums & sorry to see you're having trouble here!

Having watched your screen recording and following the same steps with the document you've provided, I'm unfortunately not seeing the same issue occur currently.

Can you please try enabling PDFlib logging as outlined in the below post, then try exporting to PDF once again and attach the PDFLib.log file generated to your reply here for me?

Can you also please confirm for me, have you installed the Affinity Publisher 2 app trial from the Affinity Store, or from the Mac App Store?

Many thanks in advance

[Oufti]

My guess is that, in the System preferences > Security & Privacy, you need to authorise Affinity softwares to write in certain folders (or give it Global access to your disk via the other folder icon on the left). 

— But what seems strange to me is that, normally, you should have had a warning asking you to give Affinity access to that folder, ain't you?

Anyway, if needed, in the last post of this topic you will find additional explanations there about, Big Sur [en] screencapture and how to: 

 

[Hansalord]

Hi @Oufti,

 

thanks for the tip. I checked the preferences and I have given Affinity the authorization, so that was not the problem...

[Hansalord]

Hi @Dan C,

thanks for taking some time for my issue.

I downloaded my version of Publisher from the Affinity store.

I wanted to follow your instructions, but it seems that the primary volume on macOS is "read only". I can't create a "test" folder so I can't run PDFlib logging right now.

Any workaround you know of?

 

[Dan C]

3 hours ago, Hansalord said:

I wanted to follow your instructions, but it seems that the primary volume on macOS is "read only". I can't create a "test" folder so I can't run PDFlib logging right now.

You shouldn't need to create a folder called 'test' anywhere on your system, the steps provided for macOS uses your default 'Documents' folder to create this log file.

Please ensure you are following the macOS steps, not the Windows steps in the thread provided

[Hansalord]

@Dan C

 

Silly me! I managed to get the file. Please see attached.

PDFLib.log

[Hansalord]

Hey there @Dan C!

Did you have time to take a look at the .log file I uploaded?

 

[Dan C]

Apologies for the delayed response as I was not working this past weekend.

Thanks for providing this file for me - this shows that the PDF is being exported and created successfully, there are no issues or errors shown in this log file.

Is the application generating any crash reports? You can find how to locate these using the below FAQ -

If so, please attach a copy of the latest 3 reports for me.

As no other users are reporting this issue, it's possibly an issue with your macOS user account causing this. Can you please try creating a new, temporary user on your mac and then install the app, to see if the same issues occur?

Many thanks once again

[Hangman]

Hi @Hansalord,

Possibly a silly suggestion but, after exporting your pdf file what happens if you do a search for the filename you used for the pdf from the root level of your Mac HD, e.g., aaa as per your screen recording?