A client wants an affinity publisher design converted to illustrator...

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

We just need the text to be editable, and we had a bit of an issue with the text after exporting to a .pdf

Tomorrow we are going to try exporting as a .psd and then opening that in illustrator. We are also going to try the .svg method. Any other suggestions?

P.S. I know I should try those methods out before posting here, but it is an urgent deadline, so I thought I would post first and then update the post tomorrow with the results.

[Alfred]

PDF should have worked fine unless you applied gradient transparency, shadows or other filter effects to the text. PSD is a non-starter, because the Affinity apps always rasterize text when outputting to PSD.

Edited October 24, 2018 by αℓƒяє∂
Corrected typo

[Uncle Mez]

21 minutes ago, αℓƒяє∂ said:

PDF should have worked fine unless you applied gradient transparency, shadows or other filter effects to the text. PSD is a non-stater, because the Affinity apps always rasterize text when outputting to PSD.

This is where portability for stuffs such as annotations and comment on files created with affinity would be of a great help ro simply even ... an Affinity Reader that allows clients to make their comment or anotations on the shared file for us to make necessary changes.
That small thing can be even small sized (no need for a massive reader) but will  only serve for annotation or comment added on projects.

Ain't this a good idea ?

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

Thanks for the quick responses! The issue they are having with the .pdf is the words are not grouped and instead each letter is separate.

Arnaud,  I agree with you that the feature you describe would be useful. In this particular case, the client wants it so their internal team can edit the document.

Alfred, Thanks of the heads up about the .psd. That is unfortunate.

[Uncle Mez]

41 minutes ago, MineralHillsWorkshop said:

Thanks for the quick responses! The issue they are having with the .pdf is the words are not grouped and instead each letter is separate.

Arnaud,  I agree with you that the feature you describe would be useful. In this particular case, the client wants it so their internal team can edit the document.

Alfred, Thanks of the heads up about the .psd. That is unfortunate.

Can you please share your export settings dear?
Maybe by having a look at that we can figure out how to help you even better.
Just share a capture of the "More setting" of your export dialogue

[Gabe]

Hi @MineralHillsWorkshop,

As @αℓƒяє∂ suggested, any "raster" effects over the text will result in the text being rasterised. 

If you attach the .afdesign file in question, we can have a look for you. 

Thanks,

Gabe. 

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

Thanks Gabriel, unfortunately it's confidential information from a public company so I can't share it.

The issue I am having is not that the text is rasterized, it is that the text is no longer one group. Instead it is a few word or phrases. Each letter or phrase is editable separately.

 

Arnaud, here is an image of one of the export settings used.

 

I even tried clicking longer text spans options, but that also did not work.

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

Update: Someone programmed this extension script for Illustrator that merges text fields. https://ajarproductions.com/blog/2008/11/23/merge-text-extension-for-illustrator/

However, it doesn't really work anymore.

After spending today trying to solve this problem I don't think there is a solution. I even tried coping and pasting into illustrator and that actually worked but the pasted text was still disjointed!

In the image below, that entire body of text was one paragraph. Upon export to .svg words are broken up haphazardly as different text files. (with .eps export each letter is it's own text file.)

This is an issue because the file is a massive 15 foot historical timeline with a whole lot of text.

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

Recreated this using files I can share...

text of export publisher 1.svg

text of export publisher.afpub

Notice how in the .afpub it is a block of text and in the .svg export it is disjointed.

The .pdf is very interesting. When you open the .pdf in publisher it preserves the text box, but when you open in illustrator it is all disjointed.

text of export publisher 1.pdf

As I mentioned, I also tried copying and pasting from publisher to illustrator, and it works, but the text gets disjointed.

Unfortunately, I will no longer be allowed to use Publisher at the office because of this issue. Publisher still is my favorite software.

 

[Gabe]

@MineralHillsWorkshop,

That's your SVG:

All the text is rendered as text. 

Line breaks will be expected as you cannot wrap text in SVG natively without JavaScript. 

And the PDF has the text as text frame, as expected:

Can you please confirm again what is the issue exactly? I cannot see anything wrong.

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

Wow! Very cool!

The problem has been when I try to open that .pdf in illustrator. The text becomes disjointed, but this gives me hope of a new strategy!

Maybe, if I copy and paste from Adobe Acrobat Pro it will work. Thanks!

I will keep you all updated.

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

@GabrielM

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

You are right! In Adobe Acrobat Pro the text is fine! But, if you try to open that .pdf in illustrator the text will still be disjointed. Even after saving it in acrobat.

Copying and pasting from Acrobat to illustrator also does not work.

And, no way to export from Adobe Acrobat Pro to Illustrator file format.

The issue is the client needs an editable Illustrator file with no disjointed text in paragraph form. And, I can't figure out a process of getting a file created in Affinity Publisher to do that.

(P.S. Ignore the @ Gabrielm message. Once I typed that it would not let me type anything else.)

[firstdefence]

I don't think there is any way to get your document into illustrator in the format your client wants without designing it in Illustrator or without a lot of modifications and copy and pasting, I would suggest you download the trial of Illustrator or buy an older version from eBay, the trial version of CC is for 7 days so work fast.

I've tried several apps and even a few online services for creating timelines but the export options are limited and text generally imports as single lines not paragraphs.