Importing (opening a PDF) works in V1 of Publisher but not V2

[PMan]

I have worked on my family history for several years and use Ancestral Author to generate a PDF of the story which I used to be able to then open in Publisher and improve it's layout etc.  Recently using V2 of Publisher to import these PDF files results in an incomprehensible document. 

 

However Publisher V1 can still open the original PDf generated by Ancestral Author see below)

If I export the document from V1 Publisher  using preset  PDF for print, then Publisher V2 can open that PDF with no problem. (I haven't tried any other presets)

Attached below is an example file that V2 seems unable to open yet  V1 can open

Cruwys .pdf

I would appreciate some help and I am so glad that I retained Affinity V1 proframmes.

 

Computer System used
Asus Vivobook 15  Intel I7 processor,  Intel Iris X graphics, Windows 10 Home Version 20H2 (64 bit),  32GB RAM.
Affinity Designer2 V2.5.7, Photo2 V2.5.7,  Publisher2 V2.5.7
Affinity Designer2 Beta V2.6.2950, Photo Beta 2.6.2950, Publisher V2.6.2950
Affinity Designer 1.10.5.1342, Photo 1.10.5.1342, Publisher 1.10.5.1342 
Affinity Designer Beta 1.10.5.1342, Photo Beta  1.10.5.1342, Publisher  Beta  1.10.5.1342

[MikeTO]

I'm seeing the same thing and this is a good test document for the bug.

The text is opening with tracking set in the range of -400 to -800% so the characters are all stacked on top of each other. It's possible to fix it, but it's not worth it because the text won't be grouped properly as paragraphs and text frames.

A good way to see the issue is to place the PDF into a blank document and set Spread to 3. Toggle back and forth between Passthrough and Interpret to see what's happening.

Somebody else reported an issue a month ago with endnotes and I saw that an endnote's tracking was set to -960%. Perhaps there is a connection between the issues.

 

[Hangman]

Hi @PMan,

If you change Times Regular in Ancestral Author to a non-Type-1 font e.g, a ttf or otf version of Times New Roman, perhaps just a small handful of text on one of the pages and re-export, does that text appear correctly when opened in Publisher v2?

Not only does the Times Regular text appear with heavily negative tracking, but it also appears without spaces between words.

Both Avant-Garde and New Century Schoolbook are Type 1 fonts and appear without negative tracking. However, I do know that PDFlib, the library used in the Affinity apps, deprecated Type 1 fonts in v10.0.0, though technically, they should still be supported.

It would be worth a quick test just to confirm one way or the other...

[PMan]

Thanks Hangman, I don't think there is any way of changing font in Ancestral Author but I will have to investigate further

[Hangman]

Okay, I was unsure, but let us know what you find out...

[PMan]

Went on net to find if it is possible to change output text in Ancestral Author, no solution to that but Ancestral Softworks had a newer version called Ancestral Author Plus so I downloaded that and the PDF it produced can be opened successfully by Publisher V2!  [AA Plus can also export to ODF format]

However that doesn't explain why V2 couldn't  successfully open a file that V1 (and other PDF readers) can

 

Computer System used
Asus Vivobook 15  Intel I7 processor,  Intel Iris X graphics, Windows 10 Home Version 20H2 (64 bit),  32GB RAM.
Affinity Designer2 V2.5.7, Photo2 V2.5.7,  Publisher2 V2.5.7
Affinity Designer2 Beta V2.6.2950, Photo Beta 2.6.2950, Publisher V2.6.2950
Affinity Designer 1.10.5.1342, Photo 1.10.5.1342, Publisher 1.10.5.1342 
Affinity Designer Beta 1.10.5.1342, Photo Beta  1.10.5.1342, Publisher  Beta  1.10.5.1342

[Hangman]

Hi @PMan,

Does Ancestral Author Plus also use Type 1 fonts? You can check in Acrobat Reader…

Check also whether both versions of Ancestral Author Plus use the same version of the PDF library…

It could be conflicts between different PDF Libraries or the level of support for Type 1 fonts in both…

Version 2 of Publisher uses PDFlib 10.0.0, I believe Version 1 uses PDFlib 9.X.X still, again you can check in Acrobat reader so it could be as simple as the depreciation of Type 1 fonts in PDFlib 10.0.0 impacting Version 2…

Feel free to upload a PDF exported from AA Plus so we can compare…

[PMan]

51 minutes ago, Hangman said:

Hi @PMan,

Does Ancestral Author Plus also use Type 1 fonts? You can check in Acrobat Reader…

Check also whether both versions of Ancestral Author Plus use the same version of the PDF library…

It could be conflicts between different PDF Libraries or the level of support for Type 1 fonts in both…

Version 2 of Publisher uses PDFlib 10.0.0, I believe Version 1 uses PDFlib 9.X.X still, again you can check in Acrobat reader so it could be as simple as the depreciation of Type 1 fonts in PDFlib 10.0.0 impacting Version 2…

Feel free to upload a PDF exported from AA Plus so we can compare…

Hi,  Hangman

Thanks for your help. I've attached a sample PDF output from Ancestral Author Plus so that you can compare.  I don't use Acrobat Reader myself but feel free to check

 

Salisburytrial.pdfSalisburytrial.pdf

 

Computer System used
Asus Vivobook 15  Intel I7 processor,  Intel Iris X graphics, Windows 10 Home Version 20H2 (64 bit),  32GB RAM.
Affinity Designer2 V2.5.7, Photo2 V2.5.7,  Publisher2 V2.5.7
Affinity Designer2 Beta V2.6.2950, Photo Beta 2.6.2950, Publisher V2.6.2950
Affinity Designer 1.10.5.1342, Photo 1.10.5.1342, Publisher 1.10.5.1342 
Affinity Designer Beta 1.10.5.1342, Photo Beta  1.10.5.1342, Publisher  Beta  1.10.5.1342

[Hangman]

Hi @PMan,

Just to confirm that the new file from Ancestral Author Plus uses a True Type version of Times New Roman which likely explains why it dispalys without issue in Publisher v2 so it sounds as though they've updated font use in Ancestral Author Plus  if you're not able to make font changes yourself...

[PMan]

22 hours ago, Hangman said:

Hi @PMan,

Does Ancestral Author Plus also use Type 1 fonts? You can check in Acrobat Reader…

Check also whether both versions of Ancestral Author Plus use the same version of the PDF library…

It could be conflicts between different PDF Libraries or the level of support for Type 1 fonts in both…

Version 2 of Publisher uses PDFlib 10.0.0, I believe Version 1 uses PDFlib 9.X.X still, again you can check in Acrobat reader so it could be as simple as the depreciation of Type 1 fonts in PDFlib 10.0.0 impacting Version 2…

Feel free to upload a PDF exported from AA Plus so we can compare…

Hi,  Hangman

Thanks for your help. I've attached a sample PDF output from Ancestral Author Plus so that you can compare.  I don't use Acrobat Reader myself but feel free to check

 

Salisburytrial.pdfSalisburytrial.pdf

 

Computer System used
Asus Vivobook 15  Intel I7 processor,  Intel Iris X graphics, Windows 10 Home Version 20H2 (64 bit),  32GB RAM.
Affinity Designer2 V2.5.7, Photo2 V2.5.7,  Publisher2 V2.5.7
Affinity Designer2 Beta V2.6.2950, Photo Beta 2.6.2950, Publisher V2.6.2950
Affinity Designer 1.10.5.1342, Photo 1.10.5.1342, Publisher 1.10.5.1342 
Affinity Designer Beta 1.10.5.1342, Photo Beta  1.10.5.1342, Publisher  Beta  1.10.5.1342

[PMan]

Hi Hangman,

for information,Ancestral Author Plus simply imports a GEDCOM file from an ancestry programme and instead of using the information in the GEDCOM to produce a tree, it outputs the data as a PDF [or ODT] file.  It is not an editing programme which is why it doesn't contain any way to change output fonts.  Thank you for your help.

Have a good Christmas!

omputer System used
Asus Vivobook 15  Intel I7 processor,  Intel Iris X graphics, Windows 10 Home Version 20H2 (64 bit),  32GB RAM.
Affinity Designer2 V2.5.7, Photo2 V2.5.7,  Publisher2 V2.5.7
Affinity Designer2 Beta V2.6.2950, Photo Beta 2.6.2950, Publisher V2.6.2950
Affinity Designer 1.10.5.1342, Photo 1.10.5.1342, Publisher 1.10.5.1342 
Affinity Designer Beta 1.10.5.1342, Photo Beta  1.10.5.1342, Publisher  Beta  1.10.5.1342

[NathanC]

I've previously observed and logged this issue with another user's file produced in a different program, the tracking was also unexpectedly set at -602% in that user's file on import so I've bumped the existing issue and added this file to the report.