Maybe this needs to be a new topic: HELP!

[Peg Syverson]

Help! Publisher 2.2 is broken and freezes whenever I open my project. My project is in an advanced stage of development and I can't get Publisher to work at all. This work is completely lost. Yes, I've restarted the computer, uninstalled and reinstalled publisher, tried to open the recovery file, and also tried to not open the recovery file and nothing works. I'm really, really anxious about this. Please help. If my document is too large for Affinity, I need to know how to break it into more acceptable sizes. It is a book project with images. A LOT OF WORK HAS BEEN DONE IN LAYING OUT AND EDITING THIS DOCUMENT THAT CANNOT BE RECOVERED. Please help!

[MikeTO]

Hi Peg, I'm sorry to hear that.

1. Are you using macOS or Windows? Which version of the operating system?
2. Where is the document stored, in the cloud, on a network drive, or on your local computer in a folder that is not synced to the cloud?
3. By "freezes", do you mean it just says "loading" and never finishes or do you mean the mouse pointer is literally frozen? I ask this because there's a known issue with macOS Sonoma and Publisher 2.2.0 which causes documents to take an extremely long time (an hour or more instead of seconds). Those experiencing this issue have generally reported that if they leave it the document will eventually open although it may take hours and after that all of their documents open normally again.
4. Are the images in the document embedded or linked? If they are linked, can you try renaming the folder containing the images and then opening the document? That will cause Publisher to be unable to find them. If you're prompted to locate the files, decline the opportunity and then save the document until a new name. Close that document, rename the folder containing the images back to its original name, and re-open the document to see if it will load now.

Good luck!

[Peg Syverson]

I'm using MacOS, and the latest version (Sonoma 14). The document is on the computer, but synced to the cloud. 

What happens is I open the document and immediately the cursor is unable to execute anything, scrolling is frozen, selection of objects is frozen and the only thing I can do is force quit. Then I restart the computer and the same thing repeats. I am glad to hear that it may just be a question of leaving the document open longer. The images are linked. Thanks for the tip about the images. I will try that. This Affinity document is a book with two parts, one of which is 1.7 MB and the other is 3.3 MB, and that is with images linked. But there are a lot of images. It's a kind of narrative history with photos. 

Thanks so much for your speedy response!

[MikeTO]

Peg, here's more information on the Sonoma loading issue in case it applies to you.

 

[Peg Syverson]

Thanks, Mike! I think your fix of renaming the images folder, saving the document under a different name and then reverting the image folder name worked! I really appreciate the support! 

[Peg Syverson]

Unfortunately this problem keeps recurring. Sometimes Affinity opens the file, then hangs. I've tried this fix and it somehow is not ultimately resolving this issue. 😬

[Peg Syverson]

It always has to be force-quit

2023-10-27-PART 2 LAYOUT.afpub

[MikeTO]

I'm able to open this file without issues in 2.2. I suspect it's still an issue with the linked files and that you'll need to rename the images folder, open without the images, and then relink them.

The problem is likely with invitation.pdf since these sorts of issues usually occur with embedded pdf and afdesign files. Once you have the file open you could try embedding that PDF rather than linking it.

Good luck.

[Peg Syverson]

Thanks, I'll try this! Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. 

[Peg Syverson]

Update: I can't replace that PDF, nor can I delete that spread, and even from the resource manager it refuses to replace or delete that file. UGH. I created a jpeg of it, but even still that page is like it is locked.

[MikeTO]

28 minutes ago, Peg Syverson said:

Update: I can't replace that PDF, nor can I delete that spread, and even from the resource manager it refuses to replace or delete that file. UGH. I created a jpeg of it, but even still that page is like it is locked.

You can delete it from the document if you rename the images folder, open the document, and don't relink the images.

I've deleted it from the document for you.

2023-10-27-PART 2 LAYOUT.afpub

[jsfremont]

I have been exporting large Publisher documents to pdf for several years.  All of a sudden I have a 74 page document of approx 210MB that will not export.  The process begins as usual but the process of generating a preview keeps going for several hours and when I give up and try exporting the file I receive the message 

An error occurred while exporting to:

/Users/macuser/Documents/SIR Happenings/2023 November Happenings/2023 NovemberHappenings .pdf

I have attempted to simply export the first 36 pages and the same thing happens.  This newsletter is supposed to go out next week.  Help!

[Peg Syverson]

Thank you so much, Mike! I did just as you said, but still it would not allow me to delete that file (nor do anything else in the document) and would hang until force quit. Thanks for fixing this! 

[jsfremont]

I finally was able to export the pdf by separating it into several pieces ie Pages 1-20, 21-30, 32-45 and 46-76.  There were two pages that I couldn't export and had to print the pages as pdf's and then I put the whole document together.

[Peg Syverson]

On 10/27/2023 at 4:25 PM, MikeTO said:

You can delete it from the document if you rename the images folder, open the document, and don't relink the images.

I've deleted it from the document for you.

2023-10-27-PART 2 LAYOUT.afpub

Argh. That seemed to fix it, then it started freezing again.I replaced the pdf with a jpeg. It sometimes allows me to make a bunch of edits, then freezes, and I lose the edits. Sometimes it is just freezing when I open it and try to do something. I've disconnected the image files by renaming the image folder, and created a new copy of the file, opened it and not located resources, and it has not helped. Is the file too big for Affinity? I am worried about losing all this work. 

2023-10-30-PART 2 Draft.afpub

[Peg Syverson]

Argh. That seemed to fix it, then it started freezing again.I replaced the pdf with a jpeg. It sometimes allows me to make a bunch of edits, then freezes, and I lose the edits. Sometimes it is just freezing when I open it and try to do something. I've disconnected the image files by renaming the image folder, and created a new copy of the file, opened it and not located resources, and it has not helped. Is the file too big for Affinity? I am worried about losing all this work.  

2023-10-30-PART 2 Draft.afpub

[MikeTO]

Do you have hardware acceleration disabled? Go to Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings and click Performance. Turn off Hardware Acceleration > Enable Metal and change Display to OpenGL.

 

[Peg Syverson]

Very technical. I did turn off hardware acceleration, but for display the word metal is grayed out and the only check box is for use integrated GPU. What do you think? Thanks for responding, by the way, I really appreciate it.

[Peg Syverson]

Do I need to increase the RAM Usage limit?It is currently at 16384 MB. 

[Dan C]

Thanks for your file provided @Peg Syverson, though I'm not seeing the same issue with your document here.

I do note that your linked images show as 'Linked (Remote)', which is usually reserved for files in a Cloud location - such as Dropbox etc.

Can you please confirm for me, where are these files being linked from on your mac? Is this a 'Cloud' or 'Synced' folder location?

Depending on the above, I'd recommend either:

• Moving the Linked files to a non-cloud/'synced' location and relinking these files from a non-remote folder.
   
• Converting the Linked documents to Embedded, then use File > Save As and save the document as a separate Affinity Publisher file.
  Open this Embedded version and try editing the document once again.

Does this improve the behaviour for you please?

14 hours ago, Peg Syverson said:

Do I need to increase the RAM Usage limit?It is currently at 16384 MB. 

This will depend on how much RAM is available in your system - can you please provide a screenshot of your settings in Affinity under Affinity Publisher 2 > Settings > Performance and confirm the specs of your mac for me?

[Peg Syverson]

Yes, I do have the linked files on the Cloud. I don't think I can embed them because the document would be probably unwieldy for Affinity to manage. I could move them to the Mac though if you think that will help. In Affinity should I check Use only integrated GPU, or leave it on Open GL?

I'm sorry to seem so clueless, but I am new to Affinity, and this is a big project. I really want to get it to work. 

[MikeTO]

Your settings are good now, they're the same as mine.

[Peg Syverson]

Bless you, Mike, and thanks for the PDF manual! What a great effort. I am moving files out of the Cloud and onto the Mac right now. It's going to take a long time...

I really appreciate your expertise and responsiveness!

Peg

[Dan C]

56 minutes ago, Peg Syverson said:

Yes, I do have the linked files on the Cloud. I don't think I can embed them because the document would be probably unwieldy for Affinity to manage. I could move them to the Mac though if you think that will help.

Thanks for confirming that for me - the Affinity document file size will be larger once saved with embedded documents, but the application should still be able to handle this.

I'd recommend trying a local location for the Linked documents first, and if you're still having trouble you can then try embedding the resources and saving as a separate file (so you can return to the Linked version if required).

58 minutes ago, Peg Syverson said:

In Affinity should I check Use only integrated GPU, or leave it on Open GL?

As Mike suggests, I'd leave your Performance settings as they are - as these should be best for your workflow.

59 minutes ago, Peg Syverson said:

I'm sorry to seem so clueless, but I am new to Affinity, and this is a big project. I really want to get it to work. 

No problem at all, we're here should you need further assistance & happy to help