douglasrthomson Posted November 2, 2023 Posted November 2, 2023 Dear Affinity and fellow forum members I'm having issues exporting PDF vector artwork from Design and Publisher. I've attached example files to help explain. I've designed a "logo" in Designer (file:logo) that is all vector curves. It has a transparency fade within the design. When I export as a 'Digital - small file size' PDF from either Designer or Publisher, the areas featuring the transparency fade rasterise. This happens with all the PDF export options. If I export as SVG, nothing is rasterised. If I open the SVG in Adobe Illustrator and then save as a PDF, the resulting PDF has nothing rasterised. If I set up a Publisher document (file: Publisher logo) and then... Import/place the native Designer file, and also Copy and Paste from Designer into Publisher, the fades rasterise. If I place the original SVG or the Illustrator generated PDF, everything is fine and nothing is rasterised. (file: Publisher logo.PDF) This is a new issue to me. I asked a fellow designer on a different computer to replicate this and he has exactly the same problems - so it's not unique to my set-up. Any thoughts as to what the problem could be? I have a project where there are dozens of 3rd party logos plus graphics with fades etc and I don't want to have to save them individually, export them as SVG, eps or open and save from illustrator, and then re-import them. Pretty sure I didn't have this issue in v1. Many thanks Logo.afdesign Logo_Export_from_Designer.pdf Logo_Export_from_illustrator.pdf Logo.svg Publisher logo.afpub Publisher logo.pdf Quote
Hangman Posted November 2, 2023 Posted November 2, 2023 Hi @douglasrthomson, When selecting the 'Digital - small file size' preset in the PDF export window add a check mark against 'Allow advanced features' towards the bottom of the available options and you should find the file exports without rasterising the transparency fade... Quote Affinity Designer 2.6.3 | Affinity Photo 2.6.3 | Affinity Publisher 2.6.3 MacBook Pro M3 Max, 36 GB Unified Memory, macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Magic Mouse HP ENVY x360, 8 GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 5 2500U, Windows 10 Home, Logitech Mouse
douglasrthomson Posted November 2, 2023 Author Posted November 2, 2023 29 minutes ago, Hangman said: Hi @douglasrthomson, When selecting the 'Digital - small file size' preset in the PDF export window add a check mark against 'Allow advanced features' towards the bottom of the available options and you should find the file exports without rasterising the transparency fade... This seems to work (I'll do some other tests). Has Affinity export always been like this? Thank you very much for your help. Quote
douglasrthomson Posted November 2, 2023 Author Posted November 2, 2023 Also, why - by default - isn't allow advanced features switched to on? Quote
Hangman Posted November 2, 2023 Posted November 2, 2023 12 minutes ago, douglasrthomson said: Also, why - by default - isn't allow advanced features switched to on? I'm guessing because of the reasons highlighted here... douglasrthomson 1 Quote Affinity Designer 2.6.3 | Affinity Photo 2.6.3 | Affinity Publisher 2.6.3 MacBook Pro M3 Max, 36 GB Unified Memory, macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Magic Mouse HP ENVY x360, 8 GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 5 2500U, Windows 10 Home, Logitech Mouse
douglasrthomson Posted November 3, 2023 Author Posted November 3, 2023 Actually, thinking about it, why can I export an SVG perfectly, re-import it and then export it placed within a PDF - without problem. But without exporting as an SVG, the native vector files are unsupported by the PDF exporter. This doesn't make sense. Quote
walt.farrell Posted November 3, 2023 Posted November 3, 2023 58 minutes ago, douglasrthomson said: But without exporting as an SVG, the native vector files are unsupported by the PDF exporter. I don't think I understand that comment. From the prior discussion, wasn't it explained that they are supported, but you need to "Allow Advanced Features" in your Export settings? Quote -- Walt Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases PC: Desktop: Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Laptop: Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU. Laptop 2: Windows 11 Pro 24H2, 16GB memory, Snapdragon(R) X Elite - X1E80100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM) 12 Core CPU 4.01 GHz, Qualcomm(R) Adreno(TM) X1-85 GPU iPad: iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 18.5, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard Mac: 2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sequoia 15.5
douglasrthomson Posted November 3, 2023 Author Posted November 3, 2023 1 hour ago, walt.farrell said: I don't think I understand that comment. From the prior discussion, wasn't it explained that they are supported, but you need to "Allow Advanced Features" in your Export settings? Hi Walt, thanks for your reply. Apologies, I realise I'm not being clear. What I don't understand is, if I "DON"T Allow Advanced Features", why does the SVG embedded file render perfectly within the PDF - but the native vector graphics rasterise themselves? Especially as the SVG is exactly the same vector artwork. None of my other vector software, by default, rasterises its vectors on PDF export. Vectorstyler doesn't, Illustrator doesn't. Designer and Publisher do. I cannot actually get Illustrator to export the file with any rasterisation. I've tried... and it never rasterises the vectors. Quote
douglasrthomson Posted November 3, 2023 Author Posted November 3, 2023 Sorry for going on about this. Was the 'Allow Advanced Features' setting always 'on' by default in Affinity 1x? I was looking at some old artwork PDFs generated in Designer v1 (that include transparency and gradients) and they are fine. I know I never selected 'Allow Advanced Features' previously. Quote
loukash Posted November 3, 2023 Posted November 3, 2023 On 11/2/2023 at 12:55 PM, douglasrthomson said: I've designed a "logo" in Designer (file:logo) that is all vector curves. It has a transparency fade within the design. Keep in mind that if exported as PDF/X-1 or PDF/X-3 (as required e.g. by many print houses), transparency and anything right below will be rasterized no matter what. If you want to keep it full vector at any cost, use a regular opaque gradient from color to white. douglasrthomson 1 Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Sonoma > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 18 > Affinity v2
Dean C Posted November 4, 2023 Posted November 4, 2023 3 hours ago, douglasrthomson said: Sorry for going on about this. Was the 'Allow Advanced Features' setting always 'on' by default in Affinity 1x? I was looking at some old artwork PDFs generated in Designer v1 (that include transparency and gradients) and they are fine. I know I never selected 'Allow Advanced Features' previously. I have both Designer v1 and v2 installed, and when I examine the PDF export options I see that, for me, both versions have the "Allow Advanced Features" item selected. I don't recall having ever changed this setting. So... 🤷♂️ douglasrthomson 1 Quote
douglasrthomson Posted November 4, 2023 Author Posted November 4, 2023 9 hours ago, Dean C said: I have both Designer v1 and v2 installed, and when I examine the PDF export options I see that, for me, both versions have the "Allow Advanced Features" item selected. I don't recall having ever changed this setting. So... 🤷♂️ Curiouser and curiouser! Quote
Hangman Posted November 4, 2023 Posted November 4, 2023 10 hours ago, Dean C said: I have both Designer v1 and v2 installed, and when I examine the PDF export options I see that, for me, both versions have the "Allow Advanced Features" item selected. I don't recall having ever changed this setting. By default, in both v1 and v2 the 'Allow Advanced Features' status for the built-in PDF Presets are set as follows: Allow Advanced Features - On PDF (for print) PDF (press ready) PDF/X-1a:2003 PDF/X-3:2003 PDF/X-4 Allow Advanced Features - Off PDF (for export) PDF (digitial - small size) PDF (digital - high quality) PDF (flatten) walt.farrell 1 Quote Affinity Designer 2.6.3 | Affinity Photo 2.6.3 | Affinity Publisher 2.6.3 MacBook Pro M3 Max, 36 GB Unified Memory, macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Magic Mouse HP ENVY x360, 8 GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 5 2500U, Windows 10 Home, Logitech Mouse
David Allen Posted January 22, 2024 Posted January 22, 2024 Further to this I've just had an issue sending a job to print from Publisher and I hadn't noticed the linked PDF logo had been rasterized. Taking a second look, and zooming right in, within Publisher, it is not displaying as vector either. So this is not just when being output to PDF. Reading the above, I thought maybe my logo was not saved correctly in the first place, so I re-saved the logo using PDF/X-3:2003 and noted, Allow Advanced Features, was check on by default. Same rasterized display. Baffled and in a hurry, I resaved the logo as what I though was considered old school EPS, and problem solved. The logo is basic flat white text converted paths, a box and a line on a flat blue background. Nothing clever there. Any suggestions? Attached is a screenshot from Publisher of a logo section of the PDF logo placed above the EPS. Quote
Hangman Posted January 22, 2024 Posted January 22, 2024 Hi @David Allen, 13 minutes ago, David Allen said: Further to this I've just had an issue sending a job to print from Publisher and I hadn't noticed the linked PDF logo had been rasterized. Any chance you can upload a test Publisher file along with the Placed PDF demonstrating the issue, even if the file only includes the letter 'n' so we can take a closer look... I've just tested it and it appears to be working without issue... If you're not able to upload a sample file could you confirm the Publisher Colour Settings you're using and whether you're exporting the Publisher file using the PDF/X-3 preset as well or a different export preset? 13 minutes ago, David Allen said: Taking a second look, and zooming right in, within Publisher, it is not displaying as vector either. This is likely because you're viewing the Placed PDF in Passthrough Mode, if you change it to Interpret (from the toolbar) does it now display as a Vector? Quote Affinity Designer 2.6.3 | Affinity Photo 2.6.3 | Affinity Publisher 2.6.3 MacBook Pro M3 Max, 36 GB Unified Memory, macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Magic Mouse HP ENVY x360, 8 GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 5 2500U, Windows 10 Home, Logitech Mouse
David Allen Posted January 22, 2024 Posted January 22, 2024 1 hour ago, Hangman said: Passthrough Mode, if you change it to Interpret (from the toolbar) does it now display as a Vector? Hello Hangman thank you for the assist. Well I'll be ....! Thank you! I have never used or have any idea what Passthrough or Interpret is, but that is the solution for display and output. Interesting before I messed with that setting, I noticed in the Designer master, saving as PDF, if I saved Selection Only, it was perfect. If I saved Whole Document, it remained rasterized. But both are fine after changing layer to Interpret. Some logo sections on a business card as examples. BC test logos placed Interpret.pdf BC test logos placed.afpub Logo test saved Selection Only.pdf Logo test saved Whole Document.pdf Quote
Hangman Posted January 22, 2024 Posted January 22, 2024 Hi @David Allen, Many thanks for your files... Exporting your Publisher file with both Placed PDF logos set as Passthrough should still export without issue (see attached), it's usually just how the placed logos appear in Publisher when using Passthrough where you would see a difference, i.e., the Passthrough version 'should' display rasterised but export correctly as vector... Both the version saved using 'Whole Document' and the version saved using 'Selection Only' appear rasterised in Publisher when using Passthrough only to differing degrees... I can only assume that has something to do with the dimensions of the two documents... Publisher File with Placed PDF Logos both set to Passthrough Exported Using PDF/X-3 Preset ton.pdf Screen Recording Showing Both Logos Set Using PDF Passthrough Note the visual differing degrees of Rasterisation between the two files which I'm assuming is down to the differing dimensions of the two files... ton.mp4 Quote Affinity Designer 2.6.3 | Affinity Photo 2.6.3 | Affinity Publisher 2.6.3 MacBook Pro M3 Max, 36 GB Unified Memory, macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Magic Mouse HP ENVY x360, 8 GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 5 2500U, Windows 10 Home, Logitech Mouse
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