unable to place Word files

[ljane888]

I am trying to place a .docx file into Affinity Publisher 2. If I drag and drop, the system tells me "The file type is not supported." With File > Place all Word files are greyed out and not chooseable. PDFs and image files work perfectly. I'm only having trouble with Word files. Same error if I try a .doc file.

M2 Mac Sonoma 14.6.1

This worked fine the last time I used Publisher several months ago.

 

What am I doing wrong?

[Hangman]

Hi @ljane888 and welcome to the forums,

It doesn't sound as if you're doing anything wrong... .doc files are not supported so you would see "The file type is not supported." message but .docx files should work.

Can you upload a sample .docx file so we can take a look?

[Komatös]

Hi @ljane888

You must have an (empty) document open so that something can be placed.

[ljane888]

6 hours ago, Hangman said:

Hi @ljane888 and welcome to the forums,

It doesn't sound as if you're doing anything wrong... .doc files are not supported so you would see "The file type is not supported." message but .docx files should work.

Can you upload a sample .docx file so we can take a look?

Thanks for the welcome, Hangman!

I've uploaded the .docx file as well as some screenshots of what I'm seeing (the one with the list of files is my attempt at File > Place; the Failed to open file one shows what happens if I drag and drop).

PDFs and JPGs place just fine. This problem is consistent across Publisher files, both created today and in the past. I haven't used Publisher in a few months, but I'm 99% certain that it worked as expected in the past.

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the fact that my MSOffice 2019 is no longer supported/cannot update (as of a year ago). Maybe there's been a change in the last year that is affecting Publisher's ability to recognize Office files???

If that might be the case, I may bite the bullet and buy a more recent version. In the meantime I'll fully uninstall Office and play with saving as a Word file via Pages.

Happy to entertain other ideas as well. Thanks again!

 

 

 

test.docx

Edited November 6, 2024 by ljane888
Edited to remove screenshots that might include too much private information

[GarryP]

I was able to drag and drop, and use “File → Place”, with that DOCX file into Publisher 2 on Windows without a problem.

[ljane888]

The problem seems to have been addressed. In one of my uninstall Office/restart computer cycles, there was an update to Publisher, and now it is working. Whoo hoo! Thanks!!

[Hangman]

Hi @ljane888,

That's great to hear, I'm glad it's working again, thanks for letting us know...

[ljane888]

1 minute ago, Hangman said:

Hi @ljane888,

That's great to hear, I'm glad it's working again, thanks for letting us know...

Thanks again for your help. I don't know whether the Publisher update happened as a result of my question, or whether it was pure coincidence, but I'll keep believing it's the former so it reinforces my habit of using software from smaller companies with a strong community component. There's no way something like that would have happened if I had the same problem with InDesign! ❣️

[Hangman]

1 minute ago, ljane888 said:

I don't know whether the Publisher update happened as a result of my question, or whether it was pure coincidence, but I'll keep believing it's the former so it reinforces my habit of using software from smaller companies with a strong community component. There's no way something like that would have happened if I had the same problem with InDesign! ❣️

I don't think we'll ever know for sure but really great that you're supporting software from smaller companies... ❣️

[ljane888]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I just realized what happened. I was using Designer. I'm so used to InDesign being the layout program that I clicked without thinking.

SMH....

[Hangman]

Haha, the mystery is solved... I'm glad you figured out why this was happening... I wouldn't worry, it happens to the best of us...