Publisher keeps reformatting

[Blue Iguana]

Hi.

I experienced this same problem with v1 of Publisher before. It keeps reformatting the texts as I adjust the layout. I copy the texts from MS Word and paste them into the text frames (the same problem occurs when I place the MS Word file). I've already applied the Body Text style to the text frames and to the paragraphs. I also set the default Notes - Footnotes style to what I set in the Text Frame Styles.

You can see the applied formats when I open the document. And then you'll see Publisher cut the text, make the last paragraph 6 pts, and then move it to the next text frame. It sometimes goes back after I reapply the text styles. But when after I do this, it reformats the footnotes. It even hides one footnote (no. 29) and I can't find it anywhere. And then it wreaks havoc on all remaining pages. :(

I've attached the screen recording, AFPUB, and MS Word files.

Mac OS Sonoma 14.3 on M1 Mini with 8GB RAM.

 

 

1. Danilo Agustin-In what sense is BEC an expression of synodality in the grassroots.docx 1 Agustin Jr.afpub

[MikeTO]

I believe that the imported text is inheriting some applied character formatting but when I went to test that I got a repeatable crash so I think Serif will need to look at it.

Affinity Publisher 2 Affinity Store-2024-02-15-001715.ips

1. Open the afpub
2. Click anywhere in the body text, select all, and delete it - the formatting in use will now be "Article, Bibliography" + 91.7 pt, leading override 125 pt, etc.
3. Apply "Article, Body Text" to get basic text formatting
4. Place the docx file = instant crash

[Hangman]

Hi @Blue Iguana

The issue you're seeing is a known bug in Affinity Publisher, logged under AF-1288 and AF-1342 and can happen if the document dpi has been changed at some point in its history in between new text frames being added to the document or if a page or pages are added to the document using Add Pages from File when the two Publisher documents have different dpi settings or you're adding pages directly from an IDML file to your Publisher document assuming your Publisher document has a dpi greater than 72 dpi...

Looking at the Layers Panel in your document, the text frames are all labelled [IDML] which suggests the layout or structure for your document has come from an InDesign file, subsequently, the issue you're seeing is a difference in resolution between the IDML 'template' which is interpreted as 72 dpi and the resolution of your Publisher document...

Your document is 600 dpi and if you look at the change in font size when deleting or adding spaces in the main body text you'll see that the text is being scaled by 12%.

When adding space so body text appears on the next page:

Article Body Text Style - the font size changes from 11 pt to 1.32 pt

(72 / 600) x 100 = 12%

11 pt x 12% = 1.32 pt

When removing space so a footnote appears on the previous page:

Article Footnote Text Style - the font size changes from 8 pt to 66.67 pt

(600 / 72) x 100 = 833.34%

8 pt x 833.34% = 66.67 pt or to put it another way 66.67 pt x 12% = 8 pt

 

Steps to Rectify the Issue

In this particular instance, it would be easier to start from scratch with a new Publisher document. I've attached a recreated version for you but you will need to go through it and adjust as required which may involve making adjustments to some of the text styles, though I've tried to replicate those in your original file.

Because of the issue with your original file, it was a little difficult to see how certain elements had been formatted so you will need to double checking everything is as it should be in the new file.

A few of the text styles in your original document are a little odd in as much as the text is outlined in white. I've avoided including any outlined text in the attached file.

Some of the text styles in your original also have 65% transparency applied but in the attached version I simply made these K:65.

I hope this helps and gives you a good starting point from which to continue working on the document but just let us know if you come across any issues...

 

1 Agustin Jr Corrected.afpub

[Hangman]

7 hours ago, MikeTO said:

I believe that the imported text is inheriting some applied character formatting but when I went to test that I got a repeatable crash so I think Serif will need to look at it.

Very odd, I had zero issues and zero crashes placing the docx file in a new Publisher document...

[Seneca]

1 hour ago, Hangman said:

Very odd, I had zero issues and zero crashes placing the docx file in a new Publisher document...

Me neither.

However I get an immediate crash doing: Notes Panel -> Reset Document Settings to Factory Defaults on 1 August Jr Corrected.afpub file.

Publisher Beta 2.4.0 (2279).

[Hangman]

9 hours ago, Seneca said:

Me neither.

Actually, now I have managed to get a crash, in fact suddenly repeated crashes in v2.3.1 if I place the .docx file in the source document but not if I place it in a new document…

Apart from the main issue mentioned in the previous post, the file is really odd, e.g., if you place your cursor after the subheading 'As missional communities' on Page 12 and hit return you now find your cursor is on Page 25 and it's brought the subheading along for the ride.

Likewise deleting a space can result in the file jumping to a totally different page with no obvious logic...

[stokerg]

Hi @MikeTOand @Hangman,

I've logged the crash when replacing the DOCX file in @Blue Iguanaafpub file with the Developers.  For some reason, it works fine when placing it into a New Document.

 AF-1288 and AF-1342 are still with the Developers to resolve, I've left a link on that report back to this thread so you'll all get a notification from the Serif Info Bot when this has been resolved  

 

[chelrich]

I'm having this same issue.  Unfortunately, recreating my document is not an option, as it's an entire book.  Is there any other way that I can get the text to format correctly?  Here is a Loom showing the issue and how the text behaves between text frames:

https://www.loom.com/share/164aaa2ab87a43e7a91fca57f164dca1?sid=62a9d620-8c0f-4d28-b2a9-c3fcbaae7406

[Hangman]

Hi @chelrich and welcome to the forums,

The changes in point size suggest your Publisher document is 300 dpi... As mentioned above, the issue you see is a known bug logged under AF-1288 and AF-1342...

When inserting a paragraph so text flows to the next page the:

Paragraph Body Copy Text Style - font size changes from 10 pt to 2.4 pt

(72 / 300) x 100 = 24%%

10 pt x 24% = 2.4 pt

When removing a paragraph so text flows back to the previous page the:

Paragraph Body Copy Text Style - font size changes from 10 pt to 41.7 pt

(300 / 72) x 100 = 416.67%

10 pt x 416.67% = 41.67 pt (41.7 pt)

Note: This bug will also affect the Paragraph Body Copy Text Style leading similarly...

You've not mentioned whether the issue affects every page in each book chapter but for any affected pages the following should work

Steps to Rectify the Spread Shown in Your Screen Recording

1. Change any Book Chapters where you need to make changes, (i.e., insert or delete text) from 300 dpi to 72 dpi
2. Unlink the right text frame on the right page from the text frame on the following spread
3. Unlink the four text frames on the pages shown in your screen recording so the text is shown as overflow text on the previous spread
4. Delete the four text frames on the spread shown in your screen recording
5. Create four new text frames on the spread shown in your screen recording
6. Relink the four newly created text frames
7. Relink the right text frame from the previous spread to the first text frame on the spread shown in your screen recording
8. Relink the right text frame on the right page of the spread shown in your screen recording to the first text frame on the following spread
9. Reapply the appropriate text styles as required to the reflowed text
10. Change the document back to 300 dpi

Note: If this affects your entire document you may need to unlink all text frames across the relevant affected pages after changing the associated Book Chapter or Chapters to 72 dpi, delete the affected text frames and create new ones before relinking everything and changing the document dpi back to 300 dpi...

If the process gets complex because of the number of pages it affects and you're happy to 'Save as Package' and zip everything up so it includes all the Chapters and any related graphics and then upload it I'd be more than happy to take a look for you...

Let us know how you get on initially and whether the above steps work as described for the spread shown in your screen recording... If you have any questions or if something doesn't make sense please just ask...

[Blue Iguana]

Thank you very much for all your help!

I hope the bug gets fixed. Specially because, like the problem I submitted here, I work with templates for many of the publications I design. Creating new Publisher documents and redefining everything from my templates won't do.

I'll create a new template and see if this still happens.

Again, thank you very much for all your help. And I look forward to seeing a fix in the coming update(s).

[Blue Iguana]

Hi @Hangman

I tried deleting, relinking, and reapplying paragraph styles to the texts frames but the same problem keeps happening. Just one question though: why would Publisher paste copied texts or place texts from an MS Word file in 72 dpi, when I already set the Publisher document resolution to 300 dpi? Shouldn't it follow the Publisher doc settings? Writers and copy editors don't usually think of dpi settings when they use their word processors.

Thanks again!

Best,

Igy

 

On 2/19/2024 at 4:35 AM, Hangman said:

Hi @chelrich and welcome to the forums,

The changes in point size suggest your Publisher document is 300 dpi... As mentioned above, the issue you see is a known bug logged under AF-1288 and AF-1342...

When inserting a paragraph so text flows to the next page the:

Paragraph Body Copy Text Style - font size changes from 10 pt to 2.4 pt

(72 / 300) x 100 = 24%%

10 pt x 24% = 2.4 pt

When removing a paragraph so text flows back to the previous page the:

Paragraph Body Copy Text Style - font size changes from 10 pt to 41.7 pt

(300 / 72) x 100 = 416.67%

10 pt x 416.67% = 41.67 pt (41.7 pt)

Note: This bug will also affect the Paragraph Body Copy Text Style leading similarly...

You've not mentioned whether the issue affects every page in each book chapter but for any affected pages the following should work

Steps to Rectify the Spread Shown in Your Screen Recording

1. Change any Book Chapters where you need to make changes, (i.e., insert or delete text) from 300 dpi to 72 dpi
2. Unlink the right text frame on the right page from the text frame on the following spread
3. Unlink the four text frames on the pages shown in your screen recording so the text is shown as overflow text on the previous spread
4. Delete the four text frames on the spread shown in your screen recording
5. Create four new text frames on the spread shown in your screen recording
6. Relink the four newly created text frames
7. Relink the right text frame from the previous spread to the first text frame on the spread shown in your screen recording
8. Relink the right text frame on the right page of the spread shown in your screen recording to the first text frame on the following spread
9. Reapply the appropriate text styles as required to the reflowed text
10. Change the document back to 300 dpi

Note: If this affects your entire document you may need to unlink all text frames across the relevant affected pages after changing the associated Book Chapter or Chapters to 72 dpi, delete the affected text frames and create new ones before relinking everything and changing the document dpi back to 300 dpi...

If the process gets complex because of the number of pages it affects and you're happy to 'Save as Package' and zip everything up so it includes all the Chapters and any related graphics and then upload it I'd be more than happy to take a look for you...

Let us know how you get on initially and whether the above steps work as described for the spread shown in your screen recording... If you have any questions or if something doesn't make sense please just ask...

 

[Hangman]

Hi @Blue Iguana,

Did you try the amended file I attached in a previous post, '1 Agustin Jr Corrected.afpub'.

5 hours ago, Blue Iguana said:

Just one question though: why would Publisher paste copied texts or place texts from an MS Word file in 72 dpi, when I already set the Publisher document resolution to 300 dpi? Shouldn't it follow the Publisher doc settings? Writers and copy editors don't usually think of dpi settings when they use their word processors.

This is basically the bug in Publisher where the imported or placed text is being interpretted at 72 di regardless of dpi set in your Publisher document, it can happen with Word, InDesign and Publisher documents if there is a change in the text frame dpi at some point during the import process...

There are several scenario's that will trigger this for example this is one...

 

There have been numerous reports regarding this issue so hopefully we'll see a fix in an upcoming release...

[Blue Iguana]

Oh! I didn't notice the attachment. Thank you very much, @Hangman. I'll give this a try.

It's really strange that the resolution setting can change for different text frames though. I got the same problems for Publisher for iPad, BTW.

[Hangman]

9 minutes ago, Blue Iguana said:

Oh! I didn't notice the attachment. Thank you very much, @Hangman. I'll give this a try.

Let us know how you get on though be mindful that if you plan to add additional pages from InDesign using Add Pages from File you would need to change the Publisher document DPI back to 72 dpi before adding the InDesign Pages otherwise you will see the same issue again...

9 minutes ago, Blue Iguana said:

It's really strange that the resolution setting can change for different text frames though.

It makes sense based on the maths but is a bug in as much as the text frames 'should' remain resolution-independent...

10 minutes ago, Blue Iguana said:

I got the same problems for Publisher for iPad, BTW.

The bug exists across all platforms, Mac, Windows and iPad...

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Flowing Story text is scaled unexpectedly after changing the documents DPI" (REF: AF-1288) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.5.0.2317".
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 @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue " Importing IDML and flowing text to new frame applies text scaling unexpectedly" (REF: AF-1342) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.5.0.2317".
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 @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.