Documents won't open in Publisher (or Designer)

[aleer]

I am using OS ver. 14.1.2 (Sonoma) and Affinity Publisher ver. 2.3.0 on my desktop Mac. I have used Affinity products for years.

I have been using this version of Publisher for a while and have had no problems. Then suddenly it quit opening files.

The app will open, but I can’t get past the New Document page. If I try to open any file (whether stored in Apple iCloud or not), the New Document page closes but the file does not open. And although the document does not open, it will appear in “File/Open Recent” afterwards.

Also, if I try to create a new document, when I click on “Create” a new document does not open.

When the Affinity Publisher app is closed and I double click on an .afpub file in the Finder, the app will open, but the document will not open.

Restarting the computer doesn't help.

I also have Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo and I am experiencing the same problem with Designer but not with Photo (so far). I assume whatever fixes Publisher will fix Designer.

[MikeTO]

Try starting Publisher with Ctrl held down (press and hold it immediately after clicking the icon) and then selecting Reset Document and Window States.

Good luck

[aleer]

Thanks. I tried it but nothing has changed. Still can't open anything.

[NathanC]

Hi @aleer,

When attempting to create a new document or open an existing one does the app give any indication that it is attempting to load the document along the toolbar or does it just display the document name? Or, is the app in an unresponsive state during the load?

If it was a Studio/Window display problem I would have expected MikeTO's answer to fix it, but just to be sure could you take a screenshot of your app window after attempting to create a new document?

Finally, could you try disabling Hardware Acceleration (last checkbox) under the App Settings > Performance? Once this has been unticked close the interface and restart the app when prompted before trying again.

[walt.farrell]

It almost sounds like the file could be opening on a display that is not connected or powered on but that was last used by the application.

[aleer]

8 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

It almost sounds like the file could be opening on a display that is not connected or powered on but that was last used by the application.

That was it! I had opened a Publisher document on my XP-Pen display and apparently shut it down prematurely.

Now everything is working again. Thank you so much!

[aleer]

8 hours ago, NathanC said:

When attempting to create a new document or open an existing one does the app give any indication that it is attempting to load the document along the toolbar or does it just display the document name? Or, is the app in an unresponsive state during the load?

Problem solved! See above. Thank you for your help.

[lorenzo photo]

Hi there, 

I am facing the same issue here, working on a Mac laptop and single display with Sonoma 15.1.1 OS just upgraded few days ago. 

the latest file I have been working on the last three days won't open even after waiting almost two hours. Here the screenshot of the app when attempting to load the document. I have attempted to reset Document & Windows State but didnt sort any effect. 

Any help is much appreciated 

Thanks a million 

Lorenzo 

[MikeTO]

Hi @lorenzo photo and welcome to the forums. The issue you're experiencing is likely different than the one being discussed above which was due to it opening off screen on a monitor that wasn't currently attached.

If you just upgraded to Sequoia from Sonoma, then your Mac could be busy with iCloud syncing which can cause this mind-boggling slow loading in Affinity. The solution is usually to wait over night for your Mac to finish what it needs to do so don't turn it off. If you just upgraded from 15.1 to 15.1.1, then this won't be the cause.

If it's not due to an upgrade, it's likely a network issue. The first thing I'd try is to make a copy of the document on your internal drive in a folder that is not synced to iCloud or any other cloud service. For example, you could put it at the root of Macintosh HD or whatever your drive is called.

If that doesn't solve it, then the next step is to look at any linked resources. You could do the same with them, or you could cheat and rename the folder containing them so that when Publisher opens the document it can't find the linked resources. Don't re-link them right away because that will just cause the problem again, but if this works, you'll know you will need to move the resources to another location since there's something going on with their current location.

Good luck

[lolobigtime]

Hey @MikeTO !

Similar situation to lorenzo photo,

I have a 26GB document that won't open anymore. It was working 2 days ago, and now the document just won't open. If I try to close the app I get this message. If I try to wait it out, the app crashes. I haven't moved any file anywhere, so linked resources can't be a problem.

The app is not frozen tho, I can create new files and save them. I just can't get this one document open, and it is synced and every file is downloaded, network can't be the issue here, I've tried what you said.

What do I do here?? I've worked so much on my document I'm kinda scared now

[MikeTO]

31 minutes ago, lolobigtime said:

I have a 26GB document that won't open anymore. It was working 2 days ago, and now the document just won't open. If I try to close the app I get this message. If I try to wait it out, the app crashes. I haven't moved any file anywhere, so linked resources can't be a problem.

The app is not frozen tho, I can create new files and save them. I just can't get this one document open, and it is synced and every file is downloaded, network can't be the issue here, I've tried what you said.

What do I do here?? I've worked so much on my document I'm kinda scared now

1. Where is the document stored?
2. Does the document have linked resources? If so, where are they stored?
3. If there are linked resources, try renaming the folder containing them so they are unavailable. Does the document load without the images? (Don't relink them while opening the document.)
4. If the file is stored on iCloud, please follow the suggestions in this post:

Good luck

[mattw3b]

I had the same problem as @lorenzo photo and @lolobigtime this morning.
I tried saving the file locally, closed Publisher, restarted the Mac - nothing worked. I thought.
As I continued to read here in the forum, the file suddenly opened after a few minutes. But my file was only 25MB - so maybe just wait a looooong time. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

[iambia]

On 1/7/2024 at 7:52 PM, aleer said:

I am using OS ver. 14.1.2 (Sonoma) and Affinity Publisher ver. 2.3.0 on my desktop Mac. I have used Affinity products for years.

I have been using this version of Publisher for a while and have had no problems. Then suddenly it quit opening files.

The app will open, but I can’t get past the New Document page. If I try to open any file (whether stored in Apple iCloud or not), the New Document page closes but the file does not open. And although the document does not open, it will appear in “File/Open Recent” afterwards.

Also, if I try to create a new document, when I click on “Create” a new document does not open.

When the Affinity Publisher app is closed and I double click on an .afpub file in the Finder, the app will open, but the document will not open.

Restarting the computer doesn't help.

I also have Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo and I am experiencing the same problem with Designer but not with Photo (so far). I assume whatever fixes Publisher will fix Designer.

Having the same issue. The files will hang with the loading message and never open. If I try to quit the program it won't allow me to quit because it says it's loading. I have let a document try to load for a good 24 hours with no results. Will try some of the suggestions here.

[Aks098]

I can open publisher, but when I click on 'create', it shuts down....

[MikeTO]

13 hours ago, Aks098 said:

I can open publisher, but when I click on 'create', it shuts down....

Hi and welcome to the forums. Do you have the other Affinity apps, too? If so, do they have the same issue?

Are you using Windows or Mac? Where did you install the app from, the Serif website or from the Microsoft or Apple App Store?

If you're using Windows, please try starting the app with Ctrl held down. In the Clear User Data screen, select the option to turn off Hardware Acceleration and then continue. Does that solve the issue? If not, could you please provide more information about your computer and which version of Windows and which updates you have installed?

[tomster]

All of a sudden, same issue here. I didn't update or change anything recently (everything is up-to-date). I'm trying to open files on my Mac I've opened 'hundreds' of times without any problems.

 

[MikeTO]

@tomster 

Hi and welcome to the forums.

The first thing you should try is to use another account on your computer - if you don't have one, just create one for testing with macOS settings. If Affinity works with that account without issues, the issue may be due to something in your Affinity user data.

You can reset most user data by starting with Ctrl held down.

You could also temporarily install the 2.6.2 beta (which has a lot of fixes in it anyway) which will install beside your existing 2.6.0 without impacting it and see if that works for you.

[MikeTO]

@tomster

Which version of macOS are you using?

Where is the file you're opening stored?

[iambia]

20 minutes ago, tomster said:

All of a sudden, same issue here. I didn't update or change anything recently (everything is up-to-date). I'm trying to open files on my Mac I've opened 'hundreds' of times without any problems.

 

It's super irritating especially since I changed absolutely nothing. 

[tomster]

1 hour ago, MikeTO said:

@tomster

Which version of macOS are you using?

Where is the file you're opening stored?

Mac Sequoia 15.3.1 and for testing I've put the file on my harddrive. And this is not a big file with all sorts of links.

The issue started when I moved and renamed a folder with an .afpub file, all on my Dropbox. When I tried to re-open that file (same name) from the new location the problems started.

[MikeTO]

That's good info but I don't know how to solve this. Perhaps somebody else will know.

Good luck!

[tomster]

Well, thanks anyway @MikeTO for looking into this.

[tomster]

Solutions seems to be: complete restart of my Mac. Publishers works again, all be it slower than usual.