Affinity Publisher 2.2.1 bug when exporting to PDF for printing

[Vegard70]

Mac mini 2018 (Intel), 32 GB Memory, 3 x 2 TB SSD, no storage capacity challenges

MacOS Ventura 14.5.2

AMD Radeon RX 580:

  Chipset Model:    AMD Radeon RX 580
  Type:    External GPU
  Bus:    PCIe
  PCIe Lane Width:    x4
  VRAM (Total):    8 GB
  Vendor:    AMD (0x1002)
  Device ID:    0x67df
  Revision ID:    0x00e7
  Metal Support:    Metal 3
  GPU is Removable:    Yes
  Displays:
LG HDR 4K:
  Resolution:    6016 x 3384
  UI Looks like:    3008 x 1692 @ 60.00Hz
  Framebuffer Depth:    30-Bit Colour (ARGB2101010)
  Main Display:    Yes
  Mirror:    Off
  Online:    Yes
  Rotation:    Supported
  Connection Type:    Thunderbolt/DisplayPort
LG HDR 4K:
  Resolution:    6016 x 3384
  UI Looks like:    3008 x 1692 @ 60.00Hz
  Framebuffer Depth:    30-Bit Colour (ARGB2101010)
  Mirror:    Off
  Online:    Yes
  Rotation:    Supported
  Connection Type:    Thunderbolt/DisplayPort

 

The project is a book of approximately 170 pages.

I use a repeating pattern containing a coloured angled shape and a dropcap, both with the same colour, as seen in the first image.

There are 17 occurences of these, out of which 16 convert perfectly ok. #9 fails, as seen on the second image. The failing page is No 86. The colour is missing from both the vertical fat line and the dropcap.

When bulk deleting pages (to create the tiniest possible file) ahead of the failing page, the Export almost always cahnges to successful. And the same happens when bulk removing pages following behind. So there is something about the environment of the failing page.

The enclosed two files (Publisher and PDF) are the results of careful pruning where the Export still fails.

And I discovered this when I arrived home from the printer with the finished results…

AFP Vålerenga 2023-10-10 Bug crop 9.afpub AFP Vålerenga 2023-10-10 Bug crop 9.pdf

[Dan C]

Welcome to the Affinity Forums @Vegard70 & thanks for your report!

I can confirm I'm able to replicate this behaviour here and it's certainly unlike any issue I've seen previously - as I'm seeing different export behaviour when exporting 'All Spreads' compared to 'All Pages' with this file.

Using 'All Pages', I see the same issue as yourself. Using 'All Spreads' I see Page 4 is now correct, but Page 2 shows the issue in reverse:

Equally, this does not seem to occur when unticking 'Honour Spot Colours' when exporting the file to PDF, which gives some indication of the cause of the issue here.

Inspecting the Master Pages for the document, on 'M_B Svart 2.0' I see some interesting properties.

Firstly the Rectangles have a Gradient-Stroke applied at 0pt width, which I'm unsure if this is required for the design.

Secondly, the Fill Gradient applied to these objects use the 'Global Rod' Global Colour Swatch for the black 'stop' in the Gradient - which is causing the strange behaviour outlined above. I'm not 100% certain how this has occurred in your file, as clearly the colour is displayed as black, but somehow is still assigned the Red spot colour.

Changing the Colour for this Gradient 'stop' resolves the issue from occurring on export, as shown below:

I'm not entirely sure how this has occurred in your file, as the Global Red colour should have been lost in this gradient - so I will be logging this with our development team now to be investigated further.

Do you recall any workflow choices in this file that may have resulted in this? Have you by chance copy and pasted Global Spot Colours from another file?

I hope this helps!

[Vegard70]

Thanks a lot for confirming the behaviour! I'm not crazy after all. And sorry about the late response. Life got in the way.

Quote

Do you recall any workflow choices in this file that may have resulted in this? Have you by chance copy and pasted Global Spot Colours from another file?

I have not used spot colours at all, only created globals.

My background concerning Affinity Publisher is zero. This is my first project. (I've written hundreds and hundreds of pages in Word though, but that's a completely different world.)

Also, whenever the word "recall" appears, I panic these days. I've been a programmer for 50 years, and my brain is simply not 25 anymore 😅

Concerning this particular construct, the upside down "L" shape with gradients, I spent a lot of time before it worked to my satisfaction. One thing I do remember is that I based it on a black/grey gradient template, which I tried to overlay with global colours. There were numerous failed attempts, but unfortunately I cannot remember the solution that finally worked.

I don't think I've "contaminated" my global swatch with colours from another file, but I know that I created and copied a sheet of all swatches existing in Photoshop. However, as far as I can recall (shudder) I never used any of these colours for my global swatch.

Quote

Firstly the Rectangles have a Gradient-Stroke applied at 0pt width, which I'm unsure if this is required for the design

That sounds brain dead. Probably caused by a knee-jerk work style – "It finally works, I don't know why, but let's continue…"

I intend to reuse most of my design for the next project, another book, so I will have to understand what "dead DNA" can be removed from this one.