Publisher 2.2 (and 2.1) artifacts when export rasterized PDF

[Blindfox0]

Hello, 

I'm having a huge problem exporting my files from Affinity Publisher 2. When I try to export my file with the whole thing rasterized (printer requirements, otherwise I have problems with transparency), Publisher generates big problems with the images in the file. I am attaching screenshots of what type of problems these are.

Currently, I am unable to reproduce even worse errors involving image corruption (overlaying noise like on a TV, artifacts, distortion, etc.).

Interestingly, exporting on a second Windows computer runs without any problems. Same on Publisher V1.

I also attach my export settings and the package with the file. With the settings I sent, the file was generated correctly. But previously I had completely unchecked JPG compression and then one or another problem appeared every time. So maybe there's a reason here somewhere?

Pkg.zip

[NathanC]

Hi @Blindfox0,

I've managed to download and export your file to PDF without any of the resulting artefacts/unusual image clipping shown in your screenshots. I would recommend changing the following settings under the app Settings > Performance and then seeing if it happens again in the future:

- Disable Hardware Acceleration (the last checkbox)

- Set 'Display' to 'OpenGL'

after making these alterations, close the interface and restart the app for the changes to take effect.

[Blindfox0]

Thank you, I will definitely try it today. I just want to make sure my performance doesn't drop. Because it sounds like she's about to fall apart.

EDIT

Ok, @NathanC, you were right. Here's what I got on each setting.

Hardware Acceleration off, OpenGL - without problems
Hardware Acceleration off, Metal - without problems
Hardware Acceleration on, Metal - one big pile of...

So now i know how to deal with this problem. That's a lot. But still want to know, why i can't use full potential of software i bought.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Blindfox0
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[NathanC]

It's good to hear that there's a configuration that prevents the issue. It's difficult to get into specifics on a cause but on certain Hardware and software configurations Hardware Acceleration can cause rendering problems, this may be something user environment related, a 3rd party app interfering, or even the Hardware itself. You could always try creating a separate temporary MacOS user to try with H/A enabled but it isn't guaranteed to work unfortunately.

https://affinity.help/publisher2/English.lproj/pages/Extras/hardwareAcceleration.html

[Blindfox0]

Thanks. Any known issues with 3rd apps so far?

I have MacBook Air M1 2020, 16GB RAM, 8 cores of CPU and GPU.

[NathanC]

There is a list of known third party apps which cause issues in the thread below, though most if not all only apply to Windows.

 

[Blindfox0]

Ok, so here what i found.

On H/A off, Metal - the application was very unstable. Export was fine, but there were crashes every now and then.

H/A off, OpenGL - everything looks fine. App running smoothly, without crashes. Export looks ok. There was one crash during over 3 hours of work, but fortunately everything was saved.

Turning off everything in the background didn't help. Same as creating a clean user.

I haven't noticed that the application on OpenGL runs noticeably slower than on Metal. And my file is over 300MB, 40 pages and several hundred images of bottles inside.

For now I'm leaving it as it is, I'm waiting for future updates and I hope it will work as it should. For now, although I really like using Publisher, I must say that InDesign is more stable. Although less comfortable.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Blindfox0
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