Graphics are not displayed until I zoom in

[PeterB.]

Hello,

I don't know if anyone else has this problem, at least I couldn't find anything.

For a long time, I have had the problem that individual graphics are not displayed in various documents in Affinity Publisher. The link shows as OK in Resource Manager, and I can open and edit the file with no problem.

The only way to get Affinity Publisher to display the graphic is to zoom in on the graphic. Then it suddenly appears. Sometimes it is enough if I just click on the graphic. Apparently it only happens with placed PDFs, Publisher or Designer documents, AI files - but not with JPGs or similar formats.

At first, I thought that maybe my network was defective, but all network cables are completely new, as are the switch and the server. So I'm ruling that out as the cause.

I made a screen video where you can see it.

My question is, does anyone else have this problem or can replicate this? Or does anyone have an idea what I could check to find out what's causing this?

Thanks!

[Callum]

Hi Peter B,

Does disabling Metal Compute acceleration in your apps performance preferences make any difference with this? If it doesn't does changing the problem images from linked to embedded solve this problem at all? If it does please could you try moving the images from your network to a location locally such as your desktop and then linking them to see if the issue occurs again?

Thanks
C

[PeterB.]

Hello Callum,

thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, none of the suggested settings changed anything. I made another video. Even if I set performance to "Software" nothing changes. When exporting, the images are there even if they are not displayed in Publisher.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can try.

[MikeTO]

Does the image display if you embed the image, save the document, close, and open it again?

If not, does the image display if you embed the image, zoom to view it, save the document, close, and open it again?

 

[PeterB.]

@MikeTOIf I follow your recommendation and embed the images, save the document and then close it, then open the document again, all the images load.

[MikeTO]

1 hour ago, PeterB. said:

@MikeTOIf I follow your recommendation and embed the images, save the document and then close it, then open the document again, all the images load.

That's great. I don't know what the source of the problem was but because embedding the image as Callum suggested didn't work I suspected the document wasn't saved with a usable low-res preview.

There's an unrelated issue I reported a while ago that isn't fixed yet (linked PDF set to Interpret doesn't render at high resolution until the layer is selected). The issue is similar in that the low-res preview isn't replaced until a trigger happens. For that bug selecting the layer is the trigger while for yours zooming in is the trigger.

My low res preview is correct, it's just that the object isn't rendered at high res when the layer visibility is set to on without selecting the layer. Your low res preview was blank for some reason.

Cheers

[Maxdanger]

I'm also experiencing this sort of behaviour on linked affinity documents.

I have a publisher document with multiple placed (all linked) affinity designer documents which use artboards as pages. When I open the publisher file it loads all of the placed AF documents, but the first page of each of them is always very pixelated until I zoom in. The other pages in the placed files render immediately; it's just the first pages which require zooming in on in order to render.

 

For me, changing the placement policy to embedded isn't an option because I make regular changes to the linked documents and I need these to be reflected in the publisher document.

[PeterB.]

I also occasionally have something similar, for example with placed logos. But the bad thing is that the logo is also exported as a pixel graphic if I don't zoom in first until the image is sharp. For a while, I also suspected that it only happened with Affinity Designer documents with artboards. Embedding is definitely not a solution, but I guess that wasn't the intention either.

[PeterB.]

@Callum I think I found a clue as to what might be causing the problem. If I set the pagebox of the placed afpub documents to TrimBox, then they are displayed directly. If, on the other hand, I use Maximum Content or Minimum Content, then the problem with not showing occurs.

But if I use TrimBox or BleedBox, then I have exactly the same problem as @Maxdanger and @MikeTO with the pixelated display, but only with placed afpub or afdesign files. As soon as I zoom in close enough (or click), the display becomes sharp. I assume that there is a rule in the programming at which zoom level or user behavior the placed graphic is re-rendered for a better display. And maybe that's where the problem lies.

If I export the graphic afpub document as a PDF and place it with the PageBox setting TrimBox, then the graphic is immediately displayed and sharp. Unfortunately there is another bug. If you place PDF files and set PDF Passthrough to Interpret, then the overprint settings of the PDF are not taken into account when exporting, but I often use Interpret because the display of the colors is then also optically correct. With passthrough it is always somehow too dark.

Maybe that helps a bit.

[Callum]

Hi Peter, would you be able to save your file as a .afpackage file and then upload a copy of it to the following DropBox link so I can try to replicate it here at my end and then log this with our developers?

[PeterB.]

@Callum ahm where can I find the link? 😅

[Callum]

Apologies it can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/request/61hpLiupvRWj8Wq6JwMi

[PeterB.]

Interesting... When I create a package and then open the Publisher document, everything seems to work. I have therefore created and uploaded a manual package for you (only a few pages). Please note that my customer's material is protected by copyright and must therefore be treated confidentially. Thanks for your efforts.

[EDIT] When you open the document and assign the links, everything seems to work fine. Then please save the document, quit Publisher and start it again. If you now open the document, you should be able to reproduce the error. Especially on page 3 and page 8.

Edited August 25, 2023 by PeterB.
additional information

[PeterB.]

@Callum were you able to reproduce the error?

[PeterB.]

Hello @Callum,

I now have the problem that a graphic (logo) that was not displayed and was also missing from the print file. I didn't notice it. A project has now been printed incorrectly and now I have to reprint it on my cost. That is not satisfying! Can you please check if this is reproducible for you and if there is a solution?

Thanks

[PeterB.]

@Callum @MikeTO @Maxdanger 

Just a quick note: I came across something quite by chance that could be causing the problem with the graphics not loading, or at least causing it significantly. And it could probably be the cause of a number of other problems (iCloud, etc.). Unless Serif has changed something about the way it handles networks since the last days.

I deactivated the Bonjour file service on my QNAP NAS because of a network conflict with an older Mac on the network. I then forgot to activate it again. And then I opened legacy documents where I knew I had to zoom in to load the graphics. Only this time the graphics loaded directly. Sometimes distorted, but at least they loaded.

And as soon as I selected Export in the menu, all the graphics were immediately straightened.

Maybe that will help you.

[PeterB.]

@Maxdanger If it is possible for you to test this on occasion, please let me know if it helped you as well.

[Maxdanger]

6 hours ago, PeterB. said:

@Maxdanger If it is possible for you to test this on occasion, please let me know if it helped you as well.

Happy to test, but can you let me know the steps to take? I've not done this before

[PeterB.]

That depends on your NAS system. With QNAP, it would be Control Panel > Service Discovery > Register Bonjour > remove the check mark at Enable Bonjour Service. It may be that you then have to connect the server in the network manually via the IP address (command+k in finder).

[Maxdanger]

Ah OK I see, I don't use a NAS system so I don't think this is relevant to my set up.

My files are stored either locally on my machine or on iCloud and downloaded to my device when opened.

[PeterB.]

I'm afraid but I think the Bonjour service is essential for iCloud and can therefore not be deactivated, as far as I know. Maybe you're luckier than me, and Serif will check that.