Unable to open old Publisher File (2.x branch) with 2.3.1 version

[JoelMariteau]

Hi,
I cannot open a Publisher file created with an old version of the software (2.x) with version 2.3.1. The file seems to open but the software starts to spin in the void, and then crashes.

Platform : PC i5 / Windows 11 / 8 go ram / ssd - Affinity Publisher 2.3.1 (Windows)

Please, can you help me retrieve the contents of my document ?

Joel Mariteau

SB160-V27a.afpub

[MikeTO]

@JoelMariteau Hi and welcome to the forums. The good news is your document isn't lost and I was able to open it. But there's a problem with one of the linked resources. It looks like all the images are in one folder which is helpful.

To open the document, rename the image folder to something else and then open the document. When prompted to relink the images, click Resource Manager.

Now you need to figure out which image might be causing the problem. These problems are typically with linked .afdesign and .afphoto files and you have one of each so I suggest using the Resource Manager to locate them in the document. Delete each of them from the page and add them back - this time embed them instead of linking them to avoid the problem happening again. Now rename the folder back to what it was, relink the other images, and save the document under a new name.

That should hopefully solve it. Let us know what happens.

Cheers

[JoelMariteau]

Thanks for your response.

Unfortunately, even when renaming (or even moving) the images directory, I cannot open the file. Publisher crashes after 100% of loading the file.

I will try reinstalling Affinity Publisher. 😕

Cheers, JM

[MikeTO]

Hi Joel, I've re-saved your document from 2.3.1 so you could try opening that.

SB160-V27a - resaved.afpub

BTW, when you can't get a file to open in one of the Affinity apps, try opening it in another one if you have the universal license.

Cheers

[JoelMariteau]

Thank you for your attention and time spent. 
I have the same problem when opening your saved file. Publisher crashes after opening without having time to view the pages. 
I'll try a clean reinstall.
Cheers, JM

[walt.farrell]

Such crashes are often the result of GPU drivers that have problems. Rather than reinstalling the application, it's more likely that removing and reinstalling your GPU drivers with a newer or older version might be the solution.