PDF Export in Publisher 2.2 issue

[medias]

Hi,

I'm running Affinity Publisher on a Mac. Great App, but with the Update to Version 2.2 there is a big issue: When I export a dokument to PDF some of the Fonts are no longer selectable, to copy out of the generated PDF in Apple's Preview app. In the older Version 2.1.1 there was no problem regarding the same PDF-export with the same settings.

Some idea anyone?

Thank you in advance,
Ralph

[Hangman]

Hi @medias and welcome to the forums,

That's interesting in that this is the second report of this issue in as many days...

Could you confirm which font you are using in your document and whether the version you're using happens to be a Type 1 Postscript font... Could you also perhaps upload a sample PDF demonstrating the issue so we can take a look, even if it just uses some random placeholder text...

[medias]

Hi,

I'm sorry for the late answer, I thougt I'd get a notice...🫣

I uploaded a PDF using two different fonts: FoundryJournal and Adobe Garamond pro, both of the fonts were selectable in the older Version (2.1.1) of Publisher in the app Preview on my Mac - now (Version 2.2) only the Garamond and no more the Foundry-Fonts.

btw: Is there a possibility to open a document written in Version 2.2 in Version 2.1.1?

Regards,
Ralph

test.pdf

[Hangman]

Hi @medias,

Thanks for your file...

I believe the 'issue' is due to an update to PDFlib, the PDF library used in v2.2 of the Affinity apps.

PDFlib 10.0.0 has seemingly deprecated support for Type 1 fonts though Section 6.1.5 in the PDFlib manual is (to me) a little ambiguous because, on the one hand, they're saying 'Support for Post Type 1 fonts is deprecated' but they then go on to say PDFlib supports ARM, PFM, PFA and PFB Postscript Type 1 fonts (unless I'm reading this incorrectly)...

The version of Adobe Garamond Pro used in your file which is a Type 1 font is selectable as you pointed out and I'm assuming that the version of Foundry Journal is also a Type 1 font as well?

I've just exported a file from both Publisher 1.10.6 and 2.2.1 using a PostScript Type 1 version of Garamond Pro and the version exported from 1.10.6 is selectable, the version exported from 2.2.1 is not selectable in Acrobat Reader because it gets outlined on export so this would seem to confirm that the PDFlib update in v2.2 is indeed the cause but...

Could you confirm the following:

1. The file extension used by both fonts
2. Which version of macOS you're using
3. Which Font Management software you're using

[medias]

Hi again Hangman,

to answer your questions:

1. Adobe Garamont pro has the file extension .otf and FoundryJournal uses .bmap (seems to be a True Type)

2. I'm running MacOS 13.2.1

3. I'm using Font Book for Mac, the preinstalled app.

Thanks and regards,
Ralph

 

[Hangman]

Hey @medias,

Um, that's odd, looking at your test.pdf file in Acrobat Reader it suggests the version of Adobe Garamond Pro used in your file is Type 1 rather than an .otf version, though .otf fonts are derived from Type 1 fonts. A true .otf version would theoratically explain why the v2 exported pdf text is still selectable in the PDF... You don't happen to have more than one version of Adobe Garamond Pro, or Garamond Pro installed by any chance?

If the FoundryJournal font has a .bmap extension then it is the screen representation part of the font with the outline part of the font used to draw the font precisely for printers so it is indeed a Type 1 font and explains why it is no longer selectable in the exported PDF exported from v2.

Fonts used in your test.pdf According to Acrobat Reader

[medias]

Hi,

indeed there is more than one version of each font installed. Confusing... Please look at the attachements.

Regards,
Ralph

[Hangman]

Hi @medias,

So it looks as though the version of Garamond used in your test.pdf may be the Type 1 Postscript version... If you right-click one of them, e.g., AGarReg and select 'Get Info' could you upload a screenshot showing the 'General' section (at the top) of the Get Info window?

The Unix, 'Exec' logo means the files don't have an extension... Old legacy Mac TrueType fonts (from OS 9 and earlier) and all printer outlines of Type 1 PostScript fonts display that way in macOS...

Unless you have a specific need to keep the Type 1 Postscript versions of both fonts you may want to remove these to avoid any potential font conflict issues...

In theory, if you temporarily disable or remove the old Type 1 Postscript versions of both fonts in Font Book, then re-open your Publisher file and ensure your file uses the TrueType version of FoundryJournal and the OpenType version of Adobe Garamond and then re-export your file as a PDF from Publisher v2, are both fonts then selectable?

[medias]

Here is the screenshot, I'll try to remove the fonts and come back here with the results 🙂

[Leigh]

Just wanted to let you know that I've logged this with our developers to see if there's anything we can do to improve this situation.

[Hangman]

Hi @Leigh,

That's great, many thanks... it would certainly be great if they could...

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Text using PostScript Type 1 outline fonts are being converted to curves when exporting to PDF" (REF: AF-1387) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.4.0.2213".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Serif Info Bot to notify us.

[medias]

Great, thank you!

Best regards,
Ralph