Puplisher/ Open PDF .... where is the text(?)

[Lampros321]

I have a PDF file that is a fillable form, which I filled out using Preview on my Mac. I emailed the file, and everyone can view and print it without issues. However, when I open the PDF in Publisher, the form fields appear empty.   [What????]

Every other program, including web browsers, displays the file correctly. Is there a setting in Publisher that I need to adjust to view the file normally?

I've encountered other bugs and issues, but being unable to open a PDF is a major problem. For context, the form was likely created in InDesign, yet it works perfectly elsewhere.

  

[GarryP]

The Affinity applications cannot create documents with fillable form fields so that might be (at least part of) the reason why they aren’t imported when you open a PDF which contains them.

Basically, if the software cannot handle a particular PDF feature, or convert it to something it can handle, then it will probably ignore that feature as nothing can be done with it.

While Publisher can open some PDFs, it is not designed to be a PDF editor with full PDF editing functionality.

(The same sort of thing happens with some SVG features.)

[Lampros321]

9 hours ago, GarryP said:

While Publisher can open some PDFs, it is not designed to be a PDF editor

I find it quite disappointing that Publisher offers fewer functionalities for PDF files compared to Preview or any web browser.

I'm not sure what Publisher is designed to do, as it's not a text editor and doesn't support Pages or many other text editors. Additionally, it doesn't fully supports Word files. Given these limitations, I'm not sure how Publisher can be useful in its current form.

[thomaso]

21 hours ago, Lampros321 said:

when I open the PDF in Publisher, the form fields appear empty.   [What????]

Every other program, including web browsers, displays the file correctly. Is there a setting in Publisher that I need to adjust to view the file normally?

Do you see more content if you don't open but place the PDF in an Affinity document?

FWIW, I get all content displayed in APub V1 when I place or open a filled PDF form. – Possibly it matters how the PDF and the form were created?

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, Lampros321 said:

I'm not sure what Publisher is designed to do....

Basically, it is for laying out documents, using pages & master pages. It is not intended as a text editor.

[Lampros321]

2 hours ago, R C-R said:

Basically, it is for laying out documents

However, Publisher does not support popular document formats like Apple Pages and does not handle Word files very well. For example, what happens if a Word file includes references and a bibliography? How can you lay out documents if you cannot import them properly?

I may be overreacting a bit because I’m frustrated that Publisher cannot open a PDF file that every other program can open correctly. That said, I recognize the extensive work that goes into Publisher, it is truly a great piece of software in many ways, and I respect the developers. It's just that some everyday restrictions make it difficult for me to trust it with my important projects.

[thomaso]

53 minutes ago, Lampros321 said:

Publisher cannot open a PDF file that every other program can open correctly.

Did you notice the difference between placing and opening a PDF in Affinity? "Placing" is the equivalent to "Opening" in other programs, e.g. in Apple's Preview.app or a web browser which both don't enable you to restyle or edit the entire content of the PDF as you can do in Affinity with an opened PDF (your mentioned "fillable form" excepted).

[Lampros321]

12 hours ago, thomaso said:

Did you notice the difference between placing and opening

Yes, it doesn't work. 
I replicated the issue with the file I attached here. 
Please let me know if you can view the text in Publisher or in any other software.

 Example 1.pdf

[mopperle]

All works fine, this is what I see:
How I did this (quick & dirty)?
- creat a document with 3 pages and the dimension of your pdf
- place the pdf 3 times on each page
- from the toolbar choose from "Spread" the page you want to see

 

[MikeW]

41 minutes ago, Lampros321 said:

Yes, it doesn't work. 
I replicated the issue with the file I attached here. 
Please let me know if you can view the text in Publisher or in any other software.

The text entered in the form fields display just fine when being placed in Affinity Publisher, InDesign and Viva Designer. The pdf with entered text opens editable in Xara Designer, Photoline.

If the text needs to edited in Affinity Publisher, the form fields need to be flattened.