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Placed PDF Formatting Changes upon import.


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Hello,

In .afpub 1.7.0.145 for macOS Mojave, I've noticed that text formatting/font changes upon PDF import placement.  It doesn't matter whether I set the document to place as an embedded image or linked.

The PDF appears fine when opened on same system in other viewers (Apple Preview, Adobe Acrobat, & Pages).  I suspected it could just be AfPub's preview of the placed PDF however it retains the wrong formatting upon exporting as PDF also.  

The solution to fix issues like this is to have the PDF Options dialog popup when a user selects File Menu - Place.

Edited by kwiknip
Clearer Request.
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Affinity applications cannot use the embedded fonts. Even if you have, and have activated, the "same" fonts there may be issues. Sorry.

If you want to use APub for whatever it is you are making, the safest thing would be to use Acrobat or pdfToolbox to convert the type to curves. Doing this in Acrobat is easier if you are using Acrobat DC, It can still be done in an older version (I use v.XI) but is more involved. pdfToolbox can also easily do this.

Mike

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25 minutes ago, MikeW said:

Affinity applications cannot use the embedded fonts. Even if you have, and have activated, the "same" fonts there may be issues. Sorry.

If you want to use APub for whatever it is you are making, the safest thing would be to use Acrobat or pdfToolbox to convert the type to curves. Doing this in Acrobat is easier if you are using Acrobat DC, It can still be done in an older version (I use v.XI) but is more involved. pdfToolbox can also easily do this.

Mike

Appreciate your response and what you've stated is very much understood.  

I have to rant about this a little bit to relieve some frustration!

Of course pros like myself know how to outline fonts, etc. and this file will print just fine from any other app I currently have besides APub, but its been common place for decades now that your average customer or word processor editor or typesetter isn't going to have the proper software or tools or even care to think of converting their fonts to paths or outlines and preflighting their documents prior to submittal.  It's been a typical hallmark of our industry to receive such unprepared documents (thinking out loud here, not a beef with your explanation at all). Thus we're always on the hunt for tools to make the process easier because that'll save some time between documents and ultimately save a little $, for instance Adobe InDesign, Affinity Photo & Affinity Designer have a feature that will warn you of the missing fonts within an imported PDF and allow you to relink them to exact or alternative fonts on your system without having to reverse engineer said document in order to reformat and outline all the fonts (convert to paths).  It was an eye opener for me when I noticed that choosing to place and embed the PDF vs linking to the PDF had no difference or warning with respect to the fonts embedded in or missing from within the file (see were I'm going with this) so without a warning I'm back to square one and have to dissect or make assumptions regarding their file, I could go on and on about it but I digress because we're obviously still in beta with Affinity Publisher so I feel compelled to yield a heads up to its developer(s).  

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Oops!  Just noticed that Affinity Publisher DOES display a font replacement menu like AfPhoto & AfDesigner but only when its Opened (File: Open) instead of Placed (File: Place).  

All 3 apps behave the same in this regard, so I'd really NEED to see this feature (Font Replacement) behave the same way when a PDF is imported (File: Place) into an already working document. 

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Well, in the several attempts I've made at utilizing APub's editor of embedded pdf document feature it turns out as a time consuming mediocre experience in my use case, because I lose the ability to load all the pages contained within the pdf at once & apply font replacements overall upfront.  As a result I stand by my initial request that the "PDF Options" offered for File Menu - Open also NEED to be available for File Menu - Place {ATTN: Affinity Developers}.

 After all I'd imagine that most of whom using APub are creators as well as editors thus if you're already knee deep into a project of document creation and NEED to place other pdf documents into the same project you'd certainly benefit from the abilities presented in the PDF Options dialog that's currently only available when opening a pdf file directly verses importation via placement.  I've attached a screen shot of the PDF Options import window that's desperately missing from File Menu - Place.  

Screen Shot 2018-10-27 at 1.49.38 PM.png

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6 hours ago, kwiknip said:

I stand by my initial request that the "PDF Options" offered for File Menu - Open also NEED to be available for File Menu - Place {ATTN: Affinity Developers}.

Yes, that presents user the information if importing will succeed or if placed PDF will be destroyed. Though a simple warning message "Fonts not available" would be as good.

Real problem is that you cannot place customer PDFs to your layout if you have not used fonts. That means you cannot place customer PDFs to your layout. Unless you take the effort to convert text to curves with other software, which can be a pain and takes valuable time.

Meanwhile we just wait for PDF passthrough feature for Publisher, ETA 1,4 years B|

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I think that kwiknip might also be asking for the ability to get all the pages of a Placed document, rather than having to pick just one.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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Just needed to say to the developers that I really do appreciate all their hard work and man hours invested thus far and I like the direction Affinity Publisher is headed in very much.

I'm sure they always hear the negative side of business but to whom this may concern that it also goes without saying quite often that the expertise demonstrated across all your Affinity apps truly shine and as a result it provokes a lot of emotion that from time to time could easily yield a negative vibe when issues we're passionate about arise.

:10_wink: 

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