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placed PDF file fail to be included when exporting affinity publisher document to PDF


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For the first time I ran across an issue with my Publisher 2.3.1 Document that I don't think existed in previous versions. 

I have placed a PDF advert document in one of my publications. It has a number of url/mailto links in it. All looks good. But when I export the Publisher .afpub document  as PDF the advert fails to be included. A blank column is what shows in the exported file.  What? Why? 

I did a preflight check on a test version and it wanted me to Fix the PDF: Placed PDF Version (PDF - 1.4) is not compatible with the export version. Use "Fix" to switch to the interpreted representation. 

But what does this mean? The person that sent me the PDF has always sent it as an export from InDesign to PDF.  Do they need to export it in another version?

PS when I apply FIX to the placed pdf document  I loose  the fonts and formating and the text looses spacing between words. 

How can this issue be avoided? 

iMac late 2012 / OS 10.14.6 / Affinity newbie /

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Your other fix would be to change the Export options you're using so they're compatible with the PDF you've Placed into your document.

Clicking Fix in Preflight has simply changed your Placed file from Passthrough to Interpreted, and at that point it's available for editing and so you need to have all the fonts installed.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
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17 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Your other fix would be to change the Export options you're using so they're compatible with the PDF you've Placed into your document.

I have no idea what pdf export options to choose. I tried three random choices and all failed to export the document with the PDF in it. How do I determine the options to use!  Also I note that this person has always sent me their PDF files without an issue until now.  

ps the problem file says it was produced by: Adobe InDesign 19.0 (Macintosh) using Adobe PDF Library 17.0..... Which Is the case for the second PDF that had NO ERRORS on export! Go figure!  So why errors on one PDF but not the second! 

iMac late 2012 / OS 10.14.6 / Affinity newbie /

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2 hours ago, bici said:

Placed PDF Version (PDF - 1.4) is not compatible with the export version.

The placed PDF is apparently made according to the specifications of PDF version 1.4, which are more permissive than those chosen for export. Your export settings must at least satisfy this level (≥v.1.4) and sometimes some more requirements – otherwise it could omit elements not compatible with the exported version. 

For example, PDF-X1a uses PDF v.1.3 (2001) or v.1.4 but without any transparencies, and thus can be incompatible with a PDF v.1.4. 

Without knowing more about the situation, I could at least suggest you this link, but it is in French https://www.abracadabrapdf.net/format_pdf/normes_iso_et_pdf/pdfx-iso-15930/

Hopefully, others will give you more specific advices. 

Affinity Suite 2.4 – Monterey 12.7.4 – MacBookPro 14" 2021 M1 Pro 16Go/1To

I apologise for any approximations in my English. It is not my mother tongue.

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2 hours ago, kenmcd said:

It would help to see the v1.4 PDF if possible.
Then we could take a look at what is actually in there.

 

yes of course, it is herein 

 

SUFRA_AD.pdf

 

iMac late 2012 / OS 10.14.6 / Affinity newbie /

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So. I decided to open the troublesome pdf in APub. When I did this it complained about some missing fonts and replaced them with other suggested fonts. Then I had to slightly edit the file due to spacing issues (some words had no space between them). Then I exported the file in PDF format, and placed it into my afpub file and was able then to export for printing without any issues.  Of course the mystery is why the other file that the designer send me had no problems even though APub wanted to "fix" it, and that I  ignored. Anyways all good now that I know the work around. 

PS have I "discovered" a way  to edit  pdf documents? I used to have to use the expensive Adobe Acrobat Pro.app  in the past which I lost the use of  when I upgraded my system. 

iMac late 2012 / OS 10.14.6 / Affinity newbie /

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18 hours ago, bici said:

So. I decided to open the troublesome pdf in APub. When I did this it complained about some missing fonts and replaced them with other suggested fonts.

The typeface used in the PDF file is Fira Sans which is freely available as a static version from Google Fonts, so you can download and install this if you have a requirement to edit the PDF itself...

The PDF is unprofiled so resorts to whichever working profile you have set in your Publisher settings.

The text is a bit of a mish-mash as it uses K100 for the black text but RGB colours for the Red and Blue text...

As others have mentioned above, the pre-flight error is shown because Publisher defaults to PDF/X-1a which again as mentioned above has features that are not compatible with PDF 1.4, the supplied PDF file.

Depending on your final exported PDF requirements, assuming you are able to export as PDF 1.4 or higher then you simply need to change the Pre-flight PDF passthrough settings accordingly to remove the error, i.e., to PDF 1.4 or above...

You will likely see a warning about objects using a different colour, if the option is set in Pre-flight, this is because the document uses a mix of CMYK and RGB objects...

The file exports without any obvious issue for me, i.e., the placed PDF advert is included rather than appearing as a blank column...

Affinity Designer 2.5.0 | Affinity Photo 2.5.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.5.0
MacBook Pro M3 Max, 36 GB Unified Memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, Magic Mouse

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19 hours ago, bici said:

Then I had to slightly edit the file due to spacing issues (some words had no space between them).

I’ve almost always found that a PDF file opened in one of the Affinity apps has non-zero tracking applied to at least some of the text. Simply selecting the text and setting the tracking value to 0‰ usually makes it look normal.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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31 minutes ago, Alfred said:

I’ve almost always found that a PDF file opened in one of the Affinity apps has non-zero tracking applied to at least some of the text.

With this particular PDF there is a mix of Tracking and Kerning but based on where it appears it looks as though it's intentional as the file opens as you'd expect it to once the fonts are installed...

I've had some really odd instances of this though with other PDF files where even when selecting the text and resetting the tracking to 0 ‰ hasn't corrected it...

Affinity Designer 2.5.0 | Affinity Photo 2.5.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.5.0
MacBook Pro M3 Max, 36 GB Unified Memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, Magic Mouse

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Thank-you!  Thank-you to all for your response and yr guidance and suggestions. I am going to apply all that I have learned to the PDF and get a grip on the issues! 

very grateful to all~! 

iMac late 2012 / OS 10.14.6 / Affinity newbie /

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